Art Directors Guild Film Society to Celebrate Career of the Late Legendary Production Designer John DeCuir, Sr. at Directors Guild Theater, Aug. 3.

Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2003

"The King and I" and "Naked City" to Be Screened

The Art Directors Guild (ADG) Film Society on Sunday, August 3, will posthumously celebrate the legendary career of three-time Academy-Award winning Production Designer John DeCuir, Sr., considered by many of his peers to be one of Hollywood's most brilliant talents and a "renaissance man" for the broad scope of his many varied design assignments. He is credited as Art Director or Production Designer on 58 theatrical motion pictures from the 1940s through the 1970s. Film Society host will be Production Designer and ADG Film Society Chair Linda Berger who will introduce the proceedings.

The tribute event, to take place at the Directors Guild Theater, 7920 Sunset Blvd., will feature a screening of DeCuir's most memorable and celebrated motion picture for which he won an Oscar for Best Color Art Direction, "The King and I" (1956), and a screening of "Naked City" (1948). DeCuir's other Academy Awards for Art Direction were for "Cleopatra" (1963) and "Hello, Dolly" (1969).

"Naked City" will be screened at 2:00 PM, followed by a panel discussion about DeCuir's work with Production Designers John DeCuir, Jr., (his son), Gene Allen, William Creber and Cloudia Rebar. Tom Walsh, ADG President, will moderate. A reception will precede the 5:30 PM screening of "The King and I." Admission is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required by calling ADG at 818-762-9995.

In addition to winning three Oscars, DeCuir was nominated eight additional times for his production designs in "House on Telegraph Hill" (1951), "My Cousin Rachel" (1952), "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (1952), "Daddy Long Legs" (1955), "A Certain Smile" (1958), "The Big Fisherman" (1959), "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (1965) and "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967). He also won an Art Direction Primetime Emmy Award in 1978 for the NBC Dramatic Special "Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women."

After studying at Chouinard Art Institute, DeCuir started his career at Universal as a matte painter and optical effects technician before becoming an Art Director on "White Tie and Tails," "Brute Force" and "Naked City." In the 1950s while at 20th Century Fox he worked on numerous musicals, including, "Call Me Madame," "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Carmen Jones," "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "South Pacific." Among his other accomplishments were adapting Art Direction into the Cinemascope format, developing special optical effects that are evidenced in such films as "Diplomatic Courier," "Seven Thieves" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." In the 1960s he worked on theme parks, heading up a team of international painters who created numerous American masterpieces for the drama-documentary "The Hall of Presidents." In the 1970s, DeCuir returned to Fox and together with Gene Kelly created the turn-of-the-century outdoor New York set for "Hello, Dolly." His other major credits include "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," "I Can Get It For You Wholesale," "Mexican Hayride," "Ghostbusters," "Raise the Titanic," "The Great White Hope," "Doctor Faustus" and "Island in Sun."

Note to Media: Electronic images of John DeCuir, Sr. are available by contacting Annie Keropian at 818/760-8995 or via e-mail at [e-mail].