Who's Got the Action? (1962) - Film Locations

Dean Martin and Lana Turner headline this story about a man with a gambling addiction (Martin) and his wife (Turner) who does what she can to make sure her husband doesn't lose all of their money. The setup is quite a stretch. Turner has Martin's law partner (Eddie Albert) lead Martin to believe that Albert has found the best bookie in town, that bookie, being Martin's wife. The idea is if Martin loses then the money will stay in the household, but unfortunately, Martin goes on a winning streak, forcing Turner to sell their possessions to cover the winnings. Meanwhile, a real bookie in town (Walter Matthau ) is wondering who it is that is getting all the action? 

Despite the tagline claiming to be "the most riotous bedtime story ever!" Who's Got the Action? (1962), really isn't that riotous at all. Even at an hour and a half the movie feels long. Most of the gags just are not that funny and the plot struggles to unfold. I think a more appropriate tagline would be "a mildly amusing bedtime story,"because the film does have some merits.

My favorite part of Who's Got the Action? is seeing Matthau in one of his early film roles. He's the most fun to watch and steals every scene he is in. I also liked the 1960s set designs, particularly the interior of the apartment where Martin and Turner live.

The apartment building where Martin and Turner live is the Talmadge apartments located at 3278 Wilshire Boulevard. This building was built by Joseph M. Schenck in 1922 for his wife, the silent screen actress, Norma Talmadge. 

The Talmadge apartments as seen in the film.

The Talmadge building as it appears today.

The screenshot below shows Martin and Turner leaving the Talmadge apartments and driving down Wilshire Boulevard. They're in the red car, passing Immanuel Presbyterian Church.

Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd

Immanuel Presbyterian Church as it appears now.

Below is a side view of Immanuel Presbyterian Church looking across South Berendo Street from the Talmadge apartment building.

Martin about to enter the Talmadge building. Immanuel 

Presbyterian Church is in the background.

Side view of the church looking across S. Berendo St.

Each day Turner walks to the newsstand outside of the Thrifty drug store to read the paper and see the results of the horse races. The Thrifty drug store was located at 3333 Wilshire Boulevard, just a couple blocks down from the Talmadge apartment building. The Thrifty drug store is gone and now a modern office building, completed in 1983, stands in its place.

Turner visits the Thrifty Drug Store at

3333 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles

A glass and steel skyscraper now stands at

3333 Wilshire Boulevard.

Turner fainted when she saw the results of the races. Eddie Albert helps Turner back to her apartment. In the screenshot below we can see the Talmadage apartment building a couple blocks up in the background. The building in the foreground is a bank and that building is still being used as a bank today.

Eddie Albert helps Turner back to the Talmadge apartment.

Looking up Wilshire at the corner of S. Catalina Street.

A year later, in 1963, Dean Martin made another "bedtime story" comedy called Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? That film isn't a knee jerker either, but it is closer to the "riotous" tagline that this film claims. You can see some of the film locations from Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? here.

Who's Got the Action? is currently available as a Watch Instantly title on Netflix and will be released on DVD on March  27, 2012.

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).

A Different Side of Cary Grant

Jennifer and Cary Grant (Photo from Parade.com)

This past Sunday, CBS Sunday Morning news ran a great segment on Jennifer Grant reminiscing about her famous father, Cary Grant. The segment includes many photos and home movies of a young Jennifer with her dad. My favorite is a clip of Cary dancing with his daughter and just having fun being a dad.

Director, writer, and film historian Peter Bogdanovich is also interviewed in the segment. Bogdanovich discusses how Cary Grant got his start in Hollywood and how the actor created the persona of Cary Grant. Bogdanovich shares a memory of when he, with then girlfriend Cybil Shepherd, attended an event with Grant.  Bogdanovich retells the story in his spot on Cary Grant impression, explaining that when they approached the ticket taker Grant said, "I'm terribly sorry, I forgot my ticket. May I get in please?" As the ticket taker was looking for his name, Grant says, "It's Cary Grant." "You don't look like Cary Grant," said the ticket taker. And Bogdanovich remembers that Grant, "as quick as wink" said, "I know, nobody does." 

If you missed this segment when it originally aired this past Sunday, it's worth a view. 

Your thoughts?

The Big Fix (1978) - Film Locations Part Two

This is my second entry on the filming locations for the Richard Dreyfuss detective film, The Big Fix (1978). To read part one click here. In this second post we get to see more of downtown Los Angeles as well as a few scenes filmed in Santa Monica, Venice, East Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

As Dreyfuss continues his investigation, he follows a lead that takes him to a neighborhood just east of downtown Los Angeles in the Boyle Heights area. In the scene below, Dreyfuss parks his Volkswagen on Glenn Avenue with the intersection of South Grande Vista Avenue just behind him.

Dreyfuss parked on Glenn Ave at S. Grande Vista Ave

Looking up Glenn Ave toward S. Grande Vista Ave

In the next comparison, Dreyfuss gets out of his car and we get a view looking east down Glenn Avenue. Other than some new trees, the area looks mostly the same. Many of the apartment buildings seen in the film have murals painted on them and even thirty years later many of the murals are still there.

Dreyfuss looking down Glenn Ave near S. Grande Vista Ave.

Looking down Glenn Ave near S. Grande Vista Ave.

Dreyfuss follows a woman through East Los Angeles who runs into the El Mercado, "the market," located at 3425 East First Street, Los Angeles to try and get away. The El Mercado is a large complex made up of a few restaurants, a bakery, and a swap meet/market area.

El Mercado, 3425 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles

El Mercado as it appears today.

In the next scene Dreyfuss pays a visit to Oscar Procari, Sr. (Fritz Weaver) to see if he can dig up more information for his case. Dreyfuss parks across the street from the parking garage entrance at 524 S. Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles (near the Los Angeles Library). Dreyfuss goes into what looks like in the film to be a private athletic club.

The building Dreyfuss visits next to the parking

garage at 524 S. Flower Street, Los Angeles.

The building on Flower Street as it appears today.

At night, Dreyfuss meets up with John Lithgow at the Triforium sculpture located at Temple Street and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. The sculpture was unveiled in 1975, just three years prior to this film.

Dreyfuss and Lithgow in front of the Triforium sculpture.

The Triforium sculpture at Temple and Main Streets

as it appears now.

The District Court building and the Los Angeles City Hall building are landmarks that can also be seen at this intersection as seen in the aerial view below.

An aerial view of the Triforium sculpture.

In a scene when Dreyfuss is driving around in his Volkswagen he goes past the Dolores Restaurant that was once located on the northeast corner of Le Doux  Road and Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The building has been razed and replaced by a modern office building which includes a Wells Fargo bank. Does anyone have any memories of eating at this Dolores locations?

Dolores Restaurant at Le Doux Rd and Wilshire Blvd

The corner of Le Doux Rd & Wilshire Blvd now with

an office building where Dolores Restaurant once stood.

Below, Dreyfuss is back in downtown Los Angeles, this time with his kids and they are running up the stairs to the Pico Boulevard entrance of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Dreyfuss on the stairs of the Los Angeles Convention Center

on Pico Boulevard.

Looking down Pico Blvd towards the Harbor Fwy.

The LA Convention Center stairs are on the right.

The Pico Blvd entrance to the LA Convention Center.

The Pico Blvd entrance as it appears today.

The next few scenes all take place in the beach community of Venice. Below, Dreyfuss is running towards his car which is parked across the street from a shop at 1227 Abbot Kinney Blvd.

Dreyfuss running to his car on Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice.

Looking down Abbot Kinney Blvd toward Aragon Court

1227 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, Ca.

The building at 1227 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice

as it appears today.

A gang of men run down Alhambra Court towards

Aragon Court in Venice.

Looking down Alhambra Court towards

Aragon Court in Venice as it looks today.

In the scene below, a squad of police cars race down Wright Street near downtown Los Angeles.

1587 Wright Street, Los Angeles

1587 Wright Street, Los Angeles

Dreyfuss takes his kids with him while he trails a lady through Santa Monica and Venice.

The parking lot at the Santa Monica Pier as seen in the film.

The Santa Monica pier parking lot as it appears today.

Looking at the Santa Monica pier from the parking lot.

A view of the Santa Monica pier as it appears now.

In the next scene, Dreyfuss and his boys follow a woman down the steps alongside the Santa Monica pier. The restaurant in front of them selling hot dogs is now the Carousel Cafe located at 1601 Ocean Front Walk.

Dreyfuss and boys heading towards 1601 Ocean Front Walk.

1601 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica, Ca

Dreyfuss and his boys continue down Ocean Front Walk from Santa Monica and take it all the way down to next door Venice, ending at the Israel Levin Senior Adult Center at 201 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Ca. The Israel Levin Senior Adult Center is still there on Ocean Front Walk, but the building has had a dramatic makeover. The windows have been covered, the front entrance has changed, and the whole building is now covered in a giant mural.

Israel Levin Senior Adult Center as seen in the film.

201 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Ca

The Senior Center as it appears today.

The next comparisons are just a couple blocks down Ocean Front Walk from the Senior Center in Venice. What was the Land's End Restaurant in the film is now the Candle Cafe & Grill located at 325 Ocean Front Walk.

Dreyfuss standing at 401 Ocean Front Walk, Venice.

Looking at 401 Ocean Front Walk as it appears today.

Dreyfuss and boys at the Land's End Restaurant.

The Land's End Restaurant is now the

Candle Cafe & Grill.

The end of the film all takes place back in downtown Los Angeles near the Convention Center. This area has been completely redeveloped since the time of the film. Many of the buildings have been razed to make room for an expansion of the Convention Center and other new buildings. Dreyfuss is driving down the 110 Freeway and he spots the man he is looking for on the rooftop of a building near the Convention Center building.

Dreyfuss drives on the freeway near the LA Convention Center.

An aerial view of the freeway and Convention Center.

Dreyfuss finds his suspect on the rooftop. The tall building in the background is the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall located at 1816 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles.

Bob Hope Patriotic Hall can bee seen in background.

Aerial view of the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall at

1816 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles

To read part one of The Big Fix (1978) film locations click here.

Your thoughts?