I had a few hiccups with the first part of my Cosgrove "GWTW" tribute post, though now I can continue I hope. There are so many wonderful effects shots in "GWTW" that it will take several postings to cover all that I want to - which is a fair bit.
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above - Cosgrove with the then state of the art high luminance process projection system
Jack Cosgrove had input into "GWTW" as far back as 1936 during production on several Selznick films such as "THE GARDEN OF ALLAH" and "THE PRISONER OF ZENDA" when David O'Selznick first acquired the initial galleys or publishers proofs of Margaret Mitchells' as yet unpublished epic novel. Selznick saw immediate potential in the near 1000 pages to initiate design sketches by art director Lyle Wheeler - pictured below with Selznick and preproduction paintings upon which Cosgrove would design his numerous trick shots. The master production designer William Cameron Menzies was brought on board and together with Wheeler and production illustrators Dorothy Holt, J.MacMillan Johnson and Wilber Kurtz laid out the entire look of the picture in watercolours. A significant number of these wonderful artifacts apparently still survive in the University of Texas as part of a large Selznick bequest.
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Selznick was so appreciative of the infinite creative powers of both Menzies and Cosgrove he did the unthinkable - granting them a far larger and more prominent credit title card than had ever been granted before. Not only did these two gentlemen get a single two name card rather than get lost in the shuffle as was normally the case, Selznick granted Menzies title two thirds the size of his own title card, with Cosgroves' credit slightly smaller. The card stayed on the screen a full six seconds - the same length as Selznicks' very own "produced by David O'Selznick" card and twice as long as the writer (Sidney Howard) and composer (the great Max Steiner) cards!! again unthinkable in the film world at that time - and for a very long period thereafter.
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According to Slifer in American Cinematographer, they soon tired of technicolours' dictate on how and when their equipment would be used and often did their own windbacks in the matte dept darkroom to save valuable time.
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A soft split just above Scarlets' head seperates Menzies set from Cosgroves' wall & ceiling. |
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A rare job sheet from Cosgroves' matte dept detailing progress and descriptions on some 46 of the many more mattes and composites.
Matte shots, or 'Cosgrove shots' as they were known extended beyond the lush views of Tara and Civil War destruction. A great many subtle painted set extensions such as ceilings, walls, columns and foliage were often added by the matte painter to disguise the largely 'backlot' origins of "GWTW". Kudos should go to Cosgroves' painting team of Fitch Fulton, Albert Maxwell Simpson, Jack Shaw and Byron Crabbe (who sadly passed away early on in the production)
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above - Amateur historian and key conceptual artist Wilbur Kurtz with one of the large oil pre-production paintings executed for GWTW. |
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The wrap party - left: Jack Cosgrove, middle: assistant director Ridgeway Callow and right: William Cameron Menzies all justifiably proud of their contributions to 'the biggest film of all time'. |
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Ceiling and upper part of the walls in all painted in invisibly - very common trick to conceal lights and rigging in pictures for 40 odd years. |
I realize I'm a little late to the party, but thank you for this!
ReplyDeleteA terrific post, for which thanks.
ReplyDeleteWho's the portrait over the fireplace?
ReplyDeleteI literally can't see any of the lines where the paintings begin. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteAs best I'm aware, the mattes were pretty much all done on original negative using soft blends. A major feat considering it was all 3-strip Technicolor with three negs running through the camera at the same time.
DeleteReally fine work, with some shots having up to 5 separate elements combined in camera.
Pete