In the 1930s and 40s heyday of Hollywood studio art departments, strong art directors like Cedric Gibbons and Hans Dreier brought together more artists and artisans working on the same projects than any other enterprise in the history of modern American art.
This is the first book to trace the history of studio art direction. The origins of art direction in the early motion pictures, the organization of art departments, and the nature of art direction from the 1920s to the 1950s are covered first. Then each studio is discussed individually with a survey of its art department output through the fifties. Comprehensive filmographies (a first) provide films and release dates for 226 art directors.

Beverly Heisner lives in Columbia, South Carolina.

Beverly Heisner
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 412
Bibliographic Info: 134 photos, references, filmographies, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011 [1990]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6706-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Preface      xi

Introduction: Film Design      1

1. Early Art Direction      7

2. Art Departments Under the Studio System      25

3. United Artists and the Independent Art Directors      41

Musicals and Epics

4. MGM and Selznick International      57

Crime and Passion

5. Warner Bros.      115

6. Paramount      157

History, Dance and Comedy

7. 20th Century-Fox      187

8. RKO Studio      217

9. Columbia      255

Monsters and Weepies

10. Universal      275

Hollywood Art

References      305

Filmographies of Art Directors      317

Bibliography      383

Index      387

“details each studio’s particular character in set decoration and scrutinizes the work of [individuals]”—American Cinematographer; “excellent reference work…recommended”—Classic Images.