Saul Bass: Hollywood’s man behind the title

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was a graphic designer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, but he is best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences, which is thought of as the best such work ever seen.

During his 40-year career he worked for some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers, including most notably Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese.

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His most famous title sequence is probably the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict’s arm for Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm.

Saul Bass designed the 6th AT&T Bell System logo, that at one point achieved a 93 percent recognition rate in the United States. He also designed the AT&T “globe” logo for AT&T after the break up of the Bell System.

Hollywood’s man behind the title
Movies never started the same after Saul Bass made a mark with bold, symbolic sequences.

By Susan King, Times Staff Writer

DURING the classic studio era in Hollywood, movie title sequences were generic.

“Every studio had its own look,” says film historian Jan-Christopher Horak. “They did [titles] the same way; just the names changed.”

But when the studio system started to wane in the 1950s, title designs began to evolve. “They started doing more inventive things,” says Horak. “The film begins over the titles or you have an open book and the pages will be turning.”

That was a start, but Saul Bass took the form to an entirely different level. A true pioneer, he turned movie opening and closing title sequences on their ear with bold, graphically vivid designs. His title sequences would often resemble an animated film.

“Like the good designer that he was, he would come up with some kind of iconic symbol to encapsulate what the movie is about,” says Horak. In Bass’ design for Otto Preminger’s 1960 epic “Exodus,” the symbol is an arm holding up a gun. For Preminger’s 1958 romantic drama “Bonjour Tristesse,” it’s an exaggerated tear dripping down the face of a young woman.

Bass’ posters, soundtrack album covers and storyboards for the “Psycho” shower sequence ? Bass drew the storyboards for director Alfred Hitchcock for the iconic scene ? plus screenings of a montage of film titles edited by Bass and his wife Elaine are currently on display at the Skirball Cultural Center.

“Saul Bass: The Hollywood Connection,” which was developed with the curatorial guidance of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, also features screenings of his Oscar-winning 1968 short, “Why Man Creates.” And on select Tuesday afternoons this month and in February, the Skirball will screen films for which he designed the titles and the posters.

Born in New York City in 1920, Bass studied at the Art Students League in Manhattan before attending Brooklyn College. “He came out to California in 1948 and starts doing print ads for movies, though he didn’t get credit,” says Horak.

Bass’ first big break came when he collaborated with Preminger on the 1954 film “Carmen Jones.” Preminger was so impressed with his poster design for the film, he asked Bass to create the opening and closing titles.

Bass gained acclaim for his designs for Preminger’s classic “The Man With the Golden Arm,” the director’s 1955 drama about a jazz musician (Frank Sinatra) struggling to overcome heroin addiction. He selected a black-and-white cutout arm as the central image of the poster and the opening title design.

He continued to work with Preminger into the 1970s, as well as providing startling designs for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest” and “Psycho” and working with Billy Wilder on such films as “One, Two, Three.”

Still, says Horak, “most of his money he made doing other things. He designed a lot of famous corporate logos ? for example, the Bell telephone logo. He would get paid millions for just [the logo].”

Bass started doing more and more corporate work in the 1970s and ’80s. “From what I’ve heard, he priced himself [out of the movie] market,” says Horak. “He wanted too much money for what he was doing.”

That is until Martin Scorsese hired him to create the title designs for “GoodFellas,” “Cape Fear,” “The Age of Innocence” and “Casino.”

Bass died in 1996, but his popularity continues. Horak says his posters “really stand out because they are so interesting as graphic designs. For that reason, they have become highly collectible.”

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Carmen Jones: the Title Credits

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Schindler’s List poster (not used for the final movie)

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Around the World in 80 Days: the Title Credits

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Anatomy of a Murder: the Title Credits

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Spartacus: the Title Credits

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West Side Story: the End Credits

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The Cardinal: the Title Credits

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Seconds: the Title Credits

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Cape Fear: the Title Credits

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The Seven Year Itch: the Title Credits

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Bonjour Tristesse: the Title Credits

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North by Northwest: the Title Credits
*freakin’ amazing if you consider the time it was made!

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Exodus: the Title Credits

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In Harm?s Way: the End Credits

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Advise & Consent: the Title Credits

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The Age of Innocence: the Title Credits

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War of the Roses: the Title Credits

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The Man with the Golden Arm: the Title Credits

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Vertigo: the Title Credits

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Psycho: the Title Credits

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It?s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World: the Title Credits

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Bunny Lake is Missing: the Title Credits

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West Side Story: the Title Credits

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Goodfellas: the Title Credits

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Casino: the Title Credits

More info about Saul Bass and a wide array of his work with reviews on individual work can be found at the following url:
not coming to a theater near you

Also watch some of the title sequences designed by Saul Bass:
Title Sequences by Saul Bass on YouTube

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Saul Bass has left behind a legacy that is still followed by motion designers worldwide and in Hollywood, most of all. Catch Me If You Can title design was a tribute to Saul Bass as I had mentioned in my earlier post on this thread. He still continues to inspire…

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