LIMITED SERIES DICK SMITH:
THE GODFATHER
OF MAKEUP JUL 20–AUG 24, 2023
The Godfather Thu, Jul 20 | 7:30pm | TMT
For Yale pre-med student Richard Emerson Smith (1922–2014), a routine library trip would lead to his encounter with Paint, Powder and Makeup , a book that altered the course of his career from dentistry to the art of transforming actors through makeup. Known professionally as Dick Smith, the American special makeup effects artist got his start at WNBC-TV in 1945, where he worked as Department Head of Makeup through 1959 to develop his craft and reimagine the possibilities of prosthetics. Developing his methods and makeups from his Larchmont, New York, basement workshop, Smith is best remembered for his realistic aging makeup, most notably for Dustin Hoffman as Jack Crabb in Little Big Man (1970) and F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (1984), the latter for which he won an Academy Award with Paul LeBlanc. Smith’s experimentation with materials went beyond full-face masks to employ multiple overlapping foam latex pieces, allowing actors a fuller range of facial expressions and resulting in massive shifts in the field. His career achievements were celebrated in 2011 with an Academy Honorary Award “for his unparalleled mastery of texture, shade, form and illusion." To highlight Smith’s work on Marlon Brando’s makeup for The Godfather (1972), currently celebrated in our gallery The Art of Moviemaking: The Godfather , on view through January 5, 2025, this screening series showcases some of Smith’s greatest achievements in movie makeup magic.
Programmed and notes by K.J. Relth-Miller.
The Godfather Thu, Jul 20 | 7:30pm | TMT
Vito Corleone, one of the most iconic characters of 20th century American cinema, was immortalized by Marlon Brando on screen (for which he won an Oscar for Best Actor); behind the scenes, credit is shared with makeup artist Dick Smith for his collaboration with the actor on the Don’s iconic look. For the scenes in which Corleone is aged beyond Brando’s 48 years, Smith upheld the actor’s request to spend minimal time in the makeup chair by moving away from prosthetics and into more creative techniques, including the application of old age stipple and a dental plumper to add that recognizable droop to his jowls. DIRECTED BY: Francis Ford Coppola. WRITTEN BY: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola. WITH: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall. 1972. 177 min. USA. Technicolor. English, Italian, Latin. Rated R. 4K DCP.
THE EXORCIST (1973)
The Exorcist (Director's Cut) Thu, Jul 27 | 7:30pm | TMT William Friedkin’s screen adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel about a seemingly ordinary girl who becomes
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