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 Vincent Korda. (1897 – 1979)

(Korda was responsible for the art direction of many UK made films, as well as international productions, and among his many credits are The Four Feathers, The Thief of Bagdad, The Third Man, The Longest Day, and The Yellow Rolls-Royce.)

Vincent Korda has always been in the enviable position of being able to build lavishly, but his ideas have also been on a scale worthy of lavish treatment.

Don Juan. Dry point. London Films, 1934
This was to be Douglas Fairbanks’ last film performance.

Marius, Watercolour 1931
Directed by Korda’s brother Alexander and Marcel Pagnol.

The Shape Of Things To Come. Pen and wash. London Films 1936

I, Claudius Pen and watercolour. An unfinished film by London Films. 1937

The Four Feathers. Conté and Gouache. London Films 1939 (Directed by Vincent’s brother, Zoltan)

The Lost Illusion AKA The Fallen Idol. Pen and wash. London Films 1948

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VINCENT KORDA studied to be a painter, starting as a student at the Academy of Art in Budapest and graduating through the Academies of Vienna, Florence and Paris.

He showed great promise and would have probably become a very great painter had he not been engulfed in his brother’s work. Alexander Korda had come to Paris in 1931 to make films; Junge was the Art Director and Vincent came in to help sketch and paint. He was evidently taken by this new medium and when Alexander came to England he established Vincent as his Art Director, in which capacity he has been associated with some of the most ambitious and spectacular films made in this country.
Well known for his generosity, he has also helped many young designers to find their way to success as art directors.

Among the films that Vincent Korda has helped to make famous are: ‘Henry VIII’, ‘Scarlet Pimpernel’, ‘Don Juan’, ‘Sanders of the River’, ‘Rembrandt’, ‘Things to Come’, ‘The Drum’, ‘Four Feathers’, ‘Thief of Bagdad’, `To Be or Not To Be’ (U.S.A.), `Lady Hamilton’, ‘Jungle Book’, ‘Perfect Strangers’, ‘Ideal Husband’.

Vincent Korda has always been in the enviable position of being able to build lavishly, but his ideas have also been on a scale worthy of lavish treatment. In his approach to the designs of a set he searches in all directions for clues that will reveal to him the secrets of his own imagination. He appreciates the composite form of the film and makes use of every contribution of worth that is forthcoming in his art department.

His set designs often vary in style and execution; when I once asked him what his favourite medium was he replied : ‘anything that’s around at the time’. To him the finish of the drawing matters little in comparison with the set. The set is the finished work.
Vincent has done much to establish the reputation of the Kordas as great film makers.

(Excerpted from: “Art & Design In The British Film” A Pictorial Directory of British Art Directors and their work. Compiled by Edward Carrick, 1947 )