Auntie Mame – designed by Malcolm Bert, paging Mr. Adler…

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These are stills from the set of AUNTIE MAME (1958) – fabulous art direction for which Malcolm C. Bert was nominated for Academy Award. Recently, Jonathan Adler credited the designs of Mr. Bert as a major influence on his own work.

So, that’s the movie which people seem to either love or roll their eyes at, personally I tend toward love. However, there’s no arguing the book, by Patrick Dennis, is a giggling roar of a fun fest. Definitely worth digging out…not on your shelf? Go to the library! Do I hear the words instant gratification? Well then, little love, click here.

 

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27 Comments

  1. June 16, 2012

    Really enjoying your just discovered blog! Will have to look for this film.

  2. July 5, 2012

    One of my favorite movies and it’s a treat to see the set. Thanks!

  3. December 31, 2012

    My favorite are the elevator couches by Yul Ulu!

    • December 31, 2012

      I forgot to say, they are so easy to vacuum under.

      • December 31, 2012

        I have to look up Yul Ulu now! We are attempting to put up a 1950’s headboard… A chore because beds were lower then minus pillow tops. Hoisting this thing up six inches above where the legs reach and putting it on mirror hangers. Oof!!!

      • December 31, 2012

        Oof…! Ah yes Oof Ulu the brother of Yul who was a gardener at Upson Downs.

      • December 31, 2012

        You got me! The brothers Yul Ulu, Oof, and Olaf 😉

  4. December 31, 2012

    It was supposed to be ostentatious and over the top but it looks downright conservative compared to the Taj Mahals of Beverly Hills today.

    • December 31, 2012

      Isn’t that the truth!

  5. January 23, 2014

    right up my street 😀

    • January 23, 2014

      Love that coffee table of yours, and the only Adler designs I have are coffee mugs, must rectify that soon…

      • January 23, 2014

        Do you know 1st Dibs? Best selection of vintage furniture online…

  6. Luanne
    January 23, 2014

    Love this movie, too. And when I was a kid I never realized something was a “set.” I thought it was “real.”

    • January 23, 2014

      It’s just a little less sturdy than real, and I can tell you that a lot of the time, somehow, the very real furniture ends up in the newly decorated home of some bigwig. The self-same bigwig who screeches about budget overages…

      • Luanne
        January 23, 2014

        Hahaha. I am sure that is true!

  7. January 23, 2014

    *melt*

    I have at least picked up the book for myself (the cover is a riot all by itself), but then fell into Middlemarch, where I am hopelessly mired ’til the end. Even so, this whets my appetite! 😉

    • January 24, 2014

      I mentioned 1stdibs to a friend who does production design and he said he uses them all the time! What a resource, thank you!

  8. […] saw a pair of tables on BH yesterday on the set of Auntie Mame. The coffee tables in the second picture. The first thing that came to mind was 1st Dibs, but I […]

  9. BEAUTYCALYPSE
    January 24, 2014

    who needs libraries? there’s vickie lester’s beguiling hollywood, ever heard of that? 😉

    • January 24, 2014

      Libraries are my HOLY place, treasures vast and beyond measure, knowledge so deep I cannot comprehend… 🙂 .

      • BEAUTYCALYPSE
        January 24, 2014

        I was kidding 🙂 I grew up with/among/under books! I’m the Mowgli of the book jungle!

    • January 25, 2014

      I love hearing that! And, you will have to instruct me how to see the photo 😉 .

  10. January 25, 2014

    Where ever did you get these old photos of the apartment I grew up in at No. 3 Beekman Place?
    I am with you on the love for our Auntie Mame.

  11. June 4, 2014

    […] Auntie Mame – designed by Malcolm Bert, paging Mr. Adler… […]

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