William Cameron Menzies

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BIRTHDAY

July 29, 1896

New Haven, CT

DIED

March 05, 1957

RECENT CREDITS

Around the World in 80 Days (FILM) Oct. 17, 1956

Invaders From Mars (FILM) Apr. 1, 1953

Kings Row (FILM) Jan. 1, 1942

The Pride of the Yankees (FILM) Jan. 1, 1942

So Ends Our Night (FILM) Jan. 1, 1941

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BIOGRAPHY

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Best known as one of the movies' top art directors --on such classic films as Gone with the Wind, The Thief of Baghdad (1924 and 1940 versions), Things to Come, and Duel in the Sun--William Cameron Menzies also directed and produced several films of note, including Invaders from Mars (1953), The Maze, and The Whip Hand. One of the most gifted visual designers in the history of cinema, Menzies was a dominant force in movies from the silent era up through the end of the '50s, when he worked as associate producer on Mike Todd's Around the World in 80 Days. He also worked uncredited as a director of individual scenes on many of the films that he designed, including Gone with the Wind, the 1940 Thief of Baghdad, and Duel in the Sun. As a director of his own movies, his choices of subjects (espionage stories, science fiction, and horror stories) were frequently as idiosyncratic as his style, which often lent a dream-like--or nightmarish --unreality to his films, of which the most enduring is Invaders from Mars.

~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

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