Love Crazy (1941) - Film Locations

Steve and Susan Ireland are about to celebrate their fourth anniversary, but when Steve runs into an old flame, a meddling mother in-law convinces her daughter that Steve is cheating on her. After some misunderstandings Susan decides to file for divorce. Steve pretends to be crazy in order to delay the divorce and buy some time to win his wife back. That's the premise for the 1941 screwball comedy Love Crazy. 

William Powell and Myrna Loy, famous as a husband and wife team in the Thin Man films, once again play husband and wife in Love Crazy. Although this comedy is a fun watch, it doesn't have the same wit as the Thin Man films and at times the humor seems forced. The best moments come from the supporting cast, particularly Jack Carson, a neighbor who gets in the middle of the Ireland's marriage and Florence Bates who plays the mother in-law.

Most of the action takes place inside the Ireland's apartment building, but of the few exterior scenes, I recognized some sets from the MGM backlot. I was later able to verify the MGM backlot sets using the book, M-G-M: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, by Steven Bingen, Stephen X. Sylvester, and Michael Troyan. This book makes a great reference book.

William Powell gets pushed into the "Esther Williams Pool"

In one scene, Powell, who is attending a party, takes all of the mens' hats from the hat check and throws them into a swimming pool. Powell is pretending to be crazy by "emancipating" the hats. In the process Powell gets shoved into the "Esther Williams Pool." According to M-G-M: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, the pool was built in about 1935. Williams didn't take her first swim in the pool until 1942 but she would go on to use the pool frequently for her many aquatic themed pictures.

Powell is taken into the Dr. Wuthering's Rest Home

After a judge believes Powell to be crazy, he is sent to the Dr. Wuthering's Rest Home, which was really the MGM "Girl's School" backlot set. This set was possibly first constructed for the 1940 film, Forty Little Mothers. Some other movies that have used the Girl's School set included Cynthia (1947) The Cobweb (1955), and The Wheeler Dealers (1963).

Below is a video tour of the MGM backlot showing how some of the outdoor sets appeared in 1963. One of the backlot sets that is seen in the video is the Girl's School set, starting at the 33 second mark.

MGM Studios backlot video tour.

Powell on the Girl's School backlot set.

Jack Carson and William Powell on the Girl's School set.

Unfortunately, these MGM backlot sets have been demolished so the only way we can see them now is in these classic movies.

Love Crazy is available for rent through ClassicFlix and is also available to purchase on DVD.

To learn more about the book M-G-M: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, visit the official site here. You can also read my interview with one of the coauthors, Steve Bingen, here.

The Hard Way (1943) - Film Locations

When I watched the film The Hard Way (1943) I wanted to reach into the screen and slap actress Ida Lupino. Her character was just so unrelentingly ruthless. Lupino's performance was so believable that I couldn't help myself from hating her character. Add to that by contrast, supporting actors Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson seem like such good guys, it's hard to watch them being taken advantage of by Lupino. Although she wasn't nominated for an Oscar, at least the New York Film Critics recognized Lupino's strong performance by giving her a Best Actress award. And Lupino isn't the only one who turns in a strong performance. Both Carson and Morgan shine in their dramatic roles. With such great acting and an interesting gritty story, I'm surprised The Hard Way hasn't received more recognition.

If you enjoy manipulative backstabbing showbiz stories like the Bette Davis film All About Eve (1950), then you may want to give the lesser known The Hard Way a try. After not being available on DVD for quite a while it eventually was released as part of the Warner Archive collection. In The Hard Way, Lupino is the big sister who will do anything to make her little sister Katherine (Joan Leslie) a star, even if it means hurting other people in order to climb to the top of the showbiz ladder. Lupino acts almost like a stage mother. She lives vicariously through her younger sister's successes. In Morgan and Carson, a vaudeville duo, Lupino sees the men as an opportunity to propel Leslie's showbiz career and a chance for Lupino herself to escape her drab life in a sleepy steel town. When Leslie eventually becomes the toast of Broadway and no longer needs the help of Morgan and Carson, Lupino encourages Leslie to leave the two vaudevillians behind. Carson, who has fallen in love and has married Leslie, is especially struck hard by Lupino's manipulations.

The Hard Way was mostly filmed inside soundstages on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, although there are a couple exterior scenes that make use of the Warner Bros. backlot. In one scene near the beginning of the film, Leslie, who hasn't yet left the steel town of Green Hill to start her showbiz career is seen taking a class photo in front of her high school. The building that is used as Green Hill High School is actually a structure on Warner Bros. Midwest Street and is one of the earliest films I have noticed to have used Midwest Street.

Joan Leslie takes a class photo in front of Green Hill High School,

really a facade on Midwest Street at Warner Bros.

The same facade on Midwest Street as it appears today.

Ida Lupino and Joan Leslie on Midwest Street.

In another camera angle we can kind of see another building on Midwest Street located near the Green Hill High School building. 

Another view of Midwest Street with Lupino and Leslie.

The view behind Lupino and Leslie as it appears now.

I believe the scene near the end of the film where Dennis Morgan looks for Leslie at a big New York theater was shot on the Warner Bros. New York Street. Below Morgan can be seen walking underneath a theater facade.

Morgan walks past a theater facade on New York Street.

Looking down New York Street at Warner Bros.

Next to the theater is a little alley with a set of stairs leading up the side of the building. The facade of the theater on the Warner Bros. New York Street also has a very similar alley and stairs.

Morgan and Leslie in the alley on New York Street.

Looking into the alley on New York Street as it appears now.

The fun thing about being a classic film fan is discovering some of the enjoyable films that haven't received a lot of recognition, that don't get the regular praises as such classics as say Casablanca or Citizen Kane. The Hard Way may not be in the same class as those films, but it tries hard and deserves more attention.

The Hollywood Bowl - Music Under The Stars

A view of Hollywood looking over the Hollywood Bowl.

Since the early 1920s, residents of the Hollywood area have been gathering at The Hollywood Bowl to listen to music outside, under the stars. The "Bowl," a natural amphitheater carved into a hillside in the Hollywood Hills, is the home of the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the setting for so many other outdoor musical events, such as The Sound of Music Sing-a-long, the Playboy Jazz Festival and many pop concerts. 

An early postcard view of the Hollywood Bowl

Like so many other Angelenos, for me, attending the Hollywood Bowl is developing into an annual summer time experience, although I'm still learning some of the tricks to make the most out of a Hollywood Bowl show. Some attendees arrive to the Bowl early bringing a full picnic spread which they lay out in one of the tree covered spots on the Hollywood Bowl grounds. Attendees come with packed coolers and picnic baskets filled with their favorite libations and yummy bites. The grounds surrounding the bowl feel very woodsy, almost like being on planet Endor, you know, where the Ewoks live in Star Wars? It feels like an escape from the city and the perfect getaway for a picnic. (Excuse me while I slide my glasses up my nose after making that nerdy comparison). If you don't bring your own picnic basket, the Hollywood Bowl does sell picnic baskets which you can order. 

By the way, if you visit the Hollywood Bowl, it is worth taking the time to look at "The Bowl Walk" exhibit.  There are ten stations around the Hollywood Bowl park area displaying images and information on the cultural events and history of the Bowl.

Easter Service at the Hollywood Bowl 1920s

The iconic looking bandshell where the orchestra performs wasn't constructed when the Hollywood Bowl first opened to entertain guests. In 1922, the Bowl only had a simple awning covering the stage and makeshift wooden benches for the audience to sit. Above is one of my postcards showing the Hollywood Bowl during a special Easter service without the bandshell in the background. Below is another of my postcards showing an Easter service, but a few years later with a bandshell.

A later view of the Bowl hosting an Easter service.

There have been several different shells at the Hollywood Bowl. The first shell was built in 1926. At that time the grounds were regraded and the wooden benches were replaced by permanent seating. Although the upgrades to the Bowl provided more seating, the acoustics were diminished by the regrading. Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright, was hired to build a new shell. Wright had previously built sets at the Bowl for various theatrical productions and for the shell he designed for the 1927 season, he recycled wood from a Robin Hood set to build a pyramid structure that was supposed to improve the acoustics and complement the rustic setting. Wright's shell was demolished at the end of the 1927 season and in 1928 Wright was hired again to design a second shell. Wright's second shell had a more modern design popular during the time period, however, like Wright's previous shell, his second would also be demolished at the end of the year.

Vintage postcard image of the Hollywood Bowl.

There would be several different versions of the shell at the Hollywood Bowl. The current shell, built in 2004, incorporates elements from some of the previous shells but also integrates the latest state-of-the-art lighting and sound technology.  

Looking east across the Hollywood Bowl.

THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL IN THE MOVIES

Several classic films have featured The Hollywood Bowl as a location including A Star is Born (1937), Champagne For Caesar (1956), Hollywood or Bust (1956), Moonlight Murder (1936), and Two On A Guillotine (1965) to name a few. My favorite films that feature the Hollywood Bowl are two classics from the 1940s: Anchors Aweigh (1945) starring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly and It's A Great Feeling (1949) starring Doris Day, Jack Carson, and Dennis Morgan. Below are some screenshots of the Bowl from Anchors Aweigh and It's A Great Feeling.

Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly try to get into the

Hollywood Bowl in Anchors Aweigh (1945).

Sinatra and Kelly sneak into the Bowl by 

climbing up the back hillside.

Kelly and Sinatra looking down at The Hollywood Bowl.

The entrance to The Hollywood Bowl as seen in the

film It's A Great Feeling (1949).

Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson both try to win

over Doris Day at the Bowl in It's A Great Feeling.

Morgan, Day, and Carson watching a show at the Bowl.

Wifey and Robby at the Bowl for

the Playboy Jazz Festival.

Fantasia at the Hollywood Bowl

Fireworks during Fantasia at the Hollywood Bowl.

Summer is coming to an end, although, it certainly doesn't feel like it will be over anytime soon with how hot it is currently in Los Angeles, but there is still another month of performances at the Bowl. Visit the official Hollywood Bowl website to view the calendar of events by clicking here.

Do you have any fond memories or experiences from visiting The Hollywood Bowl? Do you have any tricks or tips to share for visitors?