Saul Bass Tribute

Today, Google is featuring a Google Doodle paying tribute to the legendary graphic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass. What does Saul Bass have to do with the Upper Peninsula? One of his most famous title sequences (above) was for the film Anatomy of a Murder.

In addition to Anatomy of a Murder director Otto Preminger, Saul Bass also worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese, just to name a few. In addition to his famous title sequences he created several iconic logos for Continental Airlines, United Way, Quaker Oats and AT&T.

The classic film has become a part of Michigan history, especially in the Upper Peninsula where the film takes place. The film was shot throughout several Upper Peninsula towns including Big Bay, Ishpeming, Michigamme and the Marquette County Courthouse. Most of the filming was in Bay City at The Thunderbay Inn, Big Bay Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast, Perkins Park Campground and The Lumberjack Tavern. It was at The Lumberjack where the real murder took place in 1952, where there is still a murder scene body outline. It was this murder that first inspired the novel Anatomy of a Murderwritten by John D. Voelker (under the pen name Robert Traver), an Ishpeming native who was appointed the 74th justice of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1957.

We will be sure to do a more extensive profile on John D. Voelker, one of the most famous and celebrated Yoopers.

Google’s Tribute to Sal Bass

Saul Bass’ Anatomy of a Murder Movie Poster