For several years from the late seventies I was an employee of Warner Bros (as well as Columbia Pictures as a joint operation) here in the New Zealand distribution office whereby I managed print shipping to cinemas throughout NZ and a number of South Pacific territories such as Western Samoa, Fiji, Tokelau Islands and other picture postcard places that Northern Hemisphere readers would never have heard of I’m sure. A lot of time was dedicated to restoring 35mm and 16mm prints of old Columbia and Warner titles which were amazingly viable box office entities in their own right even years after general release. Eternally popular Warner titles like ENTER THE DRAGON, BLACK BELT JONES and even the old Burt Lancaster picture THE CRIMSON PIRATE were constantly out on the circuit and screening on double, triple and even “see 7 movies from midnight till midday” kind of deals (at decidedly seedy fleapits like The Astor, Dominion road and the no-man’s zone which was The State in Upper Symonds street in Auckland (a little bit like downtown LA in which I had the unwelcomed and utterly terrifying experience of becoming lost in with my family one night about ten years ago – I still have cold sweats to this day thinking about that truly nightmarish experience). Thankfully those bottom of the cinematic barrel cinemas are long gone, as, hopefully are the denizens who would inhabit them…
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A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX
Please Note: Now, I am going further back into the archives of Matte Shot – A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX to feature even more articles from this great site.
This blog is intended primarily as a tribute to the inventiveness and ingenuity of the craft of the matte painter during Hollywoods’ Golden Era. Some of the shots will amaze in their grandeur and epic quality while others will surprise in their ‘invisibility’ to even the sophisticated viewer. I hope this collection will serve as an appreciation of the artform and both casual visitors and those with a specialist interest may benefit, enjoy and be amazed at skills largely unknown today.