3 Beekman Place – The Art Direction/Set Decoration of Auntie Mame

31 Days of Oscar Blogathon
This post is an entry in the 31 Days of Oscar Blogathon hosted by Paula at Paula's Cinema Club, Aurora at Once Upon a Screen, and Kellee at Outspoken and Freckled.

In Auntie Mame, there are only about fifteen separate locales shown in the film. Most are relatively simple sets, shown only for a minute or two. A few others are fairly complicated, but from art and set design standpoint the real star of Auntie Mame is Mame's apartment at 3 Beekman Place, New York. The apartment is shown throughout the film and in most cases has a completely different decor each time it is shown. Further, all are fantastic. 

Auntie Mame received a total of 6 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress (Rosalind Russell), Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Cass), and of course, our topic Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color for Malcolm C. Bert, Art Direction, and George James Hopkins, Set Decoration. 

Auntie Mame was the second of two Academy Award nominations for Art Director Malcolm C. Bert. The other nomination was for A Star Is Born (1954). Malcolm Bert's other credits include East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, The Pajama Game, and numerous TV shows, such as Gun Smoke, Bewitched, and The Monkees.


Set Decorator George James Hopkins was nominated for eleven Oscars in his long career.  He won four Academy Awards for A Streetcar Named Desire, My Fair Lady, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff?, and Hello, Dolly! His other credits include Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, Strangers on a Train, and The Great Race. In the silent era, he has credits as actor, writer, costume designer, and production manager, among others.

In the credits for Auntie Mame, Robert Hanley is listed as Consultant for Interior Design. I assume this type of credit was rare at the time, but considering how spectacular the interiors of 3 Beekman Place are, presumably some of the credit should go to Hanley as well. 

As I was writing this, I came to realize that the sets in Auntie Mame all serve a certain function. Obviously, 3 Beekman Place is an extension of Mame's vibrant personality, showing her enjoying life's banquet, while the rest of the world starves to death. The apartment is almost another character in the film, a character much more interesting than many of the living breathing people in the film. 

Let's start with the other locales and see how they work. All can be put into a number of different categories:

• Places Mame works – Early in the film, in fact only weeks after Patrick arrives, the stock market crash of 1929 occurs, wiping out Mame financially, forcing her to get a job. From these scenes, you learn something about Mame. First, in a very funny way, you learn how hopelessly ill-prepared she is to support herself, but more importantly, you learn how much how much she loves Patrick and that she is willing to do anything for him. Mame's jobs include, a small role in Vera's play Midsummer Madness, telephone operator at Widdicombe, Gutterman, Applewhite, Bibberman, and Black, and saleswoman at Macy's toy department, where she meets her future husband Beau (Forrest Tucker).

Widdicombe, Gutterman, Applewhite, Bibberman,
and Black

[You can click on images to enlarge; in some cases, they may seem blurry, especially if camera or actors were moving, probably, a reflection of way I did screen captures]

• Patrick's schools – These places show one thing, Mr. Babcock's efforts to make Patrick as unlike Mame as possible. Fortunately, it doesn't take. The first of these is the Bixby School, where Mr. Babcock wants Patrick to go. Patrick doesn't attend school there, but rather Mame sends him to a progressive school in Greenwich Village where the children play fish family. Afterwards, Mr. Babcock insists that Patrick attend a boarding school, St. Boniface. Later, a grownup Patrick attends Rumson University also at Mr. Babcock's behest, but at Rumson, Mame is constantly sending Patrick souvenirs from her exotic travels.

St. Boniface

• Places Mame goes – After marrying Beau (Forrest Tucker), they travel to Egypt on their honeymoon. You also see that Auntie Mame and Uncle Beau take young Patrick to Paris. Presumably, this was one of many trips they took Patrick on while he was growing up. The last of these is the Matterhorn, where Beau falls off the mountain. None of these sets are particularly extravagant. To be honest, the Matterhorn looks a lot like the ride at Disneyland to me. 

Yodel le he hooooooooo!!!

Finally, we see two other homes. Honestly, I think this is to show how normal people live in comparison with Mame, but really we are talking about how other upper-class people compare.

• Peckwood – This is Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside's family plantation. It is a very traditional Southern mansion. You could film a historical drama about the old South there. Reflected is old money, and the pursuits of the gentry of a bygone era, horses and fox hunts. The name of the plantation, Peckerwood, is the traditional name of plantation.

Peckerwood

• Upson Downs – This is the estate of grownup Patrick's fiancee's parents. Often they mention that it is a restricted community, and Mr. Upson wants to buy the property next door to prevent a world-reknown cellist from moving in because he is Jewish. You really only see the patio, but there are interesting details beyond the honey daiquiris, such as a spinning wheel and butter churn alongside the ceramic lawn gnomes. Obviously, this is new money, trying to impress people with valuable antiques placed out-of-doors. The self-dubbed name of Upson Down is a title they invented to try to usurp the tradition of the old money.

Upson Downs

3 Beekman Place

This is why we're here. Auntie Mame's apartment appears throughout the film, and often is used as a time marker in the film. There are six distinct decors. In addition, Auntie Mame uses the chandelier as transitional element from one decor of the apartment to the next.

First appearance – Oriental decor. This our introduction to Mame and 3 Beekman Place, when a frightened, newly orphaned Patrick shows up. The first view of the apartment is an elaborately carved Chinese dragon door with steam shooting out the nostrils and a gong that plays when you ring doorbell. Also the dragon eyes open into a peephole for the servant, Ito, to screen the party guests. The color palette is muted with cream walls, to highlight the Oriental art and statuary virtually everywhere. This is also one of the few times that you see more than a glancing view at the upstairs of the apartment.

Dragon door, Patrick's first impresion	Ito looks through peephole
Even piano is Asian inspired	First view of Mame and one of few views of upstairs
Behind Mame is another interior dragon  door and Chinese lion, lower right	Oriental screen separating dining room
Mame introduces Patrick to fish berry jam (cavier), served from Buddha's belly	Great details here, Asian demon statue behind Mame and Patrick, guests cooking on open flame, and Vera with long handle on Martini glass
Oriental details mostly obscured by party guests, but what a view of Brooklyn Bridge	First lady of American theater being carried to bed; note traditional banister
At foot of stairs, banister morphs into dragon head	Sculpture room, where Mame's sculptor friend had lived
Mame's bedroom suite	Oriental chandelier, dissolves into chandelier for next incarnation of Beekman Place

Second appearance – Modern traditional decor. Bear in mind I know very little about design. Possibly, there is a name for this. I call it modern traditional. Modern fits. I added traditional most because it retains traditional elements like columns and urns. The color palette is blues, grays, and purples. We see it both before and after stock market crash. After the crash, you can see evidence of Mame's dire financial situation.

Modern chandelier	Workmen hang new modern art; note new banister on stairs
Mame's bedroom, completely new look from last time we saw it	Marie Antoinette room, were Vera routinely passes out
Entry foyer, note simplified columns/urns and modern painting on right	Patrick mixes martinis, great bar cart and modern art on right
Simple elegant furniture	Exterior hallway decorated to match
More modern art center above Patrick	And behind Mame here
After stock market crash, Patrick provides his own art, signed Patrick Picasso, his black and blue period	More evidence of their dire financial situation, wall (center) shows where art formerly hung, now hocked; also bar cart (right) now empty

Third appearance – French provincial, I think. Mame returns to Beekman Place after Beau has died. The color palette is light taupe with black and gold accents. To me, this is the least interesting. Still, everything is elegant and tasteful, and you do see evidence of Mame's exotic nature with some of the accent pieces.  

Again we start with chandelier	Banister is same as last, but sash accents have been added
Entry way, with decorative palm tree	Mame in mourning, note obelisk behind Vera
French provincial desk and cherub on terrace	Elegant details abound, especially around fireplace (left)

Fourth appearance – Library decor. At this point in the film, Mame is fully immersed in writing her memoir. Naturally, she has redecorated in a library motif. The artwork and sculpture has a Renaissance feel. This is where we meet Patrick's fiance, Gloria Upson, who comments on the decor, "Books are awfully decorative, don't you think?" That about sums her up.

Another chandelier, a little more ornate than last	Bannister appears to be same as Oriental one without the dragon
Spiral library ladder to get at those awfully decorative books	New piece of furniture added, editor and ghost writer, Brian O'Bannion
Miss Gooch, types up Mames manuscript; note Shakespeare bust	The muse can take many forms, such as the harp behind Mame
Grownup Patrick enters to Roman-inspired busts either side of door	Author Mame takes break at mahogany bar

Fifth appearance – Danish modern decor. After being entertained by the Upsons, Mame redecorates to return the favor and welcome them to the family. This time it is the work of famed designer, Yul Oolu. Of all the incarnations, of 3 Beekman Place, this is my favorite, though I don't think I could live there without regular infusions of Flaming Mames.

New chandelier, well, sort of	Sculpture that can be used upside down
Simple modern banister and Mame feeds the fish	That's right, fish
And outside the apartment, more fish	What Danish modern is complete without kinetic sofa
Drinks all around, love centered doorknob in background	And of course lotus nectar for Patrick's former teacher
Mobile gets in Mr. Babcock's, umm, hair	He's not the only one with something in his hair

Sixth and final appearance – Indian decor. It is now years later. Patrick has married Pegeen, a woman worthy of both him and Mame. They have a son, roughly the same age as Patrick was when he came to live with her. Mame has come full circle, though perhaps spiral is a better term, because each time around, you end up on a different level. Thus, 3 Beekman Place returns to the East, India this time.

What do you know, another chandelier	Stair banister same as previous but updated to blend with Indian motif
Mame adorned in gold	Front entry foyer
Great relief behind Mame; fish have been replaced by flowers	Mame leads her new protege up the mountain

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Auntie Mame didn't win any Oscars. The Oscar for Art Direction-Set Decoration for 1959 went to Gigi. I honestly don't think I can complain about this. Art direction for Gigi was both innovative and first class with the design inspired by famous French art of the era. Perhaps on a different year, Auntie Mame might have fared better, but that doesn't take away the wonder that is 3 Beekman Place.