Maurice Binder

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Maurice Binder (born August 25, 1925 in New York City , USA ; † April 9, 1991 in London , England ) was an American filmmaker who mainly designed opening credits and trailers . Binder achieved particular fame with the title sequences of the James Bond films, for which he was responsible between 1962 and 1989.

Life

Binder began his career at the New York department store Macy's, for which he designed catalogs and advertising campaigns . During the Second World War he switched to the film business. He initially designed advertisements and film posters for the film studio Columbia Pictures before he received his first commission for a film from director Stanley Donen in 1958 to design the opening credits for Indiskret with Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant .

James Bond

From then on he worked with Donen even more often. He drew the attention of producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman through the opening credits to the comedy Before House Friends Is Warned (1960), who hunted him down for the title sequence of the first James Bond film, James Bond Dr. No dedicated. The producers liked the result and it was so well received by the audience that Binder designed all the other opening credits of the subsequent James Bond films from now until his death. Exceptions were the films With Love from Moscow and Goldfinger . The opening sequence, in which James Bond appears on the screen from the right and then shoots towards the audience, was the best known idea for his design of the film opening credits and became a trademark of the Bond films, the recognition value of which became so important that it also became was retained in the later films.

style

Binder used in his early films until the mid-1960s still - the style of his model Saul Bass accordingly - often animated graphical objects, such as circles or spirals, such as Charade or Dr. No . Playing with color and movement were already typical for him at that time, as was a sense of humor, for example in front of house friends is warned or hunt the fox! . Later he perfected his "typical", immediately recognizable style, mainly through the opening sequences of the James Bond films: the use of color filters and silhouettes - in the Bond films mainly of naked or half-naked women - and the combination of real shots with graphic elements and animation.

Working method

When implementing his ideas, Binder mostly worked alone and was rarely assisted by an assistant. However, he was mostly dissatisfied with the results of his work. This meant that he mostly handed in the sequences he had created "at the last minute", which resulted in tensions with the producers. In the usual test screenings, these could never take into account the actually planned opening credits, which impaired the overall effect of the film on the audience. In one case, the producers did not see the result until the premiere, as Binder and his film material appeared in the theater shortly before the performance began and this still had to be inserted into the existing film roll.

Private

Binder was considered a "friend of women", but remained unmarried throughout his life and had no children. According to friends, his decision to be a bachelor came from his shyness about commitments and obligations. Over the years he built up an important collection of modern art, with works by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, for example . His passion for collecting came from his aesthetic enthusiasm for the works, not from financial considerations.

death

Binder died of lung cancer on April 9, 1991 in London . The James Bond film production company, Eon Productions Ltd. , held a grand memorial service at the National Film Theater after his death .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Binder, Maurice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American filmmaker, designer of the James Bond opening credits
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , USA
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 1991
Place of death London , England