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The Art Directors Guild Top 100

By: greg x

I stumbled across this list a while ago and thought I would share it. It’s looking at one of the more under-appreciated aspects of film, art direction, and perhaps will draw more attention to their craft. It is US-centric and favors bigger budget films, generally, but being a US organization and one which is often starved for funds, that is somewhat understandable. Since it is a poll, of course, more famous movies rise to the top. Nonetheless it is a decent starting point for looking at this area of film, one in which I’d like to see more people take an interest.

Film – Production Designer/Art Director

1. The Astronomer’s Dream – Georges Melies (1898)
2. Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages – Walter L. Hall (1916)
3. Joan the Woman – Wilfred Buckland
4. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – Hermann Warm (1920)
5. Nosferatu – Albin Grau (1922)
6. The Thief of Bagdad – William Cameron Menzies (1924)
7. Metropolis – Otto Hunt, Eric Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht (1927)
8. Napolean – Simon Feldman (1927)
9. Sunrise – Rochus Gliese (1927)
10. King of Jazz – Herman Rosse (1929)
11. Svengali – Anton Grot (1930)
12. All Quiet on the Western Front – Charles D. Hall (1930)
13. Merry Widow – Gabriel Scognamillo (1934)
14. The Scarlet Empress – Hans Dreier (1934)
15. Top Hat – Van Nest Polglase (1935)
16. The Bride of Frankenstein – Charles D. Hall (1935)
17. Midsummer Night’s Dream – Anton Grot (1935)
18. Modern Times – Charles D. Hall, J. Russell Spencer (1936)
19. The Great Ziegfeld- Eddie Imazu, Cedric Gibbons (1936)
20. Things to Come – Vincent Korda (1936)
21. Lost Horizon – Stephen Goosson (1937)
22. The Adventures of Robin Hood – Carl Jules Weyl (1938)
23. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Van Nest Polglase (1939)
24. The Wizard of Oz – William A. Hurning, Elmer Sheeley, Cedric Gibbons (1939)
25. Gone With the Wind – William Cameron Menzies, Lyle Wheeler (1939)
26. The Sea Hawk – Anton Grot (1940)
27. How Green Was My Valley – Nathan Juran, Richard Day (1940)
28. Citizen Kane – Perry Ferguson, Van Nest Polglase (1941)
29. The Children of Paradise – Leon Barsacq, Raymond Gabutti
30. Great Expectations – John Bryan (1946)
31. Beauty and the Beast – Christian Berard, Lucien Carre (1946)
32. Black Narcissus – Alfred Junge (1947)
33. The Red Shoes – Hein Hackworth (1948)
34. The Heiress – Harry Horner (1949)
35. The Fountainhead – Edward Carrere (1949)
36. Little Women – Paul Groesse, Cedric Gibbons (1949)
37. Sunset Blvd. – John Meehan, Hans Dreier (1950)
38. A Streetcar Named Desire – Richard Day (1951)
39. An American in Paris – Preston Ames, Cedric Gibbons (1951)
40. Rashomon – So Matsuyama (1952)
41. Moulin Rouge – Paul Sheriff (1952)
42. The Bad and the Beautiful – Edward Carfagno, Cedric Gibbons (1953)
43. Julius Caesar – Edward Carfagno, Cedric Gibbons (1953)
44. On the Waterfront – Richard Day (1954)
45. 20,0000 Leagues Under the Sea – Harper Goff, John Meehan (1954)
46. Night of the Hunter – Hilyard M. Brown (1955)
47. Giant – Boris Leven (1956)
48. The King and I – John De Cuir Sr., Lyle R. Wheeler (1957)
49. The Bridge on the River Kwai – Donald M. Ashton (1957)
50. Gigi – Cecil Beaton, E. Preston Ames, William A. Horning (1958)
51. Ben Hur – Edward Carfagno, William A. Horning (1959)
52. North by Northwest – Robert Boyle (1959)
53. The Diary of Anne Frank – George W. Davis, Lyle R. Wheeler (1959)
54. The Apartment – Alexander Trauner (1960)
55. The Hustler – Harry Homer (1961)
56, West Side Story – Boris Leven (1961)
57, To Kill a Mockingbird – Henry Bumstead, Alexander Golitzen (1962)
58. Lawrence of Arabia – John Box (1963)
59. Cleopatra – John De Cuir Sr. (1963)
60. Dr. Strangelove – Ken Adam (1964)
61. Mary Poppins – William H. Turke (1964)
62. My Fair Lady – Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton (1965)
63. Dr. Zhivago – John Box (1965)
64. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf – Richard Sylbert (1966)
65. Fantastic Voyage – Dale Hennesy, Jack Martin Smith (1966)
66. You Only Live Twice – Ken Adam (1987)
67. Planet of the Apes – William Creber, Jack Martin Smith (1967)
68. Oliver! – John Box (1968)
69. 2001 A Space Odyssey – Tony Masters, Ernest Archer, William Sylvester (1968)
70. The Lion in Winter – Peter Murton (1969)
71. Fiddler on the Roof – Robert Boyle (1971)
72. A Clockwork Orange – John Barry (1971)
73. McCabe and Mrs. Miller – Leon Erickson (1971)
74. The Conformist – Ferdinado Scarcity (1971)
75. Cabaret – Rolf Zehetbauer (1972)
76. The Sting – Henry Bumstead (1973)
77. The Godfather Part 2 -Dean Tavoularis (1974)
78. Chinatown – Richard Sylbert (1974)
79. Barry Lyndon – Ken Adam (1975)
80. All the President’s Men – George Jenkins (1976)
81. Star Wars – John Barry (1977)
82. Alien – Michael Seymour (1979)
83. Apocalypse Now – Dean Tavouris (1979)
84. Tess – Pierre Guffroy (1980)
85. Heaven’s Gate – Tambi Larsen (1980)
86. Raiders of the Lost Ark – Norman Reynolds (1981)
87. Reds – Richard Sylbert (1981)
88. Blade Runner – Lawrence G. Paul (1982)
89. Fanny and Alexander – Anna Asp (1982)
90. Amadeus – Patrizia Von Frankenstein (1984)
91. Brazil – Norman Garwood (1985)
92. Ran – Shinobu Muraki, Yoshiro Muraki (1985)
93. Out of Africa – Stephen Grimes (1985)
94. The Last Emperor – Fernando Scarcity (1987)
95. Dangerous Liaisons – Stuart Craig (1988)
96. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen – Dante Ferretti (1989)
97. Bugsy – Dennis Gassner (1991)
98. L.A. Confidential – Jeannine Oppewall (1997)
99. Sleepy Hollow – Rick Heinrichs (1999)
100. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Tim Yip (2000)

(Missing from Mubi: Svengali)

 

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Picture of Kolar

Kolar

25Aug11

Good list, important subject, a underrated profession, production Desinger/art director this is the individual who is responsible for the "look" of the film, just like the cameraman, the fans only see the cinematographer... unfortunately!.

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Dimitris Psachos

22Jul11

I wasn't really keen on the How Green Was My Valley set decoration but I'm pleasantly surprised to find Tess on a list like this considering it's not a "word of mouth" film where people positively engage with its technical details. Anyways, good work. It's best to transfer lists like this on a site like this where it can be a useful guideline for new cinephiles as well as for experienced ones to discover films they had omitted seeing, hehe. (how have I not seen Fantastic Voyage yet is beyond me!!!)

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Kenji

19Apr11

Very useful, i'll add a few to my Set Design list. This is one area where of course Hollywood has a budget for some spectacular sets, but it still needs creativity

  • Picture of greg x

    greg x

    19Apr11

    It's true, the budgets are a big part as that can provide a space for excellent craftsmen to develop and, occasionally, excel. So on average, Hollywood may have a higher level of craftsmanship than most other places, but without the taking some of the risks that are linked to creativity it doesn't necessarily add up to anything noticeable. Hollywood is good at not getting too many things like art direction wrong, in the most basic sense, but they often only really stand out in the more pop genres like sci-fi or fantasy.

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Angel

18Apr11

I think the American Cinematographer poll is better, if only because more movies (and more little movies) are listed. Anyway I love these lists, thanks Greg. I'm glad to find the Spanish set for Dr. Zhivago and I really miss films directed by Ophüs, Visconti or Fellini.

  • Picture of greg x

    greg x

    19Apr11

    Yes, some of the omissions are pretty bizarre. The three you mention are possibly the most egregious, as they are famous for their art direction and well known enough to be assumed to get some support. It wouold have been better if they had just stuck to US films if they weren't going to be more inclusive. Nonetheless, it is one of the only lists I've seen that celebrates art direction, so for that alone i had to post it.

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