Warner Bros. Photos Spotlighted In Exhibition At AMPAS

Warren Beatty, Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt, Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor and the stars of the HARRY POTTER films are but a few of the subjects featured in the 165 photographs that will next grace the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Grand Lobby Gallery. Opening to the public on Thursday, September 16, “Up From the Vault: 85 Years of Treasures from the Warner Bros. Photo Lab” will run through December 12. Admission is free.

The exhibition includes a broad range of photographs, some famous and many extremely rare or unseen – from glamour portraits to set reference stills, from ad art and publicity photos to behind-the-scenes shots and scene stills. New prints of images taken in black-and-white and color, and in nearly every photographic format, from early 4×5 negatives to the latest high-resolution digital photos, will be on view.

“Up From the Vault” will feature some of the most iconic stars of the last nine decades, including Judy Garland, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Marlon Brando, Natalie Wood, Vivien Leigh, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Keanu Reeves, Denzel Washington and Heath Ledger. Shots taken on various sets by film legend and aspiring photographer James Dean are also included.

Classic and recent films will be represented, such as “Casablanca,” “Rebel without a Cause,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Batman Begins,” “Little Caesar,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “A Star Is Born,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Sergeant York,” “Gypsy,” “The Maltese Falcon,” “The Searchers,” “All the President’s Men,” “The Matrix,” “The Exorcist,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Million Dollar Baby.”

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The Warner Bros. Photo Lab originated in the early days of the studio, circa 1930, and remains the longest continuously operating studio photography department. Its purpose was, and still is, to process the unit photographers’ images into proofs and prints for publicity and advertising. Staffed by printmakers, archivists and digital designers, the Warner Bros. Photo Lab works with millions of original negatives, photographic prints and digital images owned and archived by Warner Bros. Studios, composing what is perhaps the most complete visual record of any studio’s film production and promotional activities that exists.

The exhibition is organized by the Academy in association with guest curators Greg Dyro and Leith Adams.

Also opening on September 16, in the Academy’s Fourth Floor Gallery, is “Ingmar Bergman: Truth and Lies.”

The world premiere exhibition will delve into the career and personal life of the legendary Swedish director. Original scripts, notebooks, film schedules, sketches, posters, photographs and other paper materials will complement items such as set models and costumes. Film projections and specially created montages will allow the visitor to explore the full range of Bergman’s work, from his earliest films to his major international successes. Admission is free.

Presented in collaboration with the Ingmar Bergman Foundation, Svensk Filmindustri, the Swedish Film Institute, the Swedish Institute, Swedish Television and the Royal Dramatic Theatre Stockholm.

The Academy’s galleries are located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and are open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. The galleries will be closed for the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend (November 25 through 28).

For more on other Academy events, visit their official website Oscars.org as well as their Facebook page here, or see their YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/oscars.