Max Rée(1889-1953)
- Costume Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
Danish-born art director and costume designer. Initially a law and
philosophy graduate, Ree studied architecture at the Royal Academy of
Copenhagen. He then worked as a stage designer for
Max Reinhardt in Berlin during the
early
1920's. Moving to the United States in 1925, Ree had a brief stint with MGM, designing costumes for two of Greta Garbo's
films. He then returned to theatrical stage design, creating sets for
hit Broadway shows, including
Earl Carroll's 'Vanities' and the
'Greenwich Village Follies'. By 1927, was back in Hollywood as head of
the costume department for First National, proving himself a master at
creating gowns for varied historical periods. Following the merger with
Warner Brothers, Ree joined RKO in the dual capacity of supervising art
director (1929-31) and costume designer (1929-32). He did some of his
best work on the creation of historically authentic costumes and,
especially, the building of a replica of 'Cayetano's Circus Theatre' in
1840's New Orleans, for the big-budget musical
Dixiana (1930). Ree won the 1930 Academy
Award for Best Art Direction for the western
Cimarron (1931). He pretty much retired
from films a year later, except to rejoin Max Reinhardt for
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935),
his costume design contributing greatly to the picture's visual
splendour.
