The Ben Carré papers span the years 1868 to 1995 (bulk 1970 to 1979) and encompass two linear feet. The collection contains productions files, subject files, and writings. The bulk of the material concerns Carré’s autobiographical writing done in the final decade of his life.

The production files consist primarily of clippings and reviews for two dozen films for which Carré served as either art director, costume designer, or production designer, including CAMILLE (1915), DON JUAN (1926), A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935), OLD SAN FRANCISCO (1927), THE POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL (1917), and RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (1931). There is no material covering his work in the French film industry prior to moving to the United States in 1912, and only a few of his credits from the 1930s are represented. Of particular interest are copies of set drawings for THE BLUE BIRD (1918) and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) and a set drawing for THE RIVER PIRATE (1928).

The subject files contain biographical information, clippings, financial documents, an oral history transcript, various professional identification cards, technical writings, which include drawings, and correspondence. Notable correspondents include Ray Eames, Edmund D. Edelman, Francis Lacassin, Maurice Leloir, David Shepard, James Silke, and Eugene Stavis. Of particular interest is the correspondence from Kevin Brownlow discussing Carré’s career. There is a small amount of material related to Carré’s family and early life in France, including Carré’s birth certificate and French military identification booklet. There are also documents related to Carré’s work as a fine art painter.

The writings series includes material for Carré’s unpublished autobiography, “Reminiscences of My Years as a Motion Picture Art Director.” There are handwritten notes and drafts, including a bound, handwritten manuscript in French. There is also a handwritten manuscript of “The Sets I Remember,” in which Carré recounts the film sets he designed, and drafts and drawings for a work meant to describe his early years sketching landscapes in the French countryside.

Ben Carré was born in Paris, France in 1883. At the age of 17, he apprenticed at Atelier Amable to learn scenic design and became acquainted with Henri Menessier. Menessier introduced him to Alice Guy Blaché, who hired Carré as a scenic artist for Gaumont circa 1906.There he worked with such filmmakers as Émile Cohl. He emigrated to the United States in 1912 and worked as an art director for Éclair Film Company in New Jersey. While at Éclair he began a successful working relationship with filmmaker Maurice Tourneur. The two worked on nearly three dozen films together, including POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL (1917) and THE BLUE BIRD (1918).

Carré accompanied Tourneur to Hollywood in 1919. Until he took a permanent position at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the late 1930s, Carré worked steadily for several different studios and production companies, including Maurice Tourneur Productions and Marshall Neilan Productions. His credits during this time include THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1920), DINTY (1920), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), DON JUAN (1926), OLD SAN FRANCISCO (1927), and A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935). In 1937 he moved to MGM and designed scene backdrops for the studio until he retired in 1968. He created backdrops for a variety of films, including THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), NATIONAL VELVET (1944), SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952), NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), and his final film, ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968). Following his retirement, he continued to paint and worked on his memoirs until his death in 1978.