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Auction History Result 6w287 CAESAR & CLEOPATRA set of 2 English 3.25x4.25 comparison photos 1945 desert Sphinx scene, rare! Date Sold 6/13/2019 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. A Set of 2 Original Vintage 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" [8 x 11 cm] English Movie Comparison Photos (Learn More) Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, the 1945 (released in the U.S. in 1946) Gabriel Pascal English Egypt/Rome romantic biographical historical epic ("Your eyes have never seen such lavish splendor on the screen before!"; "See... the most seductive beauty the world has ever seen - Cleopatra! See... the pleasure-mad revelry of pagan Rome! See... The mighty battle of the Nile!"; "The most lavish picture ever on the screen!"; "A Temptation in Technicolor"; "Days of Magnificent Adventure... Nights of Maddest Revelry..."; written by George Bernard Shaw) starring Vivien Leigh (in the title role as Cleopatra; she is billed as "By Arrangement with David O. Selznick"; "...famous 'Scarlett' of 'Gone With the Wind' ...more fabulous as Cleopatra, Queen of Queens" and also billed as "Vivien Leigh in her first great role since 'Scarlett' in 'Gone With The Wind' ...as Cleopatra"), Claude Rains (in the title role as Julius Caesar), Stewart Granger, Flora Robson, Francis L. Sullivan, Robert Adams, and Basil Sydney. Note that this movie includes a scene in the desert by the Sphinx, and it was impractical and far too costly to build such a set, so that scene was done with the judicious use of matte paintings! NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. Important Added Info: Note that this is a pair of "comparison photographs", which shows a candid image of the set of this movie as it actually appeared during a key scene, and then a second image of the same scene with a matte painting overlaid over part of the scene! This pair of photographs show the constructed set and the final shot after the addition of the matte painting, this shot shows the matte painting used to extend the only partially constructed Sphinx set which would have been practically impossible to build in its entirety, the face and skyline are added with a matte painting by artists Walter Percy 'Pop' Day and Peter Ellenshaw at Denham Studios, London, England, a special effects member can be seen in the second shot holding a colour chart for reference. What is a matte painting? It is a special visual effects element used in the production of motion pictures enabling filmmakers to add environments to films which are not possible to achieve practically on location or in a studio. A fixture in filmmaking since the birth of cinema common uses for matte paintings include the extension of landscapes and structures which would be either impossible to build or prohibitively expensive and time consuming, they are also useful in the creation of fantasy pictures to portray situations which do not exist in reality giving the filmmaker free reign to bring his vision to the screen, these paintings are combined with live action footage to produce impressive shots which when perfectly executed can trick the audience in to believing what they seeing is real. We were consigned twelve "matching pairs" of these comparison photographs, which came from the estate of an English special effects artist who collected them from colleagues in the effects industry who worked on these movies including Les Bowie with whom he served as an apprentice at Bowie Films during the 1950's & 1960's. They clearly show the painted additions which have taken place at the hands of the various artists involved and would have originated from the Technicolor laboratory in West Drayton, London, England which was located in close proximity to the major British studios, it was here where these matte shots were processed. We have never before auctioned even one pair of these comparison photographs, and we were consigned twelve pairs, which are in twelve separate auctions! Condition: good to very good. These comparison photographs were glued to an album and there is paper residue on the back, which has slightly creased the front of each (see our images of the fronts and backs of each). Learn More about condition grades 
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