Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512164
A. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, MGM (1951) CHAMPS- ELYÉES ILLUSTRATION, BEN CARRÉ, DESIGNER WATERCOLOR ON CARD. B. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, MGM (1951) OPENING SEQUENCE, BEN CARRÉ, DESIGNER AND LEAD ARTIST. C. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. PLACE DE LA CONCORDE BALLET SET, BEN CARRÉ, BACKING DESIGNER AND LEAD ARTIST. D. BEN CARRÉ EN PLEIN AIR PAINTER (1940S). Little Women. The two seminal pictures which best celebrate Ben's talents and legacy are the dream ballet backings for An American in Paris (1951) and one of the most successful backings ever painted, the 90-foot-wide Mount Rushmore for North by Northwest (1959). Ben Carré retired from MGM on October 15, 1964, at the age of 82. He began his career as a scenic artist in Paris in 1900. He had worked for sixty-five years as a first-generation Art Director and Scenic Artist for motion pictures. A founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it was in the sixties that a brief period of recognition and appreciation of Ben Carré began. Film historians, students and chroniclers of silent motion pictures all sought him out. At the 1977 Telluride Film Festival a tribute screening of The Blue Bird was run followed by a long and exuberant standing ovation for the artist who had created it in 1918. As Ben said in his most emotional Franglais, "I don't know if I deserve all that marvelous praise, but believe me, it is much nicer to be honored and praised than to be overlooked and forgotten." Ben Jules Carré 1883–1978 For more information or to view Ben's tribute film go to bencarre.com ADG B A C D