Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1010570
Cedric advocated that movie décor move beyond the commercial framework of the popular cinema. His preoccupation with geometric form and movement within a set was fully evident within many of MGM's classics, beginning with the art deco trilogy of Our Dancing Daughters, Our Modern Maidens, and Our Blushing Brides and ultimately, his finest singular achievement, Grand Hotel. With the advent of sound and under Cedric's influence, musicals were a blank canvas, one that afforded them an opportunity to abandon realism for a more abstract cinematic style that captured the imagination. In 1929 MGM made Broadway Melody, one of the first of many successful and visually innovative musicals to follow. At its height, MGM was releasing one feature film every week. No longer able to be a day-to-day unit Art Director, Cedric had assembled one of the largest and most creative Art Departments in the world, hiring, mentoring and championing the talents of many of the industries' finest designers and craft specialists—all great talents such as Richard Day, Arnold Gillespie, Edwin B. Willis, Warren Newcombe, William A. Horning, Fredric Hope, Merrill Pye, Ben Carre and George Gibson to name just a few. Cedric's hand-picked atelier of artisans was versatile enough to work in a broad range of genres from the stylish luxury, to comfortable warmth, to historical epics. Under Cedric's direct supervision was every department and trade responsible for the visual creation of a picture. Art, construction, decorating, and special and visual effects were all his responsibility to manage. Every illustration, drawing and budget had his signature of approval, A. THIS 1929 PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WEST-FACING GARDEN VIEW OF CEDRIC AND DOLORES' ART DECO HOME IN THE SANTA MONICA CANYON. DESIGNED BY GIBBONS AND ARCHITECT DOUGLAS HONNOLD, WHO WAS ALSO A SET DESIGNER AT MGM. B. A 1930 PHOTOGRAPH OF DOLORES DEL RIO IN THE 2ND-FLOOR LIVING ROOM OF THEIR SANTA MONICA CANYON HOME. PHOTOS BY CLARENCE SINCLAIR BULL. A B D C