Tag Archives: Cedric Gibbons

A Star is Born at Eighty Five

April 20, 1937 A Star is Born opened at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. And just in time for its eighty fifth anniversary, Warner Archive has released a wonderful new Blu ray disc of the film. Hugely successful on its release in 1937, there have been three remakes of the film since, in 1954, 1976 and 2018. But the original still holds its own against the newer versions.

 

David O. Selznick

Circa 1935, black and white studio portrait of David O. Selznick.

David O. Selznick, circa 1935. Image from wikipedia.

A Star is Born was the third release from Selznick International Pictures. An independent studio established in 1935 that distributed films through United Artists. Selznick, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1902, entered the film industry, working for his father in 1923. During the late 1910s Lewis J. Selznick was a major producer in the motion picture industry. And in the early 1920s his sons, Myron and David, started working for their father. The bankruptcy of Lewis Selznick’s studio and his reversal of fortune, emotionally affected both sons. Myron’s revenge took the form of a high power talent agent, making producer’s pay dearly for talent. And David, becoming one of the biggest producers in Hollywood.

 

1920s amber tinted Paramount Pictures logo.

1920s Paramount Pictures logo. Image from logosfandom.com.

Going to Hollywood in 1926, David Selznick’s career took off like a rocket. Starting as an assistant story editor at M-G-M, by 1928 he joined Paramount as an assistant to B. P. Schulberg, head of production at the west coast studio.

 

RKO logo.

R-K-O Radio Pictures Logo from the early 1930s.

In 1931 Selznick became head of production at R-K-O. During his two years there, he produced such films as A Bill of Divorcement (1932), The Animal Kingdom (1932) and King Kong (1933). One of his productions What Price Hollywood? (1932) would serve as a blue print for A Star is Born.

 

Early 1930s M-G-M logo.

M-G-M logo from the early 1930s.

In 1933, Selznick’s father-in-law, Louis B. Mayer, lured Selznick to M-G-M, where he would have semi-autonomy running a production unit. Between 1933 and 1935 Selznick’s string of hit films continued with Dinner at Eight (1933), Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Anna Karenina (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935).

But what Selznick really wanted was a studio of his own. As early as 1931 he tried to set up an independent studio in partnership with director Lewis Milestone. But at the last minute the deal fell through.

 

Selznick International Pictures

The Selznick International Pictures logo.

The Selznick International Pictures logo. Featuring the studio administration building in Culver City, California. Image from martinturnbull.com.

By the middle of 1935, Selznick was ready to take the plunge into independent production. Selznick finished his M-G-M career on a high note, producing A Tale of Two Cities. Once that film wrapped production, he moved down the street into the R-K-O Pathe studio. There he set up Selznick International Pictures. Millionaire John Hay “Jock” Whitney provided financial backing for Selznick. Whitney also invested in Pioneer Pictures, a studio created to produce films in the new three-color Technicolor process. Pioneer contracted with Technicolor to produce four films over two years. But their first two films, Becky Sharp (1935) and Dancing Pirate (1936) were disappointments at the box office.

 

Unlike Pioneer, Selznick’s first independent film, Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) was a box office success. Whitney saw Selznick as the way to honor Pioneer Pictures contract to Technicolor. As a result Selznick produced his next two films in color. The Garden of Allah (1936), mostly set in the Sahara Desert was a natural for color photography.

 

1936 poster for The Garden of Allah.

The Garden of Allah (1936), poster. Image from alamy.com

But the next Selznick International film, a behind the scenes look at Hollywood, would be just fine in black and white. However, the film would be the first three-color Technicolor film to take place in a modern urban setting.

A Star is Born

A Star is Born, main title.

A Star is Born, main title. Image from Warner Archive Blu-ray.

By the summer of 1936 David O. Selznick was very busy. Little Lord Fauntleroy was playing at theatres, The Garden of Allah began production, and Selznick started preparations for his next film. Director William A. Wellman working in collaboration with Robert Carson brought a story outline to Selznick. It was a movie about Hollywood.  Selznick did not care for the story, which at this point was titled It Happened in Hollywood. While at R-K-O Selznick produced What Price Hollywood? in 1932. He was never fully satisfied with this backstage look at the movie industry and he did want to do another Hollywood film. But he felt the Wellman / Carson script was too much of a caricature. Wellman took the script to Selznick’s wife, Irene Mayer Selznick. She was very excited by it and convinced Selznick to go ahead with the project.

On August 6, 1936, Ralph Walker’s Film Daily column “A ‘Little’ from ‘Lots'” ran the following article concerning Selznick’s new film –

 

Article from the August 6, 1936 Film Daily.

The Film Daily, August 6, 1936. Image from mediahistoryproject.org.

At this point,  Wellman and Carson finished their second draft and Selznick was possibly thinking of using British actress Merle Oberon for the lead.

 

William A. Wellman in the trailer for A Star is Born.

William A. Wellman (with arm over the Technicolor camera) and the camera crew pretending to direct A Star is Born from the trailer for the film. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Wellman, a director since the silent movie days, directed Wings the mega-hit that won the first Academy Award for best picture. He was a no nonsense man who brought films in on time. Other Wellman hits include, Beggars of Life (1928), The Public Enemy (1931) and Call of the Wild (1935). A Star is Born, would be Wellman’s forty fifth film and his first in Technicolor.

Just before signing with Selznick, Wellman directed Small Town Girl (1936) at M-G-M, starring Janet Gaynor. Wellman, suggested to Selznick that Gaynor would be great for the role of the aspiring actress, Esther Blodgett. In the late 1920s she was one of the most popular stars in Hollywood. And she was the recipient of the first best actress Academy Award for her work in 7th Heaven (1927), Sunrise (1927) and Street Angel (1928). But by 1936 Gaynor’s career was on the wane.

 

Janet Gaynor, color photograph, circa 1937.

Janet Gaynor, circa 1937. Image from mptvimages.com.

 

As the summer of 1936 turned into autumn, Selznick was under pressure to get started on the film. With only five Technicolor cameras in Hollywood, production had to begin no later than October 31st. By late September, Selznick hired Algonquin Round Table, alum, Dorothy Parker and her husband Alan Campbell to prepare the script.

 

Motion Picture Daily, September 28, 1936.

Motion Picture Daily, September 28, 1936, Pg. 12. Image from mediahistoryproject.org.

 

While Parker and Campbell worked on the screen play, Selznick signed Frederic March for the role of the alcoholic movie star, Norman Maine, in the now titled A Star is Born. In the late 1930s, March was one of the most popular stars in Hollywood.

 

Frederic March, circa 1932.

Frederic March, circa 1932. Image from pinterest.com.

Originally signed by Paramount in the late 1920s, during the conversion to talkies, March, with his stage training was a hit in films. In 1932 he won a best actor Academy Award for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). Going freelance at the expiration of his Paramount contract, March continued in a string of hits, that include Les Miserable (1935), Anna Karenina (1935) and Anthony Adverse (1936).

 

Film Daily, October 2, 1936. Image from mediahistoryproject.org.

 

With the October 31st start date looming, Selznick began to line up all the members of his production team, including art director Lyle Wheeler (1905 – 1990), a graduate of USC. After graduation Wheeler found employment as a magazine artist and industrial designer. Selznick hired Wheeler in 1936 which started him on his career as an movie art director.

 

Film Daily October 24, 1936. Selznick hires Lyle Wheeler.

Film Daily “A ‘Little’ from ‘Lots'” column, October 24, 1936. Image from mediahistoryproject.org.

 

A Star is Born, would be Wheeler’s first film. He would go on to create the sets for Gone With the Wind (1939), Laura (1944), All About Eve (1950) and The King and I (1956) among others.

 

Film Daily October 24, 1936. Selznick hires Lyle Wheeler.

Lyle Wheeler, 1939 with his sketches for the sets of Gone With the Wind. Image from imdb.com.

 

Filming started right on the October 31, 1936 deadline. It went smoothly and wrapped on December 28th, with only a few days of re-takes needed in mid-January, 1937.

 

William Wellman and Janet Gaynor.

William Wellman and Janet Gaynor having fun on the A Star is Born set. Image from alamy.com.

 

The Technicolor camera crew on location with William Wellman, Janet Gaynor, Adolphe Menjou and Fredric March.

On location with the Technicolor camera crew with Wellman, Janet Gaynor, Adolphe Menjou and Fredric March. This picture shows how enormous the Technicolor camera was in its sound-proof blimp. Image from alamy.com.

 

It was obvious that A Star is Born was a hit at its premiere at the Chinese Theatre and at its New York City opening at the Radio City Music Hall, on April 22, 1937. This film had everything going for it, it was only the seventh feature film to be released in the new three-color Technicolor process. The supporting cast, which included Andy Devine, May Robson, Lionel Stander and Adolphe Menjou, were all top notch. And the two main stars gave great performances, so much so that it briefly revived Janet Gaynor’s career.

 

Janet Gaynor and David O. Selznick after a screening of A Star is Born.

Janet Gaynor and David O. Selznick after a screening of A Star is Born (possibly the premiere) and obviously delighted by the audience’s reception of the film. Image from alamy.com.

The Set Design

Wheeler’s work on A Star is Born really displays the fine thought he gave to his set design. Even by the mid-1930s most Americans had not embraced the modern style sticking instead to traditional furnishings for their own homes. They considered modern design somewhat decadent and for the city slicker. Wheeler uses this dichotomy of taste in his set design. Ultra modern sets are used to represent the Hollywood personalities and the studio. But for the protagonists home, it is all traditional furnishings, to make them down to earth and relatable to the majority of the movie going audience. But let’s look at how Lyle Wheeler designed the various sets to invoke character of place.

The Blodgett Farm 

This North Dakota farmhouse is definitely 30 years behind the times. Everything about it is old fashioned. Janet Gaynor’s character of Esther, longs to break away for this place of Tiffany style lamps and cast iron heater in the living room.

 

The living room of the Blodgett farmhouse in North Dakota.

J. C. Nugent, A. W. Sweatt, Janet Gaynor and Clara Blandick in the living room of the Blodgett farmhouse. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Blodgett farmhouse dining room.

May Robson comes into the living through the dinning room, with the Tiffany style hanging light over the table. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

The Beach House

After Esther becomes a star and she marries Norman, they settle into their beach house out in Malibu. Unlike Norman’s bachelor home, director Casey Burke’s home and the studio, the beach house is restrained traditional in style. Here Wheeler blended Chippendale and colonial with some moderne lamps. There is exposed painted white brick and wallpaper. It is all lovely and a little dull and for the majority of 1930s audiences very relatable.

 

The Beverly Hills House

The audience never gets to see inside, Norman and Esther’s Beverly Hills house. This was one of the few location shoots used in the production of A Star is Born. The house is not moderne in style, it is typical of the Spanish style architecture in southern California, stucco with a tile roof. And being Hollywood, of course it has the obligatory swimming pool.

 

The backyard of the Beverly Hills house in A Star is Born.

The beautiful backyard of the Norman and Esther’s Beverly Hills house. Image from Warner Archive Blu ray.

A Hollywood swimming pool.

The typical Hollywood star’s swimming pool. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

Casey Burke House

The first taste of Hollywood glamour in the film comes when Esther is waitressing a party at the home of fictitious director Casey Burke. Burke is played by former silent film star and ex-husband of Mary Pickford, Owen Moore (1886-1939). For these sets, Wheeler went full out with then current moderne trends in decoration. 1936 was also a turning point in style going from streamline moderne to a more relaxed country club style. So while Burke’s house has rough hewn stone columns of the country club aesthetic, there is also blonde wood furniture (also a new trend in the mid-1930s) and lots of glass block.

 

The first glimpse of the Casey Burke home in A Star is Born.

First glimpse of the Casey Burke house. Notice the blonde wood, side table and herring bone pattern draperies. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

The living room of movie director Casey Burke.

Living room of Casey Burke’s house, with painted white rough hewn stone wall and columns. But note the great machine age bridge lamp in the corner. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Oliver Niles on phone next to staircase with a glass block wall.

Oliver Niles, played by Adolphe Menjou, on a gold telephone (only in the movies) with a moderne staircase featuring a glass block wall. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

More use of glass block in the Casey Burke home set.

Esther serving Norman Maine hors d’oeuvres. More use of glass block. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

The kitchen in the Casey Burke house.

A 1937 dream kitchen, modern metal cabinets, a sleek linoleum floors and a General Electric monitor top refrigerator. Also notice the Sunbeam coffee service on the counter down front. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Norman Maine’s Bachelor Bedroom

Norman Maine’s bachelor digs were quite different from the house he shared with Esther. There was nothing old fashioned or traditional about his bedroom, with its tufted head board and built into the ceiling lighting. Also notable in this set is the use of wood veneer on the curved wall behind the bed. Wheeler continues his use of blonde wood for the furniture in this set, too.

Norman Maine's bedroom.

Norman Maine’s bedroom, very befitting of a big Hollywood star. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Closer view of Norman Maine's bed.

Closer view of bed and veneer wall. Nice bedside lamp with looks to be a suede covered lampshade.. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Norman Maine reading the telephone directory that was on his bedroom dresser.

Fredric March as Norman Maine looking through a telephone directory at his bedroom dresser. Nice metal lamp with a great shade on the side table just in front of March. And in the background a Gilbert Rohde chair designed for the Heywood-Wakefield Company. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

Oliver Niles’ Bedroom

The one and only time that the audience sees this set is when Norman Maine (Fredric March) calls up his producer Oliver Niles (Adolphe Menjou) in the middle of the night. Niles, Casey Burke and Norman Maine must have used the same interior decorator, so many of the same furnishings and designs trends can be seen across all he sets. Like the same wall blonde wood side table from Casey Burke’s house, is Oliver Niles night stand. As well as the same gold telephone.

Oliver Niles's bedroom.

Oliver Niles (Adolphe Menjou) in a great set of purple and lavender striped pajamas. The night stand is the side table seen earlier in the Casey Burke set. Nice Telechron or General Electric clock on the night stand. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

The Studio

For the studio sets, here is where Lyle Wheeler went full blown moderne. And where he and Selznick had a big argument over the look of one particular set. Selznick wanted the film to be as realistic depiction of Hollywood as possible, but in one instance the reality just was not attractive as Wheeler pointed out –

David and I had an absolutely huge argument about the set for the studio commissary. He wanted the original MGM commissary to be used the way it used to be, a really junky place. I said that no one in the world really knows what it looks like; I said it’s a mistake to show that piece of junk that we ate our breakfast and lunch in. He said no, that was the feeling he wanted, and I wouldn’t give in, and he said “You do it the way I want it.”

So I did, and the day before we were to shoot he came down and said, “You’re right, build the other one.” So I had already designed it, it was based on the new one that Cedric Gibbons hand designed at MGM, so I used that as the model and used a lot of glass brick, which was just then coming in, and big circle windows so that you could see people going by . . . we tore the old one down in ten minutes and you’d never believe the number of people we had in the crew that built the new one. We worked all night but we had it up and dressed the next day, ready for shooting. 

            Lyle Wheeler quoted in David O. Selznick’s Hollywood, Ronald Haver, Borzoi Books, 1982.

The Commissary

The commissary as it appears in A Star is Born.

The commissary as rebuilt by Lyle Wheeler. Featuring the big round windows and moderne chrome tube furniture. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

The commissary counter.

The commissary counter. This shot shows off some great moderne hanging lights and a blonde wood cashier counter. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

The Dialogue Coach’s Studio

The dialogue coach's office.

Esther (Janet Gaynor) reciting from Shakespeare during elocution lessons for the dialogue coach (Edwin Maxwell). More chrome tube furniture and lamp with a great louvered shade. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

The dialogue coach's studio.

Another one of the nice lamps with the louvered shade behind the dialogue coach played by Edwin Maxwell. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

Oliver Niles’ Office

This set, probably depicts the office the David O. Selznick dreamed about. It is subdued, refined and very modern. The walls are the same wood paneling that was used behind Norman Maine’s bed. There is comfy looking green velvet covered chairs and a sofa. Uplighter torchieres around the room give it a warm glow that only indirect lighting can do. Niles’ desk, with its burled wood veneer, is what every big executive in the 1930s coveted. A wonderfully modern glass lamp with a frosted shade sits prominently on the desk. And along one wall is a brand new, 1936 Philco radio bar.

 

Oliver Niles at his office desk.

Oliver Niles signs Esther Blodgett to a contract. Great burled wood desk with a stylish glass lamp. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Oliver Niles and secretary at his desk.

Another shot of the desk in Oliver Niles’ office. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Exiting the office to the anteroom.

Secretary exiting to the front office with its glass block window. Notice the wall paneling. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Oliver Niles' office with his uplighter torchieres and a Philco Radio bar.

A torchiere stands down front, while against the wall in the back is the 1936 Philco Radio bar.

More of Oliver Niles' office.

Comfy looking green velvet furniture, a great uplighter torchiere and more glass block in Matt Libby’s (Lionel Stander) office. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

A Star is Born Opens

1937 A Star is Born lobby card.

A 1937 lobby card for A Star is Born. Image from imbd.com.

After opening at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Radio City Music Hall, A Star is Born went into general release on April 24, 1937. The film was a big hit with critics and the movie audience. At the Academy Awards it received seven nominations, including best actress, best actor, best director and best picture. It won two Oscars, one for best original story and an honorary award for color photography.

 

Re-issues and Public Domain

Costing $1,173,639 it earned over $2,000,000 by the end of 1939, giving the studio a profit of $181,000. Because of the huge amount of money earned by Gone With the Wind and Rebecca, David O. Selznick had to dissolve Selznick International Pictures in 1943 for tax reasons. And with this, the rights to A Star is Born as well as several other films reverted to Jock Whitney. Whitney then sold the rights to Film Classics, Inc. for re-issue.

Daily News story about Jock Whitney selling the rights of A Star is Born, 1943.

From Ed Sullivan’s “Little Old New York” column in the New York Daily News, July 21, 1943. Article from proquest.com.

Film Classics Inc. re-released  A Star is Born in September of 1943. And here’s is where the trouble with the visual quality of the film begins. To make the most money it could from a six year old film, Film Classics made new color prints in Cinecolor, a cheaper alternative to Technicolor.

 

Cinecolor was a two-color process vs. the three-color photography that Technicolor offered. Because Cinecolor only used red and blue color records, the color in the release prints was compromised. There were no greens or yellow in  Cinecolor prints. Another film sold by Jock Whitney to Film Classics, Inc. was Becky Sharp, which was also re-issued in Cinecolor prints. Below are examples from a Cinecolor two-color print vs. the Technicolor restoration done by the UCLA Film and Television Archive for a comparison the color between the two systems.

With declining revenue from A Star is Born, Film Classics sold the rights to producer Edward L. Alperson who intended to remake it. Then in 1953, Alperson sold the rights to the film to Warners Bros. And with this sale the original Technicolor negative went to Warner Bros. But in 1965 Warner Bros. did not renew the copyright registration and the original version of A Star is Born fell into public domain.

 

Home Video

Because, A Star is Born fell into public domain, it meant that it could be broadcast on TV without having to pay for the rights. And when the home video industry started in the late 1970s, any video company could put it out on tape again without having to pay for rights. So the market became flooded with different VHS tapes of the film. These tapes ranged in quality from good to down right awful. Here is an example of some of the companies releasing A Star is Born to the home market.

This is where I first made my acquaintance with the film. I purchased a VHS tape of A Star is Born in 1980 for $79.95 ($279.00 in 2022). And the quality was terrible. The image was so washed out that the actor’s faces were white blobs with two dark spots where their eyes were and an occasional third dark spot when they opened their mouths to talk. Through the years I would end up buying at least nine different copies of the film in every format. From VHS to laser disc, then back to VHS when Kino International released the film copied from David O. Selznick’s personal print.

The laser disc release of A Star is Born.

Image Entertainment laser disc release of A Star is Born. Image from etsy.com.

The Kino VHS tape.

The Kino VHS edition of A Star is Born.

In the early 2000s Kino released it on DVD. and finally in 2012 on Blu ray.

By then I thought I was finished buying the 1937 A Star is Born. But, never say never.

 

Warner Archive Blu ray

Warner Archive Blu ray.

Warner Archive Blu ray.

Now the Warner Archive has released a new Blu ray, made from the original three-color Technicolor negatives. The good news is A Star is Born has never looked this good on home video. Online there have been comparisons to Warner Archive’s version to the Kino Lorber release. These comparisons are unfair. Warner Archive has access to the original negatives while Kino made their discs from a vintage Technicolor print. Here is where I can speak with a bit more knowledge than most, I know the print that Kino used. I work in film preservation at the George Eastman Museum, where David O. Selznick’s print is held. Selznick’s print was not an original 1937 print, it was made for him in 1946. And it is on British Kodak stock, so it was probably made from duplicate negatives at Technicolor’s London laboratory. This print is darker and bluer than the original release prints. Kino lightened up the image for the video master.

Now, does this new Blu ray look the way the film did to audiences in 1937, probably not. There is a misconception about the look of Technicolor films from the 1930s. During the mid to late 1930s Technicolor feature films were not overly bright with overly saturated colors. For the most part they leaned to the brown side and featured a subdued color palette. And the image on the new Blu ray is very sharp. Technicolor’s method of printing films was similar to lithography, it layered dyes on a blank strip of film using matrices to create a full color image. While Technicolor’s registration was excellent, it still can’t compare to the computer registration used to create the digital master for the Blu ray.

 

I don’t know what the Warner Brother colorists used for a color reference (Technicolor negatives are black and white with latent color records), but the 1937 Technicolor print in the George Eastman Museum’s collection looks very different from the Blu ray. I also must point out the the quality and color of vintage Technicolor prints varied, so the 1937 print I inspected is very different from Selznick’s print from 1946. And it could be very different from what was used as reference at Warner Brothers. Here are comparison frames from the 1937 print vs. the Selznick print vs. the Warner Blu ray –

Studio Logo from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Studio Logo from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

Opening credits in the Warner Archive Blu ray disc.

Opening Credits from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

The Blodgett farmhouse, Warner Archive Blu ray.

Warner Archive Blu ray – The Blodgett farmhouse.

 

So here are some final thoughts about the Warner Archive Blu ray disc of A Star is Born. Like I said earlier in this post, this is definitely the best this film has ever looked on home video. Does it replicate the look of the film in 1937, well not really. If you are a fan of the film, should you upgrade to this new Blu ray, absolutely, not only does it look fantastic, the sound is excellent and the disc comes with many extras, including the original trailer and two Lux Radio Theatre broadcasts.

 

The final close up of A Star is Born.

“. . . this is Mrs. Norman Maine!” The final shot of A Star is Born. Image from the Warner Archive Blu ray.

The end credit on A Star is Born.

End credit for the 1937 A Star is Born. Image from Warner Archive Blu ray.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys).

 

Sources

Film Daily

Motion Picture Daily

The New York Daily News

David O. Selznick’s Hollywood

Born to Dance – Streamline Moderne meets Hollywood Regency

Window card for the 1936 M-G-M film Born to Dance.

Born to Dance (Roy Del Ruth, US 1936). Window Card. Image from Heritage Auctions.

Born to Dance, M-G-M’s big musical for the 1936 holiday season, offered  audiences laughs, excellent Cole Porter songs and great dancing from Eleanor Powell. It also gave audiences a glimpse of things to come in interior design. Cedric Gibbons (1893-1960), head of the studio’s art department, never shied away from cutting edge, modern sets. Gibbons designs helped to introduced this new style to the American public in the late 1920s.

 

Circa 1935 black and white photo of Cedric Gibbons, head of the M-G-M art department.

Cedric Gibbons head of the art department at M-G-M, circa 1935. Image from lamorguefiles.blogspot.com.

 

By the mid-1930s modern interior design had undergone a seismic change. The era of the crazy angles and geometrics of the late 1920s was over. The Depression brought in streamlining, with its chrome accents and speed lines offering a machine age aesthetic. Concurrent with streamlining another style started coming into vogue, Hollywood Regency. Also known as Hollywood Modern, interior designers Dorothy Draper and William Haines were arguably its best practitioners.

 

Combining a wide range of colors, from vibrant to pastels, metal and glass accents, white plaster frames and mirror covered furniture and walls are hallmarks of this style that exemplifies luxury. Hollywood Regency, a termed coined by Draper, emerged in the late 1920s and reached its peak of popularity in the 1940s. It began to diminish as a trend in the mid-1950s but has not entirely vanished from the interior design field.

 

B&W image, main title card of Born to Dance, 1936 M-G-M film, directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Eleanor Powell.

Main title card for Born to Dance (Roy Del Ruth, US 1936). Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

Born to Dance, in production between July to November 1936, highlights the changes happening to interior design in the mid-1930s. The working class world of the “Lonely Hearts Club” hotel and restaurant is clean, sleek and streamlined. While the world inhabited by the Broadway star Lucy James, is pure 1936 luxury.

 

The Plot

Born to Dance uses the typical “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl” trope.

 

B&W frame grab from the DVD of Nora, played by Eleanor Powell, looking up the front steps of the Lonely Hearts Club.

Nora (Eleanor Powell) arrives at the Lonely Hearts Club. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

In this particular case sailor, Ted Barker (Jimmy Stewart), meets an aspiring dancer, Nora (Eleanor Powell), at the Lonely Hearts Club while on leave.

 

The sailor meets Nora at the Lonely Hearts Club's soda fountain.

Boy meets girl. The Sailor (Jimmy Stewart) meets Nora at the soda fountain of the Lonely Hearts Club. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

Complications arise when Broadway star Lucy James, to get some publicity, visits the fleet. Virginia Bruce plays the star to “bitchy” perfection. During the visit, James’ beloved pekingese, Cheeky, falls over board. All the sailors jump into the river to rescue the dog but it is Barker who gets to Cheeky first.

 

A fake romance is contrived by the star’s producer, unfortunately she actually falls for Barker.

 

Born to Dance, frame grab, newspaper story showing a picture of Lucy James out with her sailor.

A newspaper article about Lucy James’ latest romance. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

Meanwhile, the aspiring dancer becomes the star’s understudy (just like in real life when a brand new to Broadway unknown lands her first show). By this time the infatuated star has forbidden her producer from planting any more stories in the press about her romance, with the threat to quit the show if he does. As Lucy James grows more temperamental and storms off the set, the producer asks Nora to do one of her dances, which she does to perfection. The star seeing that she has been outdone by her understudy fires Nora on the spot.

 

When Ted learns of this, he calls the newspapers imitating the producer and plants a fake story that Lucy James will be marrying her sailor boyfriend. Of course the ploy works and the star quits the show on opening night.

 

Planting the fake news stories.

Ted calling the newspapers to plant the fake story of Lucy James’ impending wedding while Jenny Saks (Una Merkle) looks on. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

Lucy James falls for the fake story.

Lucy James falls for the ploy. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

Nora goes on in her place and is a huge hit.

 

Making her Broadway debut.

Nora making her entrance in her first Broadway show. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

And it’s a happy ending for all . . .

 

The finale of the show within the movie, Born to Dance.

The finale of the show within the movie. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

. . .well except for Lucy James.

 

So long Lucy James.

Bye, bye Lucy James. It never ends well for the second female lead in a musical comedy. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

The Art Direction

Production staff title card, from the opening credits of the film.

Title card for the behind the scenes production staff, including the art directors. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

By the mid-1930s with M-G-M releasing forty movies a year, it proved to be impossible for Cedric Gibbons to solely design each film. For Born to Dance, Joseph Wright and Edwin B. Willis worked in collaboration on the art direction with Gibbons.

The Lonely Hearts Club

The Lonely Hearts Club is all sleek, streamlined and fun. The main lobby and soda fountain gleam with light color and chrome accents. And because movies musicals are fantasies, the interior is much larger than the outside of the building.

 

The main lobby of the Lonely Hearts Club.

Nora makes her way through the main lobby of the Lonely Hearts Club. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

Dominating the lobby are circular settees.  Between them are side tables with a chrome tube chair. On one of the tables is a moderne, opaque glass lamp of geometric shapes topped by a fluted, drum shade. On one entire side of the lobby a double staircase leads to the second floor living quarters. Thin metal posts hold up the railing and decorative metal strips hang, curve and form hearts between them. This makes the set light and airy instead of heavy and overpowering. A border of chrome trim on the staircase walls aids in the streamline feel of the room.

 

The Lonely Hearts Club main lobby in the film Born to Dance. Chrome trim border aids in the streamline feeling.

The main lobby showing the chrome trim border on the staircase wall. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

No hard liquor at the Lonely Hearts Club, just wholesome milkshakes and ice cream sundaes. Nestled under the staircase and balcony is a soda fountain. And the streamlining continues here with lots of chrome accents. Chrome speed lines decorate the banquettes and the front of the soda fountain. The underside of the balcony is fluted and decorated with the same heart motif as the railings. The thin columns supporting it are topped by a capital of three chrome rings. Of course the furniture features chrome as well with its tube frames. The Bakelite floor also helps to make the place gleam.

 

The seating area for the soda fountain underneath the balcony.

The seating area of the soda fountain underneath the balcony. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

The front of the soda fountain.

Mush Tracy (Buddy Ebsen) doing his dance solo in front of the entire cast sitting at the soda fountain. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

On the other side of the lobby is the large registration desk. And like everything else at the Lonely Hearts Club, it is light in color, clean and curved. Blonde wood starting to come into vogue in the mid-1930s is used for the desk.

 

The registration desk. Frame grab from the Born to Dance DVD.

The Lonely Hearts Club registration desk. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

The curve of the desk not only welcomes new visitors to the club with a symbolic embrace, it also mimics the curve of the letterbox wall directly behind it.

 

View of the registration desk from the other side.

Reverse angle shot of the registration desk. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

The reverse angle shot of the desk shows a terrific machine age table lamp in the style of Kurt Versen.

Located directly behind the registration desk is the apartment of Jenny Saks (played by the wonderful Una Merkel). The overall design of this set is moderne, but softened with traditional decorations.

 

The apartment of Jenny Saks at the Lonely Hearts club in the film Born to Dance.

Jenny Saks’ rooms at the Lonely Hearts Club. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

No cold chrome tube furniture in here. A moderne table and lamp sits directly next to a wingback chair covered in a floral barkcloth that matches the curtains. A wingback chair of leather is opposite next to a floor lamp / table and shelf unit that is a hybrid of modern and traditional design. A very streamline modern sconce juts out from the wall. A large built in banquette forms the dinning area of Jenny’s apartment.  It is simple, clean design and light in color. A large semicircular window with sheer curtains also helps to make it seem less overpowering.  In this set the M-G-M art department created the idealized apartment for the mid-1930s single women.

 

The dinning banquet in Jenny's apartment. From the 1936 film Born to Dance.

Jenny, her daughter Sally (Juanita Quigley) and Nora at breakfast in the large banquette. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

Lucy James’ Apartment

Contrasting the look of the Lonely Hearts Club is the apartment set of Lucy James. Here is where the shift in design begins, away from Streamline Moderne to Hollywood Regency. It is still a modern style, but an adaptation of classicism and traditional designs. One standout feature of the set is the use of lots of white plaster for frames, furniture and lamps. This is a hallmark of Hollywood Regency interior decoration. Dark colors contrast lighter colors and one wall features a huge mirror surrounding the fireplace. The effect of the design is elegant, luxurious and sensuous.

 

The living room set of Lucy James' apartment, from Born to Dance.

Lucy James (Virginia Bruce) with Cheeky and her producer (Allan Dinehart) in her living room. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

Even the apartment entry doors highlight the Hollywood Regency style. The outside of the door being black lacquer while the inside is a mirrored surface. Both sides of the door feature an metallic, octagonal, moderne insert.

 

Ted Barker entering Lucy James' Apartment.

The entry way to Lucy James’ apartment. Showing the black lacquer and mirror doors. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

Just inside the entrance a white plaster stature in a the classical mode hold a lamp aloft that is dripping in crystals. While a moderne curved half wall opposite acts as a base for a gleaming glass ball column. Showing how the classical offset the modern for this new look.

 

The one place in the apartment where moderne shines is the terrace.

 

The very moderne terrace of the Lucy James' apartment, in the film Born to Dance.

Here is the very moderne apartment terrace of Lucy James. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

A fountain built into a circular settee is the focal point of the terrace set. The checker board floor, imitating terrazzo, continues the dark and light color scheme from inside the apartment. And to supply the romantic music is an extremely modern Sparton Bluebird radio of blue mirror and chrome.

 

 

But the impression that lingers of the Lucy James apartment is a showcase for this new style. White painted furniture, tables with smoky glass tops, dripping crystal statue lamps and fur trimmed lampshades are harbingers of interior design trends that will flourish over the next ten years.

 

Club Continental

Born to Dance, being a backstage musical comedy, has the obligatory scene where the characters go out on the town to a fantastic Manhattan nightclub.

 

Rooftop sign of the Club Continental.

Club Continental rooftop sign advertising the dance team of Georges and Jalna. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

Like most Hollywood movie depictions of a New York City nightclub, the set for the Club Continental is around four times the size what they were in reality.

 

Georges and Jalna performing at the Club Continental. Lucy James and Ted Barker watch from the audience.

Lucy James and Ted Barker enjoying the dancing of George and Jalna at the Club Continental. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

This set is the fantasy of what most non-New Yorkers believed what a Manhattan nightclub looked like. It is chic, moderne, classy and enormous. There were a few huge nightclubs in New York by the mid-1930s, like Billy Rose’s Casino de Paree and the French Casino. But most were cramped spaces squeezed into existing buildings.

The entertainers that are featured at the Club Continental are the real life dance team of Georges and Jalna. And Born to Dance maybe their only film appearance. A large portion of their career was performing at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel dancing to the music of Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra.

 

Georges and Jalna performing at the fictitious Club Continental.

The real life dance team Georges and Jalna on the illuminated dance floor of the fictitious Club Continental. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

In Born to Dance, one can see the design change coming. The where we’ve been being replaced by the where we’re heading. Within a few years the moderne style that is now known as Art Deco, would come to its end. Hollywood Regency is only one of the style trends to replace it. Other more traditional and conservative styles once again came into vogue. And movie set design would be forecasting and reflecting these changes.  By the time of the release of The Women in 1939, the change is complete.

But with its good and funny script, tuneful songs by Cole Porter and a cast, obviously enjoying themselves, Born to Dance is an entertaining way to spend an hour and half. And its also a feast for your eyes with its top rate set design.

 

The closing title card for Born to Dance.

The closing credit title for Born to Dance. Image from the Warner Bros. DVD.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)