#john decuir

[tomoleary]

John DeCuir (1918-1991)

[sesiondemadrugada]

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (Carl Reiner, 1982).

[weirdlandtv]

Concept art by production designer John DeCuir Sr. for GHOSTBUSTERS (1984).

[cinearchitecture]

The House on Telegraph Hill (Robert Wise, 1951) |  Art direction by John DeCuir and Lyle R. Wheeler

[sesiondemadrugada]

The House on Telegraph Hill (Robert Wise, 1951).

[tomoleary]

John DeCuir (1918-1991) “Thor-Presumed to have been made in the 1930’s” Source

[adventurelandia]

Tokyo Disneyland Diamond Horseshoe Revue art by John DeCuir, Sr, 1970

[recycledmoviecostumes]

The 1969 film Hello, Dolly! featured elaborate and expensive sets designed by John DeCuir. The production won three Oscars, including one for DeCuir for his Art Direction. Some of the scenes were filmed in New York, while others were shot on the Fox Studio lot and various sound stages. For an interesting and detailed account of filming in each of the locations, check out The Barbara Streisand Archives. 

While the movie was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, it still failed to recoup its cost of over $25 million. Fox had several other large budget films, including Star! and Tora! Tora! Tora! that also underperformed that year, and consequently, the budgets for some of their upcoming productions were slashed. The 1970 film Beneath the Planet of the Apes was one such film, which saw its $5 million budget cut in half to only $2.5 million. Re-dressing an already existing set could save a great deal of money, and so the expansive and highly detailed Harmonia Gardens set from Hello, Dolly! were heavily re-worked to create The Temple of the Bomb.

It can be difficult to tell that the sets are the same, but some small details still exist to link the two productions.  For example, the original flourishes on the staircase are still visible in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and a broad view of the entire set reveals balconies and columns that also align to the original Harmonia Gardens set.

Costume Credit:  Planet of the Apes Multimedia Site                                                   E-mail Submissions: [email protected]

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Note: The Hello, Dolly! Grand Central Station set was also reused for Beneath the Planet of the Apes, but because it is a different set, it will be posted as a separate sighting at a later date.