Coyote in Coronado

I semi-regularly check back to the Village Theater in Coronado to see what’s playing; my positive experiences at this place have gotten me back to the theater after years of rarely going to the movies in person. Just the thought of driving to a mall and navigating the mall multi-plex parking lots is enough of a deterrent to keep me away. Not so at The Village. This time, the drawing card was “Coyote vs. Acme,” a film with a stormy background that almost didn’t see the light of day.



On a side note, the popcorn is good, too, served by a very friendly staff member. The medium size would be large enough for two.



The Village has three separate screens. This time, I was able to experience #3. Like the other two, it feels magical, with murals of Balboa Park, deco styling, and CLEAN!





The movie: apparently, after it was completed, Warner decided to shelve it and use it as a tax write-off. Three years later, it finally hit the big screen. I have no idea why this film would have been buried, although usually in Hollywood at the big studios it comes down to money. I have heard it described as a cross between “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” and “Erin Brockovich,” and I would say that’s a very good description. Pretty much all the Looney Tune characters are on hand, and I found myself laughing out loud frequently in the first half of the film. The situations in that portion are creative, well-written, and keep in line with the spirit of the original Warner cartoons. Once the courtroom portions begin, the film loses a bit of gas, and becomes a bit more predictable and preachy. I would still recommend it, but would have to give the first part an A+ and the last half closer to a C+.



My other goal of the evening was to try the Night & Day Café located just across the street. This late-night hangout closes at 10pm on Thursday nights, and I sailed in at 9:30pm. Unlike many other restaurants in town, I did not get the death look. Instead I was warmly welcomed and immediately seated at the counter.



It’s a true authentic diner. Just take a look at the counter and the grill.



I will def do this on my next visit:



It’s a tad dark in here, but it fits perfectly with the vibe, which I would say is akin to the 1942 Edward Hopper painting, Nighthawks.





My Beef Chimichanga was DELICIOUS. The large portion will serve as my lunch today!



I will definitely be returning to both places; I love neighborhoods where you can have a perfect evening without driving all over, and that definitely describes Coronado Island.
 
See more Coronado Island photos at my main website.

Toy Story 5 at The Village

Last night I went to the semi-recently reopened Village Theater in Coronado. I had discovered it just before its temporary shutdown and transition to new owners. It was good to be back! This little gem is a treasure that far outshines the other theaters that are located at the overpopulated malls.



The Village first opened in 1947 and was a lively entertainment center for Coronado until the birth of the multiplex dampened its popularity. In 2011, the theater was revamped by designer Joseph Musil (the genius behind the restoration of Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre).



From the Coronado History Page:

In 2011, the revamped Coronado Village Theater opened with the premiere of the film “Cars 2”. It retains its original Art Deco theme on the interior. While the original theater featured one room and sat 600 people, the renovated theater has three showing rooms, with its main room seating 215. The main room features artistic renditions of both the Coronado and San Diego Skyline, as well as other landmarks such as the Bay Bridge and the Hotel del Coronado. The other two rooms have 38 seats, respectively, and showcase murals of the famed San Diego Exposition of 1915 as well as San Diego’s Balboa Park. The murals were hand painted by Bill Anderson, a Disney muralist. Both new residents and locals who remember the original, quaint theater greatly appreciate the Coronado Village Theater as a lively source of activity and entertainment on the island.



I love the art deco styling inside, which still has a modern feeling to it.



I skipped over “The Odyssey” and “Moana” (!) and went right for “Toy Story 5,” which was playing in the Balboa Room theater.



The saturated colors in the smaller theater were right up my alley.



On either side of the screen were murals that represented San Diego’s Balboa Park; on the left were buildings from the 1935 Exposition in Balboa Park:



…and the Casa del Prado:



And the movie? I LOVED the first “Toy Story,” but each time a sequel was announced, I thought, “Why do they need to go back?” Each time, I have been pleasantly surprised. Somehow, Pixar has managed to keep this franchise fresh and innovative. This time, Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack) is the lead, ably supported by her faithful horse, Bullseye.



Navigating the hot topic of what “devices” have done to kids (and our society), the film tugs at heartstrings, challenges the way we live, and also makes you laugh. What more can you ask for in a film? In a time when people have shut off their brains for AI, it is refreshing to see this movie tackle the controversy and attempt to remind the audience that all of these “devices” are tools, not substitutes for intelligence and creative thinking…and most importantly, play!



On the way out, I noticed the Night & Day Cafe, which stays open until midnight. It looked like a scene straight out of Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. I need to go back here!



See more Coronado Island photos at my main website.

Little Frenchie Bistro

Little Frenchie Bistro on Coronado Island had been on my bucket list for at least a year. Finally, I gave it a try…and have been back three additional times!



Located on Orange Avenue, the main drag of Coronado Island, it is an adorable bistro that is about as close to a Parisian café that you will find in San Diego. Good food, service, and atmosphere. A triple threat.



Warning: while you may want to try everything on the menu, you should pace yourself. I over-indulged on my first visit, which taught me to taper my choices upon my return. The Parisian Hot Chocolate with Valrhona chocolate is rich beyond compare. The swirled concoction on the left is not soft-serve ice cream for breakfast; it was freshly whipped chantilly cream to go along with the beverage. There are no words.



The pastry basket is the perfect starter for any meal. Fresh-baked cheese danish, butter croissant, and chocolate croissant. Advice: split each one!



If you like sweet, the Nutella Crepe is an excellent choice, with strawberry, banana, toasted almonds, and powdered sugar.



If it’s savory you crave, I recommend the Croque Monsieur (not pictured) paired with the Jardin Salad (below):



The Bruléed French Toast is out of this world, too. Not as heavy as you might think, it was delicious!



I would definitely recommend a reservation; this place fills up fast, even with the outdoor seating!

See more Coronado Island photos at my main website.

Paramount on Location, Pt. 2

In 1935, the Paramount film “Coronado” was filmed on Coronado Island in San Diego, using the famous Hotel del Coronado for many of the exterior locations, including the opening titles. The film starred Johnny Downs, Betty Burgess, Jack Haley, Andy Devine, Leon Errol, and Alice White.



Above is a production still that used the hotel’s pool. The detail image shows Betty Burgess with either a blurred Johnny Downs or his stand-in. In the finished film, his hair is more tousled.



A synopsis of the film edited from the Turner Classic Movies site:

Wealthy Walter and Gloria Marvin (Berton Churchill and Nella Walker) and their troublesome son Johnny (Johnny Downs) come to stay at the Hotel Coronado in southern California. To keep Johnny out of mischief, the manager asks house bandleader Eddie (Eddy Duchin) to give Johnny a part in the band, and asks singer June Wray (Betty Burgess) to perform a song that Johnny wrote. June lives with her poor father Otto (Leon Errol), who intensely dislikes her sister Violet's (Alice White) new sailor husband, Chuck Hornbostel (Jack Haley), because he was too poor to buy her a ring. Believing Johnny to be poor and starving, June befriends him, buys him a meal, and takes him dancing with Chuck and Vi. Johnny inadvertently wins a talent contest but uses the prize to buy a bracelet for Vi in Chuck's name. After June pleads with the manager Carlton to give Johnny a job in the band, she discovers he is actually from a wealthy family and thinks she has been deceived. Walter visits with Otto and they agree to try to keep their unsuitably paired children apart by exaggerating their differences.

You’ll have to watch the film to see how it ends. Another production still showing the hotel’s pool:





The vintage postcard image below shows the location of the pool in proximity to the hotel:



Another vintage postcard image showing the pool:



How the pool looked in July 1962:



…in March 2008:



…and December 2012:



A few more production shots from the movie, taken on Coronado Island:



This detailed view shows Johnny Downs on the right:



…and Betty Burgess on the right:



One last production shot of the Island:



Tent City? That’s right!



From 1900 until 1938, the Hotel del Coronado’s Tent City was a popular camp-style destination for travelers who couldn’t afford to stay in the hotel. Designed like a small city, its grid of dirt streets eventually became well-worn thoroughfares, lined with mature trees. An early getaway brochure described the accommodations: “A furnished tent comprises electric lights, matting on boarded floor, comfortable beds and cots, bedding, wash-stand, mirror, tables, chairs, rockers, camp-chairs and stools, necessary cooking utensils, clean linen, daily care of tent, and laundry service of tent linen.” Tent City also featured restaurants, a soda fountain, library, grocery store, shops, a small hotel (the Arcade), theatre, bandstand, dance pavilion, merry-go-round, shooting gallery, swimming floats (one with a high-diving board), its own police department, and daily newspaper.



See…I couldn’t make this stuff up. TENT CITY!

Want to see the whole flick? It’s embedded below, courtesy of archive.org:



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

Coronado Construction

Willis was feeling a little cooped up from a year of quarantine, so we went to Coronado Island yesterday for a stroll along the beach. It had been quite some time since I'd been to this area, and I was surprised to see quite a bit of construction at the entrace to the Hotel del Coronado, one of the historic landmarks of San Diego.

The beachside of the hotel also had some construction fences up, but that didn’t seem to deter tourists/guests who were enjoying the good weather.

This is the same hotel where Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe cavorted on the beach in the classic Billy Wilder comedy “Some Like It Hot” (1959).

The Hotel’s website has this information somewhat hidden at the bottom of the "what to expect" page:

• Fitness Center (opening early 2021, if health regulations allow)
• Windsor Lawn on the beach side of the Victorian building (opening July 2021)
• Ice House Museum (opening by summer 2021, if health regulations allow)
• Lower level retail shops (opening late spring 2021; The Signature Shop and Brady’s for Men are open off the Garden Patio)
• Victorian lobby, front porch, and south entrance drive and walking paths (opening by summer 2021)
• Ocean Towers guestrooms (reopening as The Views, July 2021)
• 142 new residential rooms and suites, and a conference center on the south end of the resort (opening summer 2022)

I’m most curious to see if they put the Victorian lobby back to its original splendor; currently owned by Hilton, the lobby has definitely been “dumbed down” over the years. Not surprisingly, they are doing lots of new construction (residential rooms and suites and the conference center) which might help them actually turn a profit.

Willis enjoyed the beach; it had been too long since his last dipping of the paw into the tide!

See more Coronado Island photos at my main website.