Beyond The Frame: Enter the Dragon
Behind the scenes of the action classic with Gil Hubbs, ASC and Bruce Lee.
The action classic Enter the Dragon (1973) — directed by Robert Clouse and photographed by Gil Hubbs, ASC — established Bruce Lee as an international superstar. Here, Lee directs co-star Shih Kien (playing the villainous Mr. Han) to perfectly position his hand-like prosthetic bladed weapon for a lightning-fast POV shot as Hubbs operates an Arri IIC while filming the film's climactic showdown.
Joining the Hong Kong-based production late in prep, Hubbs was asked to shoot the picture in anamorphic widescreen. Unimpressed with the optics available from the studio camera department, he tracked down a set of Panavision lenses at a local HK rental house.
The cinematographer detailed this story for an American Cinematographer retrospective article on the making of the film in our July 2013 issue.
In 2004, Enter the Dragon was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.
You'll find our complete Enter the Dragon gallery here, featuring an interesting selection of images by unit photographer Dave Friedman.
AC Archive subscribers can access our July 2013 issue now. Not a subscriber yet? Do it today.
