MATTE & EFFECTS FILMS CELEBRATED: Part Eleven

Hello there enthusiasts of old school matte painting and miniature motion picture wizardry.  It's been a while since I posted one of these enormous retrospectives.  When I finish one I usually say to myself that's 'quite enough', and I don't even want to contemplate attacking another one - at least for a while.  After a month or two the ole' matte-shot mind starts to tick over and recall flicks or shots "that would surely make a bloody interesting article some day", and, give it a few weeks, I generally find my neurons concentrating (against my will it seems, like some sort of vfx demonic possession!) almost 100% on yet another godammned mammoth retrospective, despite what my better judgement might otherwise strongly advise.  These things do exhaust moi you know.  I know my long suffering wife of 42 years would love it if I found other avenues to explore - like getting out of the house and doing 'stuff'.  Wives.... ya' can't live with 'em, ya' can't live without 'em.  I can state that safely as the last thing she'd ever do would be to actually read one of these things!!  :(

Anyway, on to business.  Man, have I got some great stuff here today.  As usual there's the mix and match of films we know and a hell of a lot of films I can be sure nobody remembers - or cares to remember that I feel obligated in 'throwing in' for fun.  From the bona-fide big budgeted cinematic classics all the way through to the sub-B grade quickies that, while being as far removed from big Hollywood Boulevard star studded previews, still have some charm and sometimes quite creative technical work on a nickels and dimes budget.

We've got a big, sprawling epic western with jaw dropping never before seen Whitlock original painted mattes; not one but a pair of Jules Verne inspired sci-fi archeological adventures; an exciting UK made covert operatives WWII picture; a couple of lush MGM musicals;  an excellent and ultimately shocking Japanese wartime drama;  some sadistic 50's film-noir; a saucy British period comedy; a couple of tributes to a pair of artists from vastly different era's;  some more long forgotten Yuricich original matte paintings, and more....!

So, if that isn't enough of an incentive then I don't know what is.  So sit back in your comfy chair, throw that friggen cell phone out the window, and enjoy these marvellous mattes on a decent sized PC or monitor (so many are high rez, so it's really essential) ....

Enjoy, and I look forward to your feedback...

Pete

Three valid reasons why we all love the artform and need to celebrate it.

***This vast and utterly exhaustive post, and all 189 previous blog posts known as 'Matte Shot', were originally created by Peter Cook for nzpetesmatteshot, with all content, layout and text originally published at http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/ 

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NZ PETE'S HALL OF FAME MATTE SHOT: Part Six

In my ongoing series of most standout matte shots, the NZ Pete's Matte Shot Nominations Committee (ie, me) have unanimously selected this wonderful matte that Mark Sullivan rendered for GHOSTBUSTERS 2 (1989). I'd strongly recommend the extensive and very open career piece I conducted with Mark back around 2013:  read it here  

Mark's large oil painted urban setting, rendered on glass, was one of many assignments he was involved with while at ILM in it's final days of utilising hand painted methods before the traditional matte department was wound up and everything went the way of digital.

Mark's jaw-dropping matte art once composited with street level live action and other additional balcony character elements.  I'm personally very enthusiastic when I see 'extreme' perspectives in painted mattes, and really can't get enough of them.  

A revealing look at an earlier camera test stage in Mark's painting where the bulk of the main building has been largely finished, but a great deal of adjoining architecture and street frontages are not yet complete.

A close up of the unfinished portion where Mark's perspective lines are mapped out.  As an aside, Matthew Yuricich said that when at MGM in the 1950's they had a specialist draftsman, Bill Meyer, in the Newcombe department who's job it was was to 'draw out' the outlines and perspective details on the architectural mattes before the matte artist started work
, thus saving a great deal of time and sometimes difficulty in figuring out the correct lines of perspective etc.  Yuricich said it was of enormous help, though, I digress...

More as yet unfinished Sullivan art.  Sadly, the painting sometime later was dropped and shattered into a hundred shards of glass.  :(

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THE WAY WEST (1967):  An all star, beautifully photographed epic of the pioneer spirit.

Much maligned by critics, but I've always quite enjoyed THE WAY WEST (1967) and found it to my liking, though I've always enjoyed westerns.  Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen - the son of old time actor Victor McLaglen - knew a thing or two about making westerns.  Andrew made a number of memorable John Wayne pictures and some great 70's shows like the exciting NORTH SEA HIJACK (1979) with Roger Moore, and a particular fave of mine, the tremendous THE WILD GEESE (1978) with Richard Burton and Richard Harris.  Great stuff!

Director McLaglen liked to utilise the services of Al Whitlock, and said as much on one of the DVD commentaries of one of the John Wayne films, and really valued what Whitlock brought to his films.

Master effects artist Albert Whitlock, shown at top left lining up a matte live action shot with his long time Universal key grip Larry Shuler.  Though Albert was a contracted Universal Studios employee his expertise was acknowleged industry wide and his services frequently sought by other studios and producers, often uncredited.  He was known as "Universal's secret weapon".  THE WAY WEST was a United Artists release.

The success of Al's matte and effects work during his Universal career was due, in quite a large part, to the technical expertise of veteran photographic effects cinematographer Ross Hoffman and his assistant Mike Moramarco.  Mike was with Whitlock for many years - all through the 1960's and well into the 1980's.  Hoffman began his epic career at the studio back in 1924 as an assistant cameraman and a couple of years later as effects camera assistant to Jerome Ash for the multiple exposure trick work on the early two-colour Technicolor KING OF JAZZ (1930).  He would work extensively with new head of technical effects, John P. Fulton on THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933) in the optical department, and would become what was known as First Cameraman in the Special Effects Department in 1943 specialising in matte photography-compositing and travelling matte opticals.  Ross worked on pretty much every Universal picture up until his final film, EARTHQUAKE (1974).  He died in 2001, and I believe left a healthy bequest to the ASC.  I wish he had been interviewed at some point, but I've never found a thing!

The movie is loaded with wonderful matte shots, with this amazing storm sequence occuring early on in the piece.  Here are before and afters from Whitlock's showreels.

Frame #1  Toggle through these to appreciate the wonders of Whitlock.

Frame #2  One of Al's best ever skies, and the man was a genius when it came to clouds and sky.

Frame #3  I have very rare photos of the other matte art used in THE WAY WEST, but unfortunately, not this one.  Stay tuned to be stunned...

Frame #4  The tried and true Whitlock method of splitting the painted sky into horizontal bands with soft masking, and animating a subtle right to left 'drift' in layers, with the near most moving marginally quicker than the mid-range, while the distant bank stays mostly stationary, created a remarkable quality of depth and 'distance' that no other effects exponent had ever achieved until Al's Universal days.  Note the cel animated lightning bolt, in addition to inner flash detectable within part of the cloud base and light rainfall overlaid.

Frame #5  I do hope the reader is toggling this selection.  If not, why the hell not?  I do it for you....YES, you!!

Frame #6  And key to it all was Albert's absolute belief it doing the whole effects gag as an original negative shot for absolute maximum quality, often involved precise multiple exposures on the same roll of negative - again, a method barely ever employed at the time by other matte exponents, and in fact shunned totally by some studios!!

A particularly majestic Whitlock shot as the pioneers trek across the vast open expanse to hopefully reach Oregon.  Looking at the film again, I'd assume that the 'lap dissolves' that occur in some instances linking different sequences involving matte shots, were probably done 'in-house' by Whitlock's own cameraman from the raw matte stand takes, as the transitions are remarkably smooth and don't exhibit the often seen optical artifacts that so often plague 'dissolves' when these are done at a much later post production stage, where dupe printing comes into it.  I know from talking with the late Bill Taylor that Albert was extremely pissed off when his beautifully original negative crafted tornado effect and matte painting for THE LEARNING TREE (1969) was later 'duped' by Warner Bros for the main titles overlay, when this could have been easily achieved in Whitlock's department as a bi-pack on his first generation matte footage.... though, I digress.

Before Bill Taylor closed up the old Universal matte department and handed in the keys, around 1984/5, he had the foresight to photograph all of the remaining mattes that Albert (and Syd) had painted, as those were property of the studio and went into a sizeable archive.  *I am thrilled to be able to demonstrate a number of Al's paintings from this film, and for that I must thank my friend and dedicated AW archivist, Tom Higginson.  I am most grateful, as will be the reader, I'm sure.

Al's 'thing', for want of a better term, was his sense of light and natural phenomena.  He was happy to state that on many occasions, he wasn't concerned so much with 'the object' within the matte, but mostly the feeling of atmosphere and especially the gradual fading and receding light.  Here, his choice of pallet for his sky was simple but extremely effective, and made for a wonderful final scene.

A split screen painted shot that most viewers missed.  Al painted in the top half, running his soft matte straight across the frame just above the wagon tops, presumably to replace an unsuitable landscape or time period.

Another lovely matte shot, sold perfectly by the sky and cloud arrangement.  See below...

Albert's original painting.  **As an aside, I must point out just how beautifully photographed THE WAY WEST was.  One of the greats of western cinema, William H. Clothier was director of photography and had worked on about 100 movies, with a vast number being westerns and was one of John Wayne's favourite cameramen.  Clothier was even an assistant cameraman on KING KONG (1933).  Unlike todays annoying cameraman's habits of shooting in near pitch black darkness where we can't see a fucken' thing, or in total sillhouette, Clothier at least knew how to light and compose a scene, especially in wide-screen Scope.

Another striking before and after, where Whitlock has created an entirely new vista, complete with moving waterfall, where there was none before.

Totally undetectable camera trickery here folks!

You asked for it (well, didn't you?)  Al's amazingly realistic landscape, sky and waterfall.  

The 'painted' falls were augmented via some form of animated 'gag' - possibly through a moving device at the back of the painting, creating a simulated 'flow' type effect - visible through subtle areas of carefully scraped away painted 'water'.  Ross Hoffman would have had his hand in this.

Although poor resolution, the before and after frames for the mammoth canyon scene show the location (top) and the matted out area which leaves a piece of actual cliff face still visible for the perilous live action (middle), and the final composite (bottom).  See below for really spectacular images...  ;)

Whoa!  Breathtaking doesn't begin to desribe it!  A completely invisible shot that is only suspect by the visible matte line running across the sky at upper left, though this was never evident in theatrical prints, tv, video or even DVD.  BluRay does sometimes give the game away, and I'm sure 4K is an fx man's worst enemy.  

Albert's matte art as it was immortalised on SLR 35mm film years after the fact.  Note the odd composition, though it was essential to allow the slice of actual location cliff face to be matted in in the middle blacked out area, as the film's characters are lowered down to the canyon on ropes and pulleys (spoiler: not everyone makes it!)

Detail from the left side shows just what I was stating about Albert's receding light and 'atmosphere', over and above actual objective considerations.

It was all about the effect of light upon the objects, and not the objects themselves.  Whitlock's mantra.  The work was surprisingly loose and impressionistic.

The final matte shot is also the end shot of the flick.  Again, Whitlock has divided the sky into softly split bands and 'drifted' the painted clouds across from right to left.  It's an intriguing shot whereby after much replay I suspect the matte line between location and painting runs pretty much across the far top edge of the river and then curves up and into the sky, over tops of the (real) trees at left.  I say this because Whitlock's painted moving cloud base strangely 'merges into' and vanishes 'behind' what appears to be real cloud just above the tree tops.  For matte nerds like me, this was most curious.   

A production still taken shows an absence of snow capped mountains, which of course, Albert added in.

*Oh, and as a bizarre aside, I forgot to mention that The Flying Nun herself, a young Sally Field, played a sex-starved virgin nymphet(!), desperate to 'get it on'.  Well, I suppose they had them back in 1843??

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FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959):  A compelling and arresting anti-war drama from Japan

I watch a lot of foreign language films and have found some excellent Japanese cinema.  I never really cared for the Nippon monsters-stomping-Tokyo genre as you've seen one, you've seen 'em all.  FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959) was a brilliantly acted and directed, and, eventually deeply disturbing anti-war drama set in The Philippines around 1943.

I was surprised to see the film had a number of matte shots in it, and very good they were too.  The ridge, mountains, clouds and rising smoke have been matted in.

Not certain but I think the upper jungle foliage might well have been matted in.  I assume the film was shot in The Philippines.

The lone Japanese soldier - exiled from his unit due to illness - approaches a deserted village deep in the jungle when he spots a church steeple above the palms.  A quite beautiful matte shot, and in widescreen Daieiscope no less.

The tall church steeple and cross illuminate as the sun crosses it, leading to the village. What appears to be a full frame painting with animated 'sparkle'.  Nice sky work.

The young Filipino couple return to the village, unaware of the fate that awaits them.  A lovely matte shot, and again, with a terrific sky.  I have no idea who painted the shots.

Moody night sky with real foreground trees.

More painted sky and clouds, much like a similar Japanese film I featured recently, THE BURMESE HARP.

The last matte shot in the film, with distant valley, mountains and rising smoke all rendered by an unknown artist.  The rising smoke is, in itself, a terrifying footnote to this superb film.  

FIRES ON THE PLAIN - I highly recommend it.

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LILI (1953) - A lush and enchanting Technicolor musical from MGM.

When it came to elaborate Technicolor musical extravaganzas, MGM held all the cards.  LILI (1953) was a rather delightful little film with the equally delightful French actress Leslie Caron stealing every scene.

Did I mention Leslie Caron was delightful?  What.... I didn't? .... Well she was!

The mythical town as shown as a Newcombe shot contrived on one of the Metro backlots. Everything above the ground floor level (first floor to Americans for some odd reason), was painted in.

Brother, could Leslie hoof it up. Athletic and then some...!

Upview inside the circus tent where practically all of the trapeze ladder and high wire rig has been added in by one of Warren Newcombe's artists.

Almost entirely painted French countryside with only Lili and part of the road being genuine, with all else being added artwork.

Not matte work but a splendid example of the remarkable production design and extensive cyclorama utilised for a key dance sequence.  Reminded me of the classic Yellow Brick Road. Very much MGM and probably the work of longtime scenic backing virtuoso George Gibson.

The film ends with a vast camera move as Lili runs down the road toward the town. Again, the shot was almost entirely painted, with only the narrow strip of road being actual.

The tilt up move continues...

The upper most part of the continuous shot.  All painted.

The shot was likely made on MGM's Dupy Duplicator  -an early forerunner of programmable camera moves of later decades.  Paramount had a similar device, though didn't utilise it very much.

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HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951) - A tough, sharply scripted film-noir with both wit and mattes.

I'm fond of hard-nosed film-noir flicks - a genre long gone - and this RKO flick was really a one of a kind.  A questionably flawed anti-hero in Robert Mitchum who gets the shit kicked out of him more times than I could count; a slinky femme fatale in Jane Russell who is forever falling out of her dress. Sadistic torture at the hands of perennial screen heavy, an especially nasty Raymond Burr.  Bizarre comic relief from a camp Vincent Price who thinks he's Douglas Fairbanks, and all to the tune of non-stop rapid fire Chandler-esque dialogue exchanges - some of the sharpest since MURDER MY SWEET / FAREWELL MY LOVELY - that would make even Mickey Spillane and Humphrey Bogart smile!!

Released in 1951, I'd never even heard of the film till I stumbled across it by accident, and didn't regret it for a minute. No effects credit but the three or so excellent mattes would have been overseen by Russell Cully who took over the RKO Camera Effects Department upon Vernon Walker's sudden death in the late 1940's.  Linwood Dunn would also have had a hand in the matte effects.

The great Robert Mitchum - an actor's actor who could do no wrong.  Odd, considering Bob never thought of himself of having any particular talent and believed that what he succeeded in was 90% luck and about 10% talent.  Incredible, given his phenomenal body of work!  Speaking of phenomenal 'bodies', Jane Russell was of course the 'squeeze' of billionaire producer Howard Hughes, who was as eccentric as they come, and then some!

I constantly harp on about my affection for character actors - especially from the old school - and HIS KIND OF WOMAN has a few, like Mister Magoo himself, Jim Backus. The most notable however was the quintessential screen heavy, Raymond Burr who made a career out of portraying nasty sons-of-bitches in a ton of movies, with Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW being unforgettable for one.  Any time I spot Burr's name in the titles I just know he's going to be a bastard with no redeeming values.  Of course it would be many years later that Raymond found new fame as a screen good guy (which must have been a stretch for the thespian) as TV's PERRY MASON and later IRONSIDE, and, as they say, a fresh career was born.  I couldn't do this article without including one of the most monumental cheesecake portraits of any Hollywood actress ever to cross a publicists desk - this one of the delicious Jane Russell in THE OUTLAW, made a few years earlier. Jane... we love 'ya baby. 

Frame #1:  The flick was largely set in some luxury beach resort in Mexico, with several views provided by RKO's effects guys.  This scene was interesting.  We get a great POV shot from Mitchum's plane as it comes in to land, descending through the clouds and over a ridge.  

Frame #2:  The shot was a very complex multi-element photographic effect, with substantial matte painted Mexican locale, live ocean plate, layers of cloud elements, and to top it off a gradual perspective shift over the foreground mountain ridge.  Very nice work.

Frame #3:  The Club Med Mexico before the drug cartels became endemic in that country.

Frame #4:  The ocean was probably a pair of rear projected plates for both beaches introduced into what I presume to be a very large glass painting.  The foreground ridge was either a separately painted element or perhaps a model, though the added dimension contributed much to the memorable scene.

Another excellent matte shot, painted hotel, beach and hills, real people, 2nd unit waves and all augmented with bi-pack swaying palm elements added in the foreground (though slightly translucent).  I don't know who painted the shots but I'd hazard a guess at Albert Maxwell Simpson who was with RKO for many years and did an awful lot of matte work for Linwood Dunn.  I have a tribute piece on Mr Simpson later on in this very blog post, so don't say I don't go that extra mile you ungrateful S.O.B's  ;)

The final superb matte composite in the movie, as a battered and bruised Bob Mitchum takes the embodiment of raw sensuality, Jane Russell for a moonlit stroll.  Love that sky!

The flick also had a few interesting transitions that had me scratching my head.  A couple of scenes where substantial process projected beach scenes have the camera track with actors across and 'off' the process part of the set and on into a different set, all seamlessly done.  I presume the rear projection screen(s) were concealed behind palm trunks or similar. 20th Century Fox were also very clever with things like that.

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THE AMOROUS ADVENTURES OF MOLL FLANDERS (1965) - An all star 'roll-in-the-hay'.

Made around the time of the super-hit TOM JONES, this once controversial romp was quite a lavish affair, though it baffles me that the original novel was penned by Daniel Defoe, who wrote one of my all time favourite books, Robinson Crusoe (!!)

Shepperton Studios resident matte artist Gerald Larn works on a key elegant ballroom matte painting in mid 1964 for MOLL FLANDERS.  Gerald told me that his fellow painter Peter Melrose actually started this matte but when taken ill and with deadlines looming, Wally Veevers had Gerald carry on and finish the matte.

The final composite in glorious Panavision.

Two more views of Gerald Larn at work in the large matte painting studio at Shepperton in 1964.  Gerald was recruited by veteran artist Bob Cuff as he was moving on to a partnership with Les Bowie and Ray Caple elsewhere.  Some of the mattes seen on the wall here include THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, ALEXANDER THE GREAT and THE BEST HOUSE IN LONDON.  Gerald contributed to scores of films between 1964 and 1975, from which point the studio shut down most departments and went, what he called, '4 wall' - ie, you rent the stages and hire in your own technicians etc.  Gerald passed away quite recently.

The other matte shot in MOLL FLANDERS was this night shot where the establishing view of period London and the ships docked were a substantial matte painting.  Just the water and a small piece of dock are real.  Sadly, the 'plate' looks incredibly washed out and murky, presumably a dupe as that was the standard method under Wally Veevers - the Technicolor type-8 separations I think I recall Larn telling me.  Peter Harman and his assistant John Grant were matte cameramen.  Other artists in the department at the time were Bryan Evans, Ron Dobson and Doug Ferris.

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ALBERT MAXWELL SIMPSON - One of the lesser known originals of matte artistry.

What follows is a small photo tribute to one of the busiest and probably least known exponents in the business of matte painting, Albert Maxwell Simpson.  Born in 1893, Al entered the entertainment industry in the 1910's as one of many artists specialising in painting large backdrops on the vaudeville circuit. Around 1914 Simpson got a job in early silent cinema and became involved in the still revolutionary glass shot process, which at the time was becoming popular with many film makers as a means of expanding scenarios and opening up horizons as to what could be possible in telling a story.

Al painted glass shots for D.W Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION (1914) as well as a number of silent pictures.  Simpson would eventually join Radio Pictures (which would become RKO later) and would remain there for many years.  Among the films Al painted on were the original Willis O'Brien classic KING KONG (1933) and scores of films such as THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1940), THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE (1945) and many others.  For a period in the late thirties, Albert was hired by his friend Jack Cosgrove to paint on several high profile Selznick International pictures such as THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937), GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), REBECCA (1940) and others. 

Simpson was highly praised by fellow matte exponents such as Jack Cosgrove and Matthew Yuricich for his exacting technique. Yuricich said that Al was regarded as a sort of a "pitch hitter" - that being the guy they call when difficulties arise in making a matte shot work. Long time vfx cameraman Clarence Slifer said that Al saved many a shot through his skill at blending the 'real' with the 'painted', through painstaking care.  Even decades later, Clarence continued to praise Al's ability.

As longtime president of the matte artists and illustrators union, Albert passed away in 1980 and I've never been able to pin down a photo of Simpson, so if any next of kin catch this, I'd be keen to learn more.

Here are a selection of mattes from films Simpson worked on:

Simpson worked on some grand mattes for the Selznick picture PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937) - arguably the best of the numerous Zenda versions and a film sorely needed on BluRay in a restored edition.

Albert was instrumental in the success of many of the complex Technicolor matte shots on the epic GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) where his skills at carefully blending and marrying together painted renderings with live action plates proved invaluable.  Here we have a classic soft blended matte, made all the more tricky being done as latent image on 3-strip Technicolor.  Simpson was one of a band of matte painters on GWTW, with Jack Cosgrove in charge, and fellow artists Fitch Fulton and Jack Shaw working around the clock to complete the huge number of shots.

Also from GONE WITH THE WIND is this example which, although appearing strait forward was in fact one of the most difficult shots to pull off.  The majority of the scene from just above the doorway is a Simpson matte painting, and problems arose when shooting the live action as the constantly shifting late afternoon sun wrapped around the (actual) fluted columns proved very problematic to match to the painted columns as the shadows kept extending.  Many tests, adjustments, touch ups and re-tests (some 46 tests) were carried out by Simpson and effects cameraman Clarence Slifer, until the blend was invisible and the match perfect.  Selznick demanded perfection.

A revealing before and after from the RKO war drama SEVEN DAY'S LEAVE (1942) where only the trees are genuine and all else created on the matte stand.  I can't say for sure Simpson painted the shot but he was very active at RKO all through the 1930's and up until the fifties, so it's a safe bet.

Interesting shot, from the film OUTRAGE (1950), with the actual RKO studio entrance gate forming the live action plate.  This gateway was used in other mattes too.

Technicolor matte with painted sailing boat and headland from THE SPANISH MAIN (1945).

One of a quantity of excellent mattes that Simpson painted for the old SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1940) which saw RKO effects boss Vernon L. Walker get an Academy Award nomination that year for this film's mattes and miniatures.

A sensational SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON jungle matte composite.  Look closely at the design and way the forest is illuminated and one can see similarities with the much earlier KING KONG (1933) which Simpson reportedly, also helped out on.  Please someone, release a high def BluRay of SWISS FAMILY.  Pete would reallllly appreciate it.  :)

A classic, lyrical matte painted scene from THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER (aka ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY) (1941).  This beautiful shot was recycled later in a few other RKO pictures such as DESPERATE (1947).

A fully painted San Francisco street and city from I REMEMBER MAMA (1947).  There is a small rear projected element of a streetcar crossing the intersection in the distance.

Alfred Hitchcock did dabble once in a while in comedy, and in fact some of his darkest films had his funniest bits (I'm thinking FRENZY for one).  This shot is from MR AND MRS SMITH (1941) and we see an entirely painted vista.  It's been ages since I saw it so I can't recall if the 'people' were 'real'?

Four Al Simpson shots from some colour productions:  Top left PASSION (1954). Top right is from AT SWORD'S POINT (1952).  Lower left THE WHITE TOWER (1959), and lower right is FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1958).

TARZAN AND THE AMAZONS (1945) was packed with mattes, and I rather liked these two.  The one at right has a group trekking along the top ledge, but if you're looking at this blog on some fucken' piece of techno-crap 'i-phone' then I guess you're shit out of luck in seeing details!  Don't get me started!

Matte art from the very under rated little 'creeper', THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944).

A really nice matte from CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE where half the frame is a sound stage set, with the right half a matte by Al Simpson.  Al's ability at blending are demonstrated here as a class act.

Simpson did a lot of matte work at Selznick International, under master effects men Jack Cosgrove

and Clarence Slifer.  Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant REBECCA (1940) was another collaboration that proved fruitful.  Here, Simpson has extended the interiors with ornate ceilings and architectural improvements, partly to conceal the studio lighting rigging and moreso to lend grandeur.

More examples of Al Simpson's excellent work from REBECCA (1940) which was Oscar nominated for the many matte shots.

Dick Powell was never better than as Philip Marlowe in the fabulous Raymond Chandler adapted MURDER, MY SWEET (1944), which was also released in some markets as FAREWELL MY LOVELY.

A dramatic tilt up matte painted composite from MURDER, MY SWEET - a must see for fans of film-noir.

Fritz Lang's western(!) RANCHO NOTORIOUS (1952) featured a couple of mattes of this valley and homestead at different times of the day.

The terrific WWII picture, BACK TO BATAAN (1945) had some great matte painted work in it, with this church interior being a stunner.  Live action included a woman approach the pews on the right aisle.

A cleverly designed, painted and composited scene from THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE (1945), which was a rather complex matte assembly involving a live action plate of the kids, a painted church and environs, plus some superimposed bi-pack branches etc gently moving to bring it all together. 

Another impressive Simpson matte from THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE.  The film featured several interesting, atmospheric mattes with camera moves, dolly-in's and such, optically combined under Linwood Dunn's and Vernon Walker's supervision . This shot was one such vast 'dolly out' composite, presumably employing a small rear projected plate of Herbert Marshall, et al, and a very large glass painting with a seamless marriage of the two elements for the camera move.  

An epic vista from a regrettably less than epic motion picture, THE CONQUEROR (1956) which starred John Wayne as, yes, Genghis Khan (I kid you not!).  Albert Simpson did though get an on screen credit here for the 3 or 4 mattes in the movie, and managed to secure the occasional credit thereafter on a handful of flicks, including one of the wierdest, wacked out, trippy celluloid experiments I've ever witnessed, DEMENTIA (1955) which was also known as DAUGHTER OF HORROR - a film that defies description and looked as if it were made up as it ran through the projector.....  Hell, I've never done any drugs, but the makers of this flick sure as hell injected some illicit shit...... though, I digress.

Urban jungle painted matte from DANCE, GIRL, DANCE (1940)

An excellent matte shot from the RKO thriller ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951).

Rarely seen before and afters of the Russian port from Blake Edwards' mammoth comedy extravaganza THE GREAT RACE (1965).  The original painting still survives to this day. *Picture courtesy of Jim Aupperle.

Also from THE GREAT RACE is this wonderful New York newspaper office - entirely painted except a small blacked out portion on the window ledge where some edgy antics take place.  Love the perspective here.  I believe this matte still survives as well.

The final shot as it appears in the film.  The matte work was carried out at Linwood Dunn's Film Effects of Hollywood facility, where Simpson and fellow old time artist Cliff Silsby were hired to provide the many mattes the film required.

The Gary Cooper headlined baseball bio-pic on Lou Gehrig, THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) had a lot of Simpson's matte shots in it, and, as a result, was also nominated in the best special effects category that year.

Apparently, Al worked too on MEET JOHN DOE (1941) which oddly was a Warner's film. Perhaps his old boss Jack Cosgrove needed help, as he was supervising the effects?

The dodgy insane asylum in the Boris Karloff film BEDLAM (1946).  The matte was shown as a massive 'zoom in' to the guy hanging on by his fingernails, presumably a rear projected element which RKO often utilised.

Subtlety was the order of the day when it came to matte requirements on the Robert Mitchum western BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948).  The homestead - complete with smoke rising from the chimney - and an extension of an Indian settlement were added in flawlessly.

A spectacular CinemaScope matte shot from Samuel Fuller's CHINA SKY (1957)  - a film well worth catching if you haven't seen it already.  This is an almost full screen painting, with a small slice of live action at the pedestal of the Buddha.  Terrific shot.

Two of the mattes from Orson Welles' THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942) - a film that forever distanced Welles from the 'Hollywood Dream Factory' when the suits at RKO recut and re-envisioned his original concepts, and fucked him over in general, as was not entirely unknown in Hollywood.  Orson was definitely not a happy chappy, and never forgave them!  :(

One of - if not the last - mattes Simpson would have worked on.  This was from the bigger than big, tropical soaper HAWAII (1966).  Another Film Effects of Hollywood assignment, with fellow old time artist Jan Domela also signed on for another matte featuring ships in a harbour.  This film too was nominated for its visual effects that year.

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JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH (1959) - One of NZ Pete's all time favourites

I'll be doing a selection of my personal 'all time favourite effects movies' from time to time, and in no particular order.  First up is a classic I've always loved, JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH (1959), adapted from the wonderful Jules Verne novel by the same name.

There was something quite awesome upon seeing and hearing the monumental Fox logo with that Alfred Newman fanfare - with the occasional CinemaScope tag - at the local cinema.  It generally promised something BIG.

Right from square one, the flick holds our attention with the dark, resonant score from the maestro, Bernard Herrmann.  The original book is great, as was another sensational Jules Verne novel of the era, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND - which remains an all time fave of mine.

One of the first 'names' in special effects for me growing up was L.B Abbott, whose credit frequently appeared on Fox films and tv shows.

So many great sixties tv shows I loved had the trick work of Lenwood Ballard 'Bill' Abbott.  Things like LOST IN SPACE, LAND OF THE GIANTS, THE TIME TUNNEL, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA were all absolute 'must see' shows in my house, and, along with Gerry Anderson's THUNDERBIRDS were staples to be worshipped.  Bill joined the original Fox Studio in 1926 as an assistant in the camera department and gradually became involved in effects photography in the late thirties on huge shows like IN OLD CHICAGO (1938) - one of the finest vfx pictures ever produced.  Abbott worked on scores of pictures under Fred Sersen and later on Ray Kellogg, and would be promoted to director of visual effects photography in 1943. Bill enjoyed an extraordinary career at Fox which spanned several decades, becoming head of the special effects department himself in 1957.

20th Century Fox's long time chief matte painter, Emil Kosa jnr who joined the studio in 1933 in the Fred Sersen photographic effects department, where he too would have a very long career.  Emil's father was also a matte artist at the studio, and both father and son had a period over at MGM in the Newcombe department in the 1940's.  Shown here is Emil being given the Oscar for the matte work in the mega-flop CLEOPATRA (1963) which were in fact painted by several other artists and merely supervised by Kosa - an award that shockingly was denied to Hitchcock's THE BIRDS that same year.... but don't get me started on bloody Oscar injustices!

The other important technical expert responsible for JOURNEY was optical effects cinematographer James B. Gordon. Jim specialised in the blue screen travelling matte composite process at Fox, and as the studio was keen to utilise and exploit it's new CinemaScope wide-screen process more and more, Jim was tasked with adapting standard composite photography methods for the new anamorphic 'stretched' optics.  Among the films Gordon worked extensively on were THE RAINS OF RANCHIPUR and HELL AND HIGH WATER - both being Oscar nominated for their visuals. When work at Fox became somewhat scarce in the early 1960's, Jim formed a partnership with effects legend Linwood Dunn and his associates Cecil Love and Don Weed as Film Effects of Hollywood. Jim and Linwood would provide a huge number of trick shots to IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD and later THE GREAT RACE.

James Mason and teen pop-idol Pat Boone in Iceland - well actually a rather nice large painted backing.  Boone's popularity at the time was so huge that even the enormously experienced and talented Mason was shuffled down to 'second billing'.

The point of view shot looking down into the crater was a full matte painting.  Bill Abbott was very well regarded by his peers in the industry and was generous in having the studio agree to include effects collaborators to the credits where necessary, with both Jim Gordon and Emil Kosa being screen credited here.

Oh, yes...I do like this beautiful full matte painting.  I remember seeing the flick originally on tv in the early 1970's in an awfully cropped 'pan & scan' 16mm TV print, where so much information was lost on either side of the frame.  The 'optical scans', made by Fox for the 'flat' prints were always so bloody distracting.  Naturally, younger readers/viewers will have not the slightest notion as to what the fuck I'm talking about here!  You millenial types are so spoiled!

As seen through the professor's telescope...

Now here's a remarkably clever trick shot that tended to slip by undetected.  Mason and Boone are kidnapped and held in the deserted eiderdown factory.  An actual location with a completely matte painted building, cart and rowboat added in by Emil Kosa, who according to Matt Yuricich was a very prolific and fast painter.

A wonderfully atmospheric matte shot, with layers of moving mist doubled in.

Another superb matte, with the only give-away being the dust trail passing up into the matte line at right.

At a certain time of the year, a strange artifact in the mountain allows a beam of breaking light to pass through....

....with that beam of cel animated sunlight precisely hitting a hidden passage in the matte painted rock wall.  Where will it lead I hear you ask?

The intrepid adventurers make their way down into the bowels of the volcano ... and beyond!  Several different matte artists worked on this film, with vastly different styles evident such as this remarkably loose rendering.  

Hans (with his pet duck!) matted into a configuration of passageways.

James Mason never gave a faulty performance, shown here with the delectable Arlene Dahl in one of Lyle Wheeler's sensational sets.

Millions of tiny glow worms light their way, with some help from the production D.o.P Leo Tover

Dramatic down-view of the group continue on, with most of this shot being painted - including the huge Raiders type boulder which goes full Indy and rolls amok!

This jaw dropping view is my favourite matte shot in JOURNEY.  A glorious and elegant full painting with a very, very tiny insert of Pat Boone on the ledge, accompanied by animation for the chunk of rock falling away into the abyss.  Magnificent shot.

Fox generally had a quite large matte department, though by the time this film was made some of the old hands had departed.  Sersen had retired and his right hand man and accomplished matte artist Ray Kellogg had also moved on.  Matt Yuricich had gone over to MGM - along with Lee LeBlanc and Clarence Slifer.  Jim Fetherolf had possibly gone across to Disney too.  Long time Fox matte artist Menrad von Mulldorfer was there, and had worked on many films going back to the 1930's and did in fact paint some shots on JOURNEY.  Gilbert Riswold and Cliff Silsby were still there I believe.  One of the very early practitioners in all manner of visual effects, including mattes and models at Fox was Ralph Hammeras. Ralph did work on JOURNEY, I understand in the capacity of miniatures cinematographer.  He was an accomplished matte artist too so may have pitched in there?

Split screen shot with matted in cliff wall above real LA beach in Malibu.

Matte painted mushrooms of the non-'Death Cap' variety (*a reference just for Aussie blog readers!), though danger still lurks...  I heard from Matthew Yuricich of the difficulties he had when at Fox, working under Emil Kosa jnr.  By all accounts Emil was a bit of a tyrant and quite harsh on his underlings.  On more than one occasion things got so tense in the matte room between Matthew and Emil
that fists were starting to fly and collars being grasped, and about to 'rumble', until cooler heads prevailed at the last moment.

Bill Abbott's effects crew used real iguana lizards with quite realistic looking rubber 'fins and scales' glued on for the monster sequences, which worked pretty well.  Abbott did a similar thing a few years later on the dreadful Irwin Allen fiasco THE LOST WORLD (1960).

I was always very impressed with the wide shots here, where Abbott has pulled together several different elements into a single, believable shot.  Here we have the Malibu foreshore with the actors, a miniature set built by Herb Cheek, the iguana 'acting' his part, and some matte art to top up the set and also to blend the different plates together.  Really good work.

Miniature sets by Herb Cheek, photographed high-speed by Ralph Hammeras.

Excellent blue screen composite by James B. Gordon.

The lovely Arlene Dahl thought she'd seen more than enough 'lounge lizards' in her day, but this bastard just wouldn't give up!!  Go on, laugh.... that's really quite funny!  ;)

Again, good travelling matte work.

That scaly bastard is on the receiving end of a makeshift arrow and decides to seriously rethink his prehistoric priorities.

Probably the overall finest visual effects shot in the film was this superbly assembled scene.  A very carefully designed and configured set up here by Bill Abbott and Ralph Hammeras, where precise matching of the Malibu live action plate with the studio filmed lizard miniature set.  Matte art finishes the shot by blending the components perfectly. Note the cleverly established split screen 'zig-zag' join.

They couldn't have Pat Boone headline without a song... or three!

The castaways find themselves adrift... at the centre of the earth, no less(!)  Miniature raft in the Sersen tank, with matte painted sky to good effect.

Herb Cheek's miniature raft with puppet figures ends up in a raging whirlpool and storm, manufactured by mechanical effects foreman Frank O'Connor.

A tremendous storm of the century, with excellent sound effects editing as well.

I absolutely have to draw attention to the outstanding process projection sequences for the storm sequence.

I don't know whether Sol Halperin was still active, but Sol was 20th Century Fox's specialist process man for many years.

It was something of a wild ride...

Behind the scenes photos of the process set up for this and a later sequence, with a surprisingly small screen.  Note the stage hands rocking the raft and shell.

Miniature tidal wave.

It worked a treat on screen.

The explorers are washed up in another locale filled with dangers...

Matte painted additions to the Malibu beach location.

James and Arlene have a brief From Here To Eternity moment...

Another excellent matte that I've always liked.

The lost city of Atlantis. I suspect the top as well as the fluted columns have been painted in to hide studio fittings etc.  Note:  There was an absolutely abysmal remake of this in the late 1980's that was an insult to the memory of Jules Verne.

Just when they thought it was safe ...!

Suddenly a volcano makes life a little less comfortable, folowed by an earthquake, and that bloody red monster!  They say bad luck comes in 'three's'.  Miniature set built on platforms supported by springs, and shaken apart with electric motors. Model action rear projected behind the actors. 

The volcanic top on the surface of the Earth.  A sensational matte painted shot split screened with what seems to be waves created in the Sersen tank.  A small fire element was doubled in as well.

The last effects shot is this marvellous and expertly composited scene where the soft blend between the painted volcano and the foreground live action is totally invisible.  Very well done.  The movie was nominated for three Oscars; art direction, sound and special visual effects.  All up, a perfect old school fantasy adventure I've always loved, that still entertains and thrills me after countless viewings.

...and this wasn't the only 1950's film that covered the same territory.  See below....

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UNKNOWN WORLD (1951) - 'B' Grade at best, okay on a slow night with a six-pack!

UNKNOWN WORLD (1951) was made some 8 years before JOURNEY, and covers similar ground on a nickel and dime budget and a cast of no-names.  Cheesy, cornball stuff, but if you're in the right frame of mind, it's a bit of a hoot.

Now, you just know it's gonna be a 'B' flick when the technical credits include Jack Rabin and Irving Block.  They were pretty much the poverty row effects house and contributed to about 100 movies from the 1940's through to the 1970's, almost always ultra-low budget quickies and drive in fare.  What is interesting here though is 'associate' Menrad von Mulldorfer - a long established and experienced matte artist usually based at Fox - who would ultimately paint some mattes on the aforementioned JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH several years after this one.

The theme of UNKNOWN WORLD was the Govt efforts to find a sanctuary beneath the Earth for mankind in the then-likely event of a nuclear meltdown.  This contraption, the Cyclotram, was a forerunner of 'The Mole' in THUNDERBIRDS, and was built to drill down to the inner sanctum of our planet.  **Note:  'The Mole' was far cooler, and the puppet stars had ten times the personality of these 'real folks', though I digress.

'We are in desperate times people of the free world... we must do something!'  The map at left I noticed had associate designer/matte artist Menrad von Mulldorfer's name on it!  That has to be a first.

Looks like a simple foreground set up to me, with the miniature Cyclotram placed on a post down at the wharf.

May possibly be painted or could be a well used and many times duped stock shot?

Three part composite where a rock quarry type location has been extended with water footage and a miniature Cyclotram.

Model with actor matted in.

Part of a significant tilt-down, possibly a large miniature with painted sky backing??

According to Irving Block, the original idea was to do it along the lines of, and titled as, JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, but the producer, one Robert Lippert, preferred his title idea of UNKNOWN WORLD on the basis that the JOURNEY title was, I quote, "too long to fit across the theatre marquee(!!)"  Block told Lippert that 'JOURNEY was a great title - it's Jules Verne's'.  Lippert replied 'Who's Jules Verne... nobody's ever heard of him!'"

The tilt continues down, with a peculiar 'join' - almost like a paste together of more than one photographic print or painting - clearly visible. ???

I did ponder whether some of these shots with guys climbing out might have been carefully arranged perspective tricks, done in-camera?  Almost like an old time Schufftan shot?

All things go reasonably well, though that volcano poses a problem.

Another interesting three-part composite comprising real water, substantial matte art and a central pocket of live action.

Things start to go badly for the group as one falls trying to rescue the other from a bottomless crevice. Matte shot with small area of live action for the two actors.

This was an effective scene, and again it's a multi-part composite.  An actual waterfall plate, live action cave and surrounds, plus some matte art rock formations at the left.

They come across this mysterious subterranean ocean.  Real water augmented with painted in sky and foreground rock archway.

Frame #1  The start of a very broad pan across the Earth's core.

Frame #2  Some foreground art on a separate glass for a little perspective shift.

Frame #3  Block and Rabin had a long association and had worked together in both the Fox matte department back in the 1940's.  They set up Studio Film Service in the late 40's on the Eagle-Lion Studio lot and provided a variety of vfx of all kinds on a number of films, often for American International and people like Roger Corman, though once in a while for 'A list' features such as the Charles Laughton directed psycho-thriller THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955).

Frame #4  Block and Rabin would again work closely with matte artist von Mulldorfer a few years later on the low budget, though better than you'd expect, KRONOS (1957).

Frame #5  You are toggling through these frames, aren't you?

Frame #6  

Frame #7  The end of the big pan shot, which looked quite good on screen.

More matte art as they reach the underworld ocean.  Too bad they cropped the painting almost out of the frame.

Rear process shot with matte painted comp projected in.

Just as they figured all was well and rosey, the shit really hits the fan!

Process with painted volcanos and superimposed smoke and ash.

It couldn't possibly get any worse for these poor bastards, now, could it?  Well.... yes, as a matter of fact it does!  Bolts of lightning, thunder, quakes, lava ... the whole shebang!!

The flick cost a total of $60'000 all up, and one would presume it made a profit in drive ins and such back in the day.

Miniature volcanic/quake destruction process shots looked pretty effective.

Oh, and most of them did make it back up top as I recall, though I'd wished a couple hadn't!!  Here's another look at that wide matte art that was rendered for that big pan/dolly shot.

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BRIAN FLORA - A selection of his matte paintings from Matte World and beyond.

My previous post featured some of the extraordinary matte work that Brian Flora had done while at Matte World for the Francis Coppola version of DRACULA.  I asked Brian whether he'd be happy to share some images of his other mattes that he painted while still working in the good old 'traditional era' - which is what my long running blog is all about.  What follows are a selection of mattes that Brian worked on in the 1990's before things went, dare I say it, 'digital'.  Most are from his Matte World tenure, though a few are from his time in collaboration with master matte artist, Mark Sullivan, at his Berkeley studio.

Brian, shown here at left, completing a multi-plane matte painting for GHOST IN THE MACHINE (1993), with an unknown cameraman taking a light meter reading.

A spectacular cathedral matte painting that Brian rendered for a key scene in Joe Dante's GREMLINS 2 - A NEW BATCH (1990).  The scene involed a vast tilt-down from the steeple and onto the late, great character actor (bar none), Mr Dick Miller - who appeared in pretty near every Dante picture.... though I digress.

Start of the tilt down, where Flora has beautifully presented architectural detail and texture.

Live action partial set just coming into view, but merged invisibly.

Yeah.... the great Dick Miller.... ole' 'Walter Paisley' himself.  So many films, so many cameos.  Dick stole the screen so often with a mere 2 minute walk-on.  THE HOWLING, THE TERMINATOR, MATINEE, HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD and 100 others.  *I know I've digressed, but character actors always get a look in on NZ Pete's blog.

Before and after GREMLINS 2

I think BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT (1990) was Matte World's first foray into effects work, with this superb Brian Flora matte painting being one of a number of mattes and miniature effects. I think the tv movie won an Emmy for its visual effects.

This snowy landscape matte art was also for BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT.  The finished scene had an atomic blast matted into the painting.

Brian's dizzying Gotham cityscape matte art for BATMAN RETURNS (1992), set up for photography against a separate painted night sky backing as camera operator Wade Childress takes an f.stop reading.  I presume that's Brian at the back?

Brian's original glass painting as isolated, minus the sky backing and Bat signal.

Dual layered glass shot which will ultimately be 'seen' through yet another layered element at ground level (not shown here) for the final scene which to me kind of spoiled the carefully designed shot.

Another matte from BATMAN RETURNS where Brian has extended the limited set upward - one of the oldest and original applications of mattes and glass shots in motion pictures.

The original matte art.

If you read my previous post you'll have seen this fantastic Flora DRACULA matte in high-rez glorious detail, which out of interest, was Brian's favourite.

Same film, though I've purposely included this as it's one of Brian's original 'open matte' 35mm frames, and shows far more information than the severely cropped pseudo-widescreen release versions.

Likewise with this other DRACULA frame.  In my previous post I couldn't identify the 'author' of this fantastic matte, but now the provenance as Brian has shared this low-rez frame I know it was his shot.

An undetectable matte that Brian made for the Barry Levinson film AVALON (1990).

A number of vfx houses were assigned to the rather good and effects heavy DARKMAN (1990), with Matte World providing miniatures and painted backings of the city for the motion control views looking out the skyscraper office windows.  That's Brian with 'big brush' in hand working on the cyclorama. 

This was a technically complex sequence of the northern lights in Edward Zwick's film LEAVING NORMAL (1992).  Brian explained the shot to me:  "This scene involved moving a northern lights effect that we created by shining an inky light through prisms, colour filters, mylar and a rotating plexiglass disk.  The disk was varnished with different thicknesses of clear medium.  This helped to ripple the light in an interesting way.  The shot was completed as a latent image matte painting in multiple passes.  The plate was shot first, then the painting was filmed, and finally the effect was filmed in a third pass.  These were all multiple exposures on the same original negative." 

Before and after matte composite from the arguably dreadful film TOYS (1992) on which Brian collaborated with Mark Sullivan at his independent matte painting studio.  Brian explained the shot to me:  "For this scene of the TOYS pop-up house, the matte painting (left) was done using Mark's beautiful miniature of the house as a reference.  For the finished shot (right), Mark also painted the moving cloud element."

A Mark Sullivan conceptual painted sketch for the Sylvester Stallone sci-fi film DEMOLITION MAN (1993) from which Brian would create his matte, as shown below. 

Brian said:  "Regarding this night shot, I was working for Mark at the time on the project.  My matte painting was based on a production sketch that Mark had completed.  It was such a pleasure working for him on this painting.  Mark is an amazing artist and a master of composition.  The painting itself was very exciting to do.  It was a great opportunity to work on a full frame, establishing shot for a moody science fiction film.  I took reference photographs in San Francisco at night to get the feeling of the atmosphere, and took elements from architectural shapes in various books and magazines.  Mark had found the reference for the cool building on the right."

Detail from Brian's wonderful futuristic 'San Angeles' of 2032 (!)

Brian at Mark Sullivan's studio, with brush in hand, and the on screen final shot.  I've always had great admiration for this terrific shot.  Note, all of the excellent mattes from DEMOLITION MAN were auctioned off recently, with other fine work by Mark Sullivan and Michael Pangrazio as well as this one.

Another show Brian painted on while with Mark was the Kevin Costner western bio-pic WYATT EARP (1994).

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UNDERCOVER (1943) - UK's Ealing Studios and it's effective WWII 'resistance cell'.

The British made wartime action picture, UNDERCOVER (1943) was also billed as UNDERGROUND GUERRILLA'S in some territories.  A low budget, though competent, gutsy resistance story set in Nazi occupied Yugoslavia. 

No matte shots that I noticed but a large number of well executed miniature sequences, supervised by Ealing's chief of special effects, Roy Kellino, with much assistance from future highly regarded fx man Cliff Richardson.

Effects supervisor Roy Kellino at left, with Cliff Richardson seen at right.  The young lad is Cliff's son John, who himself went on to a long and illustrious career in practical effects on things like ALIENS, SUPERMAN, CROSS OF IRON, A BRIDGE TOO FAR and a number of James Bond films.

As things were indeed tough in Britain during the years of that bastard Hitler, economy of delivery mattered in all facets of life, with the film industry being one. The Churchill government knew the value of 'keeping calm and carrying on' where the local cinema audiences would engage with uplifting motion pictures just like UNDERCOVER, where the Nazi threat was seen to be crushed through all means available.  Some other films of the period such as the excellent WENT THE DAY WELL (1942), served just such a purpose to a tee.  This is one of the miniature city scenes of Belgrade, complete with traffic action and other moving gags.

One of the numerous well staged miniature sequences.

In an article he penned in 1943, Roy Kellino went into great detail about his career at Ealing.  Although a cameraman, he had been approached by the studio in 1940 in the hopes of establishing a model department. "It was not easy as I had no previous experience with this kind of work.  My first consideration obviously was to obtain an assistant who could help in reproducing the effects necessary to bring realism to the screen.  I was so lucky in my choice, Cliff Richardson, who has proved a tower of strength during our association."

Cliff Richardson entered the film industry in 1923, and had joined the staff of Stirling Films - a small company that made Grand Guignol quickies, and later on at Barker's Motion Picture Company in the prop department.  Cliff developed an interest in firearms and explosives and became a specialist in all forms of pyrotechnics for British International Pictures at Elstree.  In 1932 Cliff went over to Ealing Studios and would remain there for some seventeen years.  In 1947 Cliff moved to Shepperton Studios and worked closely with American effects pioneer Ned Mann on numerous Korda productions.  After Cliff's contract ran out he went independent and became one of the most in demand mechanical and physical effects men in the United Kingdom working on a ton of big films such as THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN.

Well 'constructed' miniature pyro work by Cliff, with pre-scored Belgrade General Hospital model debris flying in all directions.

I've discussed some of the fine miniature work carried out during the war years in previous extensive articles, with films such as the hilarious Will Hay spoof on Hitler, THE GOOSE STEPS OUT (1942), The Tommy Trinder-James Mason firefighting movie THE BELLS GO DOWN (1943) - both of which had outstanding model effects.  These shots above had cars and motorcycles in motion.

Kellino wrote that initially the equipment available at Ealing when he built the model effects department was unsuitable.  "Each job tackled brought with it additional requirements but the number one obstacle remained, the lack of any high speed drive for the camera, that would allow flexibility and freedom to the operator."  This problem was eventually solved.

The locomotive action sequence in UNDERCOVER was really very well shot and handled.

Kellino stated:  "I think that in England we are broadminded enough to admit that up till the outbreak of war, trick photography here has been sadly neglected except by one or two specialists.  Naturally, the war has forced upon us the adapting of many old methods for new.  The sudden increase of companies requiring models to be built and photographed meant that the few specialists were soon swamped with work."

Any model train enthusiasts out there?  This stuff was really good work!

Like I said ... really good!  Kellino wrote:  "We quickly realised it would be false economy to build any model vehicles such as trains, cars, trucks and aeroplanes in a cheap, slap-dash way.  The making of such working models of vehicles of all kinds being a specialised and lengthy job, it was necessary to employ model makers to help out the normal studio personel who had in the past undertaken this sort of work."

In regard to the need for high speed photography, Roy wrote:  "The use of a Bell & Howell high speed gearbox, coupled by a rigid shaft to the camera, although quite efficiently driven by the motor, was like wearing a straitjacket.  The obstacle we first had was overcome by Sid Howell, to whom I pause to pay tribute.  Sid produced a variable speed motor, coupled to the camera by a flexible drive of sufficient length to allow complete freedom of camera movement.  Incorporated in this flexible drive is a multi-spring loaded clutch - a safeguard against camera jams at any speed."

Sabotage of the Nazi ammo train!  

I don't know the scale they used, but it looks like the miniature train was of a significant size, based on the destruction and good depth of field, which wasn't always possible with anything too under-scale.

It looked pretty good considering the tight budget and resourses compared with the big luxury-living US studios on five times the budget, manpower and time schedule.  

The high speed drive on the effects camera could range between 12 frames per second and 128 fps, which while not great by todays standards (*or at least the 'today' when actual, real, mechanical cameras with film, spockets and gate were employed...R.I.P).  This sequence probably would have benefitted from an even higher speed frame rate, but I assume 128 fps was the max.

A large miniature landscape with a mighty explosion in the train tunnel.

The intercutting between the live action and the miniature destruction was very efficient. 

Kellino's department, with Sid Howell, also developed innovative camera and lens rigs for use with model airplane shots, and while not applied in UNDERCOVER, the methods were extensively utilised to spectacular effect in THE GOOSE STEPS OUT, where airplanes perform near impossible so-called 'Immelmann Turns' and rolls while flying under bridges and so forth.

Again, the model sets must have been quite decent scaled.

Operating in such cost conscious times meant that Kellino and Richardson had to make extra casts from all detailed plaster components such as walls, roofs, bridges and so on, so that these could be stored in stock and utililised again and again when models were needed on subsequent productions.

Kellino:  "All throughout the war years and beyond, it would be hard to find a production out of Ealing Studios that has not had some help from the model department."

As a cinematographer, Roy didcussed in his article the difficulties of maintaining a good depth of field.  He said the amount of lighting he needs on these sorts of shots would horrify the normal production cameraman. "When the chief electrician asks me how much equipment is needed for a given model set, my answer is always, 'How much can I have?'"

Roy on exposure:  "To me nothing looks less convincing than a model shot made with insufficient depth of focus.  A wooly foreground immediately destroys the illusion of reality.  An aditional f-stop or two on the lens can always be used to advantage in giving that crispness so often lacking in model shots."

Note the pre-scored plaster work.

"As each picture is finished the models that we used are returned to the workshops for repair, and so are ready for future use. As this system developed, not only were our costs lowered, but the standard of work was raised.  By retaining the same personnel in all departments from picture to picture, our efficiency grew.  Any ideas or suggestions from members of the crew were investigated and more often than not, accepted.  Chippies, electricians and grips alike contributed to the finished production." 

Sure, the film was as cliched as they get, with some of the supporting characters having more ham than Porky Pig, but if you like wartime 'resistance' stories - which I really do - it's a decent watch.

The only good Nazi is/was/always will be a dead Nazi.

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MATTHEW YURICICH - More forgotten original mattes

In the continuation of my ongoing series of long lost mattes and paintings by Matthew Yuricich, I have some very interesting gems here...

Buried deep within the files of Matthew's family were these interesting before and after frames from THE PRODIGAL (1955) - a big widescreen MGM flick which Matt's family had mis-filed as being from BEN HUR.  See below for the full, finished scene.

THE PRODIGAL:  An extremely wide pan from Matthew's matte painted Rome across and into the upper balcony and parlour of Lana Turner.  Presumably composited optically by Clarence Slifer, with whom Yuricich had worked at Fox and then both went across to Warren Newcombe's unit at MGM.

Matthew painted this North Vietnamese missile battery for FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER (1991).  

The first film that Matthew received an actual on-screen credit for was SOYLENT GREEN (1973), though sadly this marvellous full painting of a futuristic New York was never included in the final cut.  I was trying quite hard to get close up pics or a better rez photo, but to no avail folks.  :(

One of the many mattes Yuricich did in his twilight painting years, often when he worked for Rocco Gioffre.  This one was for the Eddie Murphy-Richard Pryor comedy HARLEM NIGHTS (1989).  Matt said it was a thrill to be actually allowed to paint for the latent image original negative method, which Rocco often used, whereas for much of his career Matthew had his hands tied, figuratively speaking, and had been forced to use intermediate duplicating stock methods which made for deliberately bizarre colour choices and hues for the artist.

The final composite from HARLEM NIGHTS.

A total mystery this one.  Perhaps paainted for a commercial or a tv show?  If anyone recognises it, then drop me a line.

Detail

More...

really nice work here...

What was an unknown matte, with the before and after frames in the Yuricich family collection, was actually from the Esther Williams Roman musical JUPITER'S DARLING (1955).  The film was in 2.35:1 CinemaScope, so it was rather interesting to note that Matthew's personal 35mm clips were 'flat', non-Scope.  This was due to it being relatively common during the first few years of CinemaScope for the two main studios using it - Fox and MGM - to shoot separate anamorphic and flat versions of certain films.  One example being SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS which was shot (and/or released) both ways and released in either format, depending on whether the cinema was geared up for wide screen films (many weren't).  According to Matthew, on some of the 20th Century Fox films, Emil Kosa got to paint 'wide' versions of a given matte specifically for Scope, while Matt would replicate  a matte in a tighter 'flat', non-widescreen frame format.

A never before seen (until this blog) matte painting Matthew made for the excellent Michael Crichton low budget science fiction thriller WESTWORLD (1973).  That's Matt's original, full painting seen at left, while the cropped down on-screen version, which appears on a monitor screen in the shuttle craft, is shown at right.  Matthew had this to say when asked about it:  "You mean that painting's still around?  I thought I threw it away?  This is Westworld and you had three different worlds.  How are you going to make them look real with little 'goops' of paint here?  The desert looked great.  I had the desert painted on the side.  They photographed it and you just couldn't believe it.  The director didn't care for the towns either.  I said that if you don't put in people going to them or something...it's never going to work.  I always maintained that a matte shot is only as good as it's design.  This design is bad."

WESTWORLD was a great little flick, and one I can watch any time.  Yul Brynner was never as bad-assed as in this, in what was fucken' brilliant casting.  I'd like to see the original Crichton cut before the MPAA apparently had problems with it.  The TV series on the other hand was a real mixed bag.  Series one was interesting, with the always excellent Ed Harris.  Series two was baffling and overloaded with idiotic CG.  Series three was a total waste of time.  Utter bollocks, with the makers obviously trying to milk every possible 'idea' they possibly could.  Just awful! .... though I digress.

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A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1945):  Technicolor Sultans, Genies, Harems & Phil Silvers!

I'm fairly certain that most readers will never have heard of, let alone seen A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1945).

Made at a time when this genre was most popular, especially from Universal.  Audiences loved this sort of romantic costumer.

Photographic effects by experienced veteran Lawrence W. Butler, who was with Columbia for many years, and about whom I've written frequently.  

This Baghdad matte painted shot would often appear in later movies - both from Columbia and other studios.

The film was Oscar nominated for its visual effects.

Another of the several matte painted shots.  I don't know who painted on this but may have been Juan Larrinaga who was with Columbia for a number of years.  Donald Glouner was long time matte cameraman.

Baghdad, very, very long ago, before they had all those nasty 'weapons of mass destruction'..... Oh, wait... they never had any in the first place, did they.  

Matte painted city and walls as well as the foreground right rocks and bushes.

Expansive matte painted underground lair, with Cornel Wilde and Phil Silvers matted in from a smaller set.

...And who, or what, do they find?  It's none other than the very same genie from the earlier THIEF OF BAGDAD, Rex Ingram.  Talk about type-casting and still obvious 'bald caps'.  Rex was good though in the classic Humphrey Bogart picture SAHARA (1943).

Multi-part composite with the genie Rex performing, possibly with process projected Cornel and Phil, and what looks like some matte art to extend the cave set.  Ray Cory was Columbia's process photography and projection specialist.

Phil Silvers (far left) was generally pretty amusing in films and is quite funny in this one, as Cornel Wilde's comic sidekick.

Blue screen travelling matte work for the 'little guys'.

It's all played for laughs...

Evelyn Keyes in 1001 NIGHTS.

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IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (1949) - Garland, Johnson and Buster Keaton(!)

IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (1949) was a fairly run-of-the-mill MGM Technicolor musical.

I've never been a big fan of Judy Garland, though the always relaible Van Johnson starred in some really good MGM films such as an all time favourite of mine THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO - not just a great picture, but one of the all time absolute best special effects showcases ever made.

The film only has two matte shots, but being the usual high standard one expects (and gets) from MGM's Newcombe department, here they are.  If you look closely you can see the demarkation between the Metro backlot street and the matte art, at the end of the street and then passing up through the middle of the trees.  Generally MGM were so precise in blending and concealing their soft matte lines.

An outstanding painted matte which encompasses much of the scene.  The superb matte carries on from just above the top edge of the red striped awning and on upward.  Beautiful artwork here.  Painters working at MGM at the time would have included Howard Fisher, Henry Hillinck, Hernando Villa, Otto Anton Kiechle, Emil Kosa snr and Irving Block among others.

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A Mystery Matte Still Unsolved...?

I've got this mysterious and very complex matte composites that has me baffled.  It's a giant tilt up shot with much going on.  It was on a reel from the estate of cameraman Elmer Dyer.  Odd, because Dyer was a very famous (and daring) aerial cinematographer, mostly in the 1930's and 1940's and as far as I know wasn't involved with visual effects work.  If anyone can lend more info on this fascinating shot, then you know who to email.

Frame #1

Frame #2

Frame #3

***This vast and utterly exhaustive post, and all 189 previous blog posts known as 'Matte Shot', were originally created by Peter Cook for nzpetesmatteshot, with all content, layout and text originally published at http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/ 

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From the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, and all the land that lies between its PALESTINE, and will always be PALESTINE, and only PALESTINE.