Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1010570
He was captivated by 'Style Moderne,' known to us as the art deco movement, and he brought back to Hollywood a passion for its clean lines, crisp patterns and streamlined aesthetics. This movement would profoundly influence the future of Hollywood motion picture design. It would define Cedric's style and his design aesthetic over the rest of his career. It was in 1923 that William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures relocated its operations to the Goldwyn studio lot. During this period, Cedric had the opportunity to design for some of Cosmopolitan's more lavish productions while he befriended Hearst's film star and mistress, Marion Davies. Hearst loved to surround himself with Hollywood's elite and hosted many grand weekends and getaways at his new ranch, designed by architect Julia Morgan on California's Central Coast. It was on such an occasion in July of 1930, that Cedric found himself seated at Hearst's grand table for dinner, along with the beautiful Mexican actress, Dolores del Rio. According to playwright George Bernard Shaw, "The two most beautiful things in the world are the Taj Mahal and Dolores del Rio." Sparks flew, and Cedric and Dolores were married two months later. A successful executive, Cedric was now a prominent larger-than-life figure in Hollywood's cultural and social scene. Tall, dark and handsome, and always elegantly dressed with a movie star wife on his arm, he was now more famous than many movie moguls, producers or directors. In 1929 Cedric designed, with the aid of MGM set designer and architect, Douglas Honnold, his art moderne dream house in the Santa Monica Canyon, a home that would embody the essence of Hollywood glamour. It was treated like a personal soundstage, hosting many weekend parties, tennis matches and poolside buffets with the elite of Hollywood's film colony always in attendance. His home became a working laboratory of sorts where the interiors reflected every theatrical art deco fantasy and detail. Cedric utilized innovations that would become part of the distinctive style of MGM movies from the late twenties and well beyond. C. BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST (MGM 1925) THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS SET BUILT IN A FIELD AT THE CORNER OF WASHINGTON AND LA CIENEGA, WEST LA, CA. D. WORKERS COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS ARENA SET WITH A SECOND HANGING MINIATURE BUILT IN THE FOREGROUND FOR A REVERSE-ANGLE SHOT. E. POSTER FOR THE WORLD'S FIRST INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION OF INDUSTRIAL AND DECORATIVE ARTS, 1925, EVENTUALLY TO BE KNOWN AS "ART DECO." F. ART DECO INTERIOR FEATURED AT THE 1925 EXPO. G. A TYPICAL MEAL SEATING IN THE GRAND DINING HALL AT HEARST'S SAN SIMEON CASTLE, 1930, JULIA MORGAN, ARCHITECT. H. THE TAJ MAHAL'S RIVAL IN BEAUTY, DOLORES DEL RIO, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FEMALE FIGURES IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF MEXICAN CINEMA. SHE MARRIED CEDRIC GIBBONS IN 1930 AND THEY DIVORCED IN 1941 WHEN SHE LEFT HIM FOR ACTOR AND DIRECTOR, ORSON WELLES. E F G H