RKO and Paramount

Bumstead interned with RKO Pictures in 1935 while still a student at USC.^[4] In 1937, he went to work as a draftsman RKO's art department.^[5] He received his first screen credit for set design for the 1944 feature The Story of Dr. Wassell.^[6]

Bumstead's career was interrupted by service in the Navy during World War II. After the war, he joined Paramount Pictures where he worked and studied under the noted art directors, Hans Dreier and Roland Anderson. Bumtead's first film as an art director was the 1948 feature Saigon.^[5] Early works also included Come Back, Little Sheba (1952 film) and The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1952).

Later in the 1950s, Bumstead worked on two Alfred Hitchcock features: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and Vertigo (1958). He received his first Academy Award nomination for Vertigo.^[7] In a tribute to Bumstead, the Art Directors Guild said of his work on Vertigo: "Though shot in Technicolor, the film's settings masterfully captured a film-noir style and atmosphere."^[8] He again collaborated with Hitchcock on Topaz (1969) and Family Plot (1976).

Universal

Bumstead left Paramount for Universal Studios in 1961. He won the Academy Award for art direction for his work on To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).^[9] Film historian Michael Stephens wrote: "Bumstead's sets not only captured the style of a small town in the South, but also the atmosphere of repression and danger that hovers over the story."^[8] Other significant works during Bumstead's years at Universal included Father Goose (1964), The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968), and The Front Page (1974).

Hill collaboration

In the 1970s, Bumstead began a lengthy collaboration with director George Roy Hill that was highlighted by The Sting (1973). The film won the Academy Award for best picture, and Bumstead and Hill also received Academy Awards for best director and best art direction.^[10] Bumstead's relationship with Hill extended into the late 1980s and included Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), Slap Shot (1977), A Little Romance (1979), The World According to Garp (1982), The Little Drummer Girl (1984), and Funny Farm (1988).^[6]

Eastwood collaboration

Bumstead began a long professional relationship with Clint Eastwood on the 1972 western Joe Kidd. The following year, Eastwood hired Bumstead for his directorial debut in High Plains Drifter (1973). The two worked together on a total of 13 films, including Unforgiven (1992), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), Space Cowboys (2000), Blood Work (2002), Mystic River (2003), and Million Dollar Baby (2004).^[8]

Bumstead's final collaboration with Eastwood was on Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Bumstead was 91 years old during the production, and the films were released after Bumstead's death. Flags of Our Fathers includes a dedication to "Bummy" in tribute to Bumstead.