An interview with his son Neil Culley. (Part 1)
Many thanks for taking the time to answer the questionnaire. I hope we can bring some light to the early years of Cliff Culley's career.
N.C.- I shall try and answer your questions, but this early part of Cliff's working life is the hardest to provide information for. Cliff was never one to talk much about his work and I'm afraid the family all took it for granted. It was just normal for us that dad worked in films.
As far as I know, your father started in 1946 in the special effects department in Rank Organization with Bill Warrington as supervisor.
Did he have any artistic training before that? Do you know how and why he started to work in films?
N.C. - 1946 sounds about the right time, he would have been 18 then. I think he had some artistic training at Harrow Art Collage, (not the public school on the hill).
I would guess he got a place thereafter his formal education at 16 or 17, I do know that he never finished or graduated, as he was spotted and offered a paying job at the Rank organization, the holy grail for any penniless artist!
I know some other FX technicians that worked at Rank Films during these days. There was Les Bowie who started also in 1946 as a scenic artist. He jumped into matte painting soon and probably worked alongside Cliff for several years. Another young matte artist was Albert Whitlock who started as a scenic artist at Gaumont Studios and went to Rank organization as a matte painter. Also, Peter Melrose worked at Rank as a scenic and matte artist, but I think he worked as a freelance, sometimes at Pinewood or Shepperton Studios. Do you remember your father talking about some of those matte artists?
Not sure which Dept. He started with, what might have been sign writing. but soon wound up in the Matte Dept. I do recall him mentioning the names you list but I was too young at the time to offer any actual facts.
Another name from old times is Bob bell. As I know he started as a storyboard artist and then moved to matte painting sometime in the fifties. In 1958 he joined Gerry Anderson’s AP Films, and worked as art director on various series, including `Thunderbirds’ and `Captain Scarlet’.
Bob Bell: ” I first met Gerry Anderson in about 1959. I was working at Pinewood studios in the special-effects department but was about to be made redundant. A friend there said, “I know somebody who’s working over in Maidenhead, making some films about puppets, I’ll introduce you.” Puppets, I thought! Who wants to make a film about puppets? Anyway, he introduced me to Gerry and my flash impression was that I liked him.”
He worked again with your father on the film Nightbreed (1990) as a matte artist. You were responsible for the matte camera on that show, so you must have some memories of Bob Bell. I guess he must have worked with your father painting glasses at Rank films during the 50s.
The first name I do recall was Bob Bell, he was quite a character and easy to get on with. no particular stories of him, seems like a lifetime ago, but Nightbreed was an interesting film to work on, we did a lot of glass shots and meet some interesting people, Ralph McQuarrie among them.
Also at Rank Films were Vic Margutti and Roy Field responsible for composite photography. They were partners of your father for many years, especially Roy Field. Margutti left rank Films with Les Bowie to work freelance but mostly for Hammer films. Is there any other name you remember from those old days at Rank Film?
Roy Field and Cliff worked closely in their latter years at Pinewood SFX, before it was disbanded. Roy was not an artist but looked after the camera work and later went on to form Optical Film Effects, also based at Pinewood.
Do you know if your father was trained by any senior matte artist at Rank or if he just learned by watching the other artists?
I never heard Cliff talk of any formal training, as you mention more watch and learn.
There are two notable films from that period directed by David Lean, Great expectations (1946 ) and Oliver Twist (1948) both were made art Rank. Do you know if your father worked at some of these films? There were beautiful miniatures and matte paintings on them.
The two films you quote from 1946, I have no knowledge if Cliff worked on them, given it was his first year I would think it unlikely he would have had anything meaningful to do.
That´s a picture from Hotel Sahara (1951) showing the special effects department at Pinewood with a miniature. Only several people I know. In the front row at right is Bill Warrington, next to him smoking a pipe is Bert Marshall ( VFX cameraman), and Albert Whitlock is in the middle. On the upper part at the left, I think is your father.
In the crew photo of Hotel Sahara, I think that is Cliff in the back left, he would only have been 24 so still young, but possible.
Leigh Took recovered some graphic material years ago from the old Pinewood matte department. It was thrown in the trash and Leigh picked it up for preservation. Cliff get all these documents for years and I suspect he worked on most of these titles, probably as the assistant matte artist on the first ones.
The Mark of Cain (1947)
Madness on Heart (1949)
I can remember that book of old Matte paintings before and after shots laying around, unloved, glad Leigh was able to rescue it and share.
Some other titles made at Pinewood with matte paintings that I suspect your father worked on are: So long at the Fair (1950) credited for FX were Bill Warrington and Les Bowie, but your father could be a matte assistant.
Penny Princess (1952) that film displays a big number of matte paintings, especially for mountainscape additions.
The Purple Plain (1954)
Black Knight (1954) was filmed partially in Spain, using several castles that were later enhanced by matte artistry. The interiors were filmed at Pinewood Studios. Culley was most likely one of the artists responsible along with Albert Whitlock who was still in the Pinewood matte department shortly before he left for the U.S.A.
There is also a version of Romeo and Juliet from 1954 filmed in Pinewood. Probably another Cliff Culley collaboration with Albert Whitlock.
I´ve read that your father worked on the Disney film The Sword and the Rose (1953) with Peter Ellenshaw as supervisor, can you confirm that?
The Sword and the Stone 1953, I have no knowledge if Cliff worked on this or not. There was a connection with Peter Ellenshaw, Cliff always thought highly of him and his work, whether that originated in this film is not known to me. Cliff was later offered a job by Walt Disney himself in the early 60s that would have been working under Peter in LA. Cliff was tempted but declined because of the upheaval, by this time he had a young family, wife, June, me, and my younger sister Karen, travel was less easy than now and the American health care system tipped the balance against. Shame I could see myself enjoying the life of a California beach bum!
Les Bowie departed in 1951 and Whitlock in 1954 went to the USA, after several years as matte assistant probably your father was promoted to the senior matte painter at that time. Do you know if that is right? or maybe you know when that happened when he moved from assistant to full matte artist? Do you know any other matte artists working with your father in that early years?
It seems plausible that Cliff was promoted when Albert Whitlock departed, but I have no facts to base this on.
I guess apart from painting on glass they also painted backings for miniatures and maybe scenic backdrops. I´ve found that great picture of The battle of the river plate (1956) showing a wonderful scenic painting at Pinewood. There are also great sky-painted backings for the model ships on the final battle scene. Do you know if your father also painted backings?
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Cliff did paint scenic backings, but the studios were heavily unionized, and that job was for scenic artists. If the backing was in the SFX Dept then it came under SFX to get it painted, if it was on the main stage or the external tank then it was the scenic artist's job.
Cliff did tell a story about the Pinewood tank backing, a huge area of the canvas, that had been painted by the Scenic artists, but not to the director's satisfaction. The story went that Cliff said he could do better and was told to get on with it! The scenic artists were then told to overpaint their sky with a graduated blue, it was their job description, after all, then Cliff set about adding the clouds, and only the clouds, to preserve job demarcation. After spending all day on the gantry spraying Cliff climbed down and walked back to get the bigger picture. He was pleased with what he had done, BUT it was a tiny section of the whole backing! After many more day's work, it was finished and approved by the Director. I don't know the film it was for, or if the scenic artists ever spoke to him again, but it is the sort of thing he would have done.
I also guess he worked on The prince and the Show Girl (1957) I have read that Peter Melrose worked on that film too.
Tale of two cities (1958)
North west frontier (1959).
For all the other photos on your list, Cliff may have had some input in, but all well before my time, and no formal records were kept that I know of, so no way of knowing for sure.
Bill Warrington left Pinewood in 1959, so there was no head of the department, and I think it was then when John Stears, who was one of Warrington's assistants, became head of the department for the Pinewood films in the sixties.
I have no recollection of Bill Warrington, as I was 3 when he left, but John Steers is a name I remember. I'm sure he was more into the physical effects than Mattes or optical effects.
There are so many films made at Pinewood during these years it is almost impossible to follow your father´s track. He must be involved in countless titles. I will mention the films in which it seems to be a more remarkable matte painting work, although it is very likely that he collaborated in more titles with small works. I´m sure he must have painted backings for miniatures in many films like Sink the Bismarck! (1960) I didn´t notice any matte paintings but a lot of miniatures filmed on the water tank.
Again, this section is still before my time, but I do remember some bits that were mentioned to me.
Sink the Bismark, nothing filtered down to me about this one, models would have been John Stears's domain, but Cliff may have done some backing paint
In the early seventies, a huge American production came to Pinewood. Cleopatra (1962) The director was Robert Mamoulian before being replaced by Joseph Mankiewicz
I have found these images of matte painting tests made at Pinewood Studios. Finally, the production moved to Cinecitta, Italy. Both the decorations and the matte paintings were reworked by other technicians. To see more pictures of the Pinewood-built Alexandria sets for Cleopatra visit this website:http://www.moon-city-garbage.agency/cleopatra/
I posted these images at the traditional matte painting group on Facebook and Steve Begg wrote.
Hi Domingo, I heard it was Cliff Culley and Peter Melrose from a chap called Bob Bell who also worked on the abandoned Pinewood glass paintings.
Do you remember if he mentioned that matte work?
Cleopatra, no idea if Cliff was involved in any test paintings, the only memory I have was Cliff saying that it was so cold that you could see the actor's breath, which was not good for a film set in the far east! and for this and no doubt other reasons it was abandoned and moved to a warmer climate.
In the early 60 harry Saltzman and Albert R Brocolli started to develop James Bond films at Pinewood. As far as I know, your father worked on seven of the early films. FX supervisor was John Stears and your father must be at that time head of the matte painting department. As far as I know, he got the assistance of Peter Melrose with some titles. I think Melrose was a freelance matt and scenic painter because he also worked on films made at Shepperton and some other studios. He must have been called by your father when he needed help.
Some years ago I contacted Terry Adlam, who worked with you at Westbury design for several years in the late 70s and early 80s. he wrote an article based on an interview he made with your father about the James bond films. In that article, Your father said about the early James Bond films.
"I was very friendly with Johnny Stears who was the resident special effects man for quite a while. So John would pass all the opticals and mattes on to me to complete."
Doctor No (1962) The wonderful sets designed by Ken Adam was enhanced by matte paintings. The upper part and ceiling were a Cliff Culley painting.
From Russia with love (1963) This time supplying a ceiling for the chess play scene. That painting is a real masterpiece.
Dr. No. Cliff's take on this was that it was a very small budget for what was being asked, but despite the lack of resources, they got some good shots. Not sure there was any Matte painting in this one but he was certainly involved in the model work.
Russia with love. I can remember that painting kicking around WDO, but not what happened to it.
And also the sequence where Krilencu climbs out of Anita Ekberg’s mouth. There is a huge promotional poster painted on a wall of the film Called me Bwana, with the face of Anita Ekberg. a small window is opened on the wall at Anita´s mouth, and someone is fired when climbing.
By the way, the film Called me Bwana (1963) had also some matte paintings from your father.
Called me Bwana. That's a new one for me, I know nothing about this.
At Goldfinger (1964) your father was responsible for some Optical shots like adding the ray bean that menaced Sean Connery. He also was involved in the optical shot showing a bad guy in the reflection of the girl's eye.
Goldfinger. Yes, two classic shots, the laser being the most famous.
Thunderball (1965)
From Terry Adlan article your father recollected "One small bit I remember was that Frank George had made a model of the Vulcan aircraft, which was to crash land into the sea. Well, they shot it and unfortunately, it looked like a model. So we were called in to optically put on a load of spray off the back edges of the wings to give it more of an impression of power.”
Thunderball, unfortunately I can't add anything.
You Only Live Twice (1967)There are a lot of optical and matte paintings. I guess the planet Earth is a painting on the space shots. Also several matte paintings of the Volcano's interior and exterior shots.
You Only Live Twice. Big film for Cliff, paintings, and model work. I remember that painting hanging on the wall at WDO, when the company was closed down Cliff donated it to the Bond archive.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) The matte painting are an exterior shot of Piz Gloria, the mountain behind the hanging body of Campbell, the casino reflection in the hotel swimming pool, and one of the most admired sequences in the film, the avalanche.
You may notice the painting looks tall and thin compared to the image in the film. The film was shot widescreen, the Matte Dept had no widescreen lenses and the cost of renting one for the 3 or 4 weeks needed was too expensive, so it was painted squeezed through a normal spherical lens, and when projected through a wide screen lens looked correct.
Again that painting was hanging on the wall at WDO for many years and was again donated.
The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) was the last film with John Stears as FX supervisor, he was replaced by John Evans and later by John Richardson, and Derek Meddings came in as miniature supervisor.
The Man With The Golden Gun. Did you know Cliff's hand appeared in the film? Short cut of the Gun being assembled.
Terry Adlam mentioned that Cliff Culley did some bits and pieces on further Bonds including the graphic display of Ranger’s and Potemkin’s ill-fated Armageddon missile trajectories in The Spy Who Loved Me.
The Spy Who Loved Me. Think I was around for this one, though very junior, so not involved in anything meaningful.
In between these Bond jobs, he also made some other notable films with wonderful matte paintings like Khartoum (1966)
Khartoum. Again Cliff's hand appears, ring removed from finger! Sure he did more than just that but before my time.
Chity Chity Bang Bang (1967)
Cliff Culley, Roy Field, and another Pinewood technician.
Chitty. Big film for Cliff, lots of paintings and models. He seemed to be well thought off, was sent on location to do an FG glass shot near the Castle in Germany, and got his only credit at the start of a film. There was some conflict with Ken Adam, who always liked to do things BIG, for the flying car shots Ken had a museum-quality model car built, only problem was its weight, it was so heavy that the cables needed to hang it could not be hidden. The story went that Cliff had another model built that was much lighter, shot with that and nothing more was said.
A couple of paintings that had been hanging on the walls were again donated. ( I was slightly annoyed as I wanted one!)
He also contributed for sure to many Norman Wisdom films, as most of them were done at Pinewood Studios, like The bulldog Bree (1960) or The Early Bird (1965)
Cliff Culley's paintings from The Early Bird
The Carry On film series. starting in 1958, all of the filmed at Pinewood Studios. I haven´t seen all of them, just a few. Some movies don´t look to have any matte shot, and some others several, like Carry on Cleo (1963)
Carry on Jack (1963)
Carry on up that khyber (1968) They reused the sets from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and your father made a new matte painting for it.
Norman Wisdom and the Carry On's, again before my time, would have been under the facility studio system, so just another job that was handed to them, no doubt with budgetary restrictions. The Carry On's were notorious for not spending money and reusing whatever was left on the Pinewood back lot!
I think it was in the middle or late sixties that Charles Stoneham started to work with your father. that´s what Martin Body told me: ” I can tell you that he first worked as a matte painter at Pinewood Studios – he was employed in the general stores there and painted as a hobby. Cliff Culley, the in-house matte painter at the studio saw Charles’ work and gave him a job. Cliff was a very good painter, particularly of fine detail, and he trained Charles in the finer points of matte painting.
Charlie Stoneman. I remember Charlie, a very quiet man, always had a pipe.
I think he moved to the Southwest, Devon maybe? but I don't know which year. I don't remember anyone else assisting Cliff, Leigh was there for most of the time I was.
During the early seventies, he continued to work at Pinewood matte department, but I don't know when he opened his own FX house Westbury design and Opticals. the first film I have found with Westbury design on credits is Warlord of Atlantis (1978) Do you remember the first films made by your father at his own FX house? Also, when did you start working with him?
I started work in 1975 with Cliff, at Pinewood. He had already set up WDO, I think in 1972 after the industry hit a big slump and the Rank Organisation decided to end the full facility studio set up and go " four wall " to cut costs Most of the employed labor were dismissed, carpenters, painters, riggers, drapes, VFX, etc all had to go freelance. Cliff approached the management and asked if he could carry on and rent the existing premises, a deal was done and Westbury Design & Optical was born.
I hope that helps a little, as mentioned all well before my time. The next section should be a little better as I started at Pinewood in 1975, so should have more first-hand memories to draw on, but don't wait too long as I'm getting forgetful.
Regards,
Neil
Thank you very much for your time and patience
Best wishes and take care.
Domingo