Gun Crazy (1950) - Film Locations

Those attending the 2012 TCM Film Festival this coming weekend will have to make a difficult choice in which film to see during the early evening screenings on Saturday. The obvious choice is the 60th Anniversary World Premiere Restoration of Singin' in the Rain which will be shown in the historic Grauman's Chinese Theater and will include discussions with Debbie Reynolds and Patricia Kelly. I mean, what an opportunity to see one of cinema's most noteworthy musicals in such a spectacular environment with one of the original cast members in attendance! But, at around the same time another great screening will be taking place down the street at the Egyptian Theatre. Gun Crazy may not be as iconic as Singin' in the Rain, but it is a landmark film noir worth adding to the "must see" list. The cinematography in Gun Crazy is marvelous and should look stunning on the large Egyptian Theater screen. And like the Singin in the Rain screening, Gun Crazy will also feature a discussion with one of the stars: Peggy Cummins.

Gun Crazy is a Bonnie and Clyde type of story about a sharp shooter husband who gets pushed into going on a crime spree by his trigger happy wife. The couple then find themselves in over their heads and must go on the lam. Although in the story the action takes place across several states, filming was done in California. One of the filming locations (see the newsstand below) is even walking distance from the Egyptian Theater where the Gun Crazy screening is taking place. Here are some of the key filming locations for Gun Crazy.

One of the great scenes in the film is a robbery that takes place in the fictional town of "Hampton," the real town being Montrose, California. The scene shows Annie (Peggy Cummins) and Bart (John Dall) driving into town, parking next to the bank, pulling the heist and then driving away all in one long continuous shot. We see the couple drive down Verdugo Road, make a right onto Broadview Drive, another right onto Market Street and then a left onto Honolulu Avenue, finally parking at the corner of Honolulu Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard.

Cummins and Dall drive down Broadview Dr

towards Market Street.

Looking down Broadview Dr towards Market St.

Cummins and Dall turn right onto Market Street.

Looking up Market St. towards Honolulu Avenue.

Cummins and Dall about to turn left onto Honolulu Ave.

Market Street facing Honolulu Avenue.

Cummins parks on Honolulu Ave at the corner of Ocean View Blvd

while Dall runs into the bank.

The corner of Honolulu Ave and Ocean View Blvd.

In the film, the bank is the "Hampton Building and Loan Association" but the real name of the bank during the time of filming was Security First National Bank of Los Angeles. Today the building is the site of Faye's Intimate Apparel. 

Cummins looks down Honolulu Ave from Ocean View Blvd.

Looking down Honolulu Ave from Ocean View Blvd.

Another view of the bank on Honolulu and Ocean View.

Honolulu Ave at Ocean View Blvd.

Dall and Cummins make their getaway by turning left 

down Ocean View Blvd.

Looking down Ocean View Blvd towards

Broadview Drive.

Dall and Cummins turn left onto Broadview Dr.

Looking down Broadview Dr. at Market St.

Looking down Broadview Dr. towards Verdugo Rd.

Looking down Broadview Dr. towards Verdugo Rd.

Dall and Cummins turn right on Verdugo Rd.

Turning right onto Verdugo Rd.

In another crime scene Dall and Cummins are seen running out of a store called "Rangers Growers" which was originally the Reseda State Bank building and now is the Allen's Flower Market building located on the corner of Sherman Way and Reseda Blvd in Reseda, California.

"Rangers Growers" on the SW corner of Sherman Way at Reseda Blvd.

Allen's Flower Market is now at the site of

Sherman Way and Reseda Blvd.

Cummins stands at the SE corner of Sherman Way

and Reseda Blvd and aims her gun towards Rangers Growers.

Looking at the SE corner of Sherman Way and Reseda Blvd.

Looking South down Reseda Blvd from Sherman Way.

Looking South down Reseda Blvd from Sherman Way.

Looking North down Reseda Blvd towards Sherman Way.

Looking North down Reseda Blvd towards Sherman Way.

Looking west down Sherman Way from Amigo Ave.

Old Richfield Gas Station can be seen on the left.

Looking west down Sherman Way from Amigo Ave.

The old Richfield gas station is now part of Eckharts Trailer Hitch.

In a third robbery, Dall and Cummins rob an Armour's Meat Packing plant. In the story the plant is located in Albuquerque, but the filming location is located at 2300 East Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. The robbery begins at the plant on Olympic Boulevard and during the getaway, Dall and Cummins drive down Mateo Street.

An Armour meat truck drives down Olympic Blvd

heading towards Mateo Street.

Looking down Olympic from Mateo. The yellow oval

marks the railroad crossing that is still present.

The truck drives down Olympic and passes Mateo Street.

The Department of Water and Power building at 926 Mateo Street can be seen in the background inside the red square.

Looking down Mateo Street from Olympic Blvd.

The truck drives down Olympic and passes Mateo St.

Looking down Mateo St. from Olympic Blvd.

In the next screenshots the meat truck continues down Olympic Boulevard. It has passed Mateo Street and begins to enter the driveway at 2300 East Olympic Boulevard. Unfortunately, the Armour's Meat Packing building seen in the film is no longer standing at the site.

The Armour truck turns into the driveway on Olympic.

A car is parked at about 2305 Olympic Blvd in background.

Looking across from the Armour entrance on Olympic.

Another car is parked in the yellow circle near 2305 Olympic.

The truck pulls into the Armour plant on Olympic Blvd.

Looking down Olympic Blvd from the Armour entrance.

The Armour's entrance near 2300 E. Olympic Blvd.

The former site of the Armour plant at 2300 E. Olympic Blvd.

In the next few screenshots Dall and Cummins make their getaway by leaving the Armour meat packing plant parking lot and driving down Mateo Street.

Dall and Cummins pull out from the Armour parking lot on 

Olympic Blvd and drive down Mateo Street.

Looking down Mateo Street from Olympic Blvd.

Dall and Cummins on Mateo Street crossing 7th Street.

The Merchants National Bank building can be seen on the right.

Looking down Mateo Street near 7th Street.

Dall and Cummins continue down Mateo to Industrial Street. 

The National Biscuit Co. building can be seen on the left.

Mateo at Industrial Street. National Biscuit Co. on left.

Dall and Cummins continue down Mateo and approach Jesse Street.

Looking down Mateo St. towards Jesse St.

After Dall and Cummins have committed a crime spree across the United States, they eventually make their way to Los Angeles, California. One of their first stops is to a newsstand located at 1655 North Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood. Dall hops out of a cab, picks up a newspaper and then gets back in the cab. At the end of Las Palmas Ave we get a view of the First Baptist Church on 6682 Selma Ave. If you attend the Gun Crazy screening at the Egyptian Theater you can make a pit stop at this filming location which is just blocks from the theater.

Cummins and Dall parked at newsstand at 1655 N. Las Palmas Ave. 

The First Baptist Church can be seen in the distance.

Looking down Las Palmas Ave towards Selma.

Newsstand is on right and First Baptist Church at end of street.

Dall and Cummins, while in Los Angeles, spend a day at Ocean Park Pier. This pier was an amusement park filled with roller coasters, themed attractions, carnival games, and restaurants. It was a separate pier a little further down from the existing Santa Monica Pier. Unfortunately, the Ocean Park Pier fell into disrepair and eventually was demolished. Dall and Cummins visit what was the Egyptian Ball Room (How fitting then that the Gun Crazy screening is being shown in the Egyptian theater?).

Dall outside the Egyptian Ball Room on Ocean Park Pier

in Santa Monica.

Ansel Adams photo of Ocean Park Pier ca. 1940.

Photo from Los Angeles Public Library.

If your attending the TCM Film Festival next weekend I strongly recommend the screening of Gun Crazy on Saturday evening. Gun Crazy is available on DVD but it certainly will be a treat to see on the big screen.

Your thoughts?

The Hard Way (1943) - Film Locations

When I watched the film The Hard Way (1943) I wanted to reach into the screen and slap actress Ida Lupino. Her character was just so unrelentingly ruthless. Lupino's performance was so believable that I couldn't help myself from hating her character. Add to that by contrast, supporting actors Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson seem like such good guys, it's hard to watch them being taken advantage of by Lupino. Although she wasn't nominated for an Oscar, at least the New York Film Critics recognized Lupino's strong performance by giving her a Best Actress award. And Lupino isn't the only one who turns in a strong performance. Both Carson and Morgan shine in their dramatic roles. With such great acting and an interesting gritty story, I'm surprised The Hard Way hasn't received more recognition.

If you enjoy manipulative backstabbing showbiz stories like the Bette Davis film All About Eve (1950), then you may want to give the lesser known The Hard Way a try. After not being available on DVD for quite a while it eventually was released as part of the Warner Archive collection. In The Hard Way, Lupino is the big sister who will do anything to make her little sister Katherine (Joan Leslie) a star, even if it means hurting other people in order to climb to the top of the showbiz ladder. Lupino acts almost like a stage mother. She lives vicariously through her younger sister's successes. In Morgan and Carson, a vaudeville duo, Lupino sees the men as an opportunity to propel Leslie's showbiz career and a chance for Lupino herself to escape her drab life in a sleepy steel town. When Leslie eventually becomes the toast of Broadway and no longer needs the help of Morgan and Carson, Lupino encourages Leslie to leave the two vaudevillians behind. Carson, who has fallen in love and has married Leslie, is especially struck hard by Lupino's manipulations.

The Hard Way was mostly filmed inside soundstages on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, although there are a couple exterior scenes that make use of the Warner Bros. backlot. In one scene near the beginning of the film, Leslie, who hasn't yet left the steel town of Green Hill to start her showbiz career is seen taking a class photo in front of her high school. The building that is used as Green Hill High School is actually a structure on Warner Bros. Midwest Street and is one of the earliest films I have noticed to have used Midwest Street.

Joan Leslie takes a class photo in front of Green Hill High School,

really a facade on Midwest Street at Warner Bros.

The same facade on Midwest Street as it appears today.

Ida Lupino and Joan Leslie on Midwest Street.

In another camera angle we can kind of see another building on Midwest Street located near the Green Hill High School building. 

Another view of Midwest Street with Lupino and Leslie.

The view behind Lupino and Leslie as it appears now.

I believe the scene near the end of the film where Dennis Morgan looks for Leslie at a big New York theater was shot on the Warner Bros. New York Street. Below Morgan can be seen walking underneath a theater facade.

Morgan walks past a theater facade on New York Street.

Looking down New York Street at Warner Bros.

Next to the theater is a little alley with a set of stairs leading up the side of the building. The facade of the theater on the Warner Bros. New York Street also has a very similar alley and stairs.

Morgan and Leslie in the alley on New York Street.

Looking into the alley on New York Street as it appears now.

The fun thing about being a classic film fan is discovering some of the enjoyable films that haven't received a lot of recognition, that don't get the regular praises as such classics as say Casablanca or Citizen Kane. The Hard Way may not be in the same class as those films, but it tries hard and deserves more attention.

Sylvia (1965) - Film Locations

First, something a little off subject - on March 22, my wife gave birth to our daughter and future cinephile, Hazel! It was a really long day, beginning at 1:00am when my wife's waters broke and continuing with a long labor that didn't end until 7:02pm when Hazel finally arrived. My wife was a real pro. She had a completely natural birth with no drugs. The hospital kept pushing the epidural over and over again but my wife stuck to her original goal of having a natural birth without drugs. Even during the transition part of labor, the worst part of the process, my wife listened to her body's natural signs and worked through the pain. She was awesome and handled it well.

Now we have a beautiful little girl and although she has kept me from getting any sleep, she is just too precious to get upset at. I am very excited to be a dad and to begin teaching Hazel "Good Stuff" as Laura, from the blog Laura's Miscellaneous Musings commented, quoting a Cary Grant reference that he  used with his daughter Jennifer.  No doubt you will be hearing more about Hazel and other good stuff, but now onto another girl named Sylvia.

In the film Sylvia (1965) California millionaire Frederic Summers (Peter Lawford) is engaged to Sylvia (Carroll Baker), a beautiful, sophisticated and wealthy author of poetry, but before he marries, Summers hires private investigator Alan Macklin (George Maharis) to uncover Sylvia's past. There is something mysterious about Sylvia and Summers wants to be sure that she doesn't want to marry him just for his money. What Macklin discovers is a dark past filled with abuse, prostitution and blackmail but rather than share these details with Summers, he keeps this information to himself. That's because Macklin has also fallen in love with Sylvia.

Macklin's investigation begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the city where he learns that Sylvia grew up. In the screenshots below we see an aerial view of Pittsburgh and a shot of Macklin entering the city through the Fort Pitt Tunnel.

Aerial view of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as seen in Sylvia.

Contemporary view looking down at Pittsburgh

from Mount St. Mary's Church, 403 Grandview Ave

Macklin enters Pittsburgh through the Fort Pitt Tunnel

The Fort Pitt Tunnel

Crossing the Fort Pitt Bridge

Looking across the Fort Pitt Bridge

Below, Macklin visits a Pittsburgh church where he tries to dig up some information on Sylvia. In the background, in the red square we can see the historic Penn Sheraton hotel located at 530 William Penn Place and in the yellow circle the tower of the Allegheny Courthouse and Jail building located at 436 Grant Street. An interesting tidbit about the William Penn Hotel, according to Wikipedia, it was the site of Bob Hope's marriage proposal in 1934.

Macklin stands at church. Allegheny Courthouse and

Penn Sheraton hotel can be seen in background.

Looking down Centre Avenue towards the William Penn Hotel.

Bing Birds Eye view of Allegheny Courthouse 

and William Penn Hotel.

Later in the film, Macklin's investigation takes him back to California. Sylvia has left her dark past behind her and settled in sunny Los Angeles, where she is soon to be married to the millionaire Fredric Summers. Below, Macklin takes a cab from the LAX airport. In the background is the iconic and kitschy Encounter Restaurant and Bar, a building that looks like something straight out of The Jetsons cartoon series.

Macklin takes a cab from LAX airport. Encounter is on the right.

Outside LAX. Encounter can be seen in the red circle.

Macklin eventually finds Sylvia in a Brentwood bookstore called the Brentwood Book Shop, the now closed Dutton's Brentwood Books, located at 11975 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Macklin parked outside Brentwood Book Shop

at 11975 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles.

Looking down San Vicente Boulevard today.

Macklin looks through the window of the Brentwood Book Shop.

The book store is now the site of Cisco Home, a 

sustainable living furniture store.

After Macklin meets Sylvia he spends the day with her at Kiddieland, a kiddie park that was once located where the Beverly Center mall now stands at the corner of Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard. Kiddieland had pony rides and carnival like attractions. Does anyone have any memories of visiting Kiddieland before it closed?

Macklin (Maharis) and Sylvia (Carroll Baker) enter

Kiddieland park from Beverly Boulevard.

The Beverly Center mall now stands at the corner of

Beverly Blvd & La Cienega Blvd.

Macklin and Sylvia enter Kiddieland. In the background

looking across Beverly Blvd. up La Cienega Blvd.

Looking up La Cienega Blvd across from Beverly Blvd.

Maharis and Baker stroll through Kiddieland.

Sylvia is an entertaining drama that takes some risks and features some interesting filming locations. Surprisingly it hasn't been released on DVD but it is currently available as a Watch Instantly title on Netflix.

Fredric March - Attack Ads "Dirty Trick"

Fredric March with wife Florence Eldridge

With an election coming up later this year and with a Republican presidential primary in progress, it's hard to avoid the many political attack ads airing on television. I'm just glad that California, where I'm at, is one of the last states in the primary process so we haven't quite been bombarded with ads the way other states have. Still, every news program seems to re-run the ads. I just saw one a couple weeks ago that portrayed Mitt Romney as an action figure - think Arnold Schwarzenegger in any of his action roles - running around with a large mudslinging gun. Eventually while Romney is firing his mudslinging gun it backfires on him. The sad thing is, contrary to the message of this particular ad, attack ads have proven to be an effective weapon for taking down an opponent. For this reason, despite how much any of us seem to dislike attack ads, politicians continue to use them.

Of course, these polished attack ads that sometimes look like a trailer for an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster are nothing new. Attack ads have been used for a long time. For that matter, Hollywood has been involved for a long time in producing attack ads.

The classic movie related blog Sittin On A Backyard Fence is currently hosting a blogathon dedicated to the early Hollywood star, Fredric March. As my contribution to the Fredric March blogathon I couldn't think of anything more currently relevant than a short anecdote that involves March, a political campaign, Hollywood and attack ads.

During the 1934 campaign for governor of California, socialist writer and political activist Upton Sinclair was the choice candidate for many politically left leaning Hollywood celebrities. Fredric March and his wife, actress Florence Eldridge, both progressive Hollywood liberals,  were part of Sinclair's ardent Hollywood supporters. To make a long story short and keep this centered on March, Sinclair lost the election. Many Sinclair supporters believed that Sinclair might have won the election if it wasn't for a series of newsreel films that were really just attack ads. In some of the films, supporters of Sinclair were shown as shady looking characters or spoke like newly arrived immigrants with foreign accents, while supporters of Sinclair's opponent, incumbent Republican Governor Frank M. Merriam, were always shown as respectable, upstanding citizens. 

At a post-election party hosted by March and Eldridge in Beverly Hills, several guests complained about the use of the films. In the book The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics, author Greg Mitchell writes about an exchange that took place at the party between March and the respected MGM producer, Irving Thalberg:

"Suddenly, and to the surprise of nearly everyone, Irving Thalberg quietly announced, 'I made those shorts.'
'But it was a dirty trick!' Fredric March protested. 'It was the damnedest unfair thing I've ever heard of.'
'Nothing is unfair in politics,' Thalberg replied, unperturbed. 'We could sit down here and figure dirty things all night, and every one of them would be all right in a political campaign.'
'It wouldn't be all right with me,' March maintained.
'That's because you don't know politics,' Thalberg answered, recalling his days as a boy orator for the Socialist party in New York. Tammany Hall, he explained, never would have let his party win an election in New York. 'Fairness in an election,' Thalberg advised, 'is a contradiction in terms. It just doesn't exist.'"

Nearly eight decades later and the same argument is still taking place in politics!

To read more about actor Fredric March please visit the blog Sittin On A Backyard Fence where many bloggers are contributing entries on all aspects of March's career.

Liberace and Terry Thomas Duet

Liberace and Terry Thomas Duet

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy both at work and at home. On the home front, my wife and I have been getting ready to welcome a daughter into our lives. We've been slowly turning what was once our office/craft room space into a little girl's bedroom, buying all the baby essentials, and reading up on birthing methods. Honestly, my wife has been the more studious one - doing most of the reading. Although, I can say I have attended classes and seen my fair share of pregnancy related documentaries - which there are many - just do a quick search on Netflix. 

With dwindling free time I'm taking a relaxing break to catch up on some YouTube fluff. I came across the video above of Liberace and actor Terry Thomas singing a duet of, "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anyone Seen My Girl?)." It's a fun and silly song, with Liberace and Thomas adding in some of their own improvisations. My favorite line is when Liberace says, "pearls and sequins, jewels and furs" and Thomas jumps in with "enough about you and now about her."