Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Pal
This made me wonder if ANY films had ever been shot inside one of the Brown Derby restaurants, since they were still around (at least a couple of them when Chinatown was filming. (?)
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Oh my, try to find a copy of George Cukor's 1932 "What Price Hollywood?" (an early version of his 1954 "A Star is Born") starring Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman and Eddie Anderson (it's sometimes on Turner Classic Movies). There's coverage of both the interior and exterior of the Brown Derby at its original location, before the Chapman Park Hotel bungalows bumped it across the street.
Or is it a set? (note the concrete brim at left). I think it's real:
How about the inside? They never pan up to the dome (but who could take their eyes off Bennett?):
I like the central kitchen with the booths all around it, the cashier at the cigar counter between the two front doors and, omg, the curtains:
You decide. The pix are from a
3 min preview reel of "What Price Hollywood?"
There's a scene, not included in the reel, of Bennett coming out and walking towards Wilshire. One can see a bit of the landscaped billboards.
Here's the real deal in 1932 with its two pairs of doors (I love the tangle out the back):
3427 Wilshire Blvd, built 1926, in 1932:
above pix:
islandora depository ucla
"I Love Lucy" famously managed some coverage of the Brown Derby:
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And was the Prince
really supposed to be the Derby in "Chinatown"? Do they ever actually say that in the film? Just wondering b/c it doesn't look like the Derby (they could easily have dressed it w/ the famous framed charicatures) and they exit from the Biltmore.
both pix:
paramount
The Crocker-Citizens Bank tower/"611 Place" (William L. Pereira, 1969) is looking very anachronistic down there at the end of the shot, next to the Checkers/Mayfair Hotel
What about this one?
Moved or completely rebuilt (?)
Maybe the concrete brim is the only truly original bit.
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Willie the Giant relocates the Derby:
fun and fancy free @1:00:07