General
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
William H. Hannon Library, Archives & Special Collections, Manuscripts
Title: Hal Pereira Film Sketches Collection
creator:
Hal Pereira
Identifier/Call Number: MS.010
Physical Description:
23 archival document boxes (9.6 linear feet)
Date (inclusive): 1952-1968
Abstract: The Hal Pereira Film Sketches Collection consists chiefly of the film sketches that art director and designer Hal Periera
created for Hollywood films in the 1950s and 1960s.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the collection: English
General
- Processed by:
- Errol Stevens, Clay Stalls
- Encoded by:
- Clay Stalls
Access
Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount
University.
Publication Rights
Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise,
Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher
must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility
for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or
executors.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Series number, Box and Folder number, Hal Pereira Film Sketches Collection, 010, Department of Archives
and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mrs. Miriam Pereira, 1984. Accession number: 1995.15
Biography
Hal Pereira (1905-1983) was a notable art director for Hollywood films from the 1940s through the 1960s. Born in Chicago,
Pereira started out in theater design in that same city before moving to Los Angeles and working for Paramount Studios as
a unit art director. In 1944 he was art designer for the great film noir
Double Indemnity. By 1950, he was supervising art director for the studio, working on such films as the classic Western
Shane and
The Greatest Show on Earth, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. In 1955 Pereira won the Oscar for best art direction for a black and white film for
The Rose Tattoo. In addition, he was the art director on almost all of the important Alfred Hitchcock films of the 1950s.
Pereira also worked in television, most notably for the one of the longest running shows in the history of that medium, the
Western
Bonanza.
In 1968, Pereira left the entertaniment industry to join the architectural firm of his brother William Pereira as a consultant
on design.
On his death in 1968, Hal Pereira's obituary in
Variety praised him as "one of the top designers," who influenced a move towards more detailed and expressive sets that helped establish
a greater "realism" in American cinema of the post World War II era.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of sketches for film and television sets, research files for sketches, and negatives of sets, all
related to the work of Hal Pereira as an art director for Hollywood film and television. The sketches included in this collection
contain some of the most important films that Pereira worked on, including,
Shane,
Vertigo, and
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Lacking, though, are other such films as
Rear Window. The research files (Series 3) consist of photographs and descriptions of persons and topics that Pereira used to design
his sets.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into three series:
- Series 1: Movies
- Series 2: Television Programs
- Series 3: Research Files
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Artists' preparatory studies -- United States
Motion pictures -- Art direction
Motion picture art directors -- United States.
Hal Pereira
Pereira, Hal (1905-1983)