The single most important person to the archive and USC cinema would be Herbert E. Farmer. Because of this we will begin our non-stop celebration of Herb and his 71 years of service to USC Cinema with this 1937 image of him and his boyhood friend Dan Wiegand both from the suburb of Buffalo, NY.
(From left to right: Dan Wiegand, unknown cameraman, Herb Farmer)
Before they drove the 3000 miles across country to enroll in the new USC Department of Cinematography during the fall of 1938, the two were already heavily involved in cinema as this photo shows.. In addition to helping out on what Herb’s notes recalled as the Universal Newsreel (see photo), Herb and Dan had already outfitted their highschool, Amherst High, with a full projection booth featuring dual 35mm film projectors.
When Herb enrolled at USC he was a dual Cinema and Physics major, and played the sousaphone in the marching band. He, Dan, and another student named Dave Johnson whom they met on the first day from Niagara, NY, were lifelong friends and all played important rolls in the development of the USC Cinema program.
Herb Gallery
