Wilfred Buckland (April 18, 1866 – July 18, 1946) was an American

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

. Buckland worked as an art director with

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

and

Jesse Lasky Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer Film producer, motion picture producer who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr. Early life ...

, and later with

Alan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan was ...

, from 1914 to 1927. He was Hollywood's first "art director" and is credited with a number of advancements in filmmaking, including the advances in lighting techniques, the development of architectural sets, and the use of miniature sets. In 1924, he was named one of the ten individuals who had contributed the most to the advancement of the motion picture industry since the time of its inception. A 1980 exhibition at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London advanced the argument that "everything we know as 'Hollywood' traces to Wilfred Buckland." Buckland was among the first inductees in the

Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame The Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame was established by the Art Directors Guild in 2005 to recognize and honor the accomplishments and contributions of significant art directors and production designers in the film industry. Inductees 2005 * ...

Early years

Buckland was born in New York City, the son of Reverend Rabbi Joseph Wales and Emily (Wilson) Buckland. He worked as an artist for a time and was responsible for much of the interior decoration and paintings of New York's Trinity Church for its bi-centenary celebration in 1897. He also worked with the stage producer,

David Belasco David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of ...

, for many years. In 1907, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described Buckland as the "general stage manager" for Belasco. He designed the color scheme, draperies and stage curtain at Belasco's Stuyvesant Theatre (now operating as the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was bu ...

) that opened in 1907. In 1910, Buckland was described as Belasco's "art director," responsible for the design of scenery, costumes and other artistic details. One newspaper reviewer wrote the following about the sets designed by Buckland for the stage production of '' Omar, the Tentmaker'': "Pictorially nothing finer has ever been disclosed upon the stage than the succession of sumptuous Oriental pictures evolved for the production by Wilfred Buckland, who for 10 years served as art decorator for David Belasco." Buckland's Broadway credits include ''The Rose of the Rancho'' (scenic design, 1907), ''A Grand Army Man'' (scenic design, 1907), ''Adrea'' (stage director and scenic design, 1905), ''The Music Master'' (scenic design, 1904), ''The Darling of the Gods'' (design, 1903), and ''Du Barry'' (design, 1901).

Work with DeMille

Cecil B. DeMille brought the 47-year-old Buckland to Hollywood to work on his film '' The Squaw Man'' (1914). According to some accounts, producer

Jesse L. Lasky Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer motion picture producer who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr. Early life Born in to ...

purchased the movie rights to Belasco's plays, and Buckland's services as art director were part of the deal. Buckland continued to work with DeMille on most of his projects until 1920 and also worked on most of the films produced by

Famous Players–Lasky The Famous Players–Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Companyoriginally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Playsan ...

production company. While working with DeMille and Lasky, Buckland was credited with the introduction of artificial lighting to motion pictures with the use of klieg lights, which also became known as "Lasky lighting." Jesse Lasky later wrote of Buckland: "As the first bona fide art director in the industry, and the first to build architectural settings for films, Buckland widened the scope of pictures tremendously by throwing off the scenic limitations of the stage." Buckland was a collector of ancient firearms. In 1916, ''The Democrat-Tribune'' newspaper commented that Buckland, "art director of the Lasky Company," was also "known as the greatest collector and authority on ancient firearms in the country," and his collection was said to be "the most complete in the world, not barring that of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

." Buckland developed a reputation as one of the early film industry's great artists, as reflected in the following 1918 newspaper report:

"Among the producing firms who belong to the class where imagination is based upon culture, are those associated with
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
. For a long time, now, picture play reviewers have been fond of saying 'up to the usual Paramount standard.' That standard to a large extent has been raised higher and higher by the Wilfred Buckland whose name appears in front of all the Lasky pictures. Such men as Cecil DeMille, William DeMille,
J. Searle Dawley James Searle Dawley (October 4, 1877 – March 30, 1949) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, stage actor, and playwright. Between 1907 and the mid-1920s, while working for Edison, Rex Motion Picture Company, Famous Playe ...
,
Maurice Tourneur Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter. Life Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...
, Joseph Kaufman, Robert Vignola, Robert Thorley, Marshal Neilan,
Thomas H. Ince Thomas Harper Ince (November 16, 1880 – November 19, 1924) was an American silent era filmmaker and media proprietor. Ince was known as the "Father of the Western" and was responsible for making over 800 films. Ince revolutionized the motion p ...
, J. Stuart Blackton and the others who produce for Paramount have added their very considerable bit to spelling Art with a capital A in motion pictures, but that is Wilfred Buckland's business exclusively."

Similarly, in 1920, a reviewer noted that the "wonderful interior settings for ''

Don't Change Your Husband ''Don't Change Your Husband'' is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson. The film was the third of six "marriage films" directed by DeMille and the first DeMille film starring Gloria Swanso ...

'' ... were designed by Wilfred Buckland, art director, whose hand is responsible for so much that is highly artistic in Artcraft and Paramount films." Buckland described his process to a newspaper reporter in 1920. Buckland said he would review the script to get an idea of what the characters were like and what their surroundings should be. He would prepare sketches of the required sets and turn the sketches over to a force of architectural draftsmen in the next room. After a structure was built, Buckland would also direct the interior painting and decorations. He noted at the time that he hoped to see film sets move away from the building of real or photographic interiors and deal more with atmosphere. He added:

"In painting a picture an artist does not paint a real house, reproducing every minute detail. That sort of thing belongs to the old and now despised photographic school of art. He paints in something to give tone to the figures. The great secret of art, as Whistler said, is knowing what to leave out. Every once you get a shock by discovering a picture in which the director has shown signs of an artistic conscience. But the majority of moving pictures are still far behind commercial photography, which is becoming less and less photographic while most of the advertisements in the back pages of our magazines are more artistic than the average movie."

In 1917, Buckland wrote to Cecil B. DeMille expressing his dissatisfaction over having his artistic vision stifled. He said, "I came to Hollywood ... in search of a chance to visualize a more 'pictorial' way, by adapting to film the same rules that govern the higher art of painting." Buckland also complained in the press that the art director's job, like that of the actor, suffered from over-production. Buckland noted that he had supervised 56 pictures in a single year and added, "Studio necessities compel him to supervise the art work on a number of productions at one time. As a consequence, the art director becomes an architect, or perhaps merely a scenic artist, instead of the illustrator of the dramatic story." Buckland's collaboration with DeMille remained contentious, and the two broke off their working relationship in 1920. Despite the falling out, DeMille spoke at a 1941 testimonial dinner for Buckland and called him a "great artist and a great man" and said he had been glad "to sit at your feet."

Alan Dwan and ''Robin Hood''

In 1920, Buckland left DeMille and began to work with director

. After the release of the feature '' Omar the Tentmaker'' (1922), one reviewer wrote: "Settings for this master film were personally designed and executed under the direction of Wilfred Buckland, the first man in his field in the films and still recognized as its finest craftsman." While working with Dwan, Buckland created the castle for

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

' ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'' (also 1922). The castle was one of the largest sets built at the time. When the film was released, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' reported:

"Castle a Marvel. Greatest of all the settings is, of course, the castle which for months has been a sort of landmark of cinema enterprise on
Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes t ...
. The vastness of this feudal domain is the most astonishing of the picture's startling features. One looks through waves upon waves of light and shadow to the stone walls which mark the background. Fairytale heights of tower and turret are suggested. ... Yet there is never anything of grotesquerie in this, only and always a legendary magnificence such as is suggested by the
Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. His works featured distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. The ...
paintings of the Moyen Age. Artistry is at its height in these Medieval scenes."

Film historian Juan Antonio Ramírez later called Buckland's ''Robin Hood'' castle, with its immense size and eight circular turrets, perhaps the most impressive of all the Hollywood castles ever built. Buckland was credited with developing the art of miniature stage building, as reflected in a 1924 ''Daily Democrat-Tribune'' newspaper account: "The art of miniature stage building has been introduced into the production of motion pictures as another means toward economy and , and of insuring fidelity and realism. This system has been perfected by Wilfred Buckland, a famous art director."

Later years and death

Dwan signed with Famous Players–Lasky after the release of ''Robin Hood'', and Buckland's career after 1923 declined. He worked mostly as a production illustrator after 1923. Buckland was married to actress Veda (McEvers) Buckland (August 26, 1883 – May 20, 1941). After her death their son, Wilfred Buckland, Jr., suffered a mental breakdown and was hospitalized at the

Camarillo State Mental Hospital Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a public psychiatric hospital for patients with both developmental disabilities and mental illness in Camarillo, California. The hospital was in operation from 1936 to ...

. In 1946, Buckland was part of a murder-suicide at his home located at 2035 Pinehurst Avenue in the Hollywood Heights neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He shot and killed his 36-year-old son and then shot himself. Buckland left a note that said, "I am taking Billy with me." The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported on the tragedy as follows:

"Hollywood's first art director, 80-year-old Wilfred Buckland Sr., yesterday killed his mentally ailing son, 36, and then fatally shot himself in a double tragedy inspired by his fear of impending death from old age and reluctance to leave the younger man alone in the world. Termed the 'founder of Hollywood cinema art,' the elder Buckland fired a bullet into the back of his sleeping son's head, which brought instant death."

He was interred at

Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery Grand View Memorial Park and Crematory is a historic cemetery located in Glendale, California, in the United States. Established in 1884 as Glendale Cemetery, it changed its name to Grand View Memorial Park in 1919. The cemetery was the focus of ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

Buckland's place in film history

In 1924, the magazine ''Story World'' selected a list of the ten individuals who had contributed the most to the advancement of the motion picture industry from the time of its inception. The list omitted DeMille, but included Buckland, who was credited "for his work in developing and perfecting technical art in films." Others on the list included D.W. Griffith,

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle ; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a German-American film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the ...

and C. Gardner Sullivan. In his book ''The Art Direction Handbook for Film'', Michael Rizzo wrote:

"The practical vision of Buckland, the little known Hollywood art director and initiator of the use of controlled lighting within studio environments, set a standard in the first decades of the twentieth century that has become as commonplace as shooting film sequences in Hollywood soundstages today. He stands as an art-directing giant; his creative ingenuity ennobles the craft of film design even now."

In 1980, the

in London held an exhibition called "The Art of Hollywood," focusing on the role of art directors in the development of cinema. The

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI) described the exhibition's focus on the work of Buckland: "More than that, an argument could be made — and this show makes it — that everything we know as 'Hollywood' traces to Wilfred Buckland, Hollywood's first art director." Buckland was one of the first individuals inducted into the

when it was established in 2005.

Filmography

* '' The Squaw Man'' (1914) * '' The Ghost Breaker'' (1914) * ''

Brewster's Millions ''Brewster's Millions'' is a comedic novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902, originally under the pseudonym of Richard Greaves. The plot concerns a young man whose grandfather leaves him $1 million in a will, but a competing will from ...

'' (1914) * ''

The Man on the Box ''The Man on the Box'' is a 1914 American silent comedy-drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this ki ...

'' (1914) * '' The Virginian'' * '' The Call of the North'' (1914) * ''

What's His Name ''What's His Name?'' is a 1914 American comedy-drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. A 35mm print of this film exists in the George Eastman House film archive. Plot A baker’s daughter, Nellie Duluth, marries a soda fountain operator, H ...

'' * '' The Man from Home'' * '' The Unafraid'' (1915) * '' The Captive'' (1915) * '' The Warrens of Virginia'' (1915) * ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' (1915) * '' The Cheat'' (1915) * ''

The Wild Goose Chase ''The Wild Goose Chase'' is a late Jacobean stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher, first performed in 1621. It is often classed among Fletcher's most effective and best-constructed plays; Edmund Gosse called it "one of the brightest a ...

'' (1915) * '' The Arab'' (1915) * '' Chimmie Fadden'' (1915) * ''

Kindling Kindling may refer to: * Kindling, material for firelighting * ''Kindling'' (album), a 1973 album by Gene Parsons * ''Kindling'' (1915 film), a film by Cecil B. DeMille * Kindling (2023 film), a British drama film * ''Kindling'' (Mick Farren no ...

'' (1915) * ''

Chimmie Fadden Out West ''Chimmie Fadden Out West'' is a 1915 American silent Western comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It was made as a sequel to '' Chimmie Fadden''. Location shooting took place in Death Valley, California. Plot Chimmie is sent out west a ...

'' (1915) * ''

Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

'' (1915) * ''

The Golden Chance ''The Golden Chance'' is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Art direction for the film was done by Wilfred Buckland. DeMille remade the film in 1921 as ''Forbidden Fruit''. Plot Cast * Cleo Ridgely as Mary D ...

'' (1915) * '' Maria Rosa'' (1916) * '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' (1916) * ''

The Heart of Nora Flynn ''The Heart of Nora Flynn'' is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It stars Marie Doro in her first film for Jesse L. Lasky. Art direction for the film was done by Wilfred Buckland. It premiered on April 23, 191 ...

'' (1916) * '' The Dream Girl'' (1916) * ''

Joan the Woman ''Joan the Woman'' is a 1916 American epic silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc. The film premiered on Christmas Day in 1916. This was DeMille's first historical drama. The screenplay is b ...

'' (1917) * ''

A Romance of the Redwoods ''A Romance of the Redwoods'' is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Mary Pickford. Art direction for the film was done by Wilfred Buckland. Location shooting for the film took place in the redwood ...

'' (1917) * ''

The Little American ''The Little American'' is a 1917 American silent romantic war drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Mary Pickford (who also served as producer) as an American woman who is in love with both a German soldier and a French ...

'' (1917) * '' The Woman God Forgot'' (1917) * '' The Devil-Stone'' (1917) * '' The Little Princess'' (1917) * '' Stella Maris'' (1918) * ''

The Whispering Chorus ''The Whispering Chorus'' is a 1918 American silent film, silent Psychological drama (film genre), psychological drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is the first and earliest film considered a Psychological drama (subgenre), psychologi ...

'' (1918) * ''

Old Wives for New ''Old Wives for New'' is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is based on the 1908 novel of the same title by David Graham Phillips. The initial release of the film was delayed for fear that local censors would ...

'' (1918) * ''

We Can't Have Everything ''We Can't Have Everything'' was a 1918 American silent drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and adapted for the screen by his brother, William C. De Mille. The film was based upon a 1917 novel of the same name by Rupert Hugh ...

'' (1918) * '' Till I Come Back to You'' (1918) * '' The Squaw Man'' (1918) * '' M'Liss'' (1918) * ''

The Grim Game ''The Grim Game'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Irvin Willat and starring Harry Houdini and Ann Forrest.Farmer 1984, p. 312. The basic plotline serves as a showcase for Houdini's talent as an escapologist, stunt performer an ...

'' (1919) * ''

You're Fired ''You're Fired'' is a 1919 American silent comedy film directed by James Cruze and starring Wallace Reid. The film was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures on June 8, 1919. Plot As described in a film maga ...

'' (1919) * '' For Better, for Worse'' (1919) * '' Male and Female'' (1919) * '' A Perfect Crime'' (1921) * '' The Deuce of Spades'' (1922) * '' The Masquerader'' (1922) * '' Omar the Tentmaker'' (1922) * ''

'' (1922) * ''

Adam's Rib ''Adam's Rib'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor from a screenplay written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. It stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who come to oppose each other in ...

'' (1923) * '' The Fast Set'' (1924) * '' Icebound'' (1924) * '' The Forbidden Woman'' (1927) * '' Almost Human'' (1927)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckland, Wilfred 1866 births 1946 deaths American art directors American production designers Burials at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American murderers 1946 suicides Suicides by firearm in California Murder–suicides in California

Early years

Work with DeMille

Alan Dwan and ''Robin Hood''

Later years and death

Buckland's place in film history

Filmography

See also

References

External links