A tale of a glass elevator

Apologies, I've been vacationing in the United States, soaking up as much as I could in thirty-three days. I love America. It's been an obsession since I can remember and when I get there, I'm like a kid in a candy store. So...I got to visit beautiful San Francisco for the first time. Tons of movies have been made there and what did I obsess about...The Doris Day Show (I kid you not) and one of the most famous disaster movies of the Seventies, The Towering Inferno. ( I will admit to wanting to obsess about Vertigo but I'll talk about that later)...onto The Towering Inferno.

Going back to the seventies for a moment. The Towering Inferno (in case you didn't know) was a huge release. Huge! It was produced by the Master of Disaster, Irwin Allen, who scored big with The Poseidon Adventure a few years earlier. Inferno, was so big in Australia our local paper even offered a full color poster advertising the movie as a collectible. (Not quite sure where it ended up). The cast of Inferno was a who's-who of Hollywood. It's reported that Steve McQueen and Paul Newman actually had the same amount of dialogue in the movie so neither could be considered the "star". (Ahem, Diva!) Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones, Faye Dunaway were known to me even as a kid but seeing Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady) in a role was damn cool. Over the years The Towering Inferno remains an important part of the DVD collection. So when I went to San Francisco I had to go see where it all happened.

The lobby of the Towering Inferno was filmed at the San Francisco Hyatt. I'd planned to visit, but, a few days before my flight to the US, my friend, Randy, had booked a room just so I could have a chance at riding the the glass elevators seen in Inferno. (You need to be a guest to actually use the elevators). To see the glass elevators was one thing, to ride in them, blew me away.

The first glimpse of the Glass Elevator in The Towering Inferno

I got the the Hyatt early and caught the escalator up to the lobby (it's on the second floor) just as Fred Astaire did in the movie. Riding the escalator and seeing everything appear before my eyes was a thrill. It was December and the lobby was decorated for the holidays and what they did with L.E.D lighting blew me away.

Fred Astaire arriving in the lobby.

In reality I was at the Hyatt but I knew where I really was, I was inside The Towering Inferno lobby. I turned and saw the elevators. I was in heaven. They were mesmerizing. I found a seat, sat down and just watched in awe. The elevators are also in another favorite movie, Mel Brooks, High Anxiety. It was so cool to be there. Randy came down and said, "let's go for a ride" at that point there has never been a happier tourist in San Francisco. I was on my best behavior, (although secretly I wanted to do a Jennifer Jones impression). I got to ride the elevators a few times, okay, I refused to get out.

The Jennifer Jones impression I secretly wanted to do

The elevators today..still going strong

In the movie, you only see one, however, there are five merrily going up and down taking guests to their room. They even had red and green lighting to help celebrate the holidays.

If you go to San Francisco go to the Hyatt, have a coffee and watch the elevators while humming, We May Never Love Like This This Again. It's just too cool!

How lucky can you get?

Here's a first! I'm blogging "live" from Circus Circus here in Las Vegas. Ever since I can remember I've always wanted to see the Circus Circus clown! Obsessive as I can be, the obsession took a back seat for a number of years. When I made plans to visit Las Vegas there was only one option where I wanted to stay. Actually there were a few. I really wanted to stay in one of the older hotels from the 60's and 70's. There's not a lot left. They implode them all and build new resorts. So...the choice was between the Sahara, the Flamingo, Circus Circus and the Riviera. As luck would have it, I couldn't go past my old friend, the clown.

Imagine my expression of seeing him for the first time. I probably stood there for about five minutes taking it in. I'll admit I was really excited and he is HUGE! I knew he was big but he's a monster. In reality he's 123 feet high, designed by Dan Edwards and now has a new LED screen. I took a gazillion photos of him, (his name is "Lucky"). Although the hotel was opened in 1968, Lucky didn't arrive until 1976! There's another great thing, he's from the 70's! I immediately went on a hunt through the gift shops. Alas, there appears to be no Lucky merchandise. I did find a number of Circus Circus items but nothing with Lucky emblazoned across them. Too me he's part of the Las Vegas strip. I hope the owners don't try to update or modernize Lucky. He'd be lucky no more.

The Roustabout ferris wheel today

If your a fan of Elvis Presley you pretty much know his 1964 movie Roustabout. Probably more than me. I've only seen the film once, basically to see the Ferris Wheel. That makes me sound like I have some unnatural obsession with ferris wheels. Far from it. I'm not a huge fan of riding them but for the sake of a good story, I did. A few years ago I heard that the ferris wheel from the movie, Roustabout, was now living in Australia.


The original exteriors for Routabout were filmed in Thousand Oaks, California. In a cow pasture! Luckliy the ferris wheel now has ocean views. When I found myself in Semaphore, I made a beeline and I just had to check out this movie icon. As I walked up I noticed the sign claiming it to be the real thing! Yes, it's even called, The Roustabout! Poor Barbara Stanywck doesn't even rate mention on the sign.


As I'm easily impressed I asked the operator if he knew any history and how it ended up half way around the world. He didn't seem interested in talking about it. I'm guessing he'd recounted the story so many times he was probably bored repeating it. The sign claimed it was in the movie, so I kept up my questions. I learnt that it WAS from the film. The original chairs were replaced a few years ago. The originals were unsafe and he didn't know where they were now. The only other fact I could muster was it shipped to Australia a number of years ago. I thanked him for having to deal with my questions and I hopped on for my three minute ride.


When visiting Semaphore in South Australia make sure to visit and ride the ferris wheel that Elvis rode in the movie, Roustabout. Book that vacation now!

Hitchcock's The Birds

I've touched on this before so think of this an extended version. I love the Alfred Hitchcock classic, The Birds. The basic premise of the movie is simple. The small coastal town of Bodega Bay is besieged by attacking birds. Birds do attack. I've been dive bombed by overly protective birds when walking past a tree where it's newborns are nesting. It is a scary feeling as you hear the clap of their wings and feel a peck on your head. I've even witnessed a bird fly into a window.

Universal backlot 1962

I've always dreamed of visiting the town of Bodega Bay in Northern California the second I saw the movie. One of my "must-do's" was to walk up the street where Melanie drives to find directions to the Brenner home at the general store and to have lunch at the Tides and make a phone call from the telephone box. All this was back in the early 1980's when I was much younger and stupidly naive. The dream of putting myself in The Birds died a sad death the day I purchased the DVD back in 2001. Watching The Making of The Birds (a great bonus feature I must add) there my dream died, much of Bodega Bay was the Universal Studios backlot.

Universal backlot 2005

In 2005 I was lucky enough to grab a capture of what I originally thought was Bodega Bay. The location looked remarkably the same all these years later. It was only after I returned home I discovered I'd captured the Birds location.

Universal Studios 2009

In 2008 Universal Studios suffered a fire losing much of their New York sets. The Birds location (one of Universal's original western sets) was spared. However, a decision was made and the black fish market facade was removed making way for a park. The facade of The Tides restaurant, phone box gas station no longer remain. The general store and saloon remain, a legacy of Hitchcock's, The Birds.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

I've always wondered what it must be like to live in a home that has been featured in a movie or TV series. Countless gawking tourists standing outside taking photos as a memento of their vacation to Hollywood USA. Yes, I am one of them and ironically I couldn't wait to do it. One of my first ever attempts at "property stalking" proved quite a buzz.

Thanks to the internet I was able to track down the address of the house used in the 1962 movie, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? starring Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. If you haven't seen the movie it can be best described as; a thriller about an aging ex-vaudeville star (Davis) waging a psychotic reign of terror over her crippled ex-movie star sister (Crawford).

You really have to give it to these two ageing broads, they play their characters to the hilt. Bette Davis proves herself as a marvelous character actress as does Joan. The fact they appeared so grotesquely certainly proves you don't need beauty to have star power. Anyway...

Randy and I set out to stalk this real home in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. It was surprisingly easy to find. Once we arrived at our location Randy opted to stay in the car but I had to get out and get as close as I could to the property. Considering the movie was filmed in 1962 the house looks virtually the same some 47 years later.

1962 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? appearance


2009


Actor, Victor Buono at the front door in 1962


The ornate gates in 2009

The neighbours house was seen briefly in a few establishing shots.

1962

2009

Mrs Bates (the neighbor) was played by Anna Lee who would go on to play a nun in The Sound of Music and her daughter was played by Bette Davis real life daughter BD Merrill.

Filming Baby Jane 1962

All the interiors for Baby Jane were filmed at Raleigh Studios on Melrose Ave. While the real house was used on McCadden Place for exterior shots, a facade of the exterior was partially built on a soundstage at Raleigh.

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

or...finding my big W!

In July last year I found myself in Long Beach California visiting the Queen Mary. I had planned to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific but decided against it at the last minute. With time on my hands I decided to take a walk around and discover the sights of Long Beach. I found myself a Starbucks and sat down. I noticed just down the street a city building with those all too famous external fire escape stairs. My mind started racing, could I find myself the movie locations of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World?

There was one enormous problem. I had no idea what scenes were filmed in Long Beach or even where any locations were. IAMMMMW filmed all over Southern California. Was I getting Long Beach and Santa Monica confused? It was frustrating to say the least. My first thought was the climatic scene on the fire escape. Walking around Long Beach EVERY building looked like it belonged in the movie.

They all have external fire escapes and lets face it...Long Beach has changed a lot since 1963. (I had totally forgotten all the climatic scenes were filmed at Universal Studios in what was called Kramer Square.)

Kramer Square at Universal Studios NOT Long Beach

At this point I recalled the scene where Spencer Tracey runs up a set of stairs. I knew the scene was filmed in an alley. The problem was Long Beach has lots of them. After walking down two of them I was ready to give up. I had no idea where I was. I had no map. It was hot and I was ready to throw in the towel. Just as I was about to ask directions where I could find the Metroline I looked up and saw what I now call my "Big W!". On the side of a building was a faded arrow pointing down. I remember thinking, if this was movie it would be pointing where I needed to be.

I have no idea why, but I headed towards it. Nestled between a high rise and a Mexican restaurant was an alley. I crossed the road and started walking. It was then I let out a large squeal, alerting a security guard to my presence. I turned around and I was right in the middle of IAMMMMW. I still can't believe I found it. I was in total shock.

I then walked to the set of stairs that Spencer Tracey and the cast climb and let out another squeal. I'm surprised the location still looks remarkably the same some 47 years later.

As I was preparing this I looked at the photo with the arrow on the wall and my jaw dropped. The very top of the building looked very familiar indeed. They filmed on the rooftop with Spencer Tracey before cutting to the scenes filmed at Universal. The shells on the top of the building! Another discovery!



I can say without a doubt, Long Beach was a great place to visit. What I did wasn't on any tourist brochure but it just goes to prove, it is indeed a mad, mad, mad, mad world!

Fabulous Flintstones on Parade

The Fabulous Flintstones on Parade was an arena show that toured Australia during 1979. It came sandwiched between Disney on Parade and Disney On Ice. The soundtrack for the show was evidently recorded in Australia, and it was disco all the way. A show was also filmed for a US TV Special hosted by Michael Landon evidently.

The opening night was heralded by a local TV station with a 30 minute extravaganza, with the host doing a meet-n-greet with some of the characters. Most of the characters were from the cartoon world of Hanna-Barbera. Hanna-Barbera culled most of their famous cartoons into life form.  All said it was pretty cool to see Funky Phantom and The Banana Splits in front of you.  My memory of the show is vague. I recall Dino being scolded by Fred and Dino running away only to be found at a disco(!) which belonged to The Banana Splits. A large bowling ball that hit the pins and required a large band aid. Truly, the only memories I have.

The production standard was high from memory. There were high wire acts and special effects to ignite the audience. I'm sure there was merchandise available but all I have is a program. In 1979 it almost uncool to go see costume characters cavort around on a stage, but I'm glad I went. Would I want to see it again?...in a heartbeat! Here's some images from the program.