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Randall Duell is a Art Direction American born on 14 july 1903 at Russell County (USA)

Randall Duell

Randall Duell
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Nationality USA
Birth 14 july 1903 at Russell County (USA)
Death 28 november 1992 (at 89 years) at Los Angeles (USA)

Randall Duell (14 July 1903 – 28 November 1992) was an American architect and art director. Duell attended the University of Southern California School of Architecture and graduated in 1925. Joining the Los Angeles architectural firm Webber, Staunton and Spaulding, Duell contributed to designs for notable building projects in Southern California during the 1920s and 1930s, among them the Avalon Casino on Catalina Island, Frary Dining Hall and adjacent residence halls at Pomona College, and Green Acres, the estate of silent movie actor Harold Lloyd in Beverly Hills. He and architect Sumner Spaulding collaborated in the design of the Atkinson residence in Bel Air, which was modeled after the Petit Trianon. As construction declined during the Great Depression, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Duell in 1936 to design the set of the Capulet home in Irving Thalberg's production of Romeo and Juliet. In 1937, he joined the MGM art department in a full-time capacity. During his career as a motion picture art director, he was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction. He received screen credit for his work on 38 films, among them Ninotchka (1939), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Intruder in the Dust (1949), and Singin' in the Rain (1952). Additionally he worked on a number of motion pictures without film credit, among them The Wizard of Oz, 1939. He retired from MGM in 1959.

During much of his career at MGM, Duell maintained an outside architectural practice. Notable among his designs during this period is Casa de cadillac, a car dealership in Sherman Oaks built in 1948 which is now considered a prime example of Googie architecture. Following his departure from MGM in 1959, he joined Marco Engineering and collaborated with C.V. Wood in the design of Freedomland in the Bronx, the first of many theme parks he would design. The following year, he left Marco Engineering and established R. Duell and Associates, a Santa Monica-based architectural practice which specialized in the design of theme parks. Marrying traditional architecture with stagecraft, the firm designed most of the country's theme parks. The list of projects included Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, TX; the Marriott's Great America parks in Gurnee, IL (now Six Flags Great America), and Santa Clara, CA (now California's Great America); the Universal Studios Tour, Universal City, CA; the Texas Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in New York; Magic Mountain, Valencia, California; Opryland, Nashville, TN; Astroworld, Houston, TX; and others. The Duell office employed the talents of a number of former motion picture art directors, among them Leroy Coleman, John de Cuir and Paul Gross.

He was born in Russell County, Kansas and died in Los Angeles, California.

Best films

Anchors Aweigh (1945)
(Art Direction)
Ninotchka (1939)
(Assistant Art Director)

Usually with

Cedric Gibbons
Cedric Gibbons
(37 films)
Helen Rose
Helen Rose
(15 films)
Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
(4 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Randall Duell (45 films)

Display filmography as list

Art

Count Your Blessings, 1h42
Directed by Jean Negulesco
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Actors Deborah Kerr, Rossano Brazzi, Maurice Chevalier, Martin Stephens, Tom Helmore, Patricia Medina
Roles Art Direction
Rating50% 2.516042.516042.516042.516042.51604
While visiting Grace Allingham in wartime London at the behest of Hugh Palgrave, his friend, Charles is charmed by her and abruptly proposes marriage. They marry, but during the honeymoon Charles reports back to military duty.
The Tunnel of Love, 1h38
Directed by Gene Kelly
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about adoption, Films about children, Films about families, Films based on plays
Actors Doris Day, Richard Widmark, Gig Young, Gia Scala, Elisabeth Fraser, Elizabeth Wilson
Roles Art Direction
Rating58% 2.9018852.9018852.9018852.9018852.901885
In Westport, Connecticut, Augie and Isolde Poole celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary by turning in an application to the Rock-a-Bye adoption agency. Encouraged by their friends and next-door neighbors, Dick and Alice Pepper, who have three children and another due, Isolde, who has been unsuccessful in her attempts to become pregnant, is determined that she and Augie will eventually be parents. While awaiting news of the application to the agency, Isolde decides that she and Augie should continue to try to have a baby on their own, and she enthusiastically follows all the latest advice by pregnancy experts.
The High Cost of Loving, 1h27
Directed by José Ferrer
Genres Comedy
Actors José Ferrer, Gena Rowlands, Jim Backus, Edward Platt, Bobby Troup, Philip Ober
Roles Art Direction
Rating63% 3.193893.193893.193893.193893.19389
Le couple uni que forment Jim et Virginia mène une existence tranquille et sans surprise. Jusqu'au jour où Virginia apprend à Jim qu'elle est enceinte, tandis qu'il lui cache à elle qu'il va vraisemblablement perdre son emploi.
Party Girl
Party Girl (1958)
, 1h39
Directed by Nicholas Ray
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime, Romance
Themes Mafia films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Gangster films
Actors Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland, Kent Smith, Claire Kelly
Roles Art Direction
Rating69% 3.496293.496293.496293.496293.49629
Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending Chicago mobsters in court. At a party for mob boss Rico Angelo, he meets chorus girl Vicki Gaye, who accepted $100 to attend the party and another $400 from another gangster, Louis Canetto, from his gambling winnings.
Silk Stockings, 1h57
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige, Peter Lorre, Jules Munshin, George Tobias
Roles Art Direction
Rating67% 3.397943.397943.397943.397943.39794
A brash American film producer, Steve Canfield (Fred Astaire), wants Russian composer Peter Illyich Boroff (Wim Sonneveld) to write music for his next picture, which is being made in Paris. But when the composer expresses his wish to stay in Paris, three comically bumbling operatives, Comrades Brankov (Peter Lorre), Bibinski (Jules Munshin) and Ivanov (Joseph Buloff), are sent from Moscow to take Boroff back.
Ten Thousand Bedrooms, 1h54
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Dean Martin, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eva Bartok, Dewey Martin, Walter Slezak, Paul Henreid
Roles Art Direction
Rating56% 2.80432.80432.80432.80432.8043
Millionaire hotel mogul Ray Hunter (Dean Martin) flies to Rome to buy another property, the Regent. He is picked up at the airport by lovely Maria Martelli (Eva Bartok), who works for the hotel's owner, the Countess Alzani.
Jailhouse Rock, 1h36
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Prison films, Musical films
Actors Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaughn Taylor, Dean Jones, Anne Neyland
Roles Art Direction
Rating64% 3.2472153.2472153.2472153.2472153.247215
Construction worker Vince Everett (Elvis) accidentally kills a drunken and belligerent man in a barroom brawl. He is sentenced to between one and ten years in the state penitentiary for manslaughter. His new cellmate, washed-up country singer Hunk Houghton (Shaughnessy), starts teaching Vince to play the guitar after hearing Vince sing and strum Hunk's guitar. Hunk then convinces Vince to participate in an upcoming inmate show, which is broadcast on nationwide television. Vince receives numerous fan letters as a result; but out of apparent jealousy, Hunk ensures they are not delivered to Vince. Hunk then convinces Vince to sign a "contract" to become equal partners in his act. Meanwhile, during an inmate riot in the mess hall, a guard shoves Vince, who retaliates by striking the guard. As a result, the warden orders Vince to be lashed with a whip. Afterwards, it was discovered that Hunk attempted to bribe the guards to drop the punishment, but to no avail.
The Swan
The Swan (1956)
, 1h44
Directed by Charles Vidor
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Historical, Romance
Themes Monde imaginaire, Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan, Jessie Royce Landis, Estelle Winwood, Brian Aherne
Roles Art Direction
Rating64% 3.200763.200763.200763.200763.20076
The film, set in 1910, deals with the story of the daughter of a minor branch of a European royal house who is being considered as a wife for her cousin, the heir to the throne.
Invitation to the Dance, 1h33
Directed by Gene Kelly, Freddie Young
Origin USA
Genres Musical theatre, Fantasy, Musical, Animation
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Gene Kelly, Tommy Rall, André Previn, Belita, Carol Haney
Roles Art Direction
Rating63% 3.195163.195163.195163.195163.19516
The first segment, "Circus", set to original music composed for the film by Jacques Ibert, is a tragic love triangle set in a mythical land sometime in the past. Kelly plays a clown, who is in love with another circus performer, played by Claire Sombert. She, however, is in love with an Aerialist, played by Youskevitch. The Clown, after entertaining the crowds with the other clowns, sees his love and the Aerialist kiss and wanders into a crowd in shock. That night he watches them dance together, and after the Lady finds him with her shawl, he confesses his love to her. The Aerialist finds them and thinks she has been unfaithful and leaves her. Determined to win her, the Clown tries to walk the Aerialist's tightrope himself, only to fall to his death. Dying, he urges the two lovers to forgive each other.
The Great American Pastime
Directed by Herman Hoffman
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Sports films, Baseball films
Actors Tom Ewell, Ann Miller, Anne Francis, Dean Jones, Judson Pratt, Raymond Bailey
Roles Art Direction
Rating57% 2.855032.855032.855032.855032.85503
In a small New York town called Willow Falls, a new manager is needed for the Panthers, a local Little League baseball team. Bruce Hallerton, a lawyer by trade, volunteers for the job, deciding it would be a way to spend more time with his son, Dennis.
The Prodigal, 1h52
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Adventure, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about religion, Films based on the Bible, Portrayals of Jesus in film
Actors Lana Turner, Edmund Purdom, Louis Calhern, Joseph Wiseman, James Mitchell, Francis L. Sullivan
Roles Art Direction
Rating52% 2.6057152.6057152.6057152.6057152.605715
The story is loosely based on Jesus Christ's parable of the prodigal son, from the Biblical New Testament Gospels, although considerable liberties are taken with the source material, chief among them being the addition of a female lead in the form of the high priestess of Astarte, Samarra (Turner). Micah (Purdom), a young Hebrew farm boy, sees Samarra and says he will have her. He demands that his father give him his inheritance and journeys to the city of Damascus. There Samarra seduces him into losing his inheritance and betraying his religious faith. Enduring a number of difficulties, Micah finally realizes where he belongs and returns home to his father, who forgives Michael all of his sins and orders a lavish celebration of his return.
Blackboard Jungle, 1h41
Directed by Richard Brooks
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Films about education, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Sidney Poitier, Margaret Hayes, John Hoyt
Roles Art Direction
Rating73% 3.6953053.6953053.6953053.6953053.695305
Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) is a new teacher at North Manual High School, an inner-city school where many of the pupils, led by student Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier), frequently engage in anti-social behavior. Dadier makes various attempts to engage the students' interest in education, challenging both the school staff and the pupils. He is subjected to violence as well as duplicitous schemes; he first suspects Miller, but later realizes that Artie West (Vic Morrow) is the perpetrator, and challenges him in a classroom showdown.
Trial
Trial (1955)
, 1h45
Directed by Mark Robson
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Political films
Actors Glenn Ford, Dorothy McGuire, John Arthur Kennedy, Juano Hernández, Katy Jurado, John Hodiak
Roles Art Direction
Rating67% 3.395073.395073.395073.395073.39507
Angel Chavez (Rafael Campos) is a Mexican American who lives in the small California town of San Juno. During an annual event called Bass Night held at the town beach, he wanders onto the beach, off-limits to Mexican Americans. There he meets a non-Hispanic girl from his high school class. After she suffers a heart attack and dies, Angel is arrested and charged with murder.
The Last Time I Saw Paris, 1h56
Directed by Richard Brooks
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor, George Dolenz
Roles Art Direction
Rating60% 3.049423.049423.049423.049423.04942
As World War II ends in Europe, Stars and Stripes journalist Charles Wills (Van Johnson) is on the streets of Paris, covering the celebrations. He is suddenly grabbed by a beautiful woman, who kisses him and disappears. Charles follows the crowd to Café Dhingo and meets another pretty woman named Marion Elliswirth (Donna Reed). The mutual attraction is instant and she invites him to join her father's celebration of the end of the war in Europe. Charles, Marion and her persistent French suitor Claude Matine (George Dolenz) arrive at the Elliswirth household, and we find that the woman who had kissed Charles is Marion's younger sister Helen (Elizabeth Taylor).