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HARRY OLIVER'S HOLLYWOOD MEMORIES The Old Mirage Salesman's influential Hollywood career

Harry Oliver was twice nominated for Hollywood's first Academy Awards in Set Design and Decoration.

Below you'll find graphics from Harry's films.

• At the bottom of the page is HARRY'S FILMOGRAPHY

CLICK AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE

1. BEHIND THE DOOR – 1919

BEHIND THE DOOR Miscellaneous Crew

BEHIND THE DOOR Miscellaneous Crew

BEHIND THE DOOR Miscellaneous Crew

BEHIND THE DOOR Miscellaneous Crew

2. THE GRIM GAME – 1919

THE GRIM GAME Art Director

THE GRIM GAME Art Director

THE GRIM GAME Art Director

THE GRIM GAME Art Director

3. BELOW THE SURFACE – 1920

BELOW THE SURFACE Miscellaneous Crew

BELOW THE SURFACE Miscellaneous Crew

BELOW THE SURFACE Miscellaneous Crew

BELOW THE SURFACE Miscellaneous Crew

4. DOWN HOME – 1920

DOWN HOME Miscellaneious Crew

DOWN HOME Miscellaneious Crew

DOWN HOME Miscellaneious Crew

DOWN HOME Miscellaneious Crew

5. FACE OF THE WORLD – 1921

FACE OF THE WORLD Art Director

FACE OF THE WORLD Art Director

FACE OF THE WORLD Art Director

FACE OF THE WORLD Art Director

6. THE HILL BILLY – 1924

THE HILL BILLY Cast and Settings

THE HILL BILLY Cast and Settings

THE HILL BILLY Cast and Settings

THE HILL BILLY Cast and Settings

7. BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST – 1925

BEN-HUR Art Director	BEN-HUR Art Director	BEN-HUR Art Director	BEN-HUR Art Director
BEN-HUR Art Director	BEN-HUR Art Director	BEN-HUR Art Director	BEN-HUR Art Director

8. DON Q: SON OF ZORRO – 1925

DON Q: SON OF ZORRO Consulting Artist

DON Q: SON OF ZORRO Consulting Artist

DON Q: SON OF ZORRO Consulting Artist

DON Q: SON OF ZORRO Consulting Artist

9. LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY – 1925

LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY Art Director

LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY Art Director

LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY Art Director

LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY Art Director

10. SPARROWS – 1926

SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee
SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee
SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	SPARROWS Set Designer, Oscar Nominee

11. 7th HEAVEN – 1927

7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee
7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee	7th HEAVEN Set Designer, Oscar Nominee

THE GAUCHO – 1928

THE GAUCHO Associate Artist	THE GAUCHO Associate Artist	12. THE GAUCHO Associate Artist	THE GAUCHO Associate Artist
THE GAUCHO Associate Artist	THE GAUCHO Associate Artist	THE GAUCHO Associate Artist	THE GAUCHO Associate Artist

13. STREET ANGEL – 1928

STREET ANGEL Art Director	STREET ANGEL Art Director	STREET ANGEL Art Director	STREET ANGEL Art Director
STREET ANGEL Art Director	STREET ANGEL Art Director	STREET ANGEL Art Director	STREET ANGEL Art Director

14. LUCKY STAR – 1929

LUCKY STAR Art Directer

LUCKY STAR Art Directer

LUCKY STAR Art Directer

LUCKY STAR Art Directer

15. SUNNYSIDE UP – 1929

SUNNYSIDE UP Art Director

SUNNYSIDE UP Art Director

SUNNYSIDE UP Art Director

SUNNYSIDE UP Art Director

16. THE RIVER – 1929

THE RIVER Settings

THE RIVER Settings

THE RIVER Settings

THE RIVER Settings

17. THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS – 1929

THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator	THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator	THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator	THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator
THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator	THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator	THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator	THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS Set Decorator

18. CITY GIRL – 1930

CITY GIRL Settings

CITY GIRL Settings

CITY GIRL Settings

CITY GIRL Settings

19. LIGHTNIN' – 1930

LIGHTNIN' Art Director

LIGHTNIN' Art Director

LIGHTNIN' Art Director

LIGHTNIN' Art Director

20. LILIOM – 1930

LILIOM Art Director

LILIOM Art Director

LILIOM Art Director

LILIOM Art Director

21. SONG O' MY HEART – 1930

SONG O' MY HEART Art Director

SONG O' MY HEART Art Director

SONG O' MY HEART Art Director

SONG O' MY HEART Art Director

22. HANDLE WITH CARE – 1932

HANDLE WITH CARE Art Director

HANDLE WITH CARE Art Director

HANDLE WITH CARE Art Director

HANDLE WITH CARE Art Director

23. MOVIE CRAZY – 1932

MOVIE CRAZY Art Director

MOVIE CRAZY Art Director

MOVIE CRAZY Art Director

MOVIE CRAZY Art Director

24. SCARFACE – 1932

SCARFACE Set Designer	SCARFACE Set Designer	SCARFACE Set Designer	SCARFACE Set Designer
SCARFACE Set Designer	SCARFACE Set Designer	SCARFACE Set Designer	SCARFACE Set Designer

25. TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY – 1932

TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY Art Director

TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY Art Director

TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY Art Director

TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY Art Director

26. DANCING LADY – 1933

DANCING LADY Art Director

DANCING LADY Art Director

DANCING LADY Art Director

DANCING LADY Art Director

27. TILLIE AND GUS – 1933

TILLIE AND GUS Art Director	TILLIE AND GUS Art Director	TILLIE AND GUS Art Director	TILLIE AND GUS Art Director
TILLIE AND GUS Art Director	TILLIE AND GUS Art Director	TILLIE AND GUS Art Director	TILLIE AND GUS Art Director

28. WHITE WOMAN – 1933

WHITE WOMAN Art Director	WHITE WOMAN Art Director	WHITE WOMAN Art Director	WHITE WOMAN Art Director
WHITE WOMAN Art Director	WHITE WOMAN Art Director	WHITE WOMAN Art Director	WHITE WOMAN Art Director

29. DAVID HARUM – 1934

DAVID HARUM Art Director

DAVID HARUM Art Director

DAVID HARUM Art Director

DAVID HARUM Art Director

PECK'S BAD BOY – 1934

30. PECK'S BAD BOY Art Director

PECK'S BAD BOY Art Director

PECK'S BAD BOY Art Director

PECK'S BAD BOY Art Director

31. THE BAND PLAYS ON – 1934

THE BAND PLAYS ON Art Director Associate

THE BAND PLAYS ON Art Director Associate

THE BAND PLAYS ON Art Director Associate

THE BAND PLAYS ON Art Director Associate

32. THE CAT'S PAW – 1934

THE CAT'S PAW Art Director

THE CAT'S PAW Art Director

THE CAT'S PAW Art Director

THE CAT'S PAW Art Director

33. VIVA VILLA! – 1934

VIVA VILLA! Art Director	VIVA VILLA! Art Director	VIVA VILLA! Art Director	VIVA VILLA! Art Director
VIVA VILLA! Art Director	VIVA VILLA! Art Director	VIVA VILLA! Art Director	VIVA VILLA! Art Director

34. MARK OF THE VAMPIRE – 1935

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE Associate Art Director

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE Associate Art Director

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE Associate Art Director

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE Associate Art Director

35. VANESSA: HER LOVE STORY – 1935

VANESSA: HER LOVE STORY Art Director Associate

VANESSA: HER LOVE STORY Art Director Associate

VANESSA: HER LOVE STORY Art Director Associate

VANESSA: HER LOVE STORY Art Director Associate

36. FATAL LADY – 1936

FATAL LADY Art Director, Cab Driver

FATAL LADY Art Director, Cab Driver

FATAL LADY Art Director, Cab Driver

FATAL LADY Art Director, Cab Driver

37. RAINBOW ON THE RIVER – 1936

RAINBOW ON THE RIVER Art Director

RAINBOW ON THE RIVER Art Director

RAINBOW ON THE RIVER Art Director

RAINBOW ON THE RIVER Art Director

38. MAKE A WISH – 1937

MAKE A WISH Art Director

MAKE A WISH Art Director

MAKE A WISH Art Director

MAKE A WISH Art Director

39. THE CALIFORNIAN – 1937

THE CALIFORNIAN Art Director

THE CALIFORNIAN Art Director

THE CALIFORNIAN Art Director

THE CALIFORNIAN Art Director

40. THE GOOD EARTH – 1937

THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate	THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate	THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate	THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate
THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate	THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate	THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate	THE GOOD EARTH Art Director Associate

41. OF HUMAN HEARTS – 1938

OF HUMAN HEARTS Associate Art Director

OF HUMAN HEARTS Associate Art Director

OF HUMAN HEARTS Associate Art Director

OF HUMAN HEARTS Associate Art Director

42. THE OUTLAW – 1941

THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director
THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director
THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director
THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director
THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director	THE OUTLAW Art Director

HARRY'S FILMOGRAPHY

1. BEHIND THE DOOR (1919) as Miscellaneous Crew. A German-American naval officer takes revenge against the German submarine commander who brutalized his wife.
2. THE GRIM GAME (1919) as Art Director. Jailed unjustly for a murder he did not commit, a young man uses his amazing powers of escape to free himself and pursue the actual killers, who hold his fiancée captive.
3. BELOW THE SURFACE (1920) as Miscellaneous Crew. A widely respected deep-sea diver is approached by a ring of con artists who want him to be the front man for a phony scheme to recover gold from sunken ships. When he refuses, they send a sexy young woman to seduce his son, and then blackmail the father into going along with their scheme.
4. DOWN HOME (1920) as Miscellaneous Crew. Nance Pelot is bravely trying to support herself and her father Joe, the town drunk, by playing piano in an unsavory roadside inn owned by Larry Shayne. Chet Todd, the son of a shopowner, is in love with Nance, but her reputation has been sullied by her profession, and so Chet's mother disapproves of her. Nance inherits a small farm from her mother, and when Shayne discovers that the property is valuable, he plots to cheat Nance out of her inheritance.
5. FACE OF THE WORLD (1921) as Art Director. Art Department (feature film). Harold Mark, a country doctor, falls in love with Thora, who lives with her crippled grandfather. Mark cures the grandfather and he and Thora marry. They move to the city, but after Mark earns a scholarship, he gets wrapped up with a radical movement. It takes time away from both his studies and his marriage. Thora, starved for attention, falls prey to Monsieur Duparc, a charismatic sculptor. She leaves Mark and goes to live with Duparc's aunt. Mark, meanwhile, becomes disillusioned with his radical friends and eventually becomes the head of a hospital.
6. THE HILL BILLY (1924) as Settings, Cast (special). A young boy's mother marries the villain that killed her husband for his coal-rich land. Despite his antipathy toward "Groundhog" Spence, his new stepfather, Jeb McCoy falls in love with the man's niece, Emmy Lou Spence, who teaches the boy to read and write. Groundhog has other plans, however, and forces Emmy Lou to marry his wastrel son Aaron. When the latter is shot by angry villagers, Jeb is accused of the crime. He proves his innocence, and it comes to a final confrontation between the youngster and his greedy stepfather on a raft in the river.
7. BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST (1925) as Art Director. As childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.
8. DON Q, SON OF ZORRO (1925) as Consulting Artist. Don Cesar de Vega, son of Zorro, is in Spain for his education. By way of education, he duels with Don Sebastian of the Queen's Guard (soon to be his rival for the hand of lovely Dolores de Muro), makes love, and befriends the visiting Archduke of Austria. But a quarrel ending in violence gives Don Sebastian the chance to dispose of his rival . . . by framing him for murder! Feigning suicide, Cesar escapes. Being a chip off the old block, a whip-wielding outlaw (this being his weapon rather than the sword) sets out to clear the name of Vega.
9. LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY (1925) as Art Director. A New York urchin and her big brother avenge the shooting of their policeman father.
10. SPARROWS (1926) as Art Designer, Set Decorator. Evil Mr. Grimes keeps a rag-tag bunch orphans on his farm. He forces them to work in his garden and treats them like slaves. They are watched over by the eldest, Molly. A gang in league with Mr. Grimes kidnaps Doris, the beautiful little daughter of a rich man, and hides her out on Grimes' farm, awaiting ransom. When the police close in, and Mr. Grimes threatens to throw Doris into the bottomless mire, Molly must lead her little flock out through an alligator-infested swamp.
11. 7th HEAVEN (1927) as Production Designer, Set Designer. A romance in which a seventh floor apartment represents heaven for a couple seeking to escape from time and the outside world.
12. THE GAUCHO (1928) as Associate Artist. A girl is saved by a miracle after she falls from a cliff in the Argentine Andes, and is blessed with healing powers. A shrine is built on the site, and a whole city grows around it, rich with gold from the grateful worshipers. Ruiz, an evil and sadistic general, captures the city, confiscates the gold, and closes the shrine. But the Gaucho, the charismatic leader of a band of outlaws, comes to the rescue.
13. STREET ANGEL (1928) as Production Designer. In Naples, as poverty-stricken Maria steals medicine for her ailing mother. Now a fugitive from justice, Maria escapes by joining a travelling carnival, where she meets and falls in love with portrait painter Angelo. Impressed by her ethereal beauty, Angelo asks the girl to pose for his portrait of the Madonna. But when she's suddenly arrested, the disillusioned Angelo sinks into depravation.
14. LUCKY STAR (1929) as Production Designer. A lonely woman leads an isolated life on a ramshackle farm with her widowed mother who firmly believes her daughter should marry a recently returned World War I veteran. Although the mother's intentions are good, the daughter already loves another veteran. Prior to the war, both men had been linesmen, but her true love was crippled in battle and cannot resume his trade.
15. SUNNYSIDE UP (1929) as Art Director. Molly and Bee, sweet young 'working girls', live in a cheap room over a New York grocery store. Molly's idol, wealthy Jack Cromwell, lives in a Long Island mansion but is markedly less happy, since his fiancée Jane won't discourage her other admirers. Fleeing in his car, Jack ends up in an urban block party where he meets you-know-who.
16. THE RIVER (1929) as Art Director. A virile outdoorsman, Allen John Pender, has a haughty society sweetheart Rosalee. At first, Rosalee is resistant to Pender's Spartan lifestyle, but he wins her over by singing a thrilling romantic ballad.
17. THEY HAD TO SEE PARIS (1929) as Art Director. AOklahoma mechanic Pike Peters finds himself part owner of an oil field. His wife Idy, hitherto content, decides the family must go to Paris to get "culture" and meet "the right kind of people." Pike and his grown son and daughter soon have flirtatious French admirers; Idy rents a chateau from an impoverished aristocrat; while Pike responds to each new development with homespun wit. In the inevitable clash, will pretentiousness and sophistication or common sense triumph?
18. CITY GIRL (1930) as Settings. Lem goes to Chicago to sell the wheat his family has grown on their farm in Minnesota. There he meets the waitress Kate. They fall in love and get married before going back to the farm. Kate is accepted by Lem's mother and kid sister but is rejected by his father, who believes she married for the money. (And the fact that Lem didn't get a fair price for the wheat is her fault too.) The reapers arrive and quickly they make things even more complicated by making their move on Kate. Lem misunderstands the situation and believes Kate is actually interested. In despair Kate leaves the farm and Lem goes looking for her.
19. LIGHTNIN' (1930) as Production Designer. A shiftless slowpoke is sardonically nicknamed "Lightnin'." His wife Mary owns and operates an hotel which straddles the California-Nevada state line, and which exploits that quirk to drum up business . . . mostly among divorcees who can check into this hotel to establish Nevada residency without leaving California.
20. LILIOM (1930) as Art Director. Liliom returns to earth after ten years and he spends those ten years in Hell to learn some discipline and responsibility. He is also the first Heavenly experiment in being allowed to return to earth for a day rather than that being the rule. Instead of stealing a star to give his daughter, he steals Gabriel's horn (a conch shell).
21. SONG O' MY HEART (1930) as Art Director. Sean O'Callaghan, a world-renowned singer, gives up his career when his sweetheart Mary O'Brien is forced to marry another. Years later, Mary is deserted by her husband and eventually dies of grief. Still carrying a torch for his lost love, Sean assumes the task of looking after Mary's two children.
22. HANDLE WITH CARE (1932) as Art Director. A woman is left in charge of two little hellions when her sister dies. She finally finds love with a assistant district attorney, but the resentful children scare him off. They go to his apartment to apologize, where they interrupt an assasination attempt on the lawyer.
23. MOVIE CRAZY (1932) as Art Director. A stagestruck young actor accidentally receives somebody else's invitation to test in Hollywood.
24. SCARFACE (1932) as Production Designer. A murderous thug shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.
25. TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY (1932) as Art Director. When Captain Howland decides that his daughter Tess is getting a bit to old to continue to go to sea with him, they move into a small cottage on the coast of Maine, but not for long. A local millionaire, Frederick Garfield, lays a false claim to the property and has them evicted. Later, when Tess saves a young man about her age from drowning, she is a bit dismayed to learn that he is Garfield's son.
26. DANCING LADY (1933) as Art Director. Janie Barlow is an impoverished dancer. While on a slumming party with his society friend, wealthy young Tod Newton spots Janie in the burleycue chorus line and immediately falls in love with her. When the joint is raided, Tod pays Janie's bail, but she resists his entreaties to become his mistress, promising instead to pay back every cent she owes him "honestly." With Tod's help, Janie is able to secure work in a big-time Broadway musical being staged by Patch Gallegher, who is certain that the girl is an untalented opportunist and does everything he can to sabotage her audition.
27. TILLIE AND GUS (1933) as Art Director. Tillie and Augustus Winterbottom are thought to be missionaries when they arrive to find Phineas Pratt trying cheat the Sheridans out of her father's inheritance, including a ferry franchise and a boat. The only way to keep the franchise is to win a race against Pratt's boat.
28. WHITE WOMAN (1933) as Art Director. Set in Malaya when it was still part of the British Empire. At the dinner party on a river-boat, his new wife says she'd like to learn Malay.
29. DAVID HARUM (1934) as Art Director. David Harum's version of the Golden Rule -- Do unto the other feller the way he'd like to do unto you, an' do it fust. -- was widely quoted, and the term horse trading came into use as an approbatory term for what others would deem ethically dubious business practices.
30. PECK'S BAD BOY (1934) as Art Director. Young boy Bill Peck adores his father and tries to be good, but the arrival of Bill's cousin Horace upsets Bill's plans. Horace's brattish ways result in Bill rather than Horace getting in trouble.
31. THE BAND PLAYS ON (1934) as Art Director Associate. Four street kids mend their ways when they take up football.
32. THE CAT'S PAW (1934) as Art Director. Naive Ezekial Cobb, brought up by his missionary father in China returns to America to seek a wife. Corrupt politicians enlist him to run for mayor as a dummy candidate with no chance of winning. Their plan backfires as he wins and embarks upon a reform crusade.
33. VIVA VILLA! (1934) as Art Director. Rousing biography of the bandit chief who led the battle for Mexican independence.
34. MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935) as Art Director Associate. Vampires seem to be connected to an unsolved murder.
35. VANESSA: HER LOVE STORY (1935) as Art Director Associate. A Victorian wife contemplates leaving her insane husband for a romantic Gypsy.
36. FATAL LADY (1936) as Art Director, Cab driver (uncredited). When her fiancé dies under mysterious circumstances, neophyte opera diva Mary Stuart flees to South America, assumes a new identity, and obtains a position with a local opera company.
37. RAINBOW ON THE RIVER (1936) as Art Director. Young Phillip Ainsworth, an orphan of the U.S. Civil War, has been lovingly raised by Toinette, a former slave. Toinette has big plans for the boy. She has saved her money to send him to a private school. But when the local priest, Father Josef, finds Phillip's family living in New York, the boy is sent north to live with people who refuse to accept him as their own. His only friend is the butler, Barrett. But his curmodgeon of a grandmother is finally broken down by the boy's charm and good manners.
38. MAKE A WISH (1937) as Art Director. While at summer camp in the Maine woods, little Bobby Breen befriends composer Basil Rathbone, who left the city to try and break his creative block, and is soon playing matchmaker for his widowed singer mother and Rathbone.
39. THE CALIFORNIAN (1937) as Art Director. A native son returns from school in Spain to California in 1855 and finds corrupt politicians stealing land from old California families. He becomes a sort of Robin Hood in order to fight them.
40. THE GOOD EARTH (1937) as Art Director Associate. Epic adaptation of the Pearl Buck classic about Chinese farmers battling the elements.
41. OF HUMAN HEARTS (1938) as Art Director Associate. A rebellious son neglects his parents after enlisting in the Civil War.
42. THE OUTLAW (1941) as Art Director. Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage coach. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl, Rio's, place after Billy is shot. She falls for Billy, although he treats her very badly. Interaction between these four is played out against an Indian attack before a final showdown reduces the group's number.

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