Paramount on Location, Pt. 3

Before Walt Disney released his animated version in 1951, Paramount filmed a mostly live-action version of “Alice in Wonderland” back in 1933. It’s just as odd as Lewis Carroll’s literary classic from which it was adapted and proved to be a box office failure. Charlotte Henry was cast as the cute but somewhat bland heroine, Alice, who daydreams her way through a series of adventures in Wonderland. As you can see by the still below, Cary Grant played the Mock Turtle.



Hopefully you caught the sarcasm. It’s true - the star was completely covered in costume from head to toe, as was comedian W.C. Fields who portrayed Humpty Dumpty. While their voices were fairly recognizable, the actors were not. MGM was very careful in making sure that the faces of the actors in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) were not hidden by their makeup and costumes.



Here’s a set still of the room where Alice has her daydream, which leads into her adventure:



The accompanying scene, where Alice wishes she could see what’s on the other side of the mirror.



A set still of one of the fantastic doors Alice goes through in Wonderland. The set design for this film was extremely creative, doing a great job of capturing the surreal world that Alice visits. 



The dining room table for the grand banquet scene:



A frame from the film, with Edna May Oliver on the right as the Red Queen. At least you could see her face!



Note the “Queen Alice” on the chair:



A second shot of the table:



When stitched together, you get a view of the entire room:



Last year, I went to a service for a family member at Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego. In researching who else was buried there, I learned that actress Charlotte Henry had her final resting place outdoors on the hill.



I had to go back to take a second photo, as a friend pointed out that the plot I had captured was actually that of her mother. Charlotte was buried under her married name, Dempsey, right next to Mama.



More on Holy Cross in a future post! See more Paramount set still photos at my main website.

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 & Cary

Shirley Temple and Cary Grant co-starred in the 1947 comedy, “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.” I believe this publicity shot was taken outside the Beverly Hills High School where a few of the scenes were filmed. The accompanying caption:

HOT RODSTER
Cary Grant is ridin’ the movie ranger these days in a “hot rod” with the best of the bobby-soxers. It’s the result of an involvement with co-star Shirley Temple in their new RKO Radio film, “The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer.”

By most accounts, Grant liked things the way he liked them, and could sometimes be difficult on set. At one point during filming, he caught Shirley doing an imitation of him for the film crew; he stalked off and complained to producer David O. Selznick, who read the actress the riot act for her unprofessional behavior.  Selznick had Shirley under contract at the time, thus his involvement. Back on the set, Shirley apologized to Grant, who graciously accepted it and replied, “By the way, it was a pretty good imitation.” Below, Grant’s character makes nice with Shirley’s boyfriend in the film, played by Johnny Sands.



Almost forty years later, Shirley appeared at a tribute to Grant staged by the Princess Grace Foundation, due to the close friendship between the Grant (who died in 1986) and Grace Kelly (who died in 1982). Proceeds from the gala event held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills went to the Princess Grace Foundation. From the LA Times on July 15, 1988, just a few months before the event:

And this fall comes a tribute to the classic and classy actor that will indeed be one of a kind—an Oct. 19 benefit at the Beverly Hilton for the Princess Grace Foundation U.S.A. Barbara Grant, widow of the actor who died in November, 1986, said that she and his daughter, Jennifer, wanted “only one special tribute to Cary, and due to his close friendship with Princess Grace and her family we decided that the proceeds from the evening should benefit the foundation named in her honor.” Although planning is just getting under way, the committee list for the black-tie gala already reads like a list of Hollywood royalty. First Lady Nancy Reagan and Barbara Grant are honorary co-chairs. Dina Merrill chairs the evening, with co-chairs Merv Griffin, Kirk Kerkorian, Veronique and Gregory Peck, Don and Judy Balaban Quine (who was a member of Princess Grace’s wedding party), Barbara and Frank Sinatra, and Lew and Edie Wasserman. In the audience: Prince Rainier, Prince Albert, Princess Stephanie and, reportedly, if her schedule can be changed, Princess Caroline. Sources say the party will be the debut of the new International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton.

Shirley looked stunning that evening!



The Times spilled more tea on September 14, 1988:

When is a $1,000-a-person benefit ticket worth the price? Try Oct. 19, when the special gala tribute to Cary Grant, benefiting the Princess Grace Foundation U.S.A., brings together the princely family of Monaco with just about every royal persona Hollywood can muster. This evening is unique in many ways--it will be the only tribute Grant’s widow, Barbara, is permitting for the late, beloved actor. And, because there was only one Cary Grant, the evening will have an extraordinary retinue of stars up on stage: James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra, Walter Matthau, Roger Moore, Shirley Temple Black, Robert Wagner, Warren Beatty, benefit chair Dina Merrill, Eva Marie Saint, Quincy Jones, Robert Mitchum, John Forsythe, Dean Martin, Michael Caine and, performing, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr. and Henry Mancini, all in a production designed by Jack Haley Jr. and emceed by Merv Griffin highlighting Grant’s films.



In the front row are Frank Sinatra, Merv Griffin, Robert Wagner, Prince Albert II, Princess Stéphanie, Prince Rainier III, and Henry Mancini. Back row: Michael Caine, Eva Marie Saint, Gregory Peck, Barbara Grant, Unknown, Liza Minnelli, Dina Merrill, and Roger Moore. What a lineup!!

UPI had this to say after the event:

European royalty mingled with Hollywood royalty in tribute to the late sultan of suave, Cary Grant. The Wednesday night gala benefited the Princess Grace Foundation-U.S.A. and Prince Rainier of Monaco and two of his offspring, Princess Stephanie and Prince Albert, attended the black-tie banquet at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Frank Sinatra, Michael Caine, Gregory Peck, Eva Marie Saint, Robert Wagner, Roger Moore and Dean Martin were on hand to swap memories of Grant. The entertainment was provided by Sammy Davis Jr. and Liza Minnelli and Merv Griffin, who owns the hotel, was master of ceremonies. Film clips from Grant's long career were shown in addition to taped tributes sent in by President Reagan, Sophia Loren, Walter Matthau and others. The Princess Grace Foundation-U.S.A. raises funds to help aspiring artists in theatre, dance, and film.

Milton Berle puts the moves on Liza and Shirley, with Jack Haley, Jr. on the right (Liza’s husband at the time) and Eva Marie Saint in the background.



I wonder if Shirley did her Grant imitation? I sure would have loved to have seen that! BTW: Shirley seemed even less interested in Berle one year later, when he attempted to have his photo taken with her again. Give it up, Miltie! Actor Stewart Granger is on the right.



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Cary & Deborah: An Affair to Remember

The 1957 film “An Affair to Remember” is a guilty pleasure of mine. Sentimental, old-fashioned, and obviously shot within the walls of a Hollywood soundstage, it still gives the tear ducts a workout every time I watch it.



Thanks to the chemistry and witty repartee between Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, the film somehow rises above its hard-to-believe premise. Nickie (Grant) and Terry (Kerr) meet aboard a cruise ship, on the way to New York City to be reunited with their partners. Whether in the black and white still above or the screenshot below, it is impossible to be fooled into thinking that this movie was shot on location. The perfect lighting of the leads (never a shadow to spoil their faces) is further evidence of this.



Neither of the leads is truly in love with their mates, yet there are sparks of passion between Nickie & Terry. Aboard the ship, it’s all about flirtation, romance, and comic banter as the two attempt to avoid the gossip of other passengers while exploring what might exist between them.

The story becomes more dramatic once the two depart the ship near the French Riviera for a brief (but pivotal) visit with Nickie’s beloved grandmother (Cathleen Nesbitt). Granny sees that the two are destined to be together and imparts sage advice to both.



With a promise to reunite in six months (enough time for both to “clear house”) at the Empire State Building, tragedy keeps them apart and the audience is left without the humor that permeated the first half of the movie.



The final scene redeems the film, and the highly predictable plot and trite dialogue could only be pulled off by pros like Grant and Kerr. Apparently Ingrid Bergman was the original choice by director Leo McCarey, as he figured the duo from Hitchcock’s “Notorious” team could score him a hit, too. I’m glad she turned the film down, as Kerr is perfection.

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

Temple Tuesday: Shirley at the Swim Gym

In the 1947 RKO comedy, “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer,” Beverly Hills High School was transformed into Sunset High School.



A pivotal scene takes place in the auditorium.



Cary Grant plays Richard Nugent, an artist and playboy, who seems to attract trouble with the ladies. As he gives a speech to the student body, man-crazy teenager Susan Turner (Shirley Temple) is mesmerized.



Right before her eyes, he magically transforms into a Knight in Shining Armor.



After his speech, Susan makes a beeline to Richard and interviews him for the school newspaper. In reality, she is just attempting to find out if he is single and interested in her.



After the interview, an uncomfortable Nugent says goodbye and hurriedly walks away from the persistent teenager.



Once again, the transformation occurs and he becomes a Knight to the adoring teen.



Not sure if that’s actually Cary in the suit? Here you go…



Although this young girl isn’t Shirley, she seems to be just as mesmerized. Cary had that effect on people!



Another scene in the movie takes place in the Beverly Hills High School Swim Gym, which was also used in “It’s A Wonderful Life” (covered in this post).



Nugent is forced to “date” Susan via her sister Margaret, a judge. Advised by Uncle Matt that the crush will only get worse if Margaret forbids it, the reluctant Susan decides to let the two hang out until Susan gets bored by Richard. Here, the couple attend a basketball game at the Swim Gym.





Some more views of the gym:



I was hoping I might have caught a production gaffe with the clock, but no such luck. They renamed Beverly Hills for Sunset, just as they should have for the movie.



The Swim-Gym is still alive and well today:







There are no interior shots as there is a large fence all the way around the high school. There appears to be a major overhaul of BHHS going on; I am hoping that the original main building (shown in the movie) survives, but it is hard to tell. I will need to go back!

See more Shirley and “Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” photos at my main website.