NONFICTION - Aug. 20, 1995

NEW YORK TO HOLLYWOOD: The Photography of Karl Struss by Barbara McCandless, Bonnie Yochelson and Richard Koszarski. Introduction by William I. Homer. Afterword by John and Susan Edwards Harvith. (Amon Carter Museum/University of New Mexico Press: $39.95; 247 pp.) If, as one of the essays in this instructive volume claims, photographer Struss was an unheralded genius, it was probably because he could do too much too well. Struss was a member of Alfred Stieglitz’s celebrated pre-World War I photo secession group, and his early work was remarkable for its delicate pictorial beauty. After the war, however, he opted for the warm climes of Hollywood, working first as a still photographer (his shot of Gloria Swanson and a drowsy lion is a classic) and then as a director of photography. Although he and Charles Rosher shared the first cinematography Oscar for F.W. Murnau’s stunning “Sunrise,� Struss’ career in the movie business ranged from A-level stars like Mae West to cult classics like “Rocketship X-M� and “The Fly,� and to such TV series as “My Friend Flicka.� Often underappreciated during a long, productive career, he at last gets his due in this thorough book.