* hc omslag Film Architecture 22-05-2007 17:10 Pagina 1 Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination: Set Design in 1930s European Cinema presents for the first time a comparative study of European film set design in HARRIS AND STREET BERGFELDER, IMAGINATION FILM ARCHITECTURE AND THE TRANSNATIONAL the late 1920s and 1930s. Based on a wealth of designers' drawings, film stills and archival documents, the book FILM FILM offers a new insight into the development and signifi- cance of transnational artistic collaboration during this CULTURE CULTURE period. IN TRANSITION IN TRANSITION European cinema from the late 1920s to the late 1930s was famous for its attention to detail in terms of set design and visual effect. Focusing on developments in Britain, France, and Germany, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the practices, styles, and function of cine- matic production design during this period, and its influence on subsequent filmmaking patterns. Tim Bergfelder is Professor of Film at the University of Southampton. He is the author of International Adventures (2005), and co- editor of The German Cinema Book (2002) and The Titanic in Myth and Memory (2004). Sarah Street is Professor of Film at the Uni- versity of Bristol. She is the author of British Cinema in Documents (2000), Transatlantic Crossings: British Feature Films in the USA (2002) and Black Narcis- sus (2004). Sue Harris is Reader in French cinema at Queen Mary, University of London. She is the author of Bertrand Blier (2001) and co-editor of France in Focus: Film and National Identity (2000). FILMFILM ARCHITECTUREARCHITECTURE ANDAND THETHE TRANSNATIONALTRANSNATIONAL IMAGINATIONIMAGINATION SETSET DESIGNDESIGN ININ 1930s1930s EUROPEANEUROPEAN CINEMACINEMA TIMTIM BERGFELDER BERGFELDER SUESUE HARRIS HARRIS 9 789053 569801 SARAHSARAH STREET STREET Amsterdam University Press Amsterdam University Press WWW.AUP.NL Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination Set Design in 1930s European Cinema Tim Bergfelder Sue Harris Sarah Street Front cover illustration: F.P. antwortet nicht (). Still Courtesy of Film- museum Berlin/Deutsche Kinemathek Cover design: Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam Lay-out: japes, Amsterdam isbn (paperback) isbn (hardcover) nur © Tim Bergfelder, Sue Harris, Sarah Street / Amsterdam University Press, All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Contents Acknowledgements 1 Introduction: Understanding and Interpreting Set Design in Cinema The Invisible Set Design, Film Narrative and Beyond Journeys into the Haptic: Film and Architecture Travelling to/through the Cinema of the s 2 European Set Design in the 1920s and 1930s: Cultural Contexts and Professional Practices Germany The Metaphysics of Décor: Kracauer and Eisner’s Legacy Eclecticism and Adaptability: Professional Backgrounds and Training Patterns among German Set Designers From Wagner to Reinhardt: Staging the Gesamtkunstwerk From Metaphysics to Studio Reality: Contexts, Strategies, and Practices of Set Design in German Cinema of the s and s Conceptions of Space and Narrative in Hollywood and Germany Approaches to Set Design in Weimar Film: Painting versus Architecture France New Agendas in French Design in the s Enter Lazare Meerson The Emigré Eye on France Production Contexts: The Transition to Sound in French Cinema Working Practices in French Studios in the s Set as Performance in French Cinema Great Britain Looking to the Continent: Design Practices in Britain Adapting the Concept of ‘Total Design’ for British Cinema 6 Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination Professional Backgrounds and Expertise: The Rise of the ‘Architect- Designer’ in Britain Working Practices in Britain: Sketches, Designs and Drawings Designers in the Context of the British Studio System Conclusion 3 Imagining Space in Late Weimar Cinema Past, Future, and Present – The Changing Settings of Weimar Cinema The Composite City: Narrative and Set Design in Asphalt Angst: Lifestyle Design and Suburban Melodrama Underworld UK: Andrei Andreiev and the Imaginary London in Die Büchse der Pandora and Die -Groschenoper Stardom, Genre, and Space: Brigitte Helm in Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna Instabilities of Genre and Space: Exotic Iconography in Die Herrin von Atlantis/The Mistress of Atlantis/L’Atlantide 4 French Cinema in the 1930s: Space, Place, and National Identity Paris and the Challenge to Popular Memory The Set as Star: Fantasies of Place and Space The Set and the Star: Josephine Baker on Screen Beyond France to Europe and the Colonies: Voyages of Discovery Journeys in Time: The Historic Film Build them High! The Project-Specific Set Conclusion 5 Set Design, Style, and Genre in 1930s British Cinema Designing the Past Tudor England: The Private Life of Henry VIII and Fire Over England Revolutionary France in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel th Century Flanders in La Kermesse héroïque and Holland in Rembrandt Designing Russia in The Rise of Catherine the Great and Knight Without Armour Transforming the Restrictive Domestic Space in Knight Without Armour Contents 7 The Hyperbolic/Ornate Historical Interior Space: The Scarlet Empress and The Rise of Catherine the Great Conclusions on ‘Designing Russia’ Designing the Future Alfred Junge and Art Deco Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index of Film Titles Index of Names and Subjects Acknowledgements We would like to thank several people for their role in instigating and support- ing this project. First, the late Professor Jill Forbes, who obtained the initial grant for the project from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, inspired the initial investigation into studios and set design with unfailing enthusiasm and drive. Without her vision, enterprise and support this project would never have got off the ground; we are proud to have brought it to its conclusion and ded- icate this book to her memory. We thank Jill’s son Alex Nice and her partner Martin McKeand for allowing us access to her files and library. Ben McCann was researcher on the project in its early stages and we thank him for his enter- prise, enthusiasm and commitment. We are also grateful for the expertise and support of staff at the many ar- chives we have consulted in our researches, including Régis Robert, Valdo Kneubühler, and the staff of the Service des Archives and the Iconothèque at the Bibliothèque du Film in Paris; Steve Wilson, associate curator of Film at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre in Austin, Texas; Annett Sawall, Wolfgang Theis, and Gerrit Thies at the Filmmuseum Berlin/Deutsche Kine- mathek (especially their support in locating and supplying images); Hans-Mi- chael Bock and the team of CineGraph (Hamburg); and the library staff at the British Film Institute, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and the Forum des Images, Paris; the latter granted Sue Harris the status of chercheur associé for the duration of the project. Horst Claus, Christian Cargnelli and Kelly Robinson provided invaluable assistance and advice. John Irving, son of set designer Laurence Irving, allowed us to examine his father’s drawings and private pa- pers which were important to the research on British designers. Various friends and colleagues provided accommodation and hospitality in Paris, including Will and Sarah McMorran, Laurent Debouverie and Muriel Lefèbvre, and Jo and Valérie Worrall. We are particularly grateful to Sue Simkin for her research assistance in archives in Paris and Austin. In Queen Mary, University of London, was the venue for our project- related conference, ‘Designs for Living’, which provided an excellent opportu- nity to discuss production design with colleagues from all over the world. We are grateful to Jill Evans and Laura Wykes for providing administrative assis- tance and to Eugene Doyen for generously assisting with technical matters. We have also benefited from presenting our ideas to the Screen Studies conference, Glasgow, to the annual gatherings of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies 10 Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination in Minneapolis and in London, and to the annual th/st century French and Francophone studies colloquium. We also thank the University of Bristol for providing support for research in the US and the University of Southampton for supporting research travel to Germany. Tim Bergfelder Sue Harris Sarah Street Introduction: Understanding and Interpreting Set Design in Cinema The Invisible Set When one thinks of crucial contributors to the filmmaking process, the first pro- fessions to come to mind are usually the director, who is seen in overall control of the production; the actors, who embody and animate the fictional characters with which audiences will identify; the scriptwriter, who creates the story and establishes narrative situations; and the cinematographer, who is in charge of visually capturing the narrative and the actors’ performance. Audiences are of course mostly aware that in any production, a myriad of other personnel contri- bute to a successful production, even if the scope and nature of their work is often barely understood