Belles on Their Toes (1952) - Film Locations

Belles on Their Toes (1952)

In less than two months, Santa Monica High School seniors will be participating in their graduation ceremony at the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre located on the campus. This is the same theatre in which Myrna Loy, in the film Belles on Their Toes (1952), joyously watched her youngest daughter's graduation ceremony. Although there have been some dramatic changes to the theatre during the last 61 years since the film was made, the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre is still very recognizable.

Belles on Their Toes is the sequel to the original Cheaper By the Dozen. In Belles, Loy, the mother of twelve children, continues to look after her family, but now without the help of her husband who had passed away at the end of the first film. You would expect the film to focus on Loy and the difficulties of a single woman raising twelve kids, but instead the film is centered more on the teenage romances of the older daughters. The film begins with Loy, done up in makeup to appear older, attending the graduation ceremony of her last child and then the story jumps back in time to show events preceding the graduation.

Note: Click images to see larger.

Graduates walk the steps of the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre at Santa Monica High School in the film Belles on Their Toes.

A contemporary view of the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre at Santa Monica High School. Photo from Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

Memorial Greek Amphitheatre as it appears in Belles on Their Toes.

The outdoor Greek style amphitheatre was originally built in 1921 to honor Santa Monicans that had served in World War I. Plaques on the walls of the amphitheatre listed all of the Santa Monicans that had served in the war. In the 1950s, a second level was added to the Greek, which you will notice by looking at the comparison of the screenshot and contemporary images below. Other additions to the theatre since it first opened in 1921 include plaques honoring Santa Monicans who have served in every major military conflict, as well as one for a student who was killed because of gang violence in the early 2000s. The Memorial Greek Amphitheatre first hosted a graduation ceremony in 1921 and has every year since.

The Memorial Greek Amphitheatre in Belles on Their Toes.

Contemporary view of the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre in Santa Monica.

Myrna Loy on the steps of the Santa Monica High School Memorial Greek Amphitheatre as seen in Belles on Their Toes.

Most of the scenes in the film were shot on the 20th Century Fox Studios lot, with the exception of the graduation scene which was filmed on location at Santa Monica High School, and another scene that was filmed on location at Paradise Cove in Malibu. In the scene below the kids spend a day at the beach and two of the teenage daughters try flirting with the local boys. Minus the vintage bathing suits and umbrellas, this stretch of coastline is pretty much the same quiet beach area.

Paradise Cove, Malibu, Ca as seen in Belles on Their Toes.

Paradise Cove Pier, Malibu, Ca. Photo: Wikimedia.org

Don't you just love those bathing suits?

Paradise Cove, Malibu as seen in Belles on Their Toes.

Photo from LA Observed. Paradise Cove Pier

In addition to Myrna Loy, the Belles on Their Toes cast includes Jeanne Crain, Debra Paget, Jeffrey Hunter, Edward Arnold, Hoagy Carmichael, and Verna Felton who voiced many Disney characters. Belles on Their Toes was directed by Henry Levin. The film is available on DVD and can also be rented through ClassicFlix.

Quincy, M.E. - Film Locations - Larchmont Boulevard

Jack Klugman is Quincy, M.E.

For a few months now I've been on a Quincy, M.E. kick. This 1970s-1980s television show starring the likable Jack Klugman was a precursor to contemporary hit shows like the CSI crime investigation series. Klugman plays the title character, Quincy, a savvy Los Angeles coroner who never saw a crime scene that couldn't be solved. As the show is set in Los Angeles, numerous LA area film locations appear frequently. Right from the get go, during the first episode of Season 1, the episode Go Fight City Hall...to the Death (1976), includes shots of Dodgers Stadium, City Hall, Marina Del Rey and other Los Angeles locations. One location in particular that appears briefly at the beginning of the episode caught my eye - a scene of a coroner's ambulance driving down Larchmont Boulevard.

226 N. Larchmont Boulevard as seen in Quincy, M.E.

Contemporary view looking down N. Larchmont Blvd.

In the screenshot above we see the ambulance driving north down Larchmont Boulevard, in the heart of the Larchmont Village. Just below the screenshot is a contemporary view looking down Larchmont Boulevard. On the right of the screenshot is a Safeway market which I remembered from watching the Bob Hope film, Eight on the Lam (1967). 

226 N. Larchmont Blvd as seen in Eight on the Lam (1967).

Contemporary view of 226 N. Larchmont Boulevard.

The Larchmont Village has been a popular filming location ever since the silent era and the area continues to be used as a filming location. Some films I've previously covered on Dear Old Hollywood to feature Larchmont include Off Limits (1953) starring Bob Hope and Mickey Rooney, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) starring Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, and Eight on the Lam (1967) starring Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Shirley Eaton, and Jill St. John.

Quincy, M.E. has been released on DVD and is also available for streaming through Netflix.

Cooper, Rainer and The Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills

Gary Cooper didn't waste any time going from silent film stunt man to the top leading man of the silver screen. With his tall, handsome looks and "aw shucks" attitude, Cooper charmed both women and men alike. He was the kind of guy audiences would pay to see. Cooper, who grew up in wild west Montana but spent a few years living in Bedfordshire, England to attend grammar school, developed qualities that made him believable playing both cowboys and refined urban characters. He would evolve into the image of the ideal American, even playing  a few real life American icons, including Sergeant York and Lou Gehrig. It's no surprise that even off screen Cooper attracted those around him, especially the ladies.

One of those ladies was German actress Luise Rainer. According to Jeffrey Meyers biography Gary Cooper: American Hero, Rainer, after seeing Cooper in the film A Farewell to Arms, was inspired to come to Hollywood. Meyers writes that "when she saw him in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, she felt weak at the knees and was ready to surrender." Above is a contemporary image of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel lobby, but I much prefer this image below that shows how the lobby would have looked closer to the time Rainer first met Cooper there.

Beverly Wilshire Hotel lobby, probably late 1920s.

Photo: LAPL

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel, located at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, was built in 1928. It has always been a luxury hotel that appealed to Hollywood's elite. Some classic movie legends have even lived in the hotel at various times, including actors Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, who like Cooper, had their fair share of affairs. The hotel has even been used as a filming location, most famously in Pretty Woman (1990), starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.

Gary Cooper and Luise Rainer

Meyers goes on to quote actor Richard Widmark as saying that Cooper "was catnip to the ladies" and that director Stuart Heisler said, "Coop was probably the greatest cocksman that ever lived. They fell over themselves to get him to take them to bed" - just like Rainer, at the site of Cooper, was ready to "surrender" herself in the  hotel lobby.