Paramount on Location, Pt. 1

“Back in the day,” most films were shot at the studio; even exteriors were re-created inside the cavernous soundstages to avoid costly delays caused by the elements/lighting. These vintage production photos from Paramount Studio are rare records of when the movie crew chose to use a real-life outdoor setting. Released October 11, 1935, “The Last Outpost” starred Cary Grant and Claude Rains and was based on the short story “The Drum” by F. Britten Austin in Red Book Magazine (September 1923). These photos show the now demolished Hotel Del Tahquitz in Palm Springs. How about that vintage Automobile Club sign in the detailed view below?



Symposis of the film from TCM.com:

In Turkistan, during World War I, British Army officer Michael Andrews is saved from death under the Kurds by British Secret Service agent John Stevenson. The two men then save the Balkari tribe by leading them, along with their livestock, across mountains.



The Hotel Del Tahquitz opened in 1928 and was located at 316 South Palm Canyon Drive, right on the main drag of Palm Springs. It had tennis, badminton courts, a “Alice in Wonderland School and Playhouse,” The Saddle Bar X, and a rooftop solarium for nude sun bathing. Scandalous! If you’re unfamiliar with what a European Plan is, it means you are paying for room only, and food and beverage are extra. Makes it sound fancier, doesn’t it? An LA Times tidbit about the film from October 13, 1935:

“The Last Outpost” is doing surprisingly well at the Paramount. Greatly aided by lavish use of clips from African films it achieves topical appeal which relates it to the Italo-Ethiopian conflict and patronage consequently is heavy. Excellent performances are contributed by Claude Rains, Gertrude Michael and Cary Grant, but their acting is subordinated to the pursuit of tribesmen and stampeding hippopotami.



An LA Times blurb from October 17, 1935 focused on Cary Grant:

“I want to be hated. I’m fed up with well-mannered drawing-room roles,” exclaimed Cary Grant during the making of “The Last Outpost,” successor to “Lives of a Bengal Lancer,” which opens today at the Paramount Theater. “These namby-pamby heroes don’t get me anywhere,” said Cary. “In ‘The Last Outpost’ I’m going to show how tough a tough egg really can be.” Grant is cast as a British captain on the Arabian front. He fails in love with the wife of a brother officer, and the trio work out their fate under threat of momentary death.

If Grant was concerned about a namby-pamby image, he probably shouldn’t have been posing for photos with “roommate” Randolph Scott in somewhat sexually ambiguous shots. But I digress…



Back to the Tahquitz and some vintage autos parked in front:



I’m not sure who the three gents up top are. Maybe they are getting ready to check out the solarium?



I LOVE the Cordoba travel poster on the wall.



I attempted to find it through google; while I found similarly-styled ones, I could not find the exact one. It can be mentally painful to be so detail-oriented. Close, but as the saying goes, “no cigar.” The art for this one was by Joaquin y Rafael Diaz-jara.



What’s at the location of the demolished hotel now? Based on google maps, it would appear that the parking lot between the The Palm Springs Architecture & Design Center and The Grocery Outlet is the answer. The final Paramount production still for today is from the comedy “She Made Her Bed,” 1934, filmed in Victorville, California, where the location below showing an auto park was captured:



Starring Richard Arlen, Sally Eilers, and Robert Armstrong, the film was based on the short story “Baby in the Ice-Box” by James M. Cain in American Mercury (January 1933). Synopsis edited from the TCM website:

Duke and Lura Gordon have been married four years and run an auto park and coffee shop in San Benito, California. Duke considers himself a "he-man" and runs a small side show on the lot with wildcats. He is also a continual philanderer, and when the 1932 Pomona County Fair brings customers to the auto park, he has an affair with a seductive redhead, Eve McGillicuddy.

More production shots to come in the future! See more Classic Film photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley and the Fools

In honor of April Fools’ Day, today’s post shows Shirley getting fooled or her costars portraying a fool, beginning with “Just Around the Corner” (1938). In the plot of this musical comedy, Shirley mistakes wealthy businessman Samuel G. Henshaw (Claude Gillingwater) for the beleagured Depression-weary Uncle Sam.



In order to help poor old “Uncle Sam,” Shirley stages a benefit in his honor, making him the laughing stock of New York City.



When all is figured out, the benefit goes on as planned and Henshaw single-handedly saves the world from the Depression. Sound far-fetched and stretched? It sure is, but somehow Shirley makes it all work out. She may have been fooled, but she was definitely no fool!



In “The Little Princess” (1939), Shirley Temple’s costar, Arthur Treacher, portrays the Court Jester/Fool in a dream sequence.



It is fairly hilarious to see the typically dignifed-butler-portraying Teacher in satin and tights, prancing around with his jester puppet.



He may have portrayed stiffs, but Treacher knew how to do a good turnout, as seen by his pose below!



Treacher’s faded tunic came up for sale in the Debbie Reynolds auction:

Arthur Treacher court-jester tunic designed by Gwen Wakeling from the Shirley Temple movie, "The Little Princess," 1939. SOLD FOR $650. Veteran British character actor Arthur Treacher plays a frustrated ex-vaudevillian forced into subservience to his cruel sister running the girls boarding school which Shirley Temple attends. This humorous split-color satin jester’s outfit by Gwen Wakeling is worn by Treacher to great effect in Shirley’s dream fantasy number in The Little Princess. United Costumers label inside reads, “ARTHUR TREACHER B931”. The special blue dye for costumes in 3-strip Technicolor films is one of the most fragile, and has here faded to aubergine; else, with minor handling and aging, Very Good overall.



His tights appeared at a later date. Hard to believe they survived all this time!



A few screenshots from the lavish Technicolor© production:



My favorite Treacher line from this dream sequence referring to Mary Nash’s evil character:

Listen to the old grand-mommy,
You’re a nasty peeping tommy!



In “Young People” (1940), as Shirley’s father, Jack Oakie portrays the biggest fool of them all.



Blustery and a bit full of himself, he is the butt of every joke. Below, daughter (Shirley) and wife (Charlotte Greenwood) have to remind him that their dressing room is in the opposite direction of where he is heading.



When the family retires from showbiz to settle down in a hick farming community, they are not readily accepted by the conservative townfolk, who appoint Oakie is a one-man-chamber-of-commerce as a joke. The problem is, Oakie thinks it’s for real.



When Oakie’s character helps the kids stage a somewhat raunchy musical number for the townsfolk, the joke is revealed and the town spinster reveals to him exactly what everyone thinks of him.



Sad to find out that her dad has been made out to be a fool, Shirley drowns her sorrows in multiple sodas. 



Fear not, as Shirley never stays down for long. Dad saves the kids from certain death during a hurricane and is hailed a hero. The family ends the film on a high note by entertaining a more receptive community with a musical number.



Remember any other fools from Shirley’s films?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

The San Diego El Cortez in 3D!

Today’s post features vintage images of the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego, circa November 1956. At the top of the hotel was the legendary Sky Room, which featured “…the world’s great inspirational, panoramic views” of downtown.



Two genuine FauxD© images from the hotel show what the postcard is bragging about:





The Plaza Hotel sign shown in the detailed view below still exists. From roadarch.com comes this info:

The Plaza Hotel was known as the New Plaza Hotel when it opened in the 1930s. The rooftop sign is probably from then.



The Plaza is permanently closed from what I can find. From a 2014 article on the San Diego Magazine website comes this brief history of El Cortez:

Completed on Thanksgiving Day in 1927. It was the tallest building in San Diego. Designed by Walker and Eisen Architects in Spanish Renaissance style, the $2 million project was built atop the site of Ulysses S. Grant, Jr.’s former home. In 1928, El Cortez had 85 apartment suites, available to rent for $100 per month, and 32 hotel rooms for $5 per day. Flashing atop Cortez Hill, the El Cortez neon sign was installed in 1937 to serve as a beacon for the U.S. Navy. The Sky Room was added to the 15th floor in 1940 and quickly became a hot spot on the San Diego social scene. During World War II the 12th floor was used as an anti-aircraft battery and radar station. Hotel entrepreneur Harry Handlery purchased El Cortez in 1951 and made numerous additions to attract more clientele. In 1956, he added the Starlight Express, the second exterior glass elevator in the world and the first in the U.S., transporting guests to the Starlight Room for cocktails above the city.



Circa 1958. notice the Sky Room sign letters on top of the El Cortez Hotel sign visible in the detailed view below:



In 1978, its allure faded, Handlery’s son Paul sold El Cortez for $7.5 million to Rev. Morris Cerullo, the head of World Evangelism Inc. Most of the hotel’s meeting and social spaces were gutted to accommodate ministry and evangelical training until 1981, when Cerullo sold it for more than $20 million. El Cortez was named a historic site by the City of San Diego’s Historical Resources Board in 1990, saving it from demolition. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. El Cortez was purchased by the historic preservation firm J. Peter Block Companies in 1997 and restored to residential status. A grand reopening gala was held in June 2000. Today, El Cortez is home to 85 condo units and 11 commercial units. As of December 2014, a 670-square-foot one-bedroom/one-bath condo was listed for sale at $299,000; a 2,000-square-foot two-bedroom/two-bath condo was more than double that, at $669,000. HOA fees top $620 per month.



See more San Diego El Cortez photos at my main website.