Highway Dragnet (1954) - Film Locations

Last week the blog Paradise Leased provided an update on the status of Apple Valley, California's famous Hilltop House, a once gorgeous modern home that unfortunately has been left to deteriorate over the years. Today, this house built for one of Apple Valley's co-founders, Newton T. Bass, is just a skeleton of the structure it used to be, but the house is now for sale and hopefully some buyer can return the home to its original beauty. You can read and see photos of the home on the Paradised Leased blog here.

The update on the Hilltop House reminded me of the film Highway Dragnet (1954), which was partly filmed in Apple Valley, at another area landmark, the Apple Valley Inn located in the valley just below the Hilltop House. Highway Dragnet stars Richard Conte, Joan Bennett and Wanda Hendrix. It tells the story of a Korean War vet, played by Conte, who is wrongly accused of killing a woman he was seen with earlier inside a Las Vegas bar. Conte must go on the lam until he can clear his name. He gets out of town by hitching a ride with a female photographer (Bennett) and her model (Hendrix). Although the story has a few holes in the plot, it is still entertaining to watch, particularly for all the excellent location filming.

The film starts with scenes in Las Vegas, including a shot of the Golden Nugget and Binion's Horseshoe casinos on Fremont street.

Looking down Fremont Street in Las Vegas.

Fremont Street today. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

One major change to Fremont Street since the time Highway Dragnet was made is the addition of the Fremont Street Experience, a canopy that produces a colored light show above several blocks of the street.

The Horseshoe casino as seen in Highway Dragnet.

Binion's Gambling Hall formerly The Horseshoe.

After the Vegas scenes, the film shows Conte hitching a ride with Bennett and Hendrix in the desert. The threesome eventually pull over and get a room at the Apple Valley Inn.  The Apple Valley Inn was a hotel developed by Newton T. Bass to help attract land buyers to housing development he created out in the middle of the California desert. During the 1940s and until the 1960s, it was a popular place for many Hollywood celebrities, including Bob Hope, Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck.

Police set up a barricade in front of the Apple Valley Inn.

The entrance of the Apple Valley Inn as it appears now.

Highway 18 leading up to the Apple Valley Inn driveway.

Looking down Highway 18 from the Apple Valley Inn driveway.

Conte in front of the Apple Valley Inn.

The Apple Valley Inn. Photo from mysewsweetstudio.blogspot.com

Historic postcard view of the Apple Valley Inn.

Conte, Bennett and Hendrix inside a room at Apple Valley Inn.

An agent stands in front of the Apple Valley Inn pool.

Hendrix sits on the pool's diving board.

Bennett stands by the Apple Valley Inn pool.

The Macdonald Carey family visits the pool at Apple Valley Inn. Photo from Paradise Leased.

When it's revealed that Conte, who police believe to be the killer is hiding out at the Apple Valley Inn, he races out of the place, driving a car right through a police barricade.

Conte drives through a police barricade at Apple Valley Inn.

Exiting the driveway at Apple Valley Inn.

The final scenes take place at the Salton Sea. According to the site Lost Resorts, the Salton Sea was once known as the Riviera of the West or "Palm Springs by the Sea." It is the largest lake in California and used to be a major destination in the 1950s and 1960s for tourist and celebrities. The sea was created by accident. In 1900, developers created a series of canals and dikes to divert water from the Colorado River to turn the arid desert into farming land. In 1905 heavy rains caused the Colorado River to rise, a dike was then broken and the Imperial Valley filled with water, becoming the Salton Sea.

The Salton Sea as seen in Highway Dragnet.

A present day view of the Salton Sea. Photo from Lost Resorts.

Documentary video of the Salton Sea.

Above is a short video clip showing scenes of the Salton Sea and the people that live in the area. Today the area is almost a flooded ghost town. Water levels would continue to rise, flooding buisnesses that surrounded the lake. Salt and fertilizers from run-off accumulated and killed off most of the fish. Now what was a bustling resort area is filled with dead fish, decaying boats and buildings drowning in water.

For more on the Apple Valley Inn read this wonderful post from Paradise Leased.

Highway Dragnet is available for streaming on Netflix and can also be seen on YouTube here.

The Fireball (1950) - Film Locations

The Fireball (1950)

Whenever I think of the Roller Derby I usually picture tough Derby Girls and a theatricality similar to WWF wrestling. I've never really thought of it as a true sport or one that men play for that matter, until I saw the Mickey Rooney film, The Fireball. Like the recent Ellen Page film, Whip It (2009), where Page plays an awkward teenager who puts on skates and learns she could be a great Roller Derby girl, The Fireball is a similar coming-of-age type story.

In The Fireball, Rooney plays the orphan Johnny Casar, a rebellious teen living at the St. Luke's Home For Boys. Johnny has no outlet for his frustrations and is regularly getting into trouble. When Johnny is confronted by Father O'Hara, played by the priest when you need one, Pat O'Brien, Johnny decides to run away from the orphanage. 

While roaming the streets, Johnny stumbles across a pair of roller skates. He tries the skates on, finds that they fit, and then the next minute Johnny is rolling wildly down a hill, nearly knocking over anyone standing in the sidewalk. Johnny isn't a great skater at first, but he visits a local skating rink where he meets Mary Reeves (Beverly Tyler), who offers him free skating lessons. After a few lessons and a lot of practice Johnny becomes a superb skater, eventually joining a men's roller derby team. Johnny gains many fans with his outspoken personality and his athleticism. All the attention poured on Johnny from his fans only boosts his ego. At the same time Johnny's cocksure attitude is alienating him from his teammates.

During the international championship, Johnny, who will do anything to win, injures a few other players when he intentionally knocks over a teammate, forcing a pile-up of all the other skaters. The crowd and even Father O'Hara who is watching in the audience, are disgusted by Johnny's unsportsmanlike conduct. Although, disgust turns to concern when Johnny later collapses. 

Doctors discover that Johnny has polio. Upset by his condition, Johnny attempts suicide but Father O'Hara and Mary give Johnny the encouragement he needs for recovery. After a few years of therapy and training, Johnny finds himself back in the rink. When Johnny hears the crowd roar his cocky attitude returns too. But, after a conversation with Father O'Hara, Johnny realizes he should help out others just as people helped him when he needed it most. Instead of trying to be the star on the team, Johnny helps out one of the new younger players on the team.

Raquelle at the blog Out of the Past, who reviewed this film a few months ago, sums up this film pretty well. "Fireball is pure novelty! From the campy plot, to Marilyn Monroe's supporting role, to Mickey Rooney on roller skates. " These really are enough reasons to give this silly and fun film a view, but if I would add one more, it is to see a few Los Angeles locations. Here are a few of those locations.

St. Luke's Home For Boys

The film opens with scenes of St. Luke's Home For Boys, the orphanage where Mickey Rooney lives. See the screenshots above and below. I wasn't familiar with this building so I looked through a few historical photos of Los Angeles area orphanages and even Catholic schools. Eventually I came across a photo of the St. John's Military Academy in Los Angeles and it was very clear that this was the location used for the film.

St. Luke's Home For Boys, really St. John's Military Academy

The photo below, from the Los Angeles Library photo collection, shows the entrance to St. John's Military Academy. The palm trees are a lot taller in the film and the building looks to have been expanded. According to "Patterson's American Education, Volume 60," under their listing of military schools, they have the address for St. John's Military Academy listed at 1927 10th Avenue, Los Angeles.   It appears that this building has been demolished.

St. John's Military Academy, 1927 10th Ave, Los Angeles

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Library Photo Collection

Mickey Rooney runs from the orphanage.

Above Mickey Rooney is seen running from the backside of the orphanage. Below is another photo of St. John's Military Academy showing how this view once looked. From this view, things don't look that much different. The basketball courts are even there in the older photo.

St. John's Military Academy. 

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Library Photo Collection

Rooney climbs the fence at the orphanage.

The next few images are from the scene where Rooney tries on the roller skates and rolls wildly down the hill. That hill is Temple Street in Los Angeles, beginning near the intersection of Belmont Avenue. What seems like a really long hill in the film, is really only a few blocks long.

1648 Temple Street, Los Angeles

1648 Temple Street, Los Angeles

1644 & 1648 W. Temple Street

1644 W. Temple Street

1644 W. Temple Street

1642 W. Temple Street

1642 W. Temple Street

1638 W. Temple Street

1638 & 1642 W. Temple Street

Looking west on Temple Street.

Looking west on Temple Street.

1632 W. Temple Street

1632 W. Temple Street

1630 W. Temple Street

1630 & 1634 West Temple Street

If you would like to check out The Fireball it is currently for sale through the Warner Archive Collection.

Your thoughts?

Robert Mitchum and the Marijuana Charge

Robert Mitchum Sweeps His Jail Cell

Credit: Bettman/Corbis

Long before Charlie Sheen was making headlines for drug busts actor Robert Mitchum was making the front page as Hollywood's bad boy. During his lifetime, Mitchum would have a few encounters with the law. When Mitchum was just a teenager he had left home to live the hobo lifestyle, hopping trains going cross country. On one occasion in 1932, when Mitchum was sixteen,  the young man hopped off a train at a stop in Savannah to get some food and was arrested for vagrancy. Mitchum was sentenced to serve on a chain gang. 

But, Mitchum was lucky that he was only busted for vagrancy. During his hobo days Mitchum picked up a lifelong habit of smoking marijuana. Sometimes during those long train rides the marijuana helped kill the boredom or when passing through northern states during the harsh winter months, smoking marijuana made the extreme weather conditions tolerable. Mitchum got to the point that during his train travels he could distinguish the different varieties of marijuana one could encounter. When Mitchum would make has way west to Hollywood his interest in marijuana went with him and would be the subject of one of his most notorious scandals. 

By 1948, Mitchum had become a recognizable actor, particularly with  the bobby-soxer crowd who liked the bad boy image that he was beginning to be identified with. On August 31, 1948 an event would take place that would only add to Mitchum's reputation. Mitchum and his friend Robin Ford, a real estate agent, visited a young actress named Lila Leeds and her friend Vickie Evans at a house Leeds rented in Laurel Canyon. The four were taking turns passing around a joint when suddenly a crash was heard at the back of the house. A group of cops had made their way into the home and arrested the group for drugs.

Mitchum and the rest of the party would be tried by Judge Clement Nye. Mitchum pleaded not guilty but  Nye found them guilty, sentencing Mitchum to two years of probation, sixty days of which would be spent behind bars.

Los Angeles Hall of Justice

Above is a photo of the Los Angeles Hall of Justice building in downtown Los Angeles located at 210 West Temple Street. The 14-story building was built in 1922 and housed the Los Angeles County Courts, Los Angeles County Coroner, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney. It was also the primary LA County jail until the 1994, Northridge Earthquake. The building was damaged in the earthquake and has sat abandoned ever since, although there are plans to move back into the building. It really is a nice looking building and is a shame that it is not being used.

The Hall of Justice building was where Mitchum served fifty days in jail but Mitchum isn't the only well known personality to stay there. Bugsy Siegel, Charles Manson, and Sirhan Sirhan (Robert Kennedy's murderer) have all spent time at the Hall of Justice in the jails which were located in the top five floors of the building. In the basement of the building was the City Morgue and is where the autopsy of Marilyn Monroe was performed.

Mitchum also served time at the Sheriff's Honor Farm north of Los Angeles. Most of of Mitchum's day was spent working on the farm making concrete blocks. The actor would wake at 5am, have breakfast, work until a short lunch break and then go back to work until the evening. During Mitchum's jail time, Howard Hughes, who was then in charge of RKO studios where Mitchum was under contract, was preparing Mitchum's post-jail career.

While such publicity would kill the career of many actors Mitchum's star would continue to rise. The negative publicity probably boosted his career and in the eyes of some only reinforced the image they already had of the actor.