VISIONARIES OF SILENT CINEMA
Our story of the pioneers of Art Direction has never been told. The Time Has Come!
Whatever future the cinema may have will be based solidly on its past. Time is a human conception -- very much like a motion picture. It is all there, but we have to live it. And you cannot enjoy the last reel unless you know what happened in the first
- Kevin Brownlow: “The Parade’s Gone By”
Introducing America's First Motion Picture Art Directors
(1905 to 1929)
Ben Carré
1883 – 1978
Born in Paris, Ben Carré began his career designing and painting backdrops and for theatre and then for film, in Paris, Fort Lee, New Jersey, and finally in Hollywood...more
Anton Grot
(1884 - 1974)
Anton Grot was a Polish art director was known for his prolific output with Warner Brothers, contributing, in such films as Little Caesar (1931), and Gold Diggers of (1933)...more
Una Nixson Hopkins
(1869 - 1956)
Una Nixson Hopkins was an American writer, designer, and an art director who worked in silent films. She's been described as "the first woman art director in motion pictures..more
Charles D. Hall
(1888 - 1970)
Charles D. Hall was a British-American art director and production designer. He was art director for The Phantom of the Opera,The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein (1935)...more
Henri Ménessier
1882-1948
Henri Ménessier was born in France. He was a production designer and art director, known for L'évadée (1929), The Easiest Way (1917) and The Common Law...more
Hugo Balin
(1879 - 1956)
Hugo Ballin was an American artist, muralist, author, and film director. Ballin was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design...more
Fred Gabourie
(1881 - 1951)
Fred Gabourie, born in Canada was a technical director and department head. He worked primarily for Buster Keaton, figuring out how to make Keaton's innovative stunts work...more
Visionaries of the Silent Cinema
The mission to document Ben Carré and his fellow pioneers in Art Direction for the Silent Cinema...more
Wilfred Buckland
1866-1946
Wilfred Buckland was an art director and production designer, known for Terror Island (1920), Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1919) and Almost Human (1927)...more
William Cameron Menzies (1896 - 1957)
William Cameron Menzies was an American filmmaker who pioneered the discipline of production design. He won an Honorary Oscar for his work on Gone with the Wind...more
Harry Oliver
(1888 - 1973)
Harry Oliver was an American humorist, artist, and Academy Award nominated art director. He's best remembered for his humorous writings about the American Southwest..more
Who Is Tre Luna
Meet the team developing this documentary film celebrating the legacy of Ben Carré and the First American Motion Picture Art Directors....more
