People
Cedric Gibbons
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Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1893 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish art director and production designer for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. He is credited as the designer of the Oscar statuette in 1928. Gibbons was born in Dublin, Ireland and studied at the Art Students League of New York and worked for his architect father. While at Edison Studios from 1915, he first designed a set for a film released in 1919, assisting Hugo Ballin. But, after this first foray, the studio closed, and he signed with Samuel Goldwyn in 1918. This evolved to working for Louis B. Mayer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1924 to 1956—a 32-year career. Gibbons was one of the original 36 founding members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and oversaw the design of the Academy Awards statuette in 1928, a trophy for which he himself would be nominated 39 times, winning 11. He retired in 1956 with about 1,500 films credited to him: however, his contract with MGM dictated that he receive credit as art director for every MGM film released in the United States, even though other designers may have done the bulk of the work. Even so, his actual hands-on art direction may have been on about 150 films. In 1930, Gibbons married actress Dolores del Río and co-designed their house in Santa Monica, an intricate Art Deco residence influenced by Rudolf Schindler. They divorced in 1941; three years later he married actress Hazel Brooks with whom he remained until his death at the age of 67. Gibbons's grave is in the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles.
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
Singin' in the Rain
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Mutiny on the Bounty
Appears in a KinoChain journey
The Asphalt Jungle
Appears in a KinoChain journey
The Big Store
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Captains Courageous
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Mrs. Miniver
Appears in a KinoChain journey
The Wizard of Oz
Art Direction
Gaslight
Art Direction
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
Storming the Deck
From the Bounty to the Caine, mutiny films have always been about more than shipboard insurrection. This chain charts how cinematic rebellions at sea reflect th...
7 films
Breaking the Frame: A Journey Through the Fourth Wall
It began with a gun, a bullet, and an audience leaping out of their seats. When Justus D. Barnes leveled his revolver at the camera in The Great Train Robbery (...
8 films
Double Trouble
From the Academy's rare double nods to the performances that earned them, this chain celebrates actors who competed against themselves in a single awards season...
8 films
Small Craft Warnings
From the open sea to a leaky skiff, these eight films use small boats as vessels for self-discovery, each one a different kind of voyage.
8 films
The Heist Film Slips Its Own Cuffs
Seven robberies that treat the job as a pretext: for politics, for grief, for a formal joke. The loot matters less than what the filmmakers smuggle out alongsid...
7 films
The Path to La La Land & Its Legacy
A decade on from its 2016 debut, La La Land remains a landmark achievement in modern cinema: a dazzling, bittersweet love letter to big dreams and hard choices....
7 films
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