Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512164
A. DON JUAN CAST PHOTO, THE VITAPHONE CORP. CARRÉ IS BACK ROW SIXTH FROM RIGHT. B. GOLGOTHA (CALVARY HILL) SCENE FROM KING OF KINGS. PATHE EXCHANGE, 1927. C. THE JAZZ SINGER, WARNER BROS. (1927) CREW ON EARLY CONVERTED STAGE FOR SOUND RECORDING. D. WARNERS' THEATRE, BROADWAY, NYC FROM THE JAZZ SINGER. WARNER BROS.,1927. required served him well, as did his expertise with using backdrops and glass mattes for the many set extensions. King of Kings 1927 The King of Kings was a Cecile B. DeMille silent epic. It was common at this time for producers like DeMille and Fairbanks to hire multiple Art Directors to design different sequences for their films. Ben came onboard to Art Direct the Golgotha (crucifixion hill) sequence. Ben called upon his childhood ramblings through the Louvre and designed an epic set while supervising the picture's wrath of God special effects sequence. The Jazz Singer 1927 Ben considered this picture ordinary and doomed for failure. Being Warner Bros.' first feature- length sound picture, his biggest challenge was the trial-and-error process of learning how to design sets that could be acoustically compatible for recording live sound. His other challenge was finding compelling ways to photograph the scenes now that the camera's movements were once again restricted and immobile as they had been during his early days in Paris. The Jazz Singer ushered in the new era of talking pictures while bringing an abrupt end to the beauty and elegance that epitomized silent films. For Ben and his contemporaries, there was only sadness as they witnessed this demise of the pictorial art and its universal accessibility to all audiences. The Iron Mask 1929 Douglas Fairbanks played D'Artagnan and was directed by Fort Lee veteran Allan Dawn. Nine Art Directors collaborated working under the supervision of French Illustrator, costume designer and historian Maurice Leloir who was brought in from France to assure that an A B C D