McFly Monday

I recently added another “Back to the Future” filming location to my list: Whittier High School, aka Hill Valley High School in the “BTTF” franchise. Both John Lasseter (of Pixar fame) and Richard Nixon (37th President of the U.S.) attended the hallowed halls of this school.



A fence surrounds the entire complex, so it was impossible to get any decent closeup shots or spend a lot of time trying to figure out what was filmed where.



It would appear that the Administration section of the complex…



is the section that is featured in these frames:







The building retains its Art Deco charm, with plenty of interesting details:



The Vic Lopez auditorium was constructed in 1946:



Previous blog posts covered my visits to the Gamble House in Pasadena:



…aka Doc Brown’s home:



The Blacker House:



…used for interiors of Doc Brown’s:



The First Methodist Church in Hollywood:



…where the Enchantment Under the Sea dance was held:



The most iconic building is the Courthouse set from the Universal lot, which has been built and rebuilt so many times I have doubts that anything from 1985 is still left of it. Here’s what it looked like in 2004:





During my 2004 visit to Universal, the DeLorean was rusting outdoors for all to paw at:



There are still a few filming locations for “BTTF” for me to visit. Stay tuned!

See more Daveland photos at my main website.

Melinda Goes to Universal

Daveland reader Melinda S. noticed that my collection has a huge void of 1980’s photos and generously donated these images to the cause! Her collection included shots from her June 1980 trip to California. Today’s post features her photos from Universal Studios. Melinda’s memories of Disneyland (coming soon!) are more vivid, but what she doesn’t recall is made up for in these vintage shots! As she remembers:

We took this trip somewhere in the middle to end of June 1980. I would have been 9, my sister 5. The Universal Studios tour was neat and being able to pick up the van all by myself was pretty darn cool - I do remember thinking it was still pretty heavy and almost not being able to do it!





Some of Melinda’s images you Universal nutz will have to fill in the data for, as I do not recall what they are from, either.





I really love this overall view of the backlot:



A closeup of the Town Square area that was used in “Back to the Future” and so many other movies:



Compare with my shot from 2004:



While very similar, there appears to have been some movement and rebuilding that occurred over those twenty years, most likely because of having to be rebuilt due to fire(s).



Back to Melinda and 1980! Another backlot view:



A quiet little seaport town. But wait…what’s at the bottom of the frame?



That dastardly shark, Bruce from “Jaws”!



I don't remember meeting the Cyclon, but my sister says she does.

I’m sure Universal was thrilled to have Melinda’s family wearing Disney merchandise! I LOVE it!!



All locked up and no place to go:



Compare with this September 1969 shot from my collection:



Back to 1980 and Melinda enjoying those oversized props.



Here’s another feat of strength from Melinda. As she remembers:

The jail 'bars' were rubbery and really easy to pull apart.



I am going to guess there was some kind of “attraction” at Universal where you could see a snowfall, something Southern California is not known for.



From my collection, the same set in November 1965:



One of the shows Melinda and family went to was a trained animal show:







And another family favorite, the stunt show!



Stay tuned for more from Melinda S.!

See more Universal Studios photos at my main website.

Trip to Hollywood, June 1963

A recent acquisition to my vintage collection was this set of June 1963 images which show tourist sites from Hollywood and Los Angeles. What I love about this set are the vintage handwritten notes on the back that describe little details that I would not have known otherwise. On June 12th, our vintage photographer visited Universal Studios. According to the note on the back, this one is a “Universal International Revue Studio,” and the second car from the right (a Rolls Royce) belongs to Jack Benny.



The image below features the Shanty boat used in “Tammy and the Bachelor,” the 1957 Debbie Reynolds movie.



Next up, they visited the Hollywood Bowl, using this escalator to get to the famed venue.



“Truck working on fountains;  had just turned them off” is the description for this one.



As if that wasn’t enough, they also trekked over to the Farmers Market off Fairfax:



I’d never noticed the weathervane on top before.



Nearby at the CBS Television studio, they got to see Red Skelton’s costumes…but apparently not Red Skelton.



How about this plate for the AMC Rambler; CBS 199. Coincidence? I wonder who it belonged to. Apparently this car was Motor Trends Car of the year!



One shot of the Capitol Records building was not enough. In case you were wondering, it was shot at 100 f/4.



Zooming in we can see the Cleopatra Parking Lot and Du-Par’s Restaurant:



This second shot, slightly blurrier, was shot at 100 f/8.



What trip to Hollywood would be complete without a trek to the famed Hollywood & Vine street corner? The Brown Derby restaurant is visible in the background.



The next day included a trip to Chinatown, where they saw this Wishing Well:



…and the Hong Building, which is still there today:



It would appear that the trip ended on June 15, at (not surprisingly) LAX:







See more Hollywood photos at my main website.