The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) - Film Locations

As far fetched as the story may be, the film The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) is nevertheless an interesting twist on the popular gangster pictures Warner Bros. was pumping out during the 1930s. The superb Edward G. Robinson plays the title role of Dr. Clitterhouse, a well respected doctor who believes that to really understand the criminal mind, one must become a criminal himself. Robinson teams up with a local gang headed by Rocks Valentine, played by Humphrey Bogart who was still a rising star trying to get beyond gangster roles. Robinson uses his brilliance to mastermind a big heist and in the process studies the criminals he is working with. The observations Robinson makes are invaluable to his research but things get a little hairy when Bogart starts to feel Robinson, with his smarts, may displace him as leader of the gang. Robinson may have immersed himself a little too much into his research.

There are very few exterior scenes in the film. Most of the action takes place on interior sets, including the rooms of the gangster headquarters, a home of a mansion, the medical office of Dr. Clitterhouse and a police station, all of which would have been built inside soundstages on the Warner Bros. lot. There are two noticeable exterior scenes. One is a quick shot near the beginning of the film of a car driving through town on the way to the mansion where a robbery was committed. The second is the scene where Robinson leads the gang on a heist at a fur factory. Both exterior scenes were filmed at the same location of the Warner Bros. backlot in the area known as Embassy Courtyard/New York Park.

Click images to see larger.

A car passes a court house style building on the Warner Bros. backlot.

Embassy Courtyard/New York Park on the Warner Bros. backlot.

In the scene above from the beginning of the film we see a car driving pass two facades that are still recognizable as buildings in the Embassy Courtyard/New York Park area of the Warner Bros. backlot. The facades are slightly changed, as over the years some facades were rebuilt due to fires that occurred on the Warner Bros. lot and because of revisions made to the facades from film project to film project, but we can still identify the basic structures.

The scene immediately below is a continuation from the scene above and shows the car passing from the Embassy Courtyard area of the backlot and continuing into New York Street.

The car continues from Embassy Courtyard into New York Street.

The facade from the scene above as it appears now.

The car passes another facade heading into New York Street.

The same facades moving into New York Street as they appear now.

The below scene is of the fur factory where Robinson and gang pull a heist. The location is the same as the very first scene above, only the camera is located further back giving us a wider perspective of the location. As you can see, the film crew used a matte painting in the background to create the illusion of a big city. The buildings on the right are the facades that are still recognizable today. The court house style building can be seen at the very edge. The facades on the left used as the fur factory building are now the site of a small park space.

The location of the fur factory where Robinson leads a heist.

The same view as it appears today.

A closeup view of the Fur Building.

The Fur Building is now the site of a park space.

A Bing Bird's Eye view of the Embassy Courtyard and park.

This same area of green space has been used to stand in for New York's Central Park and has recently been used as a park in the current television show, The Big Bang Theory. You can see it in the clip below from Episode 6 of Season 3, "The Cornhusker Vortex," where the cast is scene flying kites. The park appears about one minute in.

The park appears in this clip from The Big Bang Theory.

The same area of the Embassy Square, particularly the section where the court house style facade stands, has been covered here on Dear Old Hollywood previously in posts on Nickelodeon (1976), Sex and the Single Girl (1964), and The Omega Man (1971).

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse was directed by Anatole Litvak and in addition to Robinson and Bogey, also stars Claire Trevor, Allen Jenkins, Donald Crisp, Gale Page, Henry O'Neill, John Litel, Thurston Hall, Ward Bond and Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom. The screen play was written by John Wexley and John Huston and was based on an earlier stage play. The film is available on DVD, can be rented through ClassicFlix and Netflix,  as well as streamed on Warner Archive Instant.

Images (c) 2013 Warner Bros., Bing Bird's Eye View (c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation Pictometry Bird's Eye (c) 2013 Pictometry International Corp.

Havana Widows (1933) - Film Locations

In the pre-code film Havana Widows (1933) Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell play a couple of hardworking and underpaid burlesque girls who, after losing their jobs, find their next move as gold diggers. After learning that a former fellow showgirl struck it rich in Havana, Blondell and Farrell set sail for Cuba where they hope to find a rich gentlemen of their own. The film's cast is filled with many of the great Warner Bros. players of the period, including Frank McHugh (a crooked lawyer who helps Blondell and Farrell to set up a millionaire), Guy Kibbee (the millionaire), Allen Jenkins, Lyle Talbot, and Ruth Donnelly, but even all this talent can't help out the poor story. There are some funny lines and comical slapstick moments, but the film wanders aimlessly from one gag to the next.

Despite the Havana setting in the story, the film was shot on the soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. A few scenes of the film were shot on the Warner Bros. backlot, including the scene below where Allen Jenkins is running around New York trying to track down Blondell and Farrell, not knowing yet that they have hustled him out of some dough in order to go to Havana. In the scene below, Jenkins is walking down Brownstone Street.

Allen Jenkins walking down Brownstone Street.

Brownstone Street on the Warner Bros. lot as it appears today.

Jenkins on the Warner Bros. Brownstone Street.

Brownstone Street was built in 1929 and is the oldest backlot set at Warner Bros. The facades have changed over the years but still have kept the same general appearance.

Although Havana Widows may not have the greatest story, it's worth watching for the cast. The film is currently available from the Warner Bros. Archive Collection as a made to order DVD.  The DVD includes a double feature of Joan Blondell pre-code films, the other film being I've Got Your Number (1934).

Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) - Film Locations

(c) Warner Bros. Entertainment

Bureau of Missing Persons, the second on-screen pairing of Pat O'Brien and Bette Davis, is not the greatest film in either actor's filmography, but this fast paced film does have some fine moments. The weakness is in the story, but seeing performances by a young O'Brien and Davis, as well as the comedic Allen Jenkins, make it worth watching at least once. 

In this screwball crime story, O'Brien plays Butch Saunders, who is assigned to work in Missing Persons because he was too brutal in his previous police assignment. After successfully solving his first Missing Persons case, Butch is assigned to find Norma Robert's (Davis) missing husband, Therme. Butch is attracted to Norma, so when he finds out that she is wanted for murder he doesn't believe it.  When Butch is sent to arrest Norma he lets her go. Later Norma's clothes are found at a dock and it appears that she has committed suicide. Butch doesn't believe Norma has killed herself so he stages a fake funeral where both Norma (who has come to see her own funeral) and Roberts have been lured out of hiding.  Norma informs Butch that Roberts killed his twin brother making it appear that he himself was dead in order to escape embezzlement charges. Butch and Norma chase down Roberts to bring him into the police department to prove his guilt and Norma's innocence.

I've tracked down most of the film locations seen during the chase scene and I'm amazed that for the most part, the locations have changed very little in nearly 80 years!

Pat O'Brien and Bette Davis

In this first location we see Roberts making his getaway, driving down 8th Street in downtown Los Angeles and making a left onto Spring Street. You will notice that all of the buildings in the background are still standing today. The hotel in the center of the screenshot is still a hotel today.

Eighth Street at Spring Street, Los Angeles

Eighth Street at Spring Street, Los Angeles (2011)

Turning onto Spring Street

8th Street and Spring Street, Los Angeles

8th Street at Spring Street, Los Angeles

8th Street at Spring Street

This next location took me a while to find. I kept second guessing myself. I wasn't absolutely sure if this was the location I thought it was, but then I found the proof I needed. The clue that made me certain that I had found the correct location is the "Brack Shops" sign in the upper right corner of the screenshot. I knew that the former Brack Shops building was located on Seventh Street and that presently it is known as the Collection building. In the next scene we see Roberts being chased down Seventh Street near the intersection of Olive. You can also see this same intersection from different camera angles in my previous posts on the film locations for the Joan Crawford film Possessed (1947) and the Charlie Chaplin film, City Lights. What I find amusing is how Bette Davis used this same film location 14 years before her famous antagonist, Joan Crawford.

Seventh Street near Olive, Los Angeles

Seventh Street near Olive, Los Angeles

This third location also took me a while to find. You will notice in the screenshot that the cars are driving by a corner building with theatre popcorn lights. Immediately, I assumed it was the former downtown Los Angeles Warner Theatre. It was the only theatre that I knew of that had a rounded marquee like that and was located on the corner of an intersection. The thing that bothered me though was that none of the background buildings where the Warner Theatre stands matched up with what is seen in the film. After doing some further research on downtown LA movie palaces I came across an old photo for the RKO Hill Street Theatre which stood at the intersection of Eighth Street and Hill Street. This theatre, like the Warner, was also located on a corner and had a rounded marquee. However, the RKO theatre was torn down sometime in the 1960s. When I went to the corner of Eighth and Hill, although the theatre is long gone, all the other buildings in the background are still standing and very recognizable. See for yourself.

Hill Street near Eighth Street, Los Angeles

Hill Street near Eighth Street, Los Angeles

Turning onto Eighth Street, Los Angeles

Corner of Eighth Street and Hill Street

Looking down Eighth Street

Looking down Eight Street

Another view of Eighth Street

Another view of Eighth Street

This last location was the easiest to find. I recognized it immediately. This is part of the Warner Bros. backlot known as "Brownstone Street." What is incredible to me is how little this part of the Warner Bros. studio has changed since 1933! Of course, you probably will recognize thousands of films that used this location over the last several decades.

Warner Bros. Studios Brownstone Street

Warner Bros. Brownstone Street

Pat O'Brien on the WB Brownstone Street

A closer look at Brownstone Street

Bureau of Missing Persons may not be the greatest film, but like I said, the film has its moments. My favorite scene is one of O'Brien and Davis sitting at a lunch counter inside of a diner. A man to their right asks for some sugar, so O'Brien slides the container. Next, a man to their left asks for the ketchup, so Davis slides the bottle down the counter. Then O'Brien asks for the sugar, salt, ketchup, pepper and everything comes sliding back at him all at once in one mess.

If you would like to see Bureau of Missing Persons for yourself, it is available through the Warner Archive Collection.

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