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Screen credit in 1940s Warner Brothers movies

posted 11 years ago by nateba
3 replies | jump to latest

What was the deal with Warner Brothers and the bestowing - or lack of bestowing - of screen credit back in the forties? I single Warner's out because this is where I notice the practice. I noticed it in "The Big Sleep" with the lack of cast credit for Sonia Darren who played Agnes, arguably the second biggest female role in the movie. And in this film one has to hunt high and low to find out that David Hoffman played Antonio - Vincent's cellmate (and a neat little character vignette) in the jail scene. I can understand not crediting every little bit player with a one line role but this was an important character.

cinefreak

[–] rnmackenzie 11 years ago

Just watched the film last night, and yes, that cellmate character is terrific, both in conception and in the way he's played--even the way they have him made up. I especially love the way he slinks back into the cell after a moment's flirtation with the idea of escape. He reminded me of a character out of a Dumas novel, like Count of Monte Cristo.

But the screen credit issue is not limited to Warner Brothers, is it? So many times older films give only barebones cast listings--and perhaps this is a function of putting the credits up front? The thinking being that audiences want to get to the story, perhaps? Today, with credits coming at the end, it's the opposite problem, with even a small movie having five minutes or more of credits.

[–] bradford-1 10 years ago

Maybe studio bosses felt if they gave out too many credits, the help would ask for more money! Makeup artists and special effects supervisors usually weren't credited until the early 40s I think. Then you see a film like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956), which had so many credits, it was like watching a short subject.

"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

[–] darryl-tahirali 7 years ago

Then you see a film like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956), which had so many credits, it was like watching a short subject.

Would that be a "crew of thousands" to go with De Mille's "cast of thousands"?

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