Melissa on the West Coast, Pt. 3

The two hour drive from Palm Springs to Hollywood would have been easy-breezy, except for the loss of the passenger side window. In a classic case of “Driving Miss Lazy,” Melissa sat in the backseat with Willis to avoid the constant blast of hot air from said missing window. We left mid-morning; I noticed as we got closer to our destination that the temperature outside was slowly rising. By the time we got Los Angeles, it was over 90 degrees. It was safe to say that although it wasn’t voiced, nobody in the car was in a happy place. However, the show must go on, so we continued with our list of film location visits, with the first one being the “Mildred Pierce” (1945) house in Glendale, which was first covered here. Snap snap and it was back in the car to visit Rizzo and Danny who were talking about “sloppy seconds” at Frenchie’s house from “Grease” (1978).



I don’t know about sloppy, but we were definitely hot and sweaty by this point.



And yet… we carried on. Next stop: Jane Hudson’s house from “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”(1962):



While the exterior of the house was used for a number of scenes, the film crew also built a replica of it on the soundstage at Warner Brothers. Note in this publicity still you can see the door AND the interior of the set on the far right.



Temperatures continued to rise as patience plummeted, so I made an executive decision: time for lunch. Mauro Cafe at Fred Segal on Melrose Avenue was the perfect place to get cool in the shade, hydrate, and enjoy a delicious meal. This has to be one of my favorite spots in Hollywood; the staff is super friendly and the food is tasty.



The tart lemon slush is a favorite of mine.





My chicken parmesan sandwich hit the spot:



And yes, the carrot cake was every bit as decadent as it looked.



Once I dropped Melissa off at her hotel I headed toward the Chateau Marmont, where I finally felt like I could relax and breathe…until I realized I’d left my camera back at Mauro Cafe. Willis and I piled back in the car and quickly retrieved it. Yes, that caused a few moments of panic.



My room (39) was one I had never been in before and it was lovely.



Willis was happy to be at his home-away-from-home.



What a great view of the patio and Sunset Boulevard from my window:



Willis and I crashed and then went downstairs for a late dinner. There was a piano player! What a fantastic touch.



The roasted chicken, broccoli, and mashed potatoes were delish.



Yes, Willis had some of the chicken. How could you resist this face?!?



No, he didn’t get any of my Coconut Panna Cotta dessert.



We slept well that night. Almost too well; Willis was not happy when I tried to get him up for his morning walk.



I love strolling through the nearby West Hollywood neighborhoods, as there are so many cool historic homes and apartment buildings, like The Andalusia from 1926:





I want those garage doors!



The Mi Casa apartments on Havenhurst were used in the 1974 film “Chinatown.”



This is where Detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) snapped clandestine shots of Hollis Mulwray with a young woman he was supposedly having an affair with.



It’s a gated building, so I couldn’t get in to see the courtyard where the scene was filmed.



It’s the details that draw me in:



Afterwards,  it was time for my morning swim and for Willis to relax. Please, no pictures.



Next up: Sid Krofft at the Chateau!

See more photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: The Baby Jane Connection

The classic camp horror film “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962) has a number of Shirley connections. Who knew? At the beginning of the film, we see two little girls in a theatre back in 1917. One is Jane, a famous child star with big blonde curls (more Pickford than Temple, though); the other is her sister Blanche, the wide-eyed and not-so-inwardly jealous one with dark hair.

Julie Allred had her one and only screen appearance in this film as little Jane, apparently due to her family’s religious beliefs. On the flip side, Gina Gillespie (young Blanche), already had quite a healthy number of screen credits by the time “Baby Jane” was made, including two on “The Shirley Temple Show.” Born September 20, 1951, she is the sister of ex-Mouseketeer Darlene Gillespie.

Her first appearance on “The Shirley Temple Show” was in 1960, playing the title character in the “Madeline” episode.

Imogene Coca costarred, doing a beautiful job as Miss Clavel.

Gina’s second appearance was in the January 8, 1961 “Pippi Longstocking” episode. Gina has the distinction of being the first to play Astrid Lindgren’s character in a television or movie adaptation.

And here we have adult Blanche, played by Joan Crawford. Probably the one time you’d ever see this actress looking anything less than glamorous:

Back in 1938, Joan had visited Shirley on the set of “Little Miss Broadway,” giving the star a box of chocolates:

Anna Lee plays the nosy neighbor, Mrs. Bates in “Baby Jane”:

Back in 1948, she costarred with Shirley in the John Ford Western, “Fort Apache.” Irene Rich is the actress in the center:

And there you have it. I didn’t really see any significant connection between Shirley and Bette Davis; perhaps she had heard Vivien Leigh’s famous quote about her when she declined to replace Crawford in “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte”:

“I could almost stand to look at Joan Crawford's face at 6am, but not Bette Davis.”

See more photos at my main website.

Shirley, Lucy, and Judy Light Up!

Smoking has become a major health issue, often pitting the smokers vs. the non-smokers in violent public confrontations. Back in the day, smoking was a fairly regular pastime, but in the movies, rarely did you see the stars smoke unless they were male, a villain, or a woman of "loose virtue."

You might see a star smoking in the Hollywood Rags, especially if the paparazzi caught them out on the town. This 1953 photo shows a virginal looking Shirley Temple out with husband Charles Black at the Stork Club in New York City. Below, Rock Hudson has one hanging out of his mouth while he negotiates a bottle of suntanning oil in this 1955 Palm Springs image:



James Dean was a bad boy; if you weren't sure about it, the cigarettes he constantly smoked should have been a big tip off.



Even if you didn't see the stars smoking in the movies or on TV, a decorative ashtray was practically a staple in every interior set, including this one from "I Love Lucy".



Occasionally, a cigarette could be used for comic effect:



A cigarette was also a great prop to show that the character was deep in thought or stressed out, like James Mason in "A Star Is Born," when he wakes up in the middle of the night remembering the singer he'd met earlier in the night (played by Judy Garland).



In this 1967 photo of Judy at the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago, Judy isn't seen smoking, but the ashtray is front and center.



Can you imagine the amount of nicotine hanging in the air at this 1962 "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" rehearsal?



When you see smoking in a vintage movie classic, does it affect your enjoyment of it?

See more classic movie star photos on my Movie and TV photo web page.

Joan Gets Hushed

Most classic movie buffs are aware of the movie "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and the legendary feud that existed between its two stars, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. A lesser known fact is that the two actresses were scheduled to do a follow-up gothic horror movie, "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte."

Although "Baby Jane" went relatively smoothly, the tensions that simmered during that shoot finally erupted once rehearsals and filming started on "Charlotte."

On the last day of location shooting in Louisiana, the cast and crew packed up and left town without alerting Joan, who'd finished her scenes and fallen asleep in her trailer while waiting to see if she was needed for additional shots. Needless to say, Joan was pissed off and attempted to quit the picture, but discovered she was legally bound to continue. Claiming illness, Joan checked into Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, and temporarily had production halted on the picture.

On July 20, Joan returned to work. Here's a publicity shot and accompanying blurb that went out two days later:



Joan Crawford in her first scene 7/22 before the camera since her illness which held up production of "Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte" at 20th Century-Fox Studios is shown doing scene with co-star Joseph Cotton as producer-director Robert Aldrich watches in background next to camera.

Director Aldrich felt that Joan was faking, and after many back and forth discussions between insurance companies, studio execs, and Joan herself, it was decided to replace her. Vivien Leigh was one of the choices; her hilarious response to the request was this: “No, thank you. I can just about stand looking at Joan Crawford's face at six o'clock in the morning, but not Bette Davis.”

A month later, it was announced that Olivia DeHavilland would replace Joan.

In later years, costar Joseph Cotten stood up for Crawford, stating that Davis’ treatment of Joan was not very professional at all. Although the picture did great box office, it is definitely not as memorable as “Baby Jane.” It would have been interesting seeing Joan have the upper-hand over Bette in this picture. It might have caused Bette to tone down her over-the-top performance which detracts from the movie. In the detailed view below, note Aldrich prominently holding a bottle of Coke for the cameras. Surely he was aware of Joan’s relationship with Pepsi; this brazen move shows that he was extremely unaware or that he wanted her to leave the production to pacify Bette. 



Sharp-eyed viewers can see Crawford's face is still visible in the finished movie during a few long-shots that survived from her work in Louisiana.

See more classic movie photos on my Classic Movie web page.

Screen Gem Saturdays: Daveland On Location!

When you have friends who visit and they want to see the tourist sites in Hollywood, skip the cheesy and tacky Hollywood Movie Star Home tours and instead, take a Hollywood Movie Tour with Dearly Departed Tours [update: Dearly Departed has “retired” and is now on YouTube]. Today's post will show some of the things you'll see, like the Alto Nido Apartments in photo #1. You might recognize this complex as William Holden's home in the movie "Sunset Boulevard."

"Grease" fans will delight when they see Frenchie's house and the window that Rizz climbed out of for her rendezvous with Kenickie:





Here was another new one for me; the Greek Theater in Griffith Park was the site of Conrad Birdie's Ed Sullivan Show appearance in "Bye Bye Birdie":



The recent FX series "American Horror Story" used this house for its main "character":





For "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", this was the house that the Hudson Sisters "lived" in:





In this rehearsal shot, you can see that much of the house was recreated on a soundstage as well:



Recognize the Griswold home from "Vacation"? I can almost hear Clark's car still running in the driveway:



There was much more that the tour showed, which was a blast. These guys are funny and passionate about what they do. 2 enthusiastic thumbs up! See more Hollywood Movie Tour photos on my Hollywood Movie Tour web page.