Saul Bass - Carmen Jones (1954) title sequence

Carmen Jones (1954)

Directed by: 

Otto Preminger

Starring: 

Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James, Joe Adams

Studio: 

20th Century Fox

Country: 

USA

Title design: 

Saul Bass

Lettering: 

Harold Adler

“From “Bass on titles,” an on-camera interview with Bass, about his work on title sequences:

I began as a graphic designer and as part of my work I created many film symbols for ad campaigns. During that period I happened to be working on the symbols for ‘Carmen Jones’ and ‘The man with the golden arm’ for Otto Preminger. At one point in our work Otto and I just looked at each other and said: “why not make it move?” It was really as simple as that.” — Saul Bass

When Saul Bass started making credits, the credits themselves were part of the film and they had a clarity of a modern sensibility that took you to another decade, another two decades ahead. Saul Bass really was the first to inflict that and would destroy once and for all that old concept of opening credits.— Martin Scorsese, in the documentary “Saul Bass, title champ”