Art Deco in the movies.
- orduzduran
- Apr 15
- 3 min read
A list of movies which usually was made between First World War and Segond World War in an artist style Art Deco. Fashion design, interior design, architecture, lifestyle and other things represent it.
Art Deco, Style Moderne meets Hollywood
The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris in 1925, had a major impact on the launch of Art Deco, including its name, which was derived from Arts Décoratifs. Art Deco was aligned with both luxury and modernity; combining expensive materials and exquisite craftsmanship adapted to modernistic forms. The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1910-1913), by Auguste Perret was the first landmark Art Deco building completed in Paris. The Art Deco architectural style, although called Style Moderne in France, was not purely modernist but it had many features of modernism, including reinforced concrete, glass, steel, chrome, and like modernism, it rejected traditional historical models.
Le Corbusier, a student of Augeste Perret, exhibited his purely modernist Esprit Nouveau pavilion at the 1925 Paris Exposition and the USSR had a pavilion featuring the flamboyant futurist style of Konstantin Melnikov. Hollywood designer Cedric Gibbons was also in attendance, and the event provoked an upheaval in movie set design. He brought back with him many of the room designs he had seen there and incorporated them into the MGM films he worked on. Gibbons’s designs were idealized images of a life of luxury and style and the huge cinema audiences were mesmerized and ready to escape into this lavish reality of opulence, especially during WWII and the Depression. At the time this style was known as Art Moderne in the USA, but later became labelled as Art Deco. This radical style of future living was widely embraced and emulated in mainstream decor trends and interior designs.
The evolution of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists. This was also reinforced by the Paris department stores who recruited artists like Louis Vuitton, René Lalique, and Louis Cartier to design products in a modern style to compliment their fashion ranges.This was a major influence on the costume designs and chic aura created in Hollywood in the 20’s and 30’s. The screen sirens responded to their elegant and serene surroundings with smoldering, sultry, seductive personas filled with elusive mystique which further enhanced the desirability.
The convergence of the many influences within Art Deco were on display. Futuristic, streamlined forms, angular geometric Cubist shapes and bold Fauvist colours combined with exotic designs that included Persian, Japanese, Egyptian, Mayan and African. The clean stylized lines and geometric details translated seamlessly into the black and white medium of the movies.
Cedric Gibbons had replaced the Russian designer Erte at MGM, who had struggled with translating his creative vision into practical set designs. Gibbon’s architectural finesse and design innovation was tastefully complimented by amazing decorative objects and contributed to defining the visual aesthetic of this era, which is my main interest in this article. Glamorous elegance abounded with polished floors, mirrored surfaces, walnut panels, chrome highlights and art deco sculptures and light fixtures.
The studios employed some of the finest photographers at the time, who created images that did true justice to the stunning sets and actors, which is featured here. They vividly captured the essence of this charismatic era with a timeless beauty.
"Things to Come,"1936 British science fiction film, features distinct Art Deco influences in its futuristic city design and overall aesthetic. This style, popular in the interwar period, is evident in the film's futuristic vehicles, buildings, and the general ambiance.
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