Alhambra and Hollywood

Alhambra and Hollywood By Gary Frueholz, Dilbeck Realtors With the passing of Elizabeth Taylor and recent sale of the home at 500 North Almansor Street, which was used in the Steve Martin 1991 motion picture Father of the Bride, one is reminded that Alhambra and its real estate have a history with Hollywood. “Alhambra has all these different types of areas that appeal to the motion picture studios,” says Carita Chhith, who interfaces for Alhambra with the studios that film in the City. Since the 1930’s Alhambra’s proximity and array of real estate settings have attracted filmmakers from Hollywood. And from then on there has been a steady stream of movie and television shoots occurring here in Alhambra. Areas that especially attracted filmmakers over the years to Alhambra were the Midwick Polo and Golf Club, the Alhambra Airport, and even the Alhambra Municipal Courthouse at 150 West Commonwealth Avenue. The old Midwick Polo and Country Club which was in southwest Alhambra until the mid-1940’s provided the location for a very young Elizabeth Taylor to receive critical acclaim in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 1945 motion picture National Velvet. The story centers around a young girl, her horse being entered in the Grand National Race, and a rather jaded jockey played by Mickey Rooney. Taylor was only twelve at the time of filming and National Velvet was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two. Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains starred in Warner Brothers 1938 swashbuckling film The Adventures of Robin Hood. Again the Midwick Polo and Country Club was used for filming in part because of its rustic and open spaces along with the facilities to care and house horses. The Adventures of Robin Hood won three Academy Awards and was nominated for one more. The golden Palomino that de Havilland rode over the Midwick Country Club would later be bought by Roy Rodgers and continue its acting career as Trigger. Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland would make another movie at Midwick in 1941 named They Died with Their Boots On, covering the life of George Armstrong Custer. Fosselman’s Ice Cream shop at 1824 W. Main Street was used in filming of the 1979 motion picture Phantasm. Here a group of young boys encounters grave robbers and zombies in MGM’s cult classic horror film. One of the more disturbing motion pictures filmed in Alhambra for me was the 1978 thriller, Halloween, directed by John Carpenter and starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and Donald Pleasence. I say disturbing since portions of it were filmed at my grammar school, Garfield Grammar School at 110 West Mclean Street. Alhambra passes for Illinois in this motion picture and scenes of the psychotic killer, Michael Myers, stalking school children occur in the hallways were I walked about as a young boy. Alhambra had one of the notable airports in Southern California until Lockheed and the Burbank Airport put it out of business during the World War II ear. It was located by Valley Boulevard and New Avenue and a number of movies were filmed at this location. The Alhambra Historical Society’s Museum at 1550 West Alhambra Road has a copy of the Dick Powell film, Hollywood Hotel, where the first five minutes are filmed along Valley Boulevard and the old Alhambra Airport. Benny Goodman and his band lead a parade along Valley Boulevard and there is nothing but open farm land with crops growing. The parade then marches into the lobby of the Alhambra Airport to meet Dick Powell. Other films made at the airport included They Met At Bombay (1941) – Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell, and Peter Lorre, Flight Lieutenant (1940) – Pat O’Brien, Glenn Ford, and Thirteen Hours By Air (1936) – Fred MacMurray]. The colonial estate at 500 North Almansor Street was listed for sale and sold recently by Anthony Venti Realtors and Mark Paulson. The home not only was used in Father of the Bride with Steve Martin, but Ashton Kutcher starred in the 2005 movie, Guess Who, at this location (www.imdb.com). The 1980’s television series, Falcon Crest, repeatedly used the Alhambra Municipal Courthouse for filming. Although this series was supposedly set in the Northern California wine country, Jane Wyman and cast were filmed at Alhambra’s Courthouse. Other motion pictures filmed in Alhambra include Liar Liar (2005) – Jim Carrey, Herbie Fully Loaded (2005) – Walt Disney Studios, Romeo and Juliet (2000) – Fran de Leon, Orgy of Blood (2010), and Thirteen Days (2000) – Kevin Costner and Bruce Greenwood. With Alhambra’s history comes an interesting relationship with Hollywood, as many other movies and television series have also been filmed in our town. Special thanks to The Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Leah Whittington, Research Librarian. And please feel free to give me a call with your ideas for stories on Alhambra real estate. Gary Frueholz is a realtor with Dilbeck Realtors, a member of the Alhambra Planning Commission, a certified Senior Real Estate Specialist, and can be reached at 626-318-9436 .

Load more