Universal Studios, September 1974
I just scanned a batch of slides from Universal Studios Hollywood (back when it was the only Universal Studios), circa 1974. There are some nice ones in the bunch, but there are some so-so examples as well. I figured I might as well use up some of those less-wonderful shots all at once. Lucky you.
We'll start with this view that appears to have been taken from outside the studio through a delightful chain link fence. It keeps hot things hot, and cold things cold. Is this where guests boarded the Glamor Trams? It sort of looks that way. I'd like to point out that thick layer of top-quality smog that practically obscures the nearby mountains.
Well well well, here we are in that very same plaza seen in photo #1. That large building (is it a real soundstage?) has some fun signs advertising one movie ("Earthquake") and many TV shows that were filmed at the studio. It's hard to read some of them, but there is "The Six Million Dollar Man"; "Emergency": "Adam 12"; the "NBC Tuesday Mystery Movie", which included George Peppard as "Banacek", and Helen Hays and Mildred Natwick as "The Snoop Sisters"; Henry Fonda and Terence Hill in "My Name is Nobody"; and "Get Christie Love!" starring Teresa Graves and Harry Guardino.
Some cool old cars are stacked on a truck for some period film or TV show. "American Graffiti" was a hit for Universal in 1973, I wonder if that is why the cars were on display?
This house was on "Colonial Street" (now called "Wisteria Lane"), and I believe that it is generally known as the "Hardy Boys" house. Here's some info from theStudioTour website: Originally known as Ron’s Barn, this house has moved around the backlot a number of times.
This barn-like house set was built for All That Heaven Allows, in 1955, featuring Rock Hudson playing Ron Kirby. The set was built on the backlot next to the original Falls Lake. Following that production, the set was modified to move it to Colonial Street.
Featured in ‘The Hardy Boys’ (1977 – 79) and ‘The New Lassie’ (1989) TV series ‘The ‘Burbs’ (1988) as the Rumsfield’s home and in ‘Deep Impact’ (2003), this house was Featured in ‘Desperate Housewives’ as 4353 Wisteria Lane, Susan Mayer’s home [Teri Hatcher].
Over on New York Street, we see Whitey's Bar. If there's one thing I have learned in life, it's to not trust Whitey!
Brand-new in 1974 was the Collapsing Bridge, a decrepit old structure that our Glamor Tram attempted to cross, only to have the creaking roadway suddenly drop a foot or so before the tram scoots away from danger. It was good for a few screams! As of 2012 the bridge sits mostly unused - I believe that the trams are now routed through the newer "King Kong 360 3-D", which pales in comparison to the old "King Kong Encounter" in my opinion.
Stay tuned for more Universal Studios pix!
17 comments:
Major-
What was the spiel used for the Collapsing Bridge-? "It's the oldest structure on the lot..." Yes, of course. But nothing tops the 'Glamour Trams', especially this vintage with the slanted front ends. And remember to: Ask for Babs-!!
Thanks, Major.
The first photo shows the tram stop at the Lower Lot from another tram on what is now Kirk Douglas Drive, looking across the site of today's Jurassic Park the Ride. Tour groups were shown various special effects in Stage 32, which is the large building behind the tram. Just behind the tram you can just make out a giant Instamatic camera, which I think sold film (I just barely remember it and can't find any photos).
All of the buildings that front on that open area have been removed. The two buildings on the right were removed for the E.T. Adventure in 1991, while Transformers the Ride replaced Stage 32 the Not Ride in 2012.
I remember that bridge scaring the dickens (but not the poe) out of me when I was 6.
Good stuff today, Major.
Although I have no desire to see Universal Orlando, I wish I had seen this Universal at this time. Alas, although my mom and grandparents took me to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and the Queen Mary, we missed Universal when I was a kid. I don't really feel bad about it, though. it was a great family trip!
I went to Universal a couple of times, once to take the tour, and once to attend a Mae West film festival. It must have been 70 or 71. I remember thinking, I could have gone to Disneyland or Knott's instead. I do recall Prop Plaza had vendors and comedy shows, a glass blower, and a caricature artist. I am a fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and in MHO, there are only two great movies filmed in color, Gone With the Wind and Oz. I also love silents, especially comedy. The back lot still held sets from the silent era, and that was my fav. Thanks Major, "I'm ready for my close-up Mr Demille."
Major, I didn't think I'd be as nostalgic for the earlier Universal as for the '70s Disneyland and Knott's, but now I am. They had their Rivers of America moment when they demolished historic Stage 28, oldest on the lot and site of the "Phantom of the Opera" set, though the opera house setting was saved in pieces and some bits were on display at the Academy Theatre when the restored 1925 "Phantom" was screened there a few years back.
Whitey's Bar and Mom's Place , avoid at all costs. The second floor corner bay window next to Whitey's is where Harold Gould thumbed his nose in signal to Robert Redford, in "The Sting".
Nanook, I sure don’t remember the Collapsing Bridge spiel, but the “oldest structure on the lot” sounds legit. “Ask for Babs”… huh?
Chuck, I should have realized that photo #1 shows the lower lot, since photo #2 shows it at the bottom of the hills. D’oh. Did you do research, or are you just impressively versed in Universal Studios history? Thanks for pointing out the giant camera!
Stuart Powley, it sounds like you had a great trip… and you can’t do it all. Especially back then, there were so many choices for family amusements in SoCal. There was the Movieland Wax Museum, the Alligator Farm, Japanese Deer Park, Magic Mountain, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some.
Jonathan, when you said that you could have gone to Disneyland or Knott’s, it sounds like you didn’t have much fun at Universal? The Prop Plaza was always a highlight when I was a kid. That is a bold statement about only two great movies filmed in color! But… both GWTW and Oz were part of that miracle year of 1939, and were from MGM when that studio was at the top of its game.
Stefano, I always loved a trip to Universal Studios, and remember the commercials for the studio tour featuring Alfred Hitchcock. We loved seeing Frankenstein’s monster there, and The Phantom! Speak of which, it broke my heart when I read that they had torn down Stage 28. Great factoid about the window where Harold Gould thumbed his nose at Robert Redford! If you look at photo #1, you can see a large white billboard against the center building… it is an ad for “The Sting”!
Major, I wouldn't use the phrase "impressively versed," but I have some familiarity with the place. My comment was based on a combination of previous research, personal memories, comparison of an older aerial photo with Google Maps, and a fact check to make sure I wasn't mis-remembering something (I know the old backlot better than the soundstage area).
I went to Universal a couple of times back in the 70's. I was in my 20's at that time. I got picked to do some fake tv show thing and even got a small reel of film but I don't know what happened to it :(
Also, I went to school with Teresa Graves of "Get Christie Love" fame. George Washington High School in Los Angeles (now Washington Prep in what is considered South Central). She was the most talented girl in our class (Summer '66) and probably the whole school which is saying something because it was huge. At talent shows and other events, she always sang. Sad though that she died at age 54 due to a fire in her home. She left show business in 1975 and devoted herself to her faith, Jehovah's Witness. You can also sometimes see her in an old movie with David Nevin called "Old Dracula" in which she plays his wife. Truly campy!
Any pictures of old Universal are welcome. These are several years after my only visit. I don't recall the sagging bridge at all, but the quote sounds plausible. I do recall the slanted-front trams.
I think that bar featured in a episode of Adam 12. Dad loved that show, after watching all the reruns a couple of years ago, I see why, so many scenes of real LA places.
For some years, I made a pretty good living designing houses that imitated the Hardy Boys look. We called them "Beaver Cleavers". It's not technically "colonial" but that's close enough for California. It's a pretty flexible style, you can use vertical siding, horizontal siding, shingle siding, rock, brick, or combinations of all the above. Very popular in Brentwood and Santa Monica. I used movie stills in some cases for inspiration on the details.
The nice thing about LA is that you could do Tudor, Spanish, Cleaver, Italianate/Mediterranean, or Modern, unlike Santa Fe, for instance, where only one style is acceptable.
Thanks for these fun pictures, Major.
JG
Major-
Universal Studios Tour used the "Ask for Babs" tag as an incentive tied-in with a joke from National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). LOOKIE HERE for the image seen at the end of many a Universal film released from 1978 through about 1989.
Chuck, why does it seem that literally every person who reads this blog has a far better memory than I do?? I wish I could chalk it up to a history of drinking and drugs, but… no such luck.
Irene, I have some good photos from the 80’s, where people could pretend they are in one of the “Airport!” movies, with a cutaway 747, etc. It looked kind of fun! Cool that you knew Teresa Graves, she was a beauty. I didn’t know that she died so relatively young, very sad.
JG, I think that part of my fondness for Universal Studios is from the Viewmaster set that I had. A “talking Viewmaster” not less, that actually had little clear plastic records affixed to each reel, and a stylus engaged with the grooves and played a low-fi, warbly narration. I must have looked at that thing 1000 times. Funny that people in the architecture game used movie reference as a shorthand AND as an actual resource.
Nanook, ah, I think you might have explained that before. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t put the puzzle pieces together. Babs made a big impression in “Animal House”, obviously!
@Major, everyone steals from everyone else, especially in LA. LOL.
I've never heard of a talking Viewmaster, that's really something. I can't possibly have thrown out my old Viewmasters, I have to go looking for those.
JG
Kirk Douglas Lane must have been extra gravelly!
I always loved that bit in the opening of The A-Team where they're taking the studio tour and Dirk Benedict does a double-take at the actor in a Cylon costume.
I loved Teresa Graves on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
Major, I have a weird memory. I can remember details of what the bottom of my parents' coffee table looks like, even though I haven't looked under it since I was probably six years old, but half the time I can't remember where I left my car keys. I once lost them for over a week, finally finding them on top of the freezer in the garage.
And I'm terrible with names. I'll meet someone and remember all sorts of details about their background, occupation, what we talked about for two hours at a party, etc., but then forget their name. Yet I can remember that Owen Wister wrote The Virginian in 1902 without any trouble at all.
Major, I'm super late to the party today.....it was a VERY long day at work! Just to elaborate on what Chuck said about the Stage 32 "special effects" show.....this was set up where the guests walked into the building, sat down on benches and watched a presentation. When that part of the show was done, a curtain went up and you moved into the next setting and sat down again. There were several different set-ups/presentations within the building They also changed over the years, but the ones that I remember the most were an explanation about matte paintings, a home setting (at one time, the home of Raymond Burr's "Ironside" character, but later changed to the home of "The Bionic Woman's" Jaime Sommers.) In the home setting, they would show how they do nighttime lighting on a set, rain outside a window, etc. Another set was a creepy castle setting and they would show how people could disappear through the wall and reappear elsewhere. They also explained how chocolate syrup was used as blood in black and white movies. For a period of time in the nineties, one of the sets had a replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch and they would pic someone from the audience to recreate Hitchcock's famous scene from "Saboteur." The only other thing I can remember from Stage 32 is "The Bionic Testing" center from the seventies. They also picked people out of the audience for that demonstration and had them perform various "bionic" stunts, like lifting a car up in the air.
The "Backdraft" special effects show was added to the same building in the nineties, but it was separate from the Stage 32 special effects show.
TM!, I remember all of that except the Bionic Testing Center because I didn't visit while it was there, although I do remember a tour guide explaining to us how the jumping effects were done on The Six Million Dollar Man by reversing footage of a stuntman jumping backwards. She even mentioned "that's why their hair seems to jump up just before they do." I also remember the Ironsides set being Raymond Burr's office, but that memory may be off. I do remember being excited to see something I recognized from TV on my first visit in '71.
I also remember being scared of the mood music that they played after we sat down on the bleachers in the castle set, and I clapped my hands over my ears. After the music stopped, I kept my hands over my ears just in case, and when the tour guide saw me she stopped mid-spiel, laughed, and said something like "I didn't think I was that bad." When my mom explained I was scared of the music, she reassured me that it wouldn't play again and paid a little extra attention to me for the rest of our time in Stage 32. I still remember what she looked like.
On a 1993 visit, my wife was the audience member who fell to her death from the Statue of Liberty (don't worry - she made a full recovery).
Major, I forgot to mention that in the past, you have posted a pic of one of the interior sets from Stage 32. It was the home of Jaime Sommers (the Bionic Woman), but it wasn't labeled as such, and now I can't seem to find it.
Chuck, you DO remember a lot! I guess I do too, to some extent. I have two different postcards, showing that creepy castle set from Stage 32. Let me know if you would like me to send you the images. Perhaps you already have them.
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