William Cameron Menzies
The Shape of Films to Come
گزارش تخلف
کتاب های مرتبط
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
September 14, 2015
The industrious work of production artists and designers in films often goes unnoticed, but Curtis (Spencer Tracy: A Biography) sets out to change that—and succeeds—with the first comprehensive biography of William Cameron Menzies (1896–1957), a production designer and art director. Relying on original artwork, personal correspondence, and extensive interviews with family members, friends, and associates, Curtis assembles a strong case for Menzies’s lasting impact on popular cinema through his innovative work on more than 120 films, most famously Gone with the Wind. The author leaves no stone unturned while delving into Menzies’s private and professional lives, emphasizing his collaborations with many of golden age Hollywood’s greatest names. The scope of this meticulously researched volume is impressive, but its insistent name-dropping can become exhausting. Curtis’s focus remains consistently on his subject’s many technical achievements, but he frankly addresses Menzies’s box-office failures and lifelong problems with alcohol, presenting a vigorous and detailed portrait of a trailblazing talent wrestling with the demands of powerful studio executives while trying to satisfy his own artistic impulses. Agent: Neil Olson, Donadio & Olson.
September 1, 2015
Curtis (Spencer Tracy, 2011, etc.) details just about every aspect of director and film production designer William Cameron Menzies (1896-1957). The author's writing style allows readers to actually feel the methods Menzies used as he fractured perspective and created specific moods with angles and shadows. Undoubtedly, Menzies was the first and greatest master of film staging, art direction, and what is now known as production design. From his first great triumph in The Thief of Bagdad (1925) to Around the World in 80 Days (1956), he spent nearly every waking hour designing settings and sketching out every camera angle for every shot. When we hear of storyboards, we have this man to thank for inventing them. Having a sketch showing exactly what was needed saved hours of time and materials. Some directors, such as Sam Wood, relied entirely on Menzies' work. Together, they produced wonderful films until Wood dissolved their partnership over politics during the 1950s. Curtis provides wonderful sections about his subject's groundbreaking work on Our Town (1940) and an extended chapter devoted to Gone with the Wind (1939). Working for David Selznick on that picture was one of the most difficult assignments, as the producer was wont to micromanage, changing schedules, calling meetings, and then arriving late. Menzies was a significant part of the history of filmmaking, from silent films to sound pictures, the advents of color, 3D, and Cinerama. At the birth of TV, he worked on Halls of Ivy with Ronald Colman. While he was vital to the movie industry, with the exception of the first Oscar awarded for art direction, plaudits and applause were limited to those few who understood his contributions. Fortunately, Curtis fills in all the missing pieces. While it can get bogged down in the minutiae of camera angles, set details, and the tedium of production, this is an illuminating, long-overdue book about the man who taught the world how to make a good film.
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November 1, 2015
At the 1940 Academy Awards, William Cameron Menzies (18961957) was awarded a special Oscar for the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood for his work in Gone with the Wind because neither the title nor the category of production design yet existed. In this essential read for film buffs, Curtis (Spencer Tracy, 2011) offers an extensive history of the man who defined and revolutionized the field of film production design. A WWI veteran with an eye for German expressionism and architectural angles, Menzies is credited with developing a new visual language for cinema that served narrative clarity and capitalized on depth of field. Menzies' life charted a fascinating path through cinema history as the designer's career moved through silent film to sound, from black-and-white to color, and intersected with collaborators as varied as Douglas Fairbanks, D. W. Griffith, Gary Cooper, and Alfred Hitchcock. In a comprehensive volume richly illustrated with storyboards and full of entertaining oral histories, Curtis explores the largely unknown story of the artist who defined the aesthetics of Hollywood in more than 120 productions throughout four decades.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
Starred review from October 1, 2015
William Cameron Menzies's groundbreaking set designs for the 1924 film The Thief of Bagdad ensured his services as an art director would be in high demand. His work over the following 30 years, although not as publicly spectacular, was no less revolutionary. Working as a consultant and, quite literally, the first-ever production designer in Hollywood, his design, composition, and planning techniques quietly and permanently changed the art of filmmaking. Curtis (Spencer Tracy: A Biography; W.C. Fields: A Biography) admirably rises to the challenges of chronicling Menzies's career; crisp pacing and tight chronology keep the ever-shifting cast of producers, directors, and actors from becoming overwhelming, and he makes the impact of the designer's innovations accessible to the layperson through well-chosen visuals rather than technical explanations. Readers will come away with a new understanding of the work that goes into moviemaking before the camera begins to roll. VERDICT An important and informative biography that, like its subject, breaks new ground in its field. Essential for film historians and highly recommended for fans of performing arts biographies.[See Prepub Alert, 5/11/15.]--Neil Derksen, Pierce Cty. Lib. Syst., Tacoma
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 1, 2015
Hollywood films wouldn't be what they are today without William Cameron Menzies, who won the first ever Academy Award for Art Direction for two pictures jointly (The Dove and The Tempest). From Curtis (e.g., Spencer Tracy); coinciding with retrospectives in New York and Los Angeles, on Turner Movie Classics, and more.
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 1, 2015
William Cameron Menzies's groundbreaking set designs for the 1924 film The Thief of Bagdad ensured his services as an art director would be in high demand. His work over the following 30 years, although not as publicly spectacular, was no less revolutionary. Working as a consultant and, quite literally, the first-ever production designer in Hollywood, his design, composition, and planning techniques quietly and permanently changed the art of filmmaking. Curtis (Spencer Tracy: A Biography; W.C. Fields: A Biography) admirably rises to the challenges of chronicling Menzies's career; crisp pacing and tight chronology keep the ever-shifting cast of producers, directors, and actors from becoming overwhelming, and he makes the impact of the designer's innovations accessible to the layperson through well-chosen visuals rather than technical explanations. Readers will come away with a new understanding of the work that goes into moviemaking before the camera begins to roll. VERDICT An important and informative biography that, like its subject, breaks new ground in its field. Essential for film historians and highly recommended for fans of performing arts biographies.[See Prepub Alert, 5/11/15.]--Neil Derksen, Pierce Cty. Lib. Syst., Tacoma
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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