Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512164
A. THE FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE, MGM, 1962. BEN CARRÉ AT PAINT FRAME, CHARCOAL LAYOUT OF NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL BACKING. B. CARRÉ INSPECTING NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL BACKING IN PROCESS. C. SET NO. 10, YELLOW BRICK ROAD, CORNFIELD, AND BACKING (400' X 35') BEN CARRÉ LEAD ARTIST (CHANNELING GRANT WOODS) FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ. MGM,1939. D. MOUNT RUSHMORE SET, BEN CARRÉ, BACKING DESIGNER AND LEAD ARTIST REGARDED AS THE PERFECT BACKDROP FROM NORTH BY NORTHWEST. MGM,1959. In Ben's words, "I had not decided to quit as an Art Director yet. I took a test; the good old times came back to me; I enjoyed seeing my work growing every day instead of waiting for months to see it on the screen. The remembrance of my first years at Amable Studio as a Scenic Artist made me feel anxious to tackle the interest of drawing and problems of perspective. It was as master in that line that I took and remained in the scenic shop." Working in MGM's scenic department enriched the next thirty-one years of Ben's life. He had many challenges working at the paint frame, alongside his unique brotherhood of painters and young apprentices. Ben's talent for drawing and perspective, and his reputation for visual precision were such that it is not hard to look at an MGM backing today and see the influence of his drawing and his brush strokes. Certainly, Ben's influence on the younger artists that he mentored was not dissimilar to his own experiences training under William Nolgrove, Émile Verlie and Jules Adler, who had mentored Ben during his youth in Paris. During these years, Ben had a large variety of backdrop assignments for hundreds of films. Of fondness to Ben were Marie Antoinette, The Wizard of Oz, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, National Velvet, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Clock, Ziegfeld Follies and A B C D