On My Radar for Fall

Fall is absolutely the best time of year as it signifies a new season of movie releases, Broadway plays, football, television series premieres and of course, Vogue's September issue:)

I will be covering many if these in articles and blog posts in the upcoming weeks...until then, mark your calendars and set your Tivos for a few things on my radar.....

The Good Wife

Diane Lockhart and Alicia Florrick's wardrobes are starting to rival the sets for my attention on his highly addictive legal drama. Season Four premieres Sunday, September 30th and 11 million viewers will be glued to their sets. And speaking of sets, look for the new launch of The Good Wife home furnishings and accessories line with Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams and Interlude Home (which will be available on Horchow). Designed in conjunction with set decorator Beth Kushnick, your home or office can have a piece of the show (love the Diane chair!). Now if CBS will just come out with a line of Lockhart Couture I will be very  happy.

Nashville

Sex, power, love, family, betrayal, music and all in my hometown. They have been filming everywhere from my mother's neighborhood to downtown and in between and the Music City is certainly enjoying it's time in the spotlight. Early buzz is the show will be a huge hit. The series stars Connie Brittain, Hayden Panettiere and Powers Boothe. Catch the All About Eve country style saga on ABC on Wednesday,  October 10th.

666 Park Avenue

Also premiering on Sunday, September 30th (hope my Tivo doesn't overheat) is ABC's 666 Park Avenue which is touted as Rosemary's Baby meets The Shining. A young couple move into the coveted address and mystery ensues as the residents make a deal with the devil to get what they want? Sound familiar?  The series stars Vanessa Williams. Terry O'Quinn and Dave Annable from Brothers and Sisters. My friend Andy Baseman who did the fabulous Park Avenue sets for The Nanny Diaries  decorated the show so you know it will be good. No word yet if Mia Farrow makes an appearance...

Anna Karenina

Keira Knightley stars as Anna K in the age old story of a Russian aristocrat who has an affair with a count (played by Jude Law).  The epic film is slated for November 16th release and look for lots of period eye candy. From the sneak peak I have seen so far, the sets and costumes are nothing short of magnificent and designed by Academy Award winning production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer (Pride and Prejudice) and costume designer Jacqueline Dorran. Film design and commerce collide once again as Dorran inked a deal with retailer Banana Republic for a 19th Century Russia line (just in time for the holidays).

The Girl

Well you know this is going to be good -- HBO's biopic on director Alfred Hitchcock and his strange fixation on actress Tippi Hedren and their collaboration on the films The Birds and Marnie. Starring Toby Jones as the famed director and Sienna Miller as his muse, The Girl debuts October 20th. 

And a quick note, if you are in the San Francisco area on Wednesday, September 19th, I will be lecturing on the subject of interior design on film at the Lee Jofa showroom at the San Francisco Design Center at 11 a.m. followed by a book signing of Designs on Film. Look forward to seeing you there!


Photo Credits: HBO, CBS, Banana Republic, Focus Features, ABC

The Man on Lincoln's Nose

A wonderful man passed away several weeks ago. Robert Boyle, one of the last of the great art directors, was 100 years young and held the honor or being the world's oldest living recipient of an Academy Award. Trained as an architect, he graduated from the University of Southern California and was eventually hired as a draftsmen in Paramount's art department in the thirties and moved on to art director at Universal in the forties. He was a true product of the Hollywood studio system.

Cary Grant, James Mason and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest

Perhaps he was best known for his collaborations with famed suspense director Alfred Hitchcock (Saboteur 1942, North by Northwest 1959, The Birds 1963 and Marnie 1964). He gave us some classic film moments -- Cary Grant being chased by a crop duster (Boyle combined a toy truck and toy airplane on a miniature field) and Grant and Eva Marie Saint running across the faces of Mount Rushmore.

Hitchcock wanted to film at the famed National Park but the idea was nixed by the Department of Interior after the director boasted of his stars on the monument. Boyle rappelled down the actual monuments,  took photographs from various angles and made scale-model plaster casts of the presidents back at the studio soundstage. The audience was none the wiser.

The Van Damm house (which Boyle described as a sort of "jungle gym for Grant") was influenced by
Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house in western Pennsylvania. The floor to ceiling windows and rooms dangling dangerously over a cliff were perfect plot devices for Hitchcock's drama. His work garnered him an Academy Award nomination.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water

North by Northwest

Hitchcock's Amusing Take on Mount Rushmore

Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren in Marnie

The Birds with Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor

Boyle's sketch of the climactic Statue of Liberty scene for Hitchcock's Saboteur

His varied resume ran the gamut from sets for The Wolfman, Gaily Gaily, In Cold Blood and Mame (Lucille Ball version) to The Thrill of It All and The Thomas Crown Affair.

The Thrill of It All with Doris Day

Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen play cat and mouse in Thomas Crown Affair 

Boyle was nominated four times for an Oscar for Best Art Direction but never won. He eventually received an Honorary Academy Award at the age of 98, making him the oldest recipient of an Academy Award. He started a production design program at the American film Institute and taught up until the time of his death. I was fortunate to spend an afternoon at his house, listening to stories and looking through a lifetime of images (his mind was sharp as a tack). He will be missed but thankfully his work lives on.

Robert Boyle 1909-2010

For more on the documentary The Man on Lincoln's Nose, go here. He is also featured in a  documentary on art direction called Something's Gonna Live, see more here.

Photo credits: Universal, MGM,