A Pacific Title Title-art backdrop for The Fountainhead

A Pacific Title Title-art backdrop for The Fountainhead Warner Bros., 1949. Gelatin print photograph, 22 x 28 inches, laid down to larger board. Used as the opening backdrop of The Fountainhead for Gary Cooper's and Patricia Neal's credits, light oxidation at edges, minor wear. Gary Cooper's physique attracts Patricia Neal's ardor when she first sees him drilling in a stone quarry, a Freudian scene if ever there was one. The two had a stormy affair during the shooting of the film that resulted in Cooper separating from his wife for a period of time. Based on the book by Ayn Rand and directed by King Vidor, Cooper plays an uncompromising architect who struggles to maintain his idealism. In the opening credits, the actors' names appear over this photograph of a city skyline, moments before the modern building at center left morphs into the spine of a book and rotates to show us the jacketed cover of Rand's novel, The Fountainhead. Pacific Title Company was founded in the 1920s to provide title sequences for silent films. When the industry transitioned to sound, Pacific Title pivoted to focus on opening and closing credit sequences. The artists at Pacific painted title and credit material on large sheets of glass, which were then filmed before a painted backdrop or composited over a film's introductory shots. From the 1920s to the 1960s, Pacific Title and Art Company produced the lion's share of titles for the Hollywood film industry, until technological advances made the glass plate process archaic. The company archived its work over the decades, creating a living history of the American motion picture industry. 22 x 28 in. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing