In my collection I have this image of the model that Imagineers created when designing Main Street at Disneyland. So many interesting things to unpack here. Recently on ebay, a seller had listed some alternate shots of this model that also included attraction concept art posted on the walls. The below image was one of those images, which shows Walt’s original intention of having a bandstand in the middle of Town Square.
The below shots from 1957 give a visual of how it all turned out. The design of City Hall and the Fire Department pretty much turned out as originally planned.
As you can see here though, the bandstand was replaced by a flag pole.
In the construction shot below, you can see Walt surveying his kingdom, with the unfinished bandstand in the background at right.
By May 1955, it had been located in its original destination, Town Square.
Still there in this aerial shot. So what happened to it? Apparently Walt realized the structure blocked the view of the Castle at the end of Main Street and decided he needed to open up the visual pathway. The bandstand was relocated to the side of Central Plaza.
The most recent shot I have of this area is from December 2015. The trees do a great job of obstructing the buildings, although I don’t think they are the original ones planted in 1955. Any horticulture experts out there?
See more Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. photos at my main website.
This July 1970 slide was labeled as being shot from the Cosmic Age Hotel. What?!? Never heard of the place! Before we deal with that, let’s zoom in to the parking lot area that would eventually become Disney California Adventure. Those orange cones were a cosmic hint of the Cozy Cone Motel that would be installed in 2012! Nanook - I expect you to ID all those cars for us.
A quick check on ebay found these post cards for the Cosmic Age Lodge, located at 1717 S. Harbor Boulevard. GROOVY!!
It was part of the Stovall family collection that surrounded the park. From the Best Western website:
The Stovall’s family of hotels have surrounded the magic of the Disneyland Park since 1964. Hotel owner and operator Al Stovall wanted an out of this world experience for hotel guests coming to Disneyland, and he delivered! With flying saucers, spacemen and aliens adorning the hotel lobby, to a rocket van that would pick up guests from the airport, no detail was overlooked.…The sixties were coming to life! America was just entering the space race, skirts were getting shorter and shorter, and in a small town called Anaheim Walt Disney’s masterpiece was coming to life! Each hotel had its own space age feel and name! There was the fabulous “Inn of Tomorrow” (now Stovall’s Inn), the amazing “Space Age Lodge,” (now Pavilions Hotel), the “Cosmic Age Hotel,” “The Galaxy Hotel” and the “Apollo Inn.”
“…with all the convenience of the Space Age…” the back of the post card touts. What exactly does that include?
The lobby - wow! The tourists would flock to this place today.
“Acclaimed by thousands…”; can I see the source of that statistic, please?
A typical room. Are those plastic grapes over the bed? And check out that TV!
I’ll take two space bubble room dividers, please.
The pool; what do you think the chances are that the model lower right actually caught the ball?
Only 8¢ for postage? No wonder little Frances didn’t feel the need to write very much!
Based on Mr. Google, this place looks like it fell victim to the wrecking ball.
See more Disneyland Parking Lot photos at my main website.
He’s back! Thirty-six years later, Michael Keaton returns to the big screen as Beetlejuice in the creatively titled sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (yes, I’m being snarky). I was able to see it at a pre-screening a few nights ago; if you are averse to plot spoilers, please do not continue!
Theater-goers were able to use a QR code while they waited to have their face superimposed on the movie art. I skipped that bit of fun. The burning question: who is back and who is not? Obviously Keaton in the title role, followed by Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder as Delia & Lydia Deetz, this time joined by Lydia’s daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). And that’s it folks. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are not back (explained in a line of dialogue that “they found a loophole and moved on to the next plane”), and neither is Jeffrey Jones as the patriarch of the Deetz family.
The death of his character, Charles Deetz, is the catalyst for the events that follow. A claymation sequence shows how he died, and a photo of Jones is used on the character’s tombstone. In the afterlife, because of the manner of his death, we see Charles Deetz only from the shoulders down. Although Jones is still alive, he did not participate in the sequel. One can only surmise that it has to do with the legal troubles that have surrounded Jones since his arrest in 2002. Now let’s focus on who has been added. To the right, we see Justin Theroux as Rory, Lydia’s boyfriend and producer of her TV show about haunted houses.
Monica Bellucci plays Delores, the soul-sucking succubus who was married to Beetlejuice during the Black Plague and has returned for revenge. A bit of a plot continuity gaffe as Beetlejuice states in the first movie that Lydia is his first wife.
Willem Dafoe is Wolf Jackson, a B-movie actor who now assumes his TV role as a detective in the after-life. On his left is Nick Kellington as shrunken-head Bob (I really adored this character).
Arthur Conti joins the cast as Jeremy, a handsome young boy from Winter River that Astrid meets when she returns there for her grandfather’s funeral. Sparks between the two fly quickly!
Now that we have all that out of the way, here are my thoughts. I went into the theater with zero expectations. The first movie was a classic and self-contained; it didn’t feel like any of the characters required further story-telling. Because of this, I was surprised to learn that a sequel had been made after all this time. In a nutshell, it’s a decent film. Like so many sequels, it repeats many plot points of the first film but does manage to get in a few surprises and classic lines. Keaton is almost as good as he was in the first film, but offers nothing new. He does the best that he can with what he is given.
Too much of the film is about contrived conflict, including the strained relationship of Lydia and her daughter. The character of Rory is baffling; I normally like Justin Theroux, but he seems completely lost in this role, as if he couldn’t figure out what to do with it. In all fairness, the writing and plot construction are probably to blame. The audience is bluntly told that Rory is an opportunist and very much in touch with his feminine side. Over. And over. And over…which is why it is hard to understand why the previously sharp and cynical Lydia is the only one that fails to see this. It’s a significant character deviation that doesn’t have enough explanation. The character of Delores is the perfect example of what I found wrong with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” The original movie was colorful, twisted, and wickedly funny; almost like visiting an old-fashioned funhouse. The sequel is all over the map, going from comedy to contrived drama to gory blood-spattering. Delores wanders in and out of the movie, adding a layer of faux seriousness that doesn’t add any value. Her character could have been written for dark comedy and leveled out the overall proceedings to achieve a more enjoyable film. As for the blood-spattering, it really was a problem for me and a huge tonal change from the first film that wasn’t necessary. There were no deaths in “Beetlejuice,” only comic violence, such as when Otho (Glenn Shadix) was made to wear polyester. Shadix died in 2010; his brand of humor is sorely missing from this film. He was an excellent source of comedy who played very well with Catherine O’Hara.
Thankfully Danny Elfman is still on hand for the music, with the Richard Harris and Donna Summer versions of “MacArthur Park” added to the mix. Harry Belafonte’s “Jump in the Line” felt organic to the original; disco does not. The wedding sequence goes on way too long and is just a tired repeat of the “Day-O” dinner from the first movie.
The highlight of it all is Catherine O’Hara. Delia Deetz has delightfully merged with Moira Rose (“Schitt’s Creek”), giving the film some of its best comedic and dramatic moments.
Do I recommend it? Yes…as long as your expectations are tempered. It’s an interesting addition to the Beetlejuice story with a few original moments that allow the movie to shine on its own. Here’s the trailer:
See more Classic TV/Movie photos at my main website.
The Hollywood Reporter sadly announced that James Darren died over the Labor Day weekend on Monday, September 2:
James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before starring on television on The Time Tunnel and T.J. Hooker, died Monday. He was 88.
Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Edition, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had entered the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery; he went home but had to return.
Even though he could not surf, the Philadelphia native got the role of Moondoggie (real name: Jerry Matthews) opposite three actresses as the precocious Malibu teen: Sandra Dee in Gidget (1959), Deborah Walley in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Cindy Carol in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963).
Darren then spiraled through history as the headstrong Dr. Tony Newman, an electronics genius, on the 1966-67 ABC adventure series The Time Tunnel, also starring Robert Colbert. (Tom Hanks once said it was his favorite show as a kid.)
In an interview with Tom Weaver for the 2008 book I Talked With a Zombie, Darren said he wasn’t interested in doing television or science fiction before he agreed to a meeting with the creator of The Time Tunnel, Irwin Allen.
Allen told him, “This is something you have to do. I know you don’t want to do it, but I think you are perfect for this role, and he convinced me,” Darren recalled. “Irwin was one of the great salespersons of our time. I accepted the role because of my meeting with him.”
Born James William Ercolani in Philadelphia, on June 8, 1936, he changed his last name to the more generic “Darren,” which covered his Italian roots.
I was discovered by Joyce Selznick [niece of “Gone With the Wind” producer David O. Selznick]. What happened was, I was studying acting in New York City with Stella Adler [at age seventeen]. I’d been studying with her for a couple of years. I went to see some agents in New York and they said in order to get work, you need to have photographs taken. As I was walking down Broadway after class one day, I saw this photographer's studio, Maurice Seymour. I went in and had pictures taken. I went back to look at the proofs and his secretary, a woman by the name of Yvonne Bouvier, asked me if I was interested in getting into film. I said yeah, I was. She said I know someone you should meet. She set up a meeting between me and Joyce Selznick, who worked for Screen Gems. I went down to 1650 Broadway, the Brill Building. On my way to a meeting with Joyce, we just happened to get on the elevator at the same time. She kept staring at me. I never met her. She never met me. We got off at the same floor and walked to the same office. That was our meeting. Joyce brought me over to Columbia Pictures about a week later and got me a contract there. Joyce had come to Philly after to meet my parents and my family.…I did Gidget in '58 or '59. My theme came about...they were gonna use somebody else's voice and I told them I could sing. We went into one of the soundstages with a piano player and sang the song and they said, he can do it. Then they put me on their label too, Colpix.
Could he sing? He sure could! Here he is singing the “Gidget” theme:
According to an interview with Alison Martino in 2015, Darren used to stay at the legendary Garden of Allah hotel:
I came to Los Angeles to get discovered in 1954. I stayed at the Garden of Allah, a beautiful hotel at Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights. It was mystical, like being in a 1940s movie. It had this certain magic that is difficult to describe.
I would walk across the street to a popular diner that was next to Schwab’s Pharmacy called Googie’s and buy a hamburger or whatever and bring it back to my room. I was so shy I would never eat it in the restaurant. Then I met actor John Saxon, and he and I became very good friends—we still are today. I met him at the bar at the Garden of Allah in 1954. James Dean used to sit with [John and me] at Googie’s. He would usually be coming back from a car race, and he’d be picking stones from his hair! I also lived in the Villa Elaine Apartments across from the Hollywood Ranch Market. I lived at that market. There was nothing you couldn’t buy there, and it was open 24 hours a day. It was a total hangout. I would sometimes go there at 2 a.m. with other actors. I remember seeing Tony Curtis there a lot.
Eventually, I moved into an apartment right behind Greenblatt’s, and James Dean would come by there, too. I had no idea how big a star he was going to be. I don't think any of us did. I just knew he loved cars. We would sit around and talk. I even went up to the Griffith Observatory while he was shooting “Rebel Without a Cause” there.
I have a 1958 Porsche 1600 Super Speedster. I bought it 40 years ago for $6,000. It’s one of the most beautiful cars ever. The design is eternal. I would like to put it in my living room but my wife won't go for it. I don't know how many are around today, but I'd guess only about a handful in this condition. Speaking of James Dean, he purchased the exact same model at a dealership across the street from the Hollywood Ranch Market on Vine and paid about $3,400. Mine is silver and his was white. I was in that car with him a few times. That wasn’t the one he died in. That was a Porsche 550 Spyder.
Besides starring in “The Time Tunnel,” Darren was involved in another one of my television guilty pleasures, “Melrose Place.” In 1996, Darren directed the episode “Holy Strokes,” and in 1997, the “Deja Vu, All Over Again” episode. Two years later, he starred in five episodes of “Melrose Place” as Tony Marlin, a somewhat slimy client of Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear) who demands that one of her friends sleep with him in order to retain the account.
Instead, he dies from an overdose of Viagra just before consummating an affair with one of Amanda’s competitors (Jamie Luner). Once dead, Darren’s character has to perform a few “Weekend at Bernie’s” duties.
For me though, he’ll always be Tony Newman from “The Time Tunnel.” It was (and still is) one of my very favorite shows.
One of the best episodes is “The Day the Sky Fell In,” when Darren’s character travels back in time to Pearl Harbor and is able to reunited with his father just before he dies. It is an emotional episode that still packs a wallop.
One more song from Darren before we go…
See more James Darren/Time Tunnel photos at my main website.
In the 1939 Shirley Temple Technicolor classic, “The Little Princess,” when Sara Crewe’s father (and fortune) is lost during the Boer War, evil schoolmistress Miss Minchin (Mary Nash) removes the child from her luxurious suite of rooms and sends her up to the attic. Besides dust, dirt, and cobwebs, the little girl only has her doll, Emily, to keep her company.
Don’t feel bad for Shirley; she still had the use of a plush limo to take her to the set every day!
Below is a still from a deleted scene, showing Sara cleaning Miss Minchin’s office while the old bag watches.
Once jealous of Sara’s former coveted position with Miss Minchin, rich bitch Lavinia (Marcia Mae Jones) delights in bossing around the poor little girl who is now forced to work off her debt as a scullery maid.
After one of her many failed hospital searches and a fight with the old bag, Sara goes to sleep in tears. We are treated to a dream sequence where she becomes a princess.
AND a ballerina!
In this still, we see both Shirley as the princess AND Shirley as the ballerina. How can this be?
If you look closer, you can see that it’s Mary Lou Isleib, Shirley’s stand-in, on the throne.
When Sara wakes up from her fantasy, her room has become a den of luxury! Since it’s a Shirley movie, there is no explanation of how her benefactor was able to lift the bed, put a fur rug, change the linens, and redecorate the entire room without little Sara waking up. Don’t be a curmudgeon, it’s a Shirley Temple movie!
Once she rubs the surprise from her eyes, little Sara invites her friend and next door neighbor Becky (Sybil Jason) to enjoy a delicious breakfast.
Renewed and refreshed, Sara delivers some much needed revenge in the form of an ash bucket dumped on Lavinia.
One take was enough for Marcia Mae Jones!
See more Shirley Temple “Little Princess” photos at my main website.
Richard Nixon visited Disneyland in August 1955 with his family. This image shows the then Vice President getting ready to put daughter Tricia on one of the Dumbo Flying elephants. Wife Pat is looking very fashionable in her hat, gloves, and purse at left. Zooming in, you can see a few boxes of nails just sitting inside the perimeter of the attraction. Maybe kids could throw them at the peasants below as they circled over Fantasyland!
Proof that the Dumbo ears were designed to flap up and down; in this detailed view you can see that the ear was not originally molded to the vehicle.
In consecutive shot #2, Tricia is now in the vehicle, as sister Julie anxiously awaits her turn on Dumbo.
Lots of cameras that day, including one daring gent who has one foot on Dumbo’s seat and another on the arm that attaches the vehicle to the center mechanism.
In this image from the USC Digital archive, you can see that Fess Parker was nearby. Apparently the photographer of the first two images did not want to include him!
See more Nixon family photos at Disneyland on my main website.
