Articles & Texticles

Continuing a series about Art Directors in the British film industry up to 1948, when the book containing these articles was published.

This chapter deals with Edward Carrick, who said:

“I believe that the film in the hands of the artist could be the greatest medium of expression of all time”.

( I have to say that I echo and cheer that statement wholeheartedly.)

Click the images to enlarge them

Captain Boycott, 1947 This film launched Stewart Granger’s career.

Fires Were Started, 1943 (Sorry for the quality of this image, it was a very small original.)

Captain Boycott

(Another small original.)

Accused, 1936
This picture starred Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Dolores Del Rio.

The full text of the chapter is below the fold….
My father’s name was Gordon Craig but all his teaching led me further from the theatre
which seemed to be dying and towards the film, which was just born and in which I could see the realization of so many of his theories on light, movement and the Uber-Marionette . . . so I changed my name and went into films.

It was George Pearson who first employed me as his designer in I927 at the old Stoll
Studios.
In those days, we worked hard and loved it: five productions on the floor at once;
thirty to forty sets per production each coped with by one art director alone and with no
assistants.

Because of Pearson’s belief in the film, I decided to stay and fight for its future.

To me ‘G.P.’ was the greatest brain in the film world; he still remains its unrecognized genius, from whom many of us learnt more than we could have ever found out alone.

My career as a designer is shown in a simple list of dates: I927-29, Art Director to Welsh
Pearson Films; I930-3I, working as a freelance painter and commercial artist; I932-35, Art Director to Ealing Studios (then R..K..O.); I936-38, Art Director to Doughts Fairbanks and various other concerns.

In I937 I achieved what had been aiming at for so Iong-the establishment in England of
the. first school devoted to the study of the film as an art. Followed by the publication
of the first text book on Designing for Moving Pictures.

During I939-47 I was Art Director in charge of the Crown Film Unit and Army Film Unit Art
Departments, also working on a special R.A.F. production in France.

In I947 I designed the backgrounds to ‘Captain Boycott’ before taking over the
responsibility of Executive Director to Independent Producers.

I believe that the film in the hands of the artist could be the greatest medium of
expression of all time.

I learnt to paint in Italy; there I also taught myself photography and architectural draughtsmanship so that I could earn a bit of money and assist my father.

After going to France and Holland, I went to Germany and there met Klaus Richter, who first opened my eyes to the existence of the film medium.

* am now working on Frank Launder’s production of ‘The Blue Lagoon’.