Ken Adam, Movie Designer Extraordinaire, Dies at 95

Kat Bauman, writing for Core 77:

Other cinema-shifting highlights from his bonkers Bond work include ejecting seats and rocket shoes, the introduction of the Aston Martin, a fantastic fictionalized Fort Knox, the volcano lair in You Only Live Twice, and a mind-bogglingly large soundstage for the tanker in The Spy Who Loved Me. But really, anywhere you look in a Bond film you’ll find traces of Adam’s innovation, drama, and fun.

Shortly after the release of Goldfinger, he was approached to work on another visual and cultural groundbreaker: Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 cult classic Doctor Strangelove. Adam’s version of the War Room in the film has influenced generations of audiences, artists and directors, and impacted the way the Cold War was seen around the world. There’s even a story that Ronald Reagan (Cold War noteworthy and cinephile that he was) wondered aloud where the War Room was located during his first elected tour of the White House.

What a career.

★ Friday, 11 March 2016