| Art Directors & Production
Designers Festival!
Egyptian Theatre Exclusive!
Presented in association with the
Art Directors Guild
In collaboration with The Art Directors Guild, the American
Cinematheque is proud to celebrate the work of 6 of the greatest Production Designers in
film history: Henry Bumstead, Harold Michelson, Kenneth Adam, Robert Boyle, Gene Allen
and William Creber, each recipients of the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award -
!!
Think of the haunted California mission in Hitchcock’s
masterpiece VERTIGO … the upside-down ballroom in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE … the
time-worn village that Tevye and his family call home in THE FIDDLER ON THE ROOF –
all are results of the art director’s and/or production designer’s creative
contributions to the filmmaking process. Production Designers are the visual artists and
storytellers, who, in consultation primarily with the director, develop the look of a
feature motion picture or television production and the environment in which all the
action takes place. They do this through the conception and creation of stage sets and the
selection and alteration of practical locations and backgrounds. Production Designers are
artists who adapt their style to all types of films. The scope of their talent is
limitless. Their imaginations soar within a practical and economic framework. They make
seemingly impossible things possible for filming, all the while under the pressures of
money and time. Production design creates the overall look,
atmosphere and emotion that moves story material from the printed page to the screen in a
complete and unobtrusive manner. Think of homes, apartments or landscapes without proper
furnishings, lighting and architecture and you have storytelling without production
design. When the work is done expertly it appears natural and seamless, never calling
attention to itself. When it’s done wrong, audiences leave theaters "whistling
the sets" that have stepped awkwardly between stories and scenes.
Friday, February 4 – 7:30 PM
Henry Bumstead Tribute:
70mm Print!! VERTIGO, 1958, Universal, 129 min. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. With
its stunning visuals and gripping characters, Hitchcock’s psychological suspense
masterpiece VERTIGO continues to entrance audiences. Retired San Francisco police
detective "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) becomes obsessed with
Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak), a troubled woman he is privately hired to follow.
Tragedy ensues when Ferguson later stumbles upon Judy Barton (also played by Novak), a
young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Madeleine…and his obsession spirals
out of control. Hitchcock and production designer Henry Bumstead (TO KILL A
MOCKINGBIRD, THE STING) transformed the city of San Francisco and the northern California
coastline into a landscape of mystery and imagination, haunted by the ghosts of the past. Discussion following with production designer Henry Bumstead.
Saturday, February 5 – 2:00 PM
Children’s Matinee
Harold Michelson Tribute: STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE, 1979, Paramount,
132 min. Director Robert Wise, ably assisted by Harold Michelson’s
(DICK TRACY) other-worldy production design, Jerry Goldsmith’s stirring score and a
special effects team that includes Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra and Ramon Sanchez,
delivers the first STAR TREK film as a 2001-style epic, and a profound meditation on
man’s struggle to survive against the negative forces in the universe. With William
Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, Walter Koenig, George Takei, James
Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Persis Khambatta. Discussion
following with production designer Harold Michelson.
Saturday, February 5 – 5:00 PM
William Creber Tribute: THE
POSEIDON ADVENTURE, 1972, 20th Century
Fox, 117 min. Director Ronald Neame and producer Irwin Allen’s literally
titanic disaster epic features a Who’s Who of acting talent – Gene Hackman,
Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Jack Albertson, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens
and more -- all doing their best to stay alive in the hellish inferno of capsized ocean
liner, the S.S. Poseidon. Special kudos to Shelley Winters for her unforgettably
gutsy performance, and to production designer William Creber (PLANET OF THE APES,
THE TOWERING INFERNO), special effects expert L.B. Abbott and stunt coordinator Paul
Stader for some of the most spectacular disaster scenes in movie history, including the
famous upside-down Ballroom. Discussion following with
production designer William Creber.
Saturday, February 5 – 8:00 PM
Sir Kenneth Adam Tribute:
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER,
1971, MGM/UA, 120 min. Dir. Guy Hamilton. James Bond (Sean Connery returning
to the role after a one film hiatus) goes from Amsterdam to Las Vegas on the track of
missing diamonds and encounters his arch-nemeis, Ernst Stavros Blofeld (Charles Gray)
along the way. Ken Adam’s sleek, spacious and beautifully angular prodction design
was as much responsible for the success of the early Bond films as star Connery or
producers Broccoli & Saltzman, and he continues the tradition here. Many times
nominated, Adam won the Oscar for his work on BARRY LYNDON (1975) and THE MADNESS OF KING
GEORGE (1994). With Jill St. John as Tiffany Case and Lana Wood as Plenty O’Toole.
Sunday, February 6 – 2:00 PM
Children’s Matinee
Robert Boyle Tribute: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, 1971, MGM/UA, 181 min. Coming at the end of
the great era of Hollywood musicals, director Norman Jewison’s wonderful,
elegiac FIDDLER ON THE ROOF added a note of somber realism to the genre, along with
such soul-inspiring numbers as "Tradition" and "L’chaim (To
Life)" Topol stars as the beleagured but still optimistic Russian milkman
Tevye, trying to hold his Jewish family together in the face of troubling changes in early
20th century Russia. Production designer Robert Boyle (THE BIRDS, CAPE
FEAR, IN COLD BLOOD) conjures up a marvelous, earth-toned vision of life in the turn of
the last century shtetls. Based on Joseph Stein’s play, with music and lyrics
by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. Academy Award Winner for Best Cinematography (Oswald
Morris) and score (John Williams). Discussion following with
production designer Robert Boyle.
Sunday, February 6 – 6:00 PM
Gene Allen Tribute: A STAR IS BORN, 1954, Warner Bros., 170
min. Alcoholic failing star Norman Maine (James Mason) discovers and marries rising
matinee idol songbird Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland), in director George Cukor’s
emotionally incandescent remake of William Wellman’s 1937 version. Fueled by
Garland’s terrifying vulnerability, Cukor’s flawless direction, a superb script
by Moss Hart and production designer Gene Allen’s (MY FAIR LADY) brilliant evocation
of Hollywood wealth and power, A STAR IS BORN (shown here in the restored, 170 min.
version) is an amazing synthesis of on-screen drama and behind-the-scenes myth. Discussion following with production designer Gene Allen. |
