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Any set from HELLO, DOLLY! is my favorite
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Posted: |
May 29, 2013 - 11:35 PM
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By: |
philiperic
(Member)
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THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
Mind-boggling....
(Despite the occasional view beyond the set, of Spanish countryside, when it should have been the urban sprawl that was Rome in the 2nd Century A.D....)
All they needed was a few matte shots.
And, upon reading about this gargantuan edifice, I understand each of the buildings had magnificent interiors, which were never even filmed....!
I also love the Babylon set for D.W.Griffith's INTOLERANCE... In fact, the present-day Kodak Center has built hommages to several elements of it. (Though, as I recall, today's Kodak Center stands on the original site of the Babylon set, which, due to Griffiths financial woes, actually stood until around 1930, when the Fire Dept. deemed it a fire hazard, and burned it.)
I second John's choice - Ive always felt FOTRE had perhaps the most amazing film set - the Roman Forum - ever built. What a shame we never saw the interiors -- wonder if there are photos of them anywhere?
Also I agree about the Babylonian set from INTOLERANCE - awe inspiring. I just watched the first 3 eps of a BBC documentary at a friend's - THE STORY OF FILM I think is the title - and there is footage of Griffith's original structure being torn down - not burnt- followed by shots of the current Kodak hommage.
And another big thank you to manderley for a fascinating post - what a wonderful memory for you -- wonder if you saw the lovely Gloria Jean on set - it was meant to be a comeback for the child star.
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Posted: |
May 30, 2013 - 7:55 AM
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By: |
Ralph
(Member)
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THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
Mind-boggling....
Nothing before or after has matched the looney, excessive magnificence of the “FORM” designs by Veniero Colasanti and John Moore. For years the sets were a tourist attraction, ceased when the weather and lack of maintenance caused deterioration and making the site unsafe.
From Christopher Plummer’s “In spite of Myself”:
— “‘The Fall of the Roman Empire’ was an epic film of massive proportions produced by Samuel Bronston (entrepreneur extraordinaire), and true to the grandeur of its title. Bronston, who had the ear of Generalisimo Franco, had cleverly found some way to make pesos and the dollar work together and in the process had heightened considerably the value of Spanish currency. With Franco’s cooperation, he played a major role in developing Spain into a European moviemaking center. Now with international backing, a considerable portion of which had come from the Du Pont family in Delaware, he was producing films on a grand scale with enormous studios at his disposal, giving employment to major artists as well as thousands of grateful unemployed Spanish.”
— “The film opened. Guinness and Mason were praised, of course, as was British director of photography Robert Krasker for his superb camera work, and everyone acknowledged that Sophia as my sister Lucilla looked ravishing. She has little else to do but peer seductively out of various casement windows. And I came out of it fairly unscathed, enough to be able to say with some conviction that my career on celluloid had begun in earnest. As expected, the film belonged to Colasanti and Moore and rightly too, but at the box office it was a flop. My God! All that expense! Was the world tiring of epics? Or was it that quality of the writing that let the side down? I never understood, with all that money, why it wasn’t spent on top-notch writers. There was no Dalton Trumbo as in ‘Spartacus,’ or Robert Bolt as in ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ With the possible exception of Ben Barzman, there were just a few too many hacks with little feeling for the period or language. The script was wooden and mundane.”
—“I remember one day we were shooting the return of Livius to the Eternal City. They had cordoned off a huge portion of the actual Appia Antica in the hills above Rome. The Imperial Guard with their menacing shields and lances lined up flanking each side of the road some two hundred strong, and I, as Commodus, in my chariot, waiting for Livius (Boyd) at the far end. The action called for Boyd to enter on horseback as far away as the eye could see, ride all the way down through the ranks and, when he came close to my chariot, halt, dismount, walk the next few yards and tell me in the most stilted and unmemorable of lines—‘Lucilla has returned to Rome.’ Setting up this ‘money shot’ took forever—one wondered if it was at all worth it. Everyone was getting tired and hungry, Boyd especially. It was now the end of the day, the light was fading fast, there was only time for one take. Action! Boyd rides down the long path, dismounts, approaches my chariot, looks up at me and says with colloquial clarity, ‘Sophia’s back in town.’”
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Q.E.D.
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. I especially love the gravity drive set from Event Horizon that is textbook Alien.
