Bafta Tribute to Ken Adam

The legendary set designer Sir Ken Adam, who designed some of the most memorable sets on the early James Bond films, and is arguably one of the British film industry's pre-eminent production designers, is being given a special Bafta Tribute for his services to film.

The Tribute, which also includes a belated celebration of his 90th birthday (he turned 90 in February), will take place at the Royal Institute of Architects in London. The special evening will celebrate his extraordinary career in film design, and will be supported by The Albert R. Broccoli and Dana Broccoli Foundation. Tributes will include ones from Sir Michael Caine and Sir Roger Moore, as well as filmed video contributions from other movie production designers who have been inspired by Sir Ken's exemplary work over the years.

On the eve of the special event, 'The Times' newspaper (April 2) carried a profile and interview with Sir Ken, which covered both his film career and his early years as a refugee. Sir Ken and his family fled from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, ending up in a boarding house in Hampstead, in London. Determined to help the war effort against the Nazis, the young Adam became the first German pilot in the RAF during World War Two.  

After the war, Adam snapped up the chance to work as a draughtsman on the 1948 movie 'This Was a Woman', and met his future wife, Letizia, while working on 'The Crimson Pirate', with Burt Lancaster. In 1962, of course, he was given the opportunity to work on the first Bond film, 'Dr. No'.

During the course of the interview, Sir Ken offered some reflections on his long career working on the EON films. When 'The Times' suggested that his lush and extravangant sets, such as the volcano rocket base in 'You Only Live Twice' (1967) and the submarine-swallowing supertanker in 'The Spy Who Loved Me' (1977), really defined the mood of the entire 007 franchise, the very modest Sir Ken responded: 'No, no! It was nice working on the Bonds. They needed someone to come up with bigger and bigger visual designs and backgrounds. And that's what I did!'

Concerning the now-famous volcano set, Sir Ken said: 'I came up with this design for the base... and I knew it was right. The producers agreed, but they knew it was going to cost a lot of money. Cubby Broccoli said, "Can you do it for a million dollars?" I said yes. And I did. But every time after that Cubby used to say: "Whenever Ken puts pen to paper I have a heart attack!"...'.

Sir Ken revealed that one of his most difficult designs was actually the car in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', the famous Fleming children's story filmed by EON: 'I had done futuristic designs for Bond, but this was going back to the beginning of the 20th century. It was hard, but in the end I took the front of a Bugatti with the body of a classic Rolls-Royce and combined the two. The day it arrived in Pinewood everyone just stood still and simply admired it'.

Sir Ken also commented that, in his view, modern computer-generated backgrounds on films can never replace the 'earthy reality' of a lived-in film set. When asked what the highlight of his career in film design was, Sir Ken argued there isn't one, but he did concede that the War Room in Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr. Strangelove' is one of his best sets. He hastened to explain, however, that: 'I actually think that the most important thing is when you're happy on a film. Because when everybody is working together, and there is no friction or no fear, then, as a rule, you make a good film. Be happy in work. That's the answer'.

Many happy returns, Sir Ken.