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Ken Adam – A
Celebration
GRAHAM RYE reports on the private event held in honour of
Sir Ken Adam
at NFT1, BFI Southbank, London on Wednesday 1 June 2016. |
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The celebration was
presented by writer and broadcaster Sir Christopher Frayling with special
guests: Gereon Sievernich, Director of the Martin-Gropius Bau,
Berlin; Squadron Leader Jeff Metcalfe, CO of 609 Squadron; Sandy
Lieberson, Film Producer; Michael G. Wilson, Film Producer;
Peter Lamont, Production Designer; Sir Roger Moore (on film),
Actor; Katharina Kubrick (on behalf of The Kubrick Family); Lord
Foster (on film), Architect; Sir Nicholas Hytner, Director;
Alan Bennett, Writer. |
“The War Room in Dr.
Strangelove is the
best set in cinema history.”
Steven Spielberg |
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Everyone assembled in
NFT1 had come to honour the memory and work of the great man, and Sir
Christopher Frayling compèred the event with great style and affection for
his friend of three decades, and whom he’d collaborated with on three
books, which he remembered on stage punctuated with stills and drawings
throughout: “I knew him well for thirty years, as a very close friend, a
good-humoured raconteur in the German accent he never lost, as a working
production designer as a collaborator on three books. We first met when I
invited him to lecture to the architecture and design students at the
Royal College of Art. Also Letizia [Sir Ken’s wife]. She sat in the
audience, audibly contributing to Ken’s reminiscences, much to the
amusement of the students. She was inseparable from him, always at his
side, looking elegant and protecting him from nonsense. She had, it
transpired, played an active part in his career – helping with props and
set-dressing – and that impressed the students too. In one of his talks,
Ken Adam shared his then-recent experiences of designing the Berlin
Millennium Exhibition Seven Hill – Images and Signs for the 21st
Century in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. If only, said one of the
postgraduates, he’d been in charge of the contents of the dome in
Greenwich...” |
“Can I please see the War
Room?”
Ronald Reagan, President Elect on entering the
Pentagon |
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ABOVE: (L-R) Production designers Dennis Gassner, Sir Ken Adam and
Peter Lamont, with Michael G. Wilson & Barbara Broccoli at the
opening of Bond In Motion (London, March 2014). |
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“The most expensive thing in
the world is Ken Adam
with a blank piece of paper and a charcoal pencil.”
William Cartlidge – Associate Producer, Moonraker |
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In closing Sir
Christopher gave this moving tribute: “I much enjoyed arguing with
Ken, over the years, about whether there was a connection between the
horrors of his early life and his trademark fuhrerbunkers in which
megalomaniacs planned world domination. He’d designed his first bunker
for Obsession aka The Hidden Room (1949) – and for his
final film Taking Sides (2001) he created an entire Berlin
street devastated by obliteration bombing. Was he exorcising the
demons of his youth? He always said not – “at least not at a conscious
level”. I still think he was. And now I can’t continue our perennial
argument. Which is very sad. I used to describe him as “the greatest
living production designer”. I can’t get used to the idea those words
have become out of date”.
I was very lucky to
have spent time over the years with Ken, when I interviewed him on
several occasions for 007 MAGAZINE and when he and Letizia attended
one of my James Bond themed events I produced at Pinewood Studios in
1996. To have shared time in the company of a genius like Sir Ken Adam
remains for me a very special memory; he was many things, but above
all he was truly a great man. |
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“His command of light and
space and drama – these great caverns,the spectre literally of evil
personified by space.The wow factor – that’s Ken. He’s the
architect.”
Norman Foster – Architect |
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ABOVE: (left) Ken Adam's original sketch for a Zero Gravity
Satellite in Moonraker (1979) and (right) the completed set
which was ultimately not used in the final cut of the film. |
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“As a production designer,
you offer a form of
escapism that is often more exciting than reality.”
Ken Adam |
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Other Bond alumni
attending the celebration event and the reception afterwards included:
Barbara Broccoli, Letizia Adam, David Arnold, Carole Ashby, Maryam d’Abo
and husband, film director Hugh Hudson, Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, Lili
Pohlmann (Peter Janson-Smith’s widow), John Cork, William Cartlidge,
Steven Saltzman, Sue St Johns (Harry Saltzman's PA), John Glen, John
Richardson (SFX), Norman Wanstall, and Greg Wilson. |
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ABOVE: Dr. No
(1962) - Ken Adam's sketch and finished set for the sinister yet
simple room where Professor Dent is given a spider to kill 007.
Costing just £475 the set received a round of applause from the
cast and crew, including Norman Wanstall, who saw it revealed for
the first time during the screening of the rushes. |
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“The team which Cubby
Broccoli and Harry Saltzman assemble for their first James Bond adventure,
Dr. No, 1962, included: director Terence Young, writer Richard
Maibaum, cameraman Ted Moore, and Ken Adam who had all previously worked
for Cubby’s Warwick Films. Ken had worked in the Art Department on a
couple of the films, and was designer for In The Nick and the
award-winning The Trials of Oscar Wilde.
Dr. No became a surprise hit and Ken went on to design and define
the visual style of a further six Bond films as well as Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang. As the production budgets increased, Ken’s sets became more
adventurous and more expensive. His designs became synonymous with Bond,
sparking a whole new vocabulary. To this day, extravagant designs by
architects and interior designers are described as “Bondian” or “like a
Ken Adam set.”
I first met Ken when we went on location to Fort Knox for Goldfinger.
We weren’t allowed to shoot inside the depository, but Ken’s substitute
was so spectacular everyone believed it was the real thing! For me it was
a great introduction to Ken and James Bond.
A genius and a gentleman, we miss him greatly.”
Michael G. Wilson |
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ABOVE: Ken Adam with
produer Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli and director Lewis Gilbert on
the Liparus supertanker set built inside the '007 Stage' at
Pinewood Studios for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). |
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“Ken Adam was not only a
key member of the Bond team, he and Letizia were members of our family. My
father had worked with Ken since the 50s and ever since I was born. Uncle
Ken and Aunt Letizia were a powerful presence in my life. My father worked
with Ken all week but never tired of his company. We would spend most
Sundays lunching with Ken and Letizia at the various Mario and Franco
Italian restaurants, Cubby and Ken recounting tales of their various
adventures, peals of laughter breaking through the heavy plumes of cigar
smoke. My mother Dana and Letizia were two very strong women, the very
height of elegance and glamour – not adornments but equal partners in
their husbands’ lives.
It was at this table that I learned what it takes – what it is to do and
not just to talk about it – to take risks and to trust your instincts – to
fight for your vision and give it your all. This all still remains true
today. It’s just not as much fun without them anymore.”
Barbara Broccoli |
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Sir Ken Adam –
Filmography
From Draughtsman to Art Director
1948 This Was A Woman [Draughtsman]
1948 The Brass Monkey [Draughtsman]
1949 The Queen of Spades
[Draughtsman]
1949 Third Time Lucky [Draughtsman]
1949 Dick Barton Strikes Back
[Assistant Art Director]
1949 Obsession [Assistant Art
Director]
1950 Your Witness [Uncredited
Assistant Art Director]
1950 Captain Horatio Hornblower
[Assistant Art Director]
1952 Golden Arrow [Draughtsman]
1952 The Crimson Pirate [Associate
Art Director]
1953 The Master of Ballantrae
[Associate Art Director]
1953 The Intruder [Assistant Art
Director]
1953 Star of India [Assistant Art
Director]
1955 Helen of Troy [Associate Art
Director]
Art Director
1956 Soho Incident
1956 Child In The House
1956 Around The World In Eighty Days
1957 The Devil’s Pass
1957 The Night of The Demon
1958 Battle of The V-1 [initial
designs]
1958 Gideon’s Way
1958 Ten Seconds To Hell
1959 The Angry Hills
1959 Beyond This Place
Production Designer
1959 In The Nick
1959 Ben Hur [uncredited design
research]
1959 The Rough And The Smooth
1959 John Paul Jones
1960 Let’s Get Married
1960 The Trials of Oscar Wilde
1961 The Hellions [uncredited initial
designs]
1961 The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
[uncredited initial designs]
1962 Dr. No
1962 Sodoma E Gomorra/Sodome Et Gomorrhe/Sodom And Gomorrah
1963 In The Cool of The Day
1963 Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
1963 The Longships/Dugi Brodvi
[initial designs]
1964 Woman of Straw
1964 Goldfinger
1965 The Ipcress File
1965 Thunderball
1966 Funeral In Berlin
1967 You Only Live Twice
1968 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
1969 Goodbye Mr. Chips
1969 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
[uncredited initial design preparation]
1970 The Owl and The Pussycat [Design
Supervisor]
1971 Diamonds Are Forever
1972 Sleuth
1973 The Last of Sheila
1975 Barry Lyndon
1976 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
1976 Salon Kitty/Doppelspiel/Madame Kitty
1977 The Spy Who Loved Me
1979 Moonraker
1979 Star Trek – The Motion Picture
[uncredited pre-production design work]
1981 Pennies From Heaven [Associate
Producer/Visual Consultant]
1985 King David
1985 Agnes of God
1986 Crimes of the Heart
1987 Pu’Yi/L’Ultimo Imperatore/The Last Emperor
[uncredited pre-production design work]
1988 The Deceivers
1989 Dead Bang
1990 The Freshman
1991 The Doctor
1991 Company Business
1993 Addams Family Values
1993 Undercover Blues
1994 The Madness of King George
1995 Boys On The Side/Avec Ou Sans Hommes
1996 Bogus
1997 In & Out
1999 The Out-of-Towners
2002 Taking Sides |
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