CHINATOWN
Richard Sylbert, production designer
W. Stewart Campbell, art director
Roby R. Levitt, set decorator
****
I don't think a single detail has been forgotten. The water department's walls are almost completely covered with the certificates and photographs of Noah Cross's ego, Jake Gittes' office has the art deco glass bricks of the period, and of course there's Mulwray's pond. At times cluttered, but so is my room, and that doesn't make it unrealistic.
EARTHQUAKE
Alexander Golitzen, production designer
E. Preston Ames, art director
Frank McKelvy, set decorator
**
It's really all about the destruction, as Los Angeles becomes a maze of rubble. Many of the sets are genuinely devastating; other times, it's very clear that we're on a backlot. Goddamn do I love this movie, though.
THE GODFATHER: PART II
Dean Tavoularis, production designer
Angelo Graham, art director
George R. Nelson, set decorator
***
Early twentieth century Sicily and New York are invoked as effectively and subtly as 1950s Havana and Nevada. You always know what time period you're in, yet the execution is never flashily announcing itself.
THE ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD
Peter Ellenshaw, production designer
John B. Mansbridge/Walter H. Tyler/Al Roelofs, art directors
Hal Gausman, set decorator
*****
Nominated primarily for that airship, I bet. Nahh, you also gotta give credit to the team for making a series of menacing mountains, ice caves, lava pits, Viking temples, and that graveyard of whales. It's a superb mix of matte paintings, practical sets, and special effects.
THE TOWERING INFERNO
William J. Creber, production designer
Ward Preston, art director
Raphael Bretton, set decorator
****
I kind of just want to live in this building. Yeah, I know, it's a deathtrap, but LOOK AT THAT ORANGE OFFICE.
Oscar chose The Godfather: Part II, a fine choice, really. I see things a little differently and award...
THE ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD
for pure fantasy awesome
