Costume and set designs, film productions

This material is held atV&A Theatre and Performance Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 71 THM/321/FIL
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1934-1960
  • Physical Description
    • 9 files

Scope and Content

Four films are represented in this sub-fonds, plus designs for two films which were not produced. There are no original designs relating to George Cukor's Romeo and Juliet (MGM, 1936), but photographs and reference material do exist.

Administrative / Biographical History

Oliver Messel designed sets and costumes for nine film productions from 1934 to 1960, as well as one which did not go into production. He also produced concepts for a film version of the ballet Sleeping Beauty, which did not develop further. The films are in black and white, with the exception of The Thief of Baghdad (Powell, 1940) and Caesar and Cleopatra (Pascal, 1946) both made in Technicolor.

Arrangement

This sub-fonds has been divided into six series by name of production in alphabetical order (NB series number THM/321/40 is not used).

The series are divided into files by format and logical groupings.