From rom-coms to horror films
Errol Flynn takes time out from filming the 'Sea Hawk' (1940) to hold up a clapperboard spelling out "Make up Slave."
As a scene is about to filmed during the making of 'The Deep Blue Sea' (1955), Vivien Leigh prepares herself behind the clapperboard.
Marilyn Monroe looms over the top of the clapperboard as she speaks her opening lines in the film 'The Prince and the Showgirl' (1957). Early on in its production, the movie was known as 'The Sleeping Prince,' the title written on the board.
Director Stanley Donen (1924–2019) wraps up production on 'Indiscreet' (1958) at Elstree Studios in England by holding up a clapperboard that reads, "The End." Stars Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman celebrate the completion of the picture with champagne.
Film director Alfred Hitchcock announces his latest thriller, 'Psycho' (1960), by promoting the picture on set using a clapperboard.
French actress Brigitte Bardot ready for a take on set of the film 'Le Repos du Guerrier' (1962)—known in the US as 'Love on a Pillow'—directed by Roger Vadim (1928–2000).
US President John F. Kennedy's face appears through a clapperboard, prior to making a televised announcement to the nation on July 5, 1963.
A clapper loader holds a clapperboard in front of Audrey Hepburn on the set of 'My Fair Lady' (1964). The musical was directed by George Cukor (1899 –1983).
Peter Sellers is hidden by a clapperboard on the set of Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb' (1964).
Australian actor George Lazenby films a scene for the James Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' on location in Portugal on May 14, 1969. It was the Australian actor's first and only time portraying the British secret agent.
A clapperboard starts off a scene during filming of the action thriller 'The Mechanic' (1972) starring Charles Bronson.
French actor Alain Delon lies prone and concentrates on the scene ahead while a clapper loader looms over him on the set of 'Le Cercle Rouge' (1970).
Another great French actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo holds up the clapperboard on the set of 'Docteur Popaul' (1972), directed by Claude Chabrol (1930–2010) and also known under the title 'High Heels.' His passenger is Mia Farrow.
The "Duke" on the set of 1972's 'Cahill U.S. Marshal,' a Western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (1920–2014).
Spanish actor Javier Bardem gets real close to the clapperboard for a take during 'Goya's Ghosts' (2006), directed by Miloš Forman (1932–2018).
Seemingly unaware of the looming clapperboard, Keira Knightly is clearly thinking about the task ahead while making 'Pride & Prejudice' (2005).
James Stewart listens to an out-of-view John Ford as the clapperboard synchronizes a scene from 'Cheyenne Autumn' (1964). This was the last Western the legendary director made.
'Skyfall' (2012), directed by Sam Mendes, was the 23rd in the 'James Bond' film series, and the third to star Daniel Craig as 007. The actor smiles as the cameras are about to roll.
Judi Dench stars as... the clapper girl in 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' (2011). In fact, her character is Evelyn Greenslade, a recently widowed housewife who moves to India after paying off her husband's debts.
Spanish actress Penélope Cruz strikes an interesting pose with the clapperboard before filming a scene for Pedro Almodóvar's 'Los Abrazos Rotos' (2009), known in English as 'Broken Embraces.'
Tom Hanks hides a grin behind the clapperboard in this outtake from 'Forrest Gump' (1994).
May the clapperboard be with you, suggests Mark Hamill as a shot is lined up for 'Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back' (1980).
Harrison Ford readies himself for an early scene in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981).
Chinese child actor Richard Vuu fools around on the set of 'The Last Emperor' (1987), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
Sources: (Britannica) (The New Yorker) (The New York Times)
See also: Vintage photographs of directors on set
Buster Keaton holds the clapperboard next to co-star Dorothy Sebastian (1903–1957) during the filming of the silent comedy 'Spite Marriage' (1929).
Jerry Lewis sits open mouthed below a picture of Adolf Hitler and holds a clapperboard on the set of the film 'The Day The Clown Cried' (1972), which he also directed. The film, which features Lewis as a circus clown who is imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, remains unfinished and unreleased.
Pierce Brosnan as James Bond takes his hands off the wheel of his BMW Z3 to hold the clapperboard for a scene in 'GoldenEye' (1995).
Eyeing up the clapperboard while on the deck is Robert De Niro for a scene in 'Meet the Fockers' (2004).
Elizabeth Taylor is just 12 years old in this outtake from 'National Velvet' (1944).
It's a device that's in every shot in every movie ever made. And yet cinema audiences never see the clapperboard, used in filmmaking production to assist in the synchronizing of picture and sound, and to designate and mark the various scenes and takes as they are filmed and audio-recorded. Fortunately, there are plenty of still photographs depicting this essential piece of equipment as it's being used, along with the movie stars present as the director shouts action!
Click through for some of cinema's best clapperboard scenes.
Action! Cinema's best clapperboard scenes
Funny and unusual photographs featuring movie stars waiting for the "snap" of the clapperboard
MOVIES Film
It's a device that's in every shot in every movie ever made. And yet cinema audiences never see the clapperboard, used in filmmaking production to assist in the synchronizing of picture and sound, and to designate and mark the various scenes and takes as they are filmed and audio-recorded. Fortunately, there are plenty of still photographs depicting this essential piece of equipment as it's being used, along with the movie stars present as the director shouts action!
Click through for some of cinema's best clapperboard scenes.