James Basevi (born 21 September 1890, Plymouth, Devon, England – d. 27 March 1962, Bellflower, California) was a British-born art director and special effects expert.

After his military service during World War I Basevi emigrated to Canada and later on to the United States. He began his career in 1924 with MGM, designing sets for silent films. After the advent of talkies, Basevi became the head of MGM's special effects department, helping to create the earthquake scene in San Francisco (1936). He also worked on the storm sequence in John Ford's The Hurricane for 20th Century Fox.

In 1943, he shared an Oscar for art direction with William S. Darling for The Song of Bernadette. He was nominated for Oscars for Wuthering Heights (1939), The Westerner (1940), The Gang's All Here (1943) and The Keys of the Kingdom (1944).

Filmography