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 C.P.Norman, also known as Norman Delany.

CP. NORMAN approaches film decor as a scenic artist with the knowledge of the photographer — he is lucky in knowing how far ‘make-believe’ can go before it is detected by the camera and his sketches are painted in the heavy body colour of the scenic artist.

(Please click these thumbnail images to enlarge them.)

The First Gentleman 1948 Pen and gouache. Columbia Pictures

Blithe Spirit 1945
Conté and gouache. Cineguild

Another Cynthia ¹
Gouache. Columbia Pictures

Continue reading reading C.P.Norman’s career synopsis below the fold….

CP. NORMAN approaches film decor as a scenic artist with the knowledge of the photographer — he is lucky in knowing how far ‘make-believe’ can go before it is detected by the camera and his sketches are painted in the heavy body colour of the scenic artist.

He started his career as an art student in Vienna and then got a job with the Court photographer, Setzar. He carried on the same work when he came to England in 1919 and later joined his brother Edward Delany as a scenic artist.
Delany was at that time painting backings for the Stoll Studios, where there were seldom less than five productions on the floor at once, and so Norman had the opportunity of working on Anthony Asquith’s ‘Shooting Stars’ as his first film job.

When Alexander Korda went into production at Worton Hall Studios, Norman joined Vincent Korda as his assistant and in that capacity worked with him on many of his most successful productions, such as ‘Henry VIII’, ‘Catherine of Russia’, ‘Don Juan’, etc.

When London Films moved to Denham, Norman added the job of Floor Manager to his responsibilities, working on ‘Knight Without Armour’ and ‘The Drum’ among other films. Later he went in for set dressing at which he did very well, particularly on ‘In Which We Serve’ with its very authentic backgrounds.

He was David Lean’s Art Director on two of his very successful films ‘This Happy Breed’ and ‘Blithe Spirit’ and has just put up some very beautiful sets for Cavalcanti’s ‘The First Gentleman’.

He feels, like so many other artists do today, that too much money is spent on realism ‘when a little ingenuity would have given the same, if not better, results’ and would welcome a greater spirit of daring and adventure among film makers to avoid being drawn into a ’state of complacence and staleness so noticeable in all but the very best American films’.

1. I cannot find any web based reference for this film. Perhaps its name was changed on its eventual release. [↩]