Re: the Time's list of L.A. movies....
You can argue Harold Lloyd's classic "Safety Last!" should be on the list....this image is among the most iconic in all of cinema, and it's commonly associated with the city
I would also make a case for Roger Vadim's dark comedy "Pretty Maids All in a Row", starring Rock Hudson and Angie Dickinson, released in 1971....the film features numerous Westside locations.....the link is to the opening credits, with co-star John David Carson motoring to school principally via San Vicente Blvd. in Santa Monica/Brentwood, and arriving at University High School (doubling for "Oceanfront High" in the film)....the Osmond Brothers contribute a breezy rendition of a tune called "Chilly Winds" to the title sequence.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0j36_m1l84
John David Carson
University High
I don't think this picture could be made today, as the story revolves around Rock Hudson playing the school's rakish (and married) guidance counselor, on the side he's bedding several of the more comely coeds....when some of the girls threaten to rat him out he resorts to murder....yeah, I know, it does not read as an amusing premise on the page, but I've always found the film hilarious, and a vivid document of a specific time and place....Quentin Tarantino has occasionally included the movie on his all-time "best films" list, some say he does this tongue-in-cheek, but I don't know about that....I get the impression he genuinely reveres the picture.
Late one night about 20 years ago I noticed John David Carson seated at the bar in Dan Tana's, he was alone and not speaking to anyone, so I took the liberty of introducing myself....at some point I said "You were in one of my favorite movies"....he said, "Oh, 'The Day of the Dolphin'" (a 1973 film that starred George C. Scott)....I replied "No, 'Pretty Maids All in a Row'"....we chatted about the picture, he said he found Hudson warm and engaging.....this was Carson's first feature, and apparently Rock sensed some nerves....their first scene together was a fairly long tracking shot of the two talking as they walked the campus, when they reached their mark at the end of the walk and the film cut, Hudson turned to John David and said "Did you fart?"....the ice was broken, Carson said he was comfortable the rest of the shoot.
He said he got to know George C. Scott after the two appeared in "Day of the Dolphin"....Scott had a house in the hills that he rarely occupied, he allowed John David use of the place for extended periods, so they were fairly close....I recall Carson saying Scott was an out-and-out racist, he had no use for minorities of any stripe.....John David Carson died in Las Vegas in 2009, at age 57.
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