Dear Old Hollywood

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Ernest Borgnine Beverly Hills Home For Sale

Ernest Borgnine in front of his home in 1969.

The longtime Beverly Hills home of Oscar winning actor Ernest Borgnine is currently for sale at $3.395 million. Borgnine lived in the house for six decades. Pretty impressive when you hear so many other stars constantly buying and selling houses. The home is located at 3055 Lake Glen Drive, in the Beverly Hills Post Office area, on a 1/2 acre lot above Mulholland Drive, and has views of the San Fernando Valley.

The home was designed by architect L.G. Scherer in 1938 with a Country English style. The house has a formal entry hall, large spacious living and family rooms that open up to a swimming pool, a library, office, den, breakfast, room and kitchen. There are six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, plus a one bedroom guesthouse. For more details on the house visit the official real estate listing.

As I've mentioned with other classic Hollywood homes that have gone on the market, I only hope the buyer maintains the integrity of the house. How great would it be to start your day by having breakfast in the same kitchen as a Hollywood icon like Borgnine or doing some reading in the same den?

Click images to enlarge.

The front of Borgnine's home as it appears today.

A view of the swimming pool.

The gated entrance.

The formal entry hall.

Borgnine and wife Tova Traesnaes by the stairwell.

Borgnine with an earlier wife, Donna and their kids:

Sharon, 3, and Cristofer, 3. July 1, 1969.

Borgnine passed away in July at the age of 95. Although it doesn't normally come as a shock if someone dies and they are 95 years old, I was a bit surprised when I heard that Borgnine had died. I had seen him a year earlier at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood when he did a Q&A with TCM host, Ben Mankiewicz, as part of TCM's "Road to Hollywood" series. I have some video clips of Borgnine that day you can see here. Borgnine was so energetic and appeared like one of those guys who still had at least a few more years ahead of him - like a Bob Hope or George Burns. The much younger Mankiewicz even joked that earlier in the day he was having trouble keeping up with Borgnine.

What are your thoughts on Borgnine the man and his home?

Sunday, September 23, 2012

On the Loose (1951) - Film Locations

Robert Arthur and Joan Evans

On the Loose (1951) is one of those 1950s films with a theme about juvenile delinquency. In this short B movie Joan Evans plays a neglected teenager who will do anything to get her parents attention, including suicide. Her aloof parents are played by Melvyn Douglas and Lynn Bari. This is one of those quick movies I'll throw on when I can't really make up my mind what to watch. It's not too long, can be easily watched in the background while doing something else (like playing with a baby on the floor!), and if I'm lucky, maybe I'll see some interesting film locations.

As for film locations, most of the action in this film takes place on interior sets that were clearly constructed on a studio soundstage, but there is one scene that takes place outside a high school. In the film the school is identified as Central High School. In reality the school is the Beverly Hills High School located at 241 Moreno Drive.

"Central High School" really Beverly Hills High School.

241 Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills High School

The front of the high school has not changed much since 1951. The most dramatic change are those high-rise buildings standing in the background.

I'm not sure if On the Loose is available on DVD, but if you are looking for some 1950s teenage drama, the film is currently available for streaming on Netflix.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Strange Intruder (1956) - Film Locations

Ida Lupino and Edmund Purdom

The main reason I started watching the film Strange Intruder (1956) was because it starred Ida Lupino. A nice surprise was spotting the Sierra Madre, California town square that is more famously recognizable from the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), which coincidentally enough was filmed the same year as Strange Intruder. Beyond Lupino and seeing exterior scenes filmed in Sierra Madre, the film is a bit of a clunker.

The story is about a Korean War veteran, Paul Quentin (Edmund Purdom), who promised his dying friend that he would look after his family when he returned to the United States. Purdom, however, has gone crazy and begins to envision killing his friend's kids as well as the man who was having an affair with his friend's wife (Ida Lupino). The film is very melodramatic and the tone and story feels very schizophrenic, like director Irving Rapper didn't know what kind of film he wanted to make. Lupino seems to be just going through the motions and Purdom seems like a stand-in for James Mason. Nevertheless, there are some interesting moments, notably the filming in Sierra Madre.

When Purdom is first dismissed from a Veteran's hospital and arrives in town via bus, he is dropped off at the Sierra Madre, California town square, about 18 miles Northeast from downtown Los Angeles and only 3 miles from Santa Anita Racetrack. We see the bus drive South on Baldwin Avenue and then round the corner onto Sierra Madre Boulevard heading West. At the end of the film we see him leave town on a bus from the this same location.

The bus heads down Baldwin Avenue.

20 N. Baldwin Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca

Lupino says goodbye to Purdom at corner of Baldwin & Sierra Madre.

Looking up Baldwin Ave from Sierra Madre Blvd.

In this view we see what was then a Union gas station.

Now on the corner is a Valero gas station.

The bus turns from Baldwin Ave on to Sierra Madre Blvd.

As the bus turns the corner from Baldwin Avenue on to Sierra Madre Boulevard we get a glimpse of a market in the background. The market building is still standing but in the yellow triangle you will see that the adjacent building at the end has been torn down and is now the site of a parking lot.

Corner of Baldwin Ave & Sierra Madre Blvd.

The adjacent building is now a parking lot.

Once the bus is on Sierra Madre Boulevard we see that the first building on the Southwest corner is also demolished and is now a parking lot.

Sierra Madre Boulevard at Baldwin Avenue.

The site of the building is now a parking lot.

The rest of the buildings on this strip of Sierra Madre Boulevard are still standing, most recognizable is the "HAPPY'S" building. The other buildings that are still standing have added second stories and have made other exterior alterations.