Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1524788
8 0 P E R S P E C T I V E | J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 4 RESHOOTS B Y B A R B A R A H A L L , A D G A R C H I V S T S E L E C T I O N S F R O M T H E A D G A R C H I V E S A A. ILLUSTRATION BY ERNST FEGTÉ FOR LUXURY LINER. GOUACHE AND PENCIL ON ILLUSTRATION BOARD, 15 X 20 INCHES. This illustration of an elegant ocean liner stateroom was created by Ernst Fegté, most likely for the Paramount production Luxury Liner (1933), a melodrama about the passengers and crew on a ship traveling from Bremen to New York. Publicity for the film highlighted its elaborate sets, all built on studio sound stages, but the Art Director who designed them did not receive screen credit. Nevertheless, with its art deco styling and luxurious detail, this drawing epitomizes the sophisticated look that was the signature of the Paramount Art Department in the 1930s. Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1900, Ernst Fegté studied in Berlin and worked for UFA and Ernst Lubitsch before emigrating to New York in 1923. After G I F T O F T H E H O L LY W O O D S T U D I O G A L L E R Y. C O U R T E S Y O F T H E A R T D I R E C T O R S G U I L D A R C H I V E S . finding success as an Art Director at Paramount's Long Island studios, Fegté moved to Los Angeles in 1931, where he worked closely with Hans Dreier, Paramount's influential Supervising Art Director. Alongside Dreier, Fegté designed a wide range of stylish films during his time at Paramount, including pictures directed by Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, René Clair and Preston Sturges. Fegté and Dreier earned an Academy Award in 1944 for their work on Frenchman's Creek, a swashbuckling romance directed by Mitchell Leisen. After leaving Paramount in the mid-1940s, Fegté became a successful freelance Production Designer working in film and television. He received his fourth and final Academy Award nomination in 1950 for the science fiction classic Destination Moon.