A veteran of Paramount Pictures, Dutch-born JAN DOMELA worked as a scenic/matte painter in the 1920s when Paramount first emerged from the Famous Players-Lasky Studio, and is often credited as painting Paramount’s iconic mountain logo itself!
The relatively cheap studio meant Domela was often a one-man matte show, doing paintings for films like THE CRUSADES (1935), ROAD TO MOROCCO (1942), WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951) and WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), often giving up screen credit in exchange for a higher salary.
One of Domela’s famous works would be on Cecil B. Demille’s epic THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1955). The famous shot of Moses parting the sea was partially achieved by Domela, alongside other epic images.
Sadly, as is common, Domela was let go by Paramount after nearly 40 years to cut costs. Domela did other work like in THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY (1965) and THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965), but retired to fine painting after a well-spent career. Albeit an underappreciated one.
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