[2][3] After studying at Columbia University, he began working as a still photographer in Hollywood before moving to motion pictures in 1919.

[4] Brodine's films include the sought after lost film A Blind Bargain (1922) starring Lon Chaney, This Thing Called Love (1929), The Death Kiss (1932), Counsellor at Law (1933), Deluge (1933), The House on 92nd Street (1945), Somewhere in the Night (1946), Boomerang (1947), Kiss of Death (1947), Thieves' Highway (1949), and 5 Fingers (1952).

Brodine shot several films with Laurel and Hardy at both Roach and Fox, such as Pick a Star (1937), Swiss Miss (1938), The Dancing Masters (1943), and The Bullfighters (1945).

Brodine moved back to Hal Roach Studios to end his film career in the early 1950s.

He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California.