William Cameron Menzies

• Name — William Cameron Menzies • Born — 29 July 1896 • Birthplace — New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. • Died — 5 March 1957 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Education — Yale University, University of Edinburgh • Occupation — Production designer, film director • Awards — Academy Award for Best Art Direction 1928 The Dove; Tempest Academy Honorary Award 1939 Gone with the Wind • Years Active — 1917–1956 William Cameron Menzies (July 29, 1896 – March 5, 1957) was an American filmmaker who pioneered the discipline of production design, a job title he invented. His career spanned five decades, during which time he also worked as an art director, director, producer, and special effects artist. He began his career during the silent era, and later pioneered the use of color in film for dramatic effect. Over the course of his career, Menzies was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two - one for Best Art Direction, and an Honorary Oscar for his work on Gone with the Wind. He is considered one of the most influential figures of the Golden Age of Hollywood, described by Martin Scorsese as a “genius, [whose] influence was incalculable.”

Menzies was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Scottish immigrant parents, Charles A. and Helen originally from Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross. He studied at Yale and the University of Edinburgh and, after serving in the United States Army during World War I, he attended the Art Students League of New York.

Menzies joined Famous Players–Lasky, later to evolve into Paramount Pictures, working in special effects and design. He soon worked on such films as Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), The Bat (1926), The Dove (1927), Sadie Thompson (1928), and Tempest (1928). His contributions to The Dove (1927), as well as Tempest (1928) led to Menzies receiving the first Academy Award for Best Production Design, an accolade for achievement in art direction. In 1929, Menzies formed a partnership with producer Joseph M. Schenck to create a series of early sound short films visualizing great works of music, including a 10-minute version of Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and created the production design and special effects for Schenck's feature film The Lottery Bride (1930). Menzies's work on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) prompted David O. Selznick to hire him for Gone with the Wind (1939). Selznick's faith in Menzies was so great that he sent a memorandum to everyone at Selznick International Pictures who was involved in the production reminding them that "Menzies is the final word" on everything related to Technicolor, scenic design, set decoration, and the overall look of the production. His work on the film would also net Menzies an Honorary Academy Award "for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood." "Production designer" (which is sometimes used interchangeably with "art director") was coined specifically for Menzies, to refer to his being the final word on the overall look of the production; it was intended to describe his ability to translate Selznick's ideas to drawings and paintings from which he and his fellow directors worked. Menzies was the director of the burning of Atlanta sequence in Gone with the Wind. He also re-shot the Salvador Dalí dream sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945). In addition, Menzies directed dramas and fantasy films. He made two science-fiction films: Things to Come (1936), based on a novel by H.G. Wells, for producer Alexander Korda which predicted war and technical advancement; and Invaders from Mars (1953), which mirrored many fears about aliens and outside threats to humanity in the 1950s.

Shortly after completing his work as an associate producer on Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Menzies died of cancer. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

At the first Academy Awards, held on May 16, 1929, Menzies won for Best Art Direction for The Dove and Tempest. He was the first to win the Academy Award for art direction. The following year he was nominated in the same categories for his work on Bulldog Drummond, Alibi, and The Awakening, but lost to Cedric Gibbons. At the 12th Academy Awards held on February 29, 1940, Menzies won an Academy Honorary Award "for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood" in the production of Gone With the Wind.

• Year — Title — Studio — Director — Photography — Notes • 1930 — Glorious Vamps — Feature Productions/United Artists — Orville O. Dull — Robert Planck — Menzies credited as "Producer" (with Hugo Riesenfeld) • Be Yourself! — Joseph M. Schenck Productions/United Artists — Thornton Freeland — Karl Struss — Menzies credited as "Associate Producer" (with John W. Considine Jr.) and for "Settings" • Puttin' on the Ritz — Joseph M. Schenck Productions/United Artists — Edward Sloman — Ray June — Menzies credited as "Associate Producer" (with John W. Considine Jr.) and for "Settings" • The Wizard's Apprentice — Feature Productions/United Artists — Sydney Levee — Alfred Schmidt — Menzies credited as "Producer" with John W. Considine Jr. • One Romantic Night — Joseph M. Schenck Productions/United Artists — Paul S. Stein — Karl Struss — Menzies credited for "Settings" • The Bad One — Joseph M. Schenck Productions/United Artists — George Fitzmaurice — Karl Struss — Menzies credited as "Art and Technical Director" • Hungarian Rhapsody — Feature Productions/United Artists — Eugene Forde — Robert Planck — Menzies credited as "Producer" (with Hugo Riesenfeld) • Raffles — Samuel Goldwyn Productions/United Artists — Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast, George Fitzmaurice — George Barnes, Gregg Toland — Menzies credited for "Art Direction" • Forever Yours — Mary Pickford Film Corporation/never distributed — Marshall Neilan — Karl Struss — Menzies credited as "Art Director"; project abandoned after 6 weeks of shooting. Reshot as Secrets in 1933 • Zampa — Feature Productions/United Artists — Eugene Forde — Karl Struss — Menzies credited as "Producer" (with Hugo Riesenfeld) • Du Barry, Woman of Passion — Feature Productions/United Artists — Sam Taylor — Oliver Marsh — Menzies credited with "Settings" • The Lottery Bride — Joseph M. Schenck Productions/United Artists — Paul L.Stein — Ray June — Menzies credited with "Settings and Effects" • Abraham Lincoln — Feature Productions/United Artists — D. W. Griffith — Karl Struss — Menzies credited with "Settings" • 1931 — Reaching for the Moon — Feature Productions/United Artists — Edmund Goulding — Ray June, Robert Planck — Menzies credited with "Settings" • Kiki — Feature Productions/United Artists — Earle Browne — Karl Struss — Menzies credited with "Settings" • Always Goodbye — 20th Century Fox — William Cameron Menzies, Kenneth MacKenna — Arthur Edeson — Menzies credited only as co-director, William S. Darling for Art Direction • The Spider — 20th Century Fox — William Cameron Menzies, Kenneth MacKenna — James Wong Howe — Menzies credited as co-director, Gordon Wiles for Art Direction • 1932 — Almost Married — 20th Century Fox — William Cameron Menzies, Marcel Varnel — John J. Mescall — Menzies credited as co-director, Gordon Wiles for Art Direction • Chandu the Magician — 20th Century Fox — Marcel Varnel, William Cameron Menzies — James Wong Howe — Menzies credited as co-director, Max Parker for Art Direction • 1933 — Cavalcade — 20th Century Fox — Frank Lloyd, William Cameron Menzies — Ernest Palmer — Menzies credited with directing "War Scenes", William Darling for Art Direction • Trick for Treat — 20th Century Fox — Hamilton MacFadden — O. W. O'Connell — Menzies credited for "Technical Effects", Duncan Cramer for Art Direction • I Loved You Wednesday — 20th Century Fox — Henry King, William Cameron Menzies — Hal Mohr — Menzies credited as co-director, Joseph C. Wright for Art Direction • Alice in Wonderland — Paramount Pictures/Paramount Pictures — Norman Z. McLeod, William Cameron Menzies (uncredited) — Harry Sharp, Bert Glennon — Menzies uncredited co-director and co-screenwriter, Technical Effects by Gordon Jennings, Farciot Edouart • 1934 — Wharf Angel — Paramount Pictures/Paramount Pictures — William Cameron Menzies, George Somnes — Victor Milner — Art Directors Hans Dreier, John Goodman • The Notorious Sophie Lang — Paramount Pictures/Paramount Pictures — Ralph Murphy, William Cameron Menzies (uncredited) — Alfred Gilks — Art Directors Hans Dreier, Robert Odell • Cleopatra — Paramount Pictures/Paramount Pictures — Cecil B. DeMille, William Cameron Menzies — Alfred Gilks — Menzies credited with "Montage"; Art Directors Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson • 1936 — Things to Come — London Film Company/United Artists — William Cameron Menzies — Georges Périnal, Edward Cohen — Special Effects Ned Mann • 1937 — The Green Cockatoo — New World Pictures/20th Century Fox — William Cameron Menzies — Mutz Greenbaum — Menzies uncredited co-producer with William K. Howard • Nothing Sacred — Selznick International/United Artists — William A. Wellman — W. Howard Greene — Menzies assistant to Producer David O. Selznick • 1938 — The Adventures of Tom Sawyer — Selznick International/United Artists — William Cameron Menzies — James Wong Howe — Art Director Lyle R. Wheeler; Cave sequence designed by Menzies • The Young in Heart — Selznick International/United Artists — Richard Wallace, Lewis Milestone (uncredited) — Leon Shamroy — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Lyle R. Wheeler Art Director • 1939 — Made for Each Other — Selznick International/United Artists — John Cromwell — Leon Shamroy — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Lyle R. Wheeler Art Director • Gone With the Wind — Selznick International/United Artists — Victor Fleming — Leon Shamroy — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Lyle R. Wheeler Art Director • 1940 — Cavalcade of the Academy Awards — Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences/Warner Bros. — Numerous contributors — Numerous contributors — Menzies appears briefly in this 17 minute production, accepting a special award for Gone With the Wind. • Rebecca — Selznick International/United Artists — Alfred Hitchcock, William Cameron Menzies (uncredited) — George Barnes — Menzies directed the shots at Manderlay, and the beach cottage scenes with the dog Jasper; Lyle R. Wheeler Art Director • Our Town — Principal Artists/United Artists — Sam Wood — Bert Glennon — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Lewis J. Rachmil Art Director • Foreign Correspondent — Walter Wanger Productions/United Artists — Alfred Hitchcock — Rudolph Maté — Menzies credited for "Special Production Effects"; Alexander Golitzen Art Director • The Thief of Bagdad — Alexander Korda Productions/United Artists — Michael Powell, William Cameron Menzies (uncredited) — Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell — Menzies co-director (uncredited) • 1941 — Meet John Doe — Frank Capra Productions/Vitagraph Studios — Frank Capra — George Barnes — Menzies reports working on this project for a month, and publicity indicated that he was production designer (uncredited), Stephen Goosson Art Director • So Ends Our Night — David L. Loew-Albert Lewin, Inc./United Artists — John Cromwell — William Daniels — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Jack Otterson Art Director • The Devil and Miss Jones — Frank Ross-Norman Krasna, Inc./RKO Pictures — Sam Wood — Harry Stradling — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Van Nest Polglase Art Director • 1942 — Kings Row — Warner Bros./Warner Bros. — Sam Wood — James Wong Howe — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Carl Jules Weyl Art Director • 1943 — The Pride of the Yankees — Samuel Goldwyn Productions/RKO Pictures — Sam Wood — Rudolph Maté — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Perry Ferguson Art Director • Mr. Lucky — RKO Pictures — H. C. Potter — George Barnes — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Albert S. D'Agostino, Mark-Lee Kirk Art Directors • For Whom the Bell Tolls — Paramount Pictures/Paramount Pictures — Sam Wood — Ray Rennahan — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; Hans Dreier, Akim Tamiroff Art Directors • The North Star — Samuel Goldwyn Productions/RKO Radio Pictures — Lewis Milestone — James Wong Howe — Menzies credited as "Associate Producer"; Perry Ferguson Art Director • 1944 — Address Unknown — Address Unknown, Inc. (Sam Wood)./Columbia Pictures — William Cameron Menzies — Rudolph Maté — Menzies listed as "Producer-Director" • 1945 — Spellbound — Vanguard Films/United Artists — Alfred Hitchcock — George Barnes — Menzies "consulted on the dream sequence...based on designs by Salvador Dalí."; James Basevi, Art Director • 1946 — Duel in the Sun — Vanguard Films/RKO Radio Pictures — King Vidor — Lee Garmes, Hal Rosson — Menzies listed as a "Second Unit Director" (uncredited), on loan from RKO, he directed the "barbecue sequence" during his 5 days on the project. • Deadline at Dawn — RKO Radio Pictures/RKO Radio Pictures — Harold Clurman, William Cameron Menzies (uncredited) — Nicholas Musuraca — Albert S. D'Agostino, Jack Okey Art Directors • It's a Wonderful Life — Liberty Films/RKO Radio Pictures — Frank Capra, — Joseph Walker, Joseph Biroc — Menzies consulted on a number of sequences, and observed some of the shooting. (uncredited), Jack Okey Art Director • 1947 — Ivy — Inter-Wood Productions/Universal International — Sam Wood — Russell Metty — Menzies credited as "Producer" Richard H. Riedel, Art Director • 1948 — Arch of Triumph — Arch of Triumph, Inc. (Enterprise)/Universal International — Lewis Milestone — Ray Rennahan — Menzies credited as "Production Designer"; William E. Flannery, Art Director • 1949 — The Tell-Tale Heart — Menzies-Finney/Telepak — Jules Dassin — Nominated for Emmy Award for Best Film Made for Television, 1948. Released on ABC TV Actors Studio • A Terribly Strange Bed — Telepak/ Post Pictures Corp. — William Cameron Menzies — Nominated for Emmy Award for Best Film Made for Television, 1948. • The Marionette Mystery — Menzies-Finney/Telepak — William Cameron Menzies — William O'Connell — Nominated for Emmy Award for Best Film Made for Television, 1948. • Reign of Terror — Walter Wanger Pictures, Inc./Eagle-Lion Films — Anthony Mann — Ray Rennahan — Menzies credited as "Producer", film re-titled The Black Book before October 1949 opening in New York • 1951 — The Whip Hand — RKO Radio Pictures/RKO Radio Pictures — William Cameron Menzies — Nicholas Musuraca — Menzies also credited as "Production Designer", Albert S. D'Agostino, Carroll Clark Art Directors • Drums in the Deep South — King Brothers Productions/RKO Radio Pictures — William Cameron Menzies — Lionel Lindon — Menzies also credited as "Production Designer", Frank Paul Sylos Art Director • 1952 — The Zayat Kiss — Herles Enterprises — William Cameron Menzies — Edward Hyland — Airtime for the TV production not established, made in New York, April 1952 • The Wild Heart — London Films, Vanguard Films/RKO Radio Pictures — Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, William Cameron Menzies (uncredited) — Chris Challis — Menzies "made retakes and directed added scenes, February 1951. Titled Gone to Earth in British release. • We're Not Married! — 20th Century-Fox — Edmond Goulding — Leo Tover — Menzies served as "montage director". At his request, he was not extended any credit or publicity for his work. • 1953 — Androcles and the Lion — RKO Radio Pictures/RKO Radio Pictures — Chester Erskine — Harry Stradling — Harry Horner credited as "Production Designer", Menzies uncredited. Albert S. D'Agostino, Charles F. Pike Art Directors • Invaders from Mars — National Pictures Corp./20th Century-Fox — William Cameron Menzies — John Seitz — Menzies also credited as "Production Designer", Boris Leven Art Director • The Maze — Allied Artists — William Cameron Menzies — Harry Neumann — Menzies also credited as "Production Designer", David Scott Milton Art Director • 1954 — A String of Beads — Everest Productions/Allied Artists — William Cameron Menzies — George E. Diskant — A TV pilot for CBS's Four Star Playhouse • Star Studded Ride — Universal Pictures — William Cameron Menzies — Short subject assembled from Sol Lesser's Three-D Follies • Autumn in Rome — Selznick Releasing Organization/Columbia Pictures — William Cameron Menzies — James Wong Howe — Short film to serve as a prologue to Indiscretion of an American Wife, vocals by Patti Page, score Alessandro Cicognini. • The Halls of Ivy, 39-episode TV production — Television Programs of America — William Cameron Menzies, Norman Z. McLeod — Robert Picttack, Alfred Gilks — Menzies directed half of the episodes that comprised the series. • 1955 — Johnny and the Gaucho — William Cameron Menzies — Menzies directed the pilot for this TV program • 1956 — Around the World in Eighty Days — Michael Todd Co./United Artists — Michael Anderson — Lionel Lindon — Menzies credited as "Associate Producer" and "Production Designer", James W. Sullivan Art Director

• Year — Title — Author — Theater — Director — Notes • 1923 (opened 8 October) — The Lullaby — Edward Knoblock — Knickerbocker Theatre — Fred G. Latham — Scenery and costumes designed by William Cameron Menzies • 1931 (Opened 21 January) — The Ambulance Chaser — Bella and Samuel Spewack — Hollywood Playhouse — Scenery designed by William Cameron Menzies • 1932 (opened 28 December) — Grand Guignol — H. F. Maltby, Andre de Lorde, et al. — Hollywood Music Box — Robert Vignola, Donald Crisp, Reginald Berkeley — Scenery designed by William Cameron Menzies • 1941 (opened 30 July) — Anna Christie — Eugene O'Neill — Lobero Theatre, (Santa Barbara, California — John Houseman — Sketches for scenery design by William Cameron Menzies. (Two-week showing in San Francisco's Curran Theatre, opened 4 August 1941)

In October 2009, Alpha Video released the public domain collection The Fantastic World of William Cameron Menzies on DVD, which included four early experimental films created by Menzies and Joseph M. Schenck, shorts that visualize great works of classical music: • "Irish Fantasy" (1929) • "Impressions of Tschaikowsky's Overture '1812'" (1930) • "Hungarian Rhapsody" (1930) • Paul Dukas' "The Wizard's Apprentice" (1930). According to Dave Kehr, The Wizard's Apprentice "clearly influenced Disney's version in Fantasia.