Edgar G. Ulmer's Storyboards for The Naked Dawn....

Description

Edgar G. Ulmer's Storyboards for The Naked Dawn. Ulmer's The Naked Dawn, a decidedly offbeat western released in 1955, is one of his finest, most personal works. The stars were Arthur Kennedy and Betta St. John, and the screenwriter was the blacklisted Julian Zemet. Francois Truffaut praised the film as "poetic and violent, tender and droll...joyously energetic." This lot offers Ulmer's storyboards (which he created himself) for The Naked Dawn, eight in all, each measuring 2.5" x 5.5" and matted into a 12" x 26.5" black wooden frame. The eight shots, designed by Ulmer to help his cameraman, Frederick Gately, capture the desired mood and lighting include the following shots: two men and one woman in a cantina; two men, one with a cigarette, one with a glass; a woman flirting with a man; close shot of a man lighting a cigarette; intense close shot of a woman; close shot of a man with a flower over his shoulder; a man on a cot, another man in foreground, cross on wall; and a man with a woman at his right side. The sketches are very rich in shadows and lighting -- e.g., the almost celestial light behind the flirting woman -- and the facial expressions are exquisitely detailed, as if designed to reveal the characters' secrets. These storyboards, which decorated Ulmer's home and later his daughter Arianne's, are relics from one of his own favorite films and a striking example of the man's remarkable visual artistry. Excellent condition. From the Edgar G. Ulmer Preservation and Trust Corp. Accompanied by an LOA from Arianne Ulmer Cipes. Requires third party shipping.

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