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Post by snsurone on Dec 23, 2017 17:11:30 GMT
IMHO, art direction can be an integral part of a movie's success or failure.
Here are my takes on film's most beautiful interiors (in no particular order):
1) the interiors of the Smith home in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (especially the parlor).
2) the Vale mansion in NOW, VOYAGER.
3) practically every set on BEN HUR (1959), especially the courtyards of the Arrius and Hur homes (before the latter was desecrated by the Romans).
4) the Day home in LIFE WITH FATHER.
5) Twelve Oaks in GWTW, although somehow to me, it tends to look more like a museum than a house.
6) the Jordan home in DINNER AT EIGHT.
7) those great Art Deco sets of early Astaire/Rogers musicals, such as TOP HAT and THE GAY DIVORCEE.
8) Manderly in REBECCA.
Nowadays, most "art direction"--interiors and exteriors are CGI, which I consider cheapening.
Makes me wonder if most movie theaters make their money via concessions, LOL.
What are your opinions?
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Post by jervistetch on Dec 23, 2017 17:30:44 GMT
Hitchcock'S REAR WINDOW is widely celebrated as one of the great movie sets. And Martin Scorsese had a whole neighborhood built in Rome to represent the Five Points section of NYC for GANGS OF NEW YORK. REAR WINDOW  GANGS OF NEW YORK  |
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Post by neurosturgeon on Dec 23, 2017 17:37:05 GMT
I am very fond of the set for the 1937 version of "Lost Horizon."
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Post by teleadm on Dec 23, 2017 18:41:38 GMT
 Cedric Gibbons (1893 - 1960) between 1932 until his death designed over 1000 MGM movies (including shorts), winner of Oscars for: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) The Merry Widow (1934) Pride and Prejudice (1940) Blossoms in the Dust (1941) Gaslight (1944) The Yearling (1946) Little Women (1949) An American in Paris (1951) The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Julius Caesar (1953) Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) It should be said that before end titles took nearly 15 minutes, It was only the head of the Arts and Decors department that was mentioned and won the Oscar, not like today when it's nearly the whole team... |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 23, 2017 19:22:33 GMT
I am very fond of the set for the 1937 version of "Lost Horizon." That really is a fabulous set, influenced by the "streamline moderne" style popular at the time, with its horizontal emphasis and contrasting geometry of vast planes, graceful curves, ribbon windows and sparse yet bold ornamentation. It was constructed in Thousand Oaks, not far from Lake Sherwood, where Michael Curtiz would shoot much of The Adventures Of Robin Hood only a few months later. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 23, 2017 20:22:55 GMT
Hitchcock'S REAR WINDOW is widely celebrated as one of the great movie sets. REAR WINDOW Hitchcock was justifiably proud of that set, and it's said that people came from not only all over the Paramount lot but from others around town to see it, and Hitch was pleased to show it off. I'm guessing this great photo of it represents an aspect of that pride, as it appears to have been staged purely for publicity purposes: note that the crew and camera are positioned for a shot from outside Jeff's window, only one of which appears in the entire film when he's hanging from it at the climax, and that the neighboring "tenants" are posed at or near the windows of their own "apartments." James Stewart is visible at the lower left in his wheelchair, appearing to be attended to by an assistant of some kind. |
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Post by Richard Kimble on Dec 23, 2017 21:19:03 GMT
 Ken Adam |
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Post by snsurone on Dec 23, 2017 22:29:35 GMT
If you want to add TV interiors, I find the parlor of the Ponderosa on BONANZA looks warm and inviting.
And very well maintained; it's pretty hard to believe that four single men lived in a house that didn't resemble a pigsty, LOL.
And I also loved Mary's apartment on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW.
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Post by koskiewicz on Dec 23, 2017 22:56:55 GMT
...the set used for the 1927 film - Metropolis...
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Post by petrolino on Dec 23, 2017 23:32:46 GMT
One of the most imaginative set designers working today is Dante Ferretti who built some of the great sets of modern Italian cinema. His work in Hollywood with Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton and others is stellar. Marvel's assemble line directors could learn a thing or two from Warren Beatty's criminally underappreciated comic book masterpiece 'Dick Tracy'. The stunning production design is filtered through an exquisite colour palette. Beatty combines a range of artistic elements to create something truly unique and stunning. |
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Dec 24, 2017 0:18:34 GMT
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Post by politicidal on Dec 24, 2017 0:36:31 GMT
One of the most imaginative set designers working today is Dante Ferretti who built some of the great sets of modern Italian cinema. His work in Hollywood with Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton and others is stellar. Marvel's assemble line directors could learn a thing or two from Warren Beatty's criminally underappreciated comic book masterpiece 'Dick Tracy'. The stunning production design is filtered through an exquisite colour palette. Beatty combines a range of artistic elements to create something truly unique and stunning. This, the Tim Burton Batman films, The Shadow (1994), and the 1996 Phantom are some of the best looking superhero movies made. |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Dec 24, 2017 0:38:28 GMT
CITIZEN KANE - academy nomination : Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Perry Ferguson Van Nest Polglase A. Roland Fields Darrell Silvera     etc. |
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Post by _ on Dec 24, 2017 0:51:09 GMT
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Post by gunshotwound on Dec 24, 2017 1:11:05 GMT
Some of my favorite sets include:
Legend (1986) The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) How Green Was My Valley (1941) Psycho (1960) Giant (1956) Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) Top Hat (1935) or any of the other Astaire/Rogers musicals The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) The Thief of Bagdad (1924) Caesar and Cleopatra (1946) Black Narcissus (1947) Sunset Blvd. (1950) |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 24, 2017 1:25:35 GMT
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Post by snsurone on Dec 24, 2017 1:30:55 GMT
I agree, Dog--the sets of LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN are beautiful.
I have friends who live in Bar Harbor, Maine, and--to tell the truth--their home isn't as elegant as the house in this movie.
But, I don't think that mattered very much.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 24, 2017 1:57:53 GMT
...their home isn't as elegant as the house in this movie. They rarely are, are they? And most movie homes (or TV, for that matter) of the classic era, whether they have "help" or not, are spotlessly clean, uncluttered and free of mismatched furnishings...unless shabbiness, poverty or slovenliness are aspects of the plots or characters. One thing about suburban homes in Spielberg films like Close Encounters or E.T. is that they look "lived in." |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 24, 2017 2:17:00 GMT
Some of my favorite sets include:
Top Hat (1935) or any of the other Astaire/Rogers musicals
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Sunset Blvd. (1950) A view of the fabulous and fanciful Venice set of Top Hat:  Exterior sets for The Thief Of Bagdad dominate the landscape in this aerial view north toward Santa Monica Blvd:  Portions of the Sunset Blvd Desmond home...  ...were restyled and redressed for the Eastman home in A Place In the Sun (1951):
I couldn't find any frame grabs, but in between, the same set served as the Flouds' New Mexico home in 1950's Fancy Pants. |
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Post by gunshotwound on Dec 24, 2017 2:27:12 GMT
A view of the fabulous and fanciful Venice set of Top Hat: Exterior sets for The Thief Of Bagdad dominate the landscape in this aerial view north toward Santa Monica Blvd: Portions of the Sunset Blvd Desmond home... ...were restyled and redressed for the Eastman home in A Place In the Sun (1951):
I couldn't find any frame grabs, but in between, the same set served as the Flouds' New Mexico home in 1950's Fancy Pants. Great photos Doghouse. I really like the Thief of Bagdad view. There are also some great photos of Fairbanks' Robin Hood set. |
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