William Cameron Menzies was one of the true geniuses of Hollywood - his stunning art design illuminated numerous films, notably Gone with the Wind, but also Kings Row, Thief of Bagdad, Around the World in 80 Days, Spellbound, The Shape of Things to Come and many more. He also worked as a director - not always with that great a result but he did have some memorable works on his resume, such as Invaders from Mars.
James Curtis is one of the best film biographers around, up there with Patrick McGilligan and Scott Eyman. He's given Menzies' life the royal treatment - superbly researched, well written, plenty of length and illustrations.
I do have to admit I wasn't that gripped. The problem with a book about art directors is Curtis is forever having to describe pictures and refer to illustrations - which Curtis does and there are lots of pictures. But I found all the descriptions wearying; there's no substitute for watching the films.
The other big issue is the character of Menzies himself - he wasn't that interesting. He was born in Scotland, which is a bit different, but established himself relatively quickly. He was an alcoholic who smoked (leading to an early death); a bit of an idiot, a bit fat; he could be grumpy (which, along with his drinking, caused surprisingly long career slumps - despite his genius and skill at getting budgets down, which I would've thought kept him on the A list forever, he had to toil on a lot of crap). He didn't like dealing with actors, which explains why he never really made it as a director. But he's not that a compelling figure.
It's not Curtis' writing because characters in the book keep popping and drawing focus by virtue of being interesting: HG Wells, sulky and troublesome during the making of Things to Come; Korda, running around frantically making various projects; the charming Sam Wood, who didn't seem to tick any stock "good director" boxes except "could talk to actors" yet made a bunch of classic films; Ronald Colman's insecurity making TV in the 50s including sniping at Benita Hume.
It's probably the definitive work on Menzies and I'd love to see a documentary adaptation because you could see the clips. But I found it heavy going at times.
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