ALBER MAXWELL SIMPSON |
Biography information written by: Federico Magni from the web page http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=printer_friendly&forum=23&topic_id=123&mesg_id=152
Albert Simpson was a truly pioneer
in the field of matte painting.
He born Albert Maxwell Simpson
in California July 15, 1893 and passed away in Glendale, California, August
12, 1980.
A month ago I’ve received three
obituaries on Simpson from the National Film Information Service of the
AMPAS. The obituaries were published in Variety Daily (August 21), The
Hollywood Reporter (August 20) and the Los Angeles Times (August 25).
Since the obituaries contain infos
I’ve never seen before, I think they came directly from his family. The
biggest surprise was to find that he worked in ‘King Kong’, according to
the LA Times and Variety Daily. It’s the first time I see this information:
usually the artists cited for ‘King Kong’ are Mario Larrinaga and Byron
L. Crabbe, and sometimes we can find also Juan Larrinaga and Henri Hillinck.
The articles report he started
his career in 1915, painting backdrops for vaudeville theaters, before
entering in motion picture business. He painted mattes for DW Griffith
‘Birth of a Nation’ (1916, besides the pioneering work of Norman Dawn this
is the oldest movie I know employing matte painting technique), De Mille
‘The Ten Commandments’ (1926) and ‘In Old Arizona (1928, the first Fox
talkie, filmed outdoors).
In 1937 Simpson joined Jack Cosgrove’s
facility at Selznick company to work on ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’. Later
on he teamed with Cosgrove, Fitch Fulton and Jack Shaw for the shots of
Tara and Atlanta in ‘Gone With the Wind’ (1939) and painted Manderley mansion
for Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’ (1940).
As reported in Craig’s book, Clarence
Slifer had always words of appreciation for Simpson’s ability for blending
live action with the painting.
After Mario Larrinaga left RKO
to join Warner matte department, Simpson was often called on and painted
mattes for ‘The Devil and Daniel Webster’ (1942), ‘The Enchanted Cottage’
(1945), ‘Bedlam’, ‘Crack Up’, ‘Sister Kenny’ (all 1946) and the ill-fated
‘The Conqueror’ (1956) starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward.
He was also available for Jack
Cosgrove’s calls, working in ‘Meet John Doe’ (1941, Warner Bros.), ‘The
Pride of the Yankees’ (1942, Goldwyn), ‘Duel in the Sun’ (1946, Selznick).
Another credit is the John Parker production ‘Dementia’ (1953 but released
in 1955).
When RKO closed in 1957 Linwood
Dunn moved the effects people and equipment to his company Film Effects
of Hollywood, so Simpson painted mattes for ‘The Great Race’ (1965) and
‘Hawaii’ (1966).
He also served as president and
v.p. of Local 790 of the Motion Picture Illustrators and Matte Artists.
Filmography:
- Hawaii (1966) (matte artist) (as
Albert Maxwell Simpson)
- The Great Race (1965) (matte
artist)
- From the Earth to the Moon (1958)
(special camera effects) (as Albert M. Simpson)
- The Conqueror (1956) (matte artist)
- Dementia (1955) (special photographic
effects)
- Sister Kenny (1946)(matte artist)
- Bedlam (1946) (matte artist)
- Crack Up (1946) (matte artist)
- The Enchanted Cottage(1945) (matte
artist)
- The Devil and Daniel Webster
(1942) (matte artist)
- The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
(matte artist) (uncredited)
- Rebecca (1940) (matte artist)
(uncredited)
- Meet Joe Doe (1941) (matte painter)
(uncredited)
- Swiss Family Robinson (1940)
(matte artist) (as Albert Maxwell Simpson)
- Gone with the Wind (1939) (matte
artist) (uncredited)
- The prisones of Zenda(1938) (matte
painter) (uncredited)
- In Old Arizona (1928, the first
Fox talkie, filmed outdoors)(matte artist)
- The Ten Commandments (1926)(matte
artist)
- Birth of a Nation’ (1916)(matte
artist)
Gallery:
Two images from "Hawaii" (1967)
Matte painting for "The conqueror" (1956)