The Munsters Debut

62 years ago today, “The Munsters” debuted on CBS Television. While “The Addams Family” was released first (just six days before on CBS), “The Munsters” is my favorite. The initial pilot was filmed in color with a different tone and characterizations than the final show that was eventually approved by the network brass.



As Phoebe, Joan Marshall’s daughter of Dracula character was more in line with Vampira and Morticia Addams.



Played as if her face had just been frozen by Botox, there was very little warmth in the Phoebe character.



Eddie, the son, was ironically portrayed by Happy Derman. This little snarling brat was anything but happy. There was zero appeal or warmth for this character. Recasting fixed both problems.



Phoebe became Lily and would be played by Hollywood star and glamour girl Yvonne DeCarlo, shown with former beau Robert Stack below:



Both Fred Gwynne (Herman) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) bristled at the thought of DeCarlo, assuming she couldn’t handle the comedy while bringing an attitude to the set. As Lewis would later admit, they were both wrong. Dead wrong! Eddie was recast with Butch Patrick, who played an ordinary little boy who just happened to have pointed ears and a werewolf for a teddy bear.



The opening credit sequence set the tone for the show; it satirized the typical “Leave It To Beaver” intro to each family member while adding a warm comedic touch. Gwynn’s characterization of Herman was more bumbling and lovable in the revamped show. The network brass decided to go with black and white instead of color, since it added about $10k per episode. It was the right choice, as the black and white cinematography fits in better with the Universal Studio monsters with which the show spoofs.



As if those changes weren’t enough, there would be one more.



As she described in the documentary “The Munsters: America’s First Family of Fright,” actress Beverley Owen was getting ready to move to New York to be with her boyfriend when she got the call for the Munsters pilot. With doubts that it would ever make it to fruition, she agreed to play the “normal” niece of Herman and Lily Munster. Desolate at being stuck on the west coast while her honey was in the east, Gwynne and Lewis helped Owen get out of her contract.



Pat Priest took over the role, with her first episode airing on December 24, 1964. Many didn’t even notice the change as the two bore a striking resemblance to each other. Another bonus of hiring Priest was that she was able to fit into Owen’s wardrobe, saving the production a fair amount of money.



Who was better? I like both of them for different reasons, but have to vote for Priest as the best choice for Marilyn. Owen’s characterization had a touch more glamour and smarts to her, making it a bit harder to believe that she isn’t aware of her beauty as Marilyn, or that her family are truly the odd looking ones not her. Priest brought a certain naiveté and genuine warmth to the role which were missing when Owen was part of the family.



By the third season, the opening theme was a bit jazzier and the credits were filmed on the porch instead of in the foyer of the gothic Munster mansion.



A popular stop on the Universal Studios tour was the Munster Home, as seen in this poorly composed shot from September 1965:



In all fairness, the trams didn’t always give the best vantage points for photos. Here’s another one showing iconic 1313 Mockingbird Lane street numbers on the exterior pillars of the home, circa March 1966:



Lasting only two seasons, the show is still remembered. TV and film reboots have failed, and I would attribute this to two things: the cast and the superior writing. The chemistry between Gwynne and Lewis is unmatched, and DeCarlo held it all together as the matriarch with a touch of Hollywood glamour. The original show also had a family warmth and appeal that is hard to reproduce. There were moral lessons that were seamlessly presented that when looked at today, are still valuable and heartwarming without being in your face or cloying. NECA has recently released 7" action figures of both Herman and Grandpa; they quickly sold out!



It is amazing how much detail is captured at this small size:



Each figure comes with a generous amount of props that will make fans of the show remember the specific episodes that inspired them:



Hey NECA; how about a Lily, Marilyn, and Eddie?

Happy Anniversary, Munsters!

See more Classic TV & Movie photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Heidi Hijinks

David Butler first directed Shirley in 1934’s “Bright Eyes,” where she launched a taxiing airplane with “On The Good Ship Lollipop.” No…it wasn’t a boat. In the first photo of today’s post, he visited Shirley on the set of “Heidi” (1937) and the two seemed to be having a bit of fun. It was important that the studio gave little Shirley directors who knew how to relate to children, as it made the work day for her more like play. The result yielded a more natural performance out of the talented tot, and Butler was smart enough to realize that. In 1937, Butler directed two films on the Fox lot: “Ali Baba Goes to Town” and “You’re a Sweetheart.” Based on production dates from the AFI website,  “Heidi” was from May 17 to mid-July 1937;  “Ali Baba” was from late July 1937 to early September 1937. “Sweetheart” was September 7 - late October 1937. If one was to guess, Butler was around for pre-production on “Ali Baba” when he visited Shirley. Below, Butler interrupts a game of checkers between Shirley and “Bright Eyes” costar James Dunn:



Apparently checkers was a favorite game for Shirley between takes; below it’s a different day during “Bright Eyes” filming, but the same activity!



Back to “Heidi”…it just wouldn’t be a Daveland post without a few rabbit holes! Another day, another visitor to “Heidi.” Not sure who the semi-goofy looking guy is, but Shirley was caught mid-blink.



Zooming in to show her costume:



I was able to see it in person at the Santa Monica History Museum before Theriault’s auctioned it off in 2015:



The obligatory detail shot:



As they often did, the studio gifted Shirley a custom-made doll using the same fabrics as her actual costume.



Another “no idea” on this set visitor with the overbite:



…or the significance of the blurry coin in her hand. At least I think it’s a coin.



This particular costume was sold off by Theriault’s, but wasn’t on display at Santa Monica. Sigh. The Theriault’s auction photo will have to do.



If you zoom into the small photo downloaded from the web, as so many shamelessly do and pass off as their own, you get bupkis on the details, and instead a fair amount of blur.



When applying AI, you get a much crisper photo, but the accuracy for the fabric and the techniques used in construction go down the toilet. AI has its uses, but can only do so much when it “guesses” about information for an existing photo. Just a cautionary tale when using this new tool!



 See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

L.A. Confidential at the Los Angeles Theatre

It only took me about three months to finally get this post done, which is actually pretty good for me these days as I often feel like I’m at least a year behind. No kidding! As part of the LA Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats series, “L.A. Confidential” (1997) played on the big screen at the Los Angeles Theatre in downtown L.A.



From the L.A. Theatre website:

The Los Angeles Theatre was the last and most extravagant of the ornate movie palaces built on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles between 1911 and 1931. Designed by architect S. Charles Lee with a French Baroque-inspired décor, its majestic six-story main lobby and 2,200-seat auditorium of carved plaster ornamentation, mirrors, and cove-lit murals recall the glamorous days of 1930s Hollywood.



The terrazzo floor outside on the street displays a level of craftsmanship one does not typically see anymore:



The inside is jaw-dropping! Opulent and yes, a tad-bit gaudy, it still packs a wallop nearly one hundred years after it first opened for the premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” on January 30, 1931.
 


I am obsessed with the fountain area shown below. It took me quite some time to get a decent shot sans cellphone gawkers standing in my way. I don’t mind other people taking photos; just those taking numerous selfies, obliterating this beautiful area with their ego-driven faces snapping shot after shot after shot, hoping to get the perfect image for their social media, proving that they were here.



Before the film started, James Ellroy, author of the book L.A. Confidential, gave a reading from his new book, Red Sheet. Not a fan of LA, he said he only came to the city for three reasons: 1. Where he goes when he is getting a divorce 2. When he has to dry out 3. To make money. His reading of his latest novel was just as I would expect it to be from him: slightly anger, very vulgar, and somewhat hard to follow.



That killer smile of his as he signed my copy of Red Scare. I have been struggling to read through it, as his staccato/machine gun writing style takes a bit to get used to. L.A. Confidential was one of the few times where I would say I prefer the film to the novel. Ellroy has wonderful stories to tell; I’m just not a huge fann of his writing style.



Heading back to the theatre itself, I snapped (what else?!?) a light fixture or two:



The impressive stage curtain:



The detail on the ceiling. Wow. Just wow.



Ellroy spoke for a bit before the film started. He didn’t elaborate, but it was easy to read between the lines that other than the money he was paid for the film rights to his novel,  he was not a fan of the adaptation.



I was pretty excited to see it up on the big screen again, especially in this grand movie palace. The print was muddy and throughout there were focus issues. Despite that, the film was still impressive. Stellar cast, stellar set design, and killer dialogue.



See more Los Angeles Theatre photos at my main website.