One of my favorite scenes in Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life” is where George Bailey (James Stewart) reconnects with Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) at a dance held at Bedford Falls High School. George is tall and gangly, and not comfortable doing the latest dance craze, The Charleston. Still, his feelings for Mary overcome his shyness and he gives it a whirl. Unbeknownst to both of them, George’s rival (played by “Our Gang”’s Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer) has turned the key that opens up the floor of the basketball court, revealing the pool beneath them. The rest of the dancers see the situation and begin laughing and yelling; George thinks they are cheering them on. As you can guess, the lovestruck duo fall into the pool. This scene has the perfect mixture of sweetness, comedy, and dramatic tension.
Beverly Hills High School’s “Swim-Gym” was designed as a New Deal project by Stiles O. Clements. While the main buildings of Beverly Hills High School were built in 1927, the unique “Swim-Gym” was designed by Clements and built by the WPA in 1939. The gym, now known as the Konheim Athletic Building, contains a basketball court that can be opened to access a 25-yard swimming pool below. The gym has also appeared in Shirley Temple’s “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” (1947) and “Clueless” (1995).
Here are two images that show Reed and Stewart rehearsing The Charleston. I’m sure it didn’t take long for Stewart to have to remove his sweater, as both of them look like they are putting their all into the rehearsal.
This shot shows the two leads relaxing at the piano during a break; not sure who the guy in the middle is [NOTE: Daveland reader Darryl has ID'ed him as Liberty Films co-founder Samuel J. Briskin]:
Want to see this scene? Here you go:
See more “It's A Wonderful Life” photos at my main website.
Before there was Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland, there was Bedford Falls. It’s the idyllic little town at the center of the Christmas classic, “It's a Wonderful Life” (1946). Today’s post shows some rare images taken during the filming of a scene with James Stewart and Gloria Grahame.
The RKO movie ranch in Encino is where the fictional Bedford Falls was created; Max Ree’s Oscar-winning sets for “Cimarron” (1931) served as the foundation for Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life.” The ranch itself covered 89 (or 110 depending upon the source!) acres of ground; Bedford Falls took up four acres with its main street (300 yards/three city blocks long) with 75 stores and buildings and a residential neighborhood. Bedford Falls also included a tree-lined center parkway (based on what Director Frank Capra had seen in New York’s Seneca Falls when he visited in 1945), a working bank set, and full-grown oak trees transplanted from Encino. Pigeons, cats, and dogs were allowed to roam the set to make it seem more authentic.
Due to the requirements of filming two different versions of the town (and different seasons), the exterior set had to be extremely adaptable. For the autumn scenes the leaves were knocked off; for winter, the trees were coated with white plaster. When you see James Stewart sweating in his heavy overcoat during the snowfall, it’s not just because of stress; those scenes were filmed in the scorching heat of an Encino summer! Russell Shearman, RKO’s head of special effects, developed a new compound using water, soap flakes, foamite, and sugar to create snow for the film. Previously, movie snow was made from untoasted cornflakes which were so loud when stepped on that dialogue had to be dubbed. Window sills were coated with gypsum to look like ice; car tracks with formed with actual crushed ice.
Filming of “It’s A Wonderful Life” began on April 15, 1946 and ended July 27, 1946, exactly on deadline.
A wide view of the tree-lined parkway:
In this detailed view, you can see Gower Drug Store in the background on the left:
…and Stewart and Grahame:
The mansion for Orson Welles’ “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1942) was also located here at the movie ranch. RKO sold off the movie ranch in 1953 and it was torn down to make way for a subdivision of homes. It is known as the Lake Balboa area today.
In honor of the Oscars Ceremony tonight, today's post is about a 1934 classic that I happily watched again last week, "It Happened One Night." This Frank Capra screwball comedy may seem a bit dated to today's generation because of its 1930's fashion, cheap sets, and old fashioned situations, but thanks to the leads, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, it still remains a comic gem. The irony is that neither one of them was very excited to be in the movie. Capra originally wanted Robert Montgomery, not Gable; Montgomery turned the picture down since he thought there had already been ‘too many bus pictures’. Miriam Hopkins, Myrna Loy, and Margaret Sullavan all turned down the female lead; Colbert only accepted it because she was promised a healthy paycheck and a quick shooting schedule. The story of two opposites falling in love has been told many a time since, but rarely as effectively. It was based on the August 1933 short story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan.
Things to look for: When on the bus, singing "The Flying Trapeze" song, the bus is moving and the driver is moving the wheel as though steering, but throughout the entire song, the scenery outside never moves. In the exterior view of the bus running off the road (after "The Flying Trapeze" song), the driver is a different person and the curtain that is behind him in the interior view is missing.
The scene where the two must sleep in a haystack is one of my favorite; the soft lighting is absolutely beautiful, giving it a magical glow. This photo is extremely posed, and doesn't give a true representation of what the scene is about:
The film is probably most famous for its hitchhiking sequence, where the know-it-all Warne decides to teach Ellie how to hitch a ride. It was filmed at Franklin Canyon Park, near Benedict Canyon at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. Once again, the posed publicity shot is at odds with what we see on screen:
The actual scene:
After getting picked up by a passing motorist (Alan Hale, the father of Alan Hale, Jr., the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island"), Ellie teases Peter, who she has just shown up with her shapely gams:
Ellie: Aren't you going to give me a little credit?
Peter: What for?
Ellie: I proved once and for all that the limb is mightier than the thumb.
Peter: Why didn't you take off all your clothes? You could have stopped forty cars.
Ellie: Well, ooo, I'll remember that when we need forty cars.
Because it was filmed pre-code, before the censors started clamping down heavily on movies, "It Happened One Night" has some very frank dialogue and situations. A year later, the scene with Gable undressing in front of Colbert, threatening to take off his pants, too, would most likely have been deleted. It has often been stated that Gable undressing to reveal himself barechested with no undershirt adversely effected the sales of undershirts nationwide.
Another classic scene is where Peter attempts to show Ellie how to properly dunk her donuts. It's a very short and simple scene, but effectively shows how the dynamics of the relationship are shifting. Colbert is masterful with her looks at Gable; you can see that she has begun to fall for him.
Peter: Say, where'd you learn to dunk? In finishing school?
Ellie: Aw, now don't you start telling me I shouldn't dunk.
Peter: Of course you shouldn't - you don't know how to do it. Dunking's an art. Don't let it soak so long. A dip and [he stuffs the donut in his mouth] plop, in your mouth. You let it hang there too long, it'll get soft and fall off. It's all a matter of timing. Aw, I oughta write a book about it.
Ellie: [laughs] Thanks, professor.
Peter: Just goes to show you - twenty millions, and you don't know how to dunk.
Ellie: Oh, I'd change places with a plumber's daughter any day.
Things to look for: When Peter is making breakfast for Ellen, as the table is first set, there are six doughnuts on the plate in the lower left corner of the screen, but when they sit and begin eating and discussing what there is to eat, there are only two.
After filming was completed, Colbert complained to her friend, "I just finished the worst picture in the world." Capra's initial trepidation about the film was erased once word of mouth got out. Ticket sales slowly picked up speed and it turned out to be a major (and prestigous) hit for Columbia, previously known as one of the B-Movie Poverty Row studios.
On Oscar night, the film became the first movie to receive what is known as a "clean sweep," taking home Academy Awards for the top 5 categories: Best Picture, Best Director (Capra), Best Actor (Gable), Best Actress (Colbert), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Riskin). Confident that she wouldn't win, Colbert decided not to attend the February 27th ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, and instead planned to take her long awaited vacation, a cross-country railroad trip. When she was unexpectedly named the winner, studio chief Harry Cohn sent someone to "drag her off" the train (which fortunately had not yet left the station). Colbert arrived wearing a non-red-carpet-worthy two-piece traveling suit (created by Paramount Pictures costume designer, Travis Banton). A 6-year-old Shirley Temple handed her the statuette, photos were taken, and she promptly left to resume her vacation.
This is the only clip I could find from that night:
Supposedly, Colbert and husband fell victim to the Oscar Curse that supposedly states actresses who win the award for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress are much more likely to lose their significant other following the big win.
Another interesting tidbit: In a 1975 interview, Warner Bros. animation director Bob Clampett stated that he based Bugs Bunny's characteristic carrot-munching technique on this scene where Gable chomps on a carrot.
See more vintage & current Classic Movie & TV photos on my main website.
