Screen Debuts and Last Hurrahs: The Stylish World of Cedric Gibbons

My mind was racing as this blog-a-thon topic was announced. So many to choose from! We all have a list of favorite actors, actresses, and directors from the golden era. I decided to mix it up and write what brings me much joy; the art directors. I always mention them, as production design is something I worked in and is still a passion of mine. So what better than to write about the art director of all art directors. The man behind the team that shaped our favorite films, influenced design that went way beyond the set, and became iconic in film history. This is Cedric Gibbons' first and last film. 

I have blogged about Gibbons before, as he was the head of art direction at MGM during MGM's heyday. Cedric's father was an architect and after studying art, he followed his father's footsteps and worked as a draftsman before getting his first art job with Edison Studios before Edison sold the company in 1918.

Gibbons served in WWI, then got a job with Goldwyn Studios, which later formed into MGM in 1924. Gibbons' knowledge of architecture and design was useful when 1925's Ben Hur was being filmed under Irving Thalberg, and he proposed the use of the "up and coming" wave that is art deco. 

  

From there he would work for MGM until his retirement in 1956. He earned 11 Academy Awards and 37 nominations, although many awards were more or less for members in the art department rather than his individual work on each film, which was 1,500 by the end of his career. His early contract stated that any film released by the studio would have his name attached. But without his work, MGM would not have been such a powerhouse, and film would not have been as spectacular without Gibbons' eye for design. Some of the many well known films with his work (and his equally stellar set director Edwin B. Willis)  are The Patsy, Grand Hotel, When Ladies Meet, The Great Ziegfeld, The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, The Women, The Thin Man films, High Society, the list could go on. 

But where it all started was with a silent film ...

The first film for Gibbons was 1918's The Unwritten Code. Directed by Bernard J. Durning, who also co- wrote the film. It follows a love triangle between Japanese Kiku-San, played by Durning's then wife, not Japanese Shirley Mason. Also on board are Dick Tower, played by Matt Moore, and Margaret, played by Ormi Hawley. Kiku-San plays the heroine and is in love with Tower. As a result of her drunk father running up a hefty bill at the geisha house, she is willingly given up as payment. Tower tries to rescue her, but in doing so is looked down upon by his peers. He starts canoodling with Margaret. Kiku-San sees the distress she is causing Tower, and his affections for Margaret. She lets her love go so that he can find happiness while she sacrifices her own.

           

  

                

     

Also featuring Frank O'Connor as Tower's not so loyal friend, and Japanese actor T. Tamamoto as Kiru-San's irresponsible father, this is one of the last films shot by Edison's production company. Before completion, the film had several working titles including Aliens, and The Wall Invisible.  

Gibbons' design is a work in progress, his signature grandiose sets are not yet present, but the scenes are beautiful, with paper shades, draping flowers, traditional Japanese rooms, and clean, straight lines. His use of art deco might not have come through in this film, as it was before the 1920s, and the storyline and location would make it out of place. 

Fast forward four decades; a great depression, several wars, new presidents, the invention of talkies, and Cedric Gibbons is still showing his talent at MGM. He even designed the Oscar statuette! His final film was 1956's The Opposite Sex, which comes full circle as it is a remake that showcased some of Gibbon's best work, 1939's The Women.

If you have not seen The Women, you should, it's one of the best. The Opposite Sex follows a very parallel storyline. Directed by David Miller, even some characters have the same names as the original. While it is a good film, it does not come close in comparison. There is the famous slap scene, but Joan Crawford even was quoted as saying the original "towered over the remake".  The players are June Allison, Joan Collins, Joan Blondell, Ann Miller, Ann Sheridan, and Charlotte Greenwood in her last film. But this time there are men on screen, mainly Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Richards, and Bill Goodwin, while Harry James plays himself.

In The Women, it was the heyday of the 1930s style. Gibbons displayed art deco sets with vaulted ceilings, and curved staircases. He and Edwin B. Willis' signature East Coast cottage home makes up the lead character's, with the maid's kitchen displaying all that is needed to host a fabulous luncheon, and lets not forget the infamous clear bathtub! In The Opposite Sex, the sets are now in color. Bright backdrops, filmed in Metrocolor, with smartly decorated sets of blues, greens, and pinks. It's the 1950s now, so many sets have muted greys paired with peach and cornflower blue which was very "in" thanks to Gibbons and his team. Add glamorous gowns by Helen Rose and it's candy to the eyes. The style had changed, but Gibbons' eye is still present.

 

     

   

   

   

   

    

What makes Cedric Gibbons my favorite is that he had such an eye. I am a huge fan of art deco, and Gibbons showed it well. Some films may have looked over the top, or maybe a bit unrealistic. But Gibbons always had a vision. Imagine if Dorothy followed a brick road that wasn't yellow, or Scarlett O'Hara lived without the grand rooms of Tara. Gibbons helped make MGM what it was, the king of studios, and someone had to show them how it was done. Gibbons is quoted as saying, "When I find things I like I see no reason to change them." Agreed, Cedric, agreed.