The Man on Lincoln's Nose

Production design has always been a key part of the Hollywood filmmaking process, but until recently the field received very little critical attention. But thanks to Daniel Raim's lucid and concise Oscar-nominated documentary about Robert Boyle, one of Hollywood's best art directors, a general audience now has a chance to savor what these masters of their craft have contributed. Boyle tells stories about working on everything from Hitchcock's "North by Northwest," "The Birds" and "Marnie" to "Fiddler on the Roof." Raim has done an imaginative job of editing production storyboards and sketches with photographs and film segments so that we 'get' what the production designer actually does. The detailed segment on constructing Mt. Rushmore in the studio (thus the film's title!) is fascinating, as we learn more about how actual photos of a location can be skillfully blended with a constructed set. --Andrew Horton, Cineaste Magazine, June 22, 2001