BUPIX - Fox Studios

Among the many photos and documents that GDB friend Bu gave to me was a series of Polaroids taken when Bu managed to explore the old Fox Studio backlot (as well as the MGM backlot, more on those photos in the future!). Pretty neat! It's pretty incredible to see these photos of what was left of one of the great backlots from the Golden Age of Hollywood. 

Bu was kind enough to include his recollections of his explorations! This scene is not “inside” the lot…as the actual lot of Fox was sold and destroyed to build Century City, which decades later I would work in for several years.   The set is from “Hello Dolly” of course, and the photos were taken in 1980.   After being chased out of MGM by the police (true story for later) we drove up to Hollywood I think to eat at the Tick Tock restaurant on Cahuenga (a great old place now gone.  The orange rolls were incredible.   With very old waitresses from a lonnnngggg time ago.   There was also sherbet in-between courses.   Glad I went when I did as it didn’t stay around for much longer.)   So we made our way down Pico to the 405, and saw these sets: which very much are directly on the street…at least they were before high fences and what not.

So…..we got kicked out of the crumbling back lot of MGM, so on to more polished sets.    The scale that you see in the photos was the scale that it was.  Very very impressive.   HERE is Eddie Sotto’s post; The Barbara (Streisand) archives has some stuff HERE.    

We drove up to the gate, boy we had courage back then, and the guard was very pleasant and said that we couldn’t go past the gate, but could definitely roam around out in the parking lot: where the sets were: and these are the photo proof: done in glorious Polaroid.

The photos really don’t do these sets justice, but if you look at the “Barbra” site that I posted, you can get a look of some of these exact places.   This was an EXPENSIVE set…when movies were movies.   Oscar worthy, and it got a few.   It’s a wee painful to watch in kind of a “My Fair Lady” perspective…but both films are complete masters of artist art direction.   And amazing soundtracks as well.   Some of “Dolly” used on Main Street, Disneyland USA.

When I took these photos I had never seen Hello Dolly, so I was just taking photos of sets and history.   The train station was full scale…as were most of these things.  It was really amazing, and that is where there was a fountain, but I don’t think “THE” fountain, as that landed at Knotts sometime in the 80’s.  You can’t make it out very well, but the gates are to “Harmonia Gardens” another incredible set created inside a stage on the lot.  The exterior was just as impressive. 

Behind this row of sets are offices: guess some of them are still there along Pico, but the sets are long gone, except for a sliver it seems.  You wouldn’t know it unless someone told you however.  Massive train station now gone: lots of glam offices, and the guard gate still where it was.  In the 90’s I went to an audition there, and some of the ramshackle remnants of this glorious set were still there, and that time the guard let me in :)   Have no idea what show I was there for, but I do remember the building was historic, and difficult to find: that lot used to be a maze and you definitely needed a map.   I turned one corner and there was Julie Andrews….painted on the side of a stage: the one where they filmed “The Sound of Music”.   It was all quite magical.

Later on when I worked behind the lot, one of my employees said that a friend of hers discovered a bolt of fabric from the Von Trapp Family children somewhere in storage.   What ever happened to that bolt?  I have curtains to make!  Hope everyone enjoys this trip to Century City CA, home of a big shopping center, the West Coast Twin Towers, and a historic Movie Studio.   All within a few blocks.  And fun fact: scenes from one of the Ape movies were filmed on the streets of Century City because it looked so “futuristic”….but those overpasses really just copied a 1967 Tomorrowland PeopleMover track.   Really.

And just for fun, Bu attached a few additional images, one new, the others showing a sketch and the actual "Hello Dolly" sets:

I wish I'd seen these sets! Such a shame that it was all torn down, but Hollywood was changing. MANY THANKS to Bu for sharing his Polaroids, and for writing down his fun memories! Stay tuned for his photos of the crumbling MGM Backlot.