CINEFILER

Stephen Goosson

Born
March 24, 1889
Died
March 25, 1973
Stephen Goosson was Columbia Pictures' supervising art director for 25 years. A gifted artist, he is responsible for some of the most memorable sets in Hollywood history; from the oversized mansion towering over Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921) to the fun house with its hall of mirrors in The Lady from Shanghai (1947). Goosson was an architect in Detroit before starting in pictures as art director for pioneer film producer Lewis J. Selznick (father of David O. Selznick) in 1919. he went on to work for Mary Pickford Productions, Frank Lloyd, DeMille Pictures as well as Fox before being hired by Columbia, where he remained for the rest of his career. From pencil drawings to final full-scale sets and regardless of budget, his work was always extremely rich in details, and always thoroughly researched and authentically built. Nominated for five Academy Awards, Goosson won for his magnificent sets of Shangri-La for Frank Capra's Lost Horizon (1937). They collaborated on seven other pictures from Platinum Blonde (1931) to Meet John Doe (1941). Always a visionary, he was just as comfortable with simple authenticity (like the cabin in It Happened One Night (1934) where "the wall of Jericho" is erected) than with grandiose concepts (such as his - and co-art director Ralph Hammeras - futuristic New York City of 1980 in Just Imagine (1930)). It is next to impossible to imagine any of these movies without Stephen Goosson's exquisite contributions.
Academy Awards
Best Production Design
Known For
Gilda
(1946)
Art Direction
The Little Foxes
(1941)
Art Direction
It Happened One Night
(1934)
Art Direction
Holiday
(1938)
Art Direction
You Can't Take It with You
(1938)
Art Direction
The Lady from Shanghai
(1947)
Art Direction
Lost Horizon
(1937)
Art Direction
The Awful Truth
(1937)
Art Direction
Dead Reckoning
(1947)
Art Direction
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
(1936)
Art Direction
Meet John Doe
(1941)
Art Direction
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1923)
Assistant Art Director
The Black Room
(1935)
Art Direction
The Man from Colorado
(1948)
Art Direction
Crime and Punishment
(1935)
Art Direction
Lady for a Day
(1933)
Art Direction
Full Filmography
Art
Little Lord Fauntleroy
(1921)
Art Direction
Through The Back Door
(1921)
Art Direction
The Love Light
(1921)
Art Direction
Oliver Twist
(1922)
Art Direction
The Eternal Flame
(1922)
Art Direction
Within the Law
(1923)
Art Direction
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1923)
Assistant Art Director
The Sea Hawk
(1924)
Art Direction
The Wreck of the Hesperus
(1927)
Art Direction
The Patent Leather Kid
(1927)
Art Direction
Tenth Avenue
(1928)
Art Direction
Let 'Er Go Gallegher
(1928)
Art Direction
Skyscraper
(1928)
Art Direction
Midnight Madness
(1928)
Art Direction
A Blonde for a Night
(1928)
Art Direction
Man-Made Women
(1928)
Art Direction
The Trespasser
(1929)
Art Direction
Just Imagine
(1930)
Set Decoration
Oh, for a Man!
(1930)
Art Direction
Such Men Are Dangerous
(1930)
Settings
Platinum Blonde
(1931)
Art Direction
American Madness
(1932)
Art Direction
Lady for a Day
(1933)
Art Direction
Brief Moment
(1933)
Art Direction
Man's Castle
(1933)
Art Direction
It Happened One Night
(1934)
Art Direction
One Night of Love
(1934)
Art Direction
She Married Her Boss
(1935)
Art Direction
She Couldn't Take It
(1935)
Art Direction
Love Me Forever
(1935)
Art Direction
Crime and Punishment
(1935)
Art Direction
A Feather in Her Hat
(1935)
Art Direction
If You Could Only Cook
(1935)
Art Direction
Party Wire
(1935)
Art Direction
The Black Room
(1935)
Art Direction
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
(1936)
Art Direction
Theodora Goes Wild
(1936)
Art Direction
You May Be Next!
(1936)
Art Direction
The King Steps Out
(1936)
Art Direction
Pennies from Heaven
(1936)
Art Direction
Craig's Wife
(1936)
Art Direction
Adventure in Manhattan
(1936)
Art Direction
More Than a Secretary
(1936)
Art Direction
Lost Horizon
(1937)
Art Direction
She Married an Artist
(1937)
Art Direction
The Awful Truth
(1937)
Art Direction
Murder in Greenwich Village
(1937)
Art Direction
It Happened in Hollywood
(1937)
Art Direction
There's Always a Woman
(1938)
Art Direction
You Can't Take It with You
(1938)
Art Direction
Holiday
(1938)
Art Direction
Penitentiary
(1938)
Art Direction
Beyond Tomorrow
(1940)
Art Direction
The Little Foxes
(1941)
Art Direction
Meet John Doe
(1941)
Art Direction
The Man from Down Under
(1943)
Assistant Art Director
Swing Fever
(1943)
Assistant Art Director
Bathing Beauty
(1944)
Art Direction
Together Again
(1944)
Art Direction
See Here, Private Hargrove
(1944)
Assistant Art Director
Over 21
(1945)
Art Direction
Tonight and Every Night
(1945)
Art Direction
Kiss and Tell
(1945)
Art Direction
She Wouldn't Say Yes
(1945)
Art Direction
Counter-Attack
(1945)
Art Direction
Keep Your Powder Dry
(1945)
Art Direction
Gilda
(1946)
Art Direction
Renegades
(1946)
Art Direction
The Thrill of Brazil
(1946)
Art Direction
The Return of Monte Cristo
(1946)
Art Direction
The Jolson Story
(1946)
Art Direction
Meet Me on Broadway
(1946)
Art Direction
Gallant Journey
(1946)
Art Direction
The Lady from Shanghai
(1947)
Art Direction
Framed
(1947)
Art Direction
Mr. District Attorney
(1947)
Art Direction
It Had to Be You
(1947)
Art Direction
Johnny O'Clock
(1947)
Art Direction
Dead Reckoning
(1947)
Art Direction
Down to Earth
(1947)
Art Direction
Her Husband's Affairs
(1947)
Art Direction
The Man from Colorado
(1948)
Art Direction
The Return of October
(1948)
Art Direction
The Loves of Carmen
(1948)
Art Direction
The Swordsman
(1948)
Art Direction
The Black Arrow
(1948)
Art Direction
The Fuller Brush Man
(1948)
Art Direction
The Sign of the Ram
(1948)
Art Direction
The Mating of Millie
(1948)
Art Direction
Data provided by TMDB