Presidential Set-up

There’s no greater compliment for anyone working in film than when the line between reality and fiction is blurred to the point that the audience truly believes that what they are seeing is real. And what better punter to fool than the President of the United States? That’s what happened when Ronald Reagan, on entering the White House asked to see the War Room, only to be told that the room he had seen in Dr Strangelove – was actually the fictional creation of set designer Ken Adam. Adam’s work is exhibited this month at the Serpentine Gallery in London in a show that highlights the designer’s most ingenious and original work, including the famous gadget-enhanced Aston-Martin DB5. Adam worked on six of the 19 Bond films as Production Designer – most notably Dr No and Moonraker – but he was also a fan of period dramas and won his Academy Award for The Madness of King George.Adam explains his sucessfull career thus; ‘The director is the captain of the shiip and idealy I try to function as his eyes.’ The exhibition , which runs from 17 November to 9 January, features original sketches from moon buggies to the xx office of Doctor No and an hour long film showing the impact of Adams on movie production design.