Museum. He was the cinematographer for films including "The Life of General Villa," (1914,), featuring Pancho Villa himself. The movie was produced by D. W. Griffith. Von Hoffman often said his knowledge of the use of machine guns was one of the things Griffiths offered Villa to gain his participation in the movie. (In 2003, the filming of the documentary about Villa was turned into a TV movie, "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself," directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Larry Gelbart with the minor role of von Hoffman played by Julian Sedgwick.) Von Hoffman was also cinematographer of "The Marriage Bond" (1916) directed by Lawrence Marston. He was a member of the Explorers Club. He was also an Honorary Life Member and past president (1962) of the Adventurers' Club of New York.