It's amazing how much detail goes into every set and every scene although you never really see it on the screen. These people are truly artists. It was a pleasure to see their work close up.
And once you've seen all the photos I have a surprise.
Saturday, August 03, 2019
Weekend Post
On Monday I filed my review of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, the new Quentin Tarantino movies set in 1969 Los Angeles. One of their locations was Westwood, near my house so I went out and took these cool photos. I ended up seeing the movie in that same Bruin Theatre. So I guess you could call this "ONCE UPON A TIME IN WESTWOOD."
It's amazing how much detail goes into every set and every scene although you never really see it on the screen. These people are truly artists. It was a pleasure to see their work close up.
And once you've seen all the photos I have a surprise.
For me a big attraction of the movie was its salute to Boss Radio, KHJ. That station was the soundtrack of my life and it was thrilling to hear it again. For you fellow Boss listeners and fans, here's a tribute to KHJ:
It's amazing how much detail goes into every set and every scene although you never really see it on the screen. These people are truly artists. It was a pleasure to see their work close up.
And once you've seen all the photos I have a surprise.
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28 comments :
Interesting to spot little touches of the present popping up, like the CVS and Whole Foods, just like you could turn around in even the most elaborate set and find a studio and camera crew facing you. Even odder to reflect that I'll be in the same place at 10 am for a meeting. Mustn't forget to pick up my copy of the Free Press on the way home.
Thanks. Reminded me of when I was in Toronto walking to my work assignment from the hotel- I was still half asleep and I stumbled into a set for some TV show set in the South Bronx. I remember going "Bay Street...York Street...155th Street...what the...???". I was actually went into a mild panic for about 5 seconds. The experience really blew my mind, as we used to say. I suppose people in L.A. are too used to these thing to have their minds blown.
Couldn't listen to KHJ growing up, but there was CKLG Vancouver, which was an early convert to the Drake format. I remember listening to "More Music" and 20/20 news- and I also remember wondering what they meant by "Boss Radio".
Wow. $1 for a large popcorn and soda? I spend $17 at the AMC today. Amazingly, I've never seen The Wrecking Crew, but curious to see it now.
) :) :)
I'm surprised your review didn't mention Lena Dunham. I hope she isn't in the film too much. I cannot stand her.
Thanks for the TREAT at the end - I was born in 1956, KHJ born in 1965, my first radio job in 1974...KHJ is why I wanted to do what I did for 25 years! Thanks for a flashback of the soundtrack that both you and I shared growing up!
In photo #5 there's a rear view of a red convertible that's too new, by a month or two: a 1970 Pontiac LeMans or Tempest. You might have seen one on the street in September 1969 but not in August.
Having been a car-spotter since the age of 9 or so, I'm sensitive to these things. In April when Mark Evanier wrote about an upcoming live Stu's Show video podcast about Ross Bagdasarian and the history of Alvin & the Chipmunks, I "tuned in" and noticed an error in a superimposed title of a film clip they showed, and sent an email immediately (subject line " 'November 23, 1960' parade clip - must be a later year! Soupy Sales is in a 1962 Dodge.") that changed the guests' conclusions, while "on air," about the timeline of events when The Alvin Show was being planned.
We all need little personal triumphs of that sort, don't we? Or maybe only I do...
I loved the picture, and came out humming the production design.
That said, I would have been happy to see a couple hippies approaching drivers at intersections, trying to sell 'em a Freep for a quarter.
But the dog food labels make up for that.
Thanks for the photos. I loved this movie; until the carnage that Cliff Booth started unleashing on the hippies, I hadn't realized that I was watching it with wide eyes and an open mouth grin. I was 13 when all this happened. It took me all the way back.
Any critique I would have would be nitpicking a la some cars were too new, Joe Cocker's "The Letter" was a hit in '70, stuff like that.
The only thing that could have made it any 'L.A. cooler' would have been for Quentin to make a cameo and then have the credits read:
Mr. Tarantino's Wardrobe
By
BEAU GENTRY
Thanks for sharing these photos, Ken. So much fun.
In an article in today's NY TIMES Lana Wood speaks about her sister,how Natalie would never have gotten into the boat the way they said she did. There are also some nice b/w pictures accompanying the article.
$0.50 for a large popcorn?! I bought a medium popcorn when I went to see the film, and it cost me over $7. That was actually more than what I paid to see the film (I was fortunate to see a matinee).
I don't buy theatre popcorn and drinks anymore because of the ridiculous prices. If I want to have popcorn and cola, I just get them at a local store and take them in with me hidden in a bag, as some cinemas in the UK have a shitty policy of not allowing people to bring their own food and drink. I don't know if it's the same in the States.
One cinema chain here charges £9.99 for a REGULAR popcorn and drink!!! Fuck that!
When I saw the menu board photo, I thought about what my Dad's reaction would have been- something like "highway robbery" and "Bruin Theatre? More like the Bruin Gold Mine." Then he would vow that the next family movie night would be at the drive-in.
One of my Laws of Movies: In every period piece, all the cars are in mint condition.
While I really enjoyed this movie, in fact I've seen it twice, there was one small point that jarred me. Mr. Tarantino had the caption of a Sunday morning and had the audio of Robert W. Morgan on KHJ that morning. I've spent over 50 years in radio starting in 1965 and cannot recall when a successful and popular morning man such as Robert W. Morgan, particularly in the 2nd largest radio market in the U.S. would be working on Sunday morning. Many jocks from that era worked 6 day weeks, but morning men usually worked Saturday morning. KHJ had swing jocks to do most weekend shifts. A small point, but runs to authenticity, which jarred it for me. Average viewer not in radio would most likely not even notice this.
I watched a sneak preview of Elvis' first after Army duty movie, G.I. Blues, in Westwood at the Bruin. Our family lived on Dalehurst in Westwood at the time.
The KHJ salute at the end should have included the jingle "Now you know what we've got", sung to the tune of "Little Duce Coup", naming all the Boss Jocks. Written by then Boss Jock, Rodger Christian who also wrote "Little Duce Coup".
Re: KHJ Boss Radio I think some of the singers on the jingles became star in their own right.
PS: The long instrumental at the end has to be "The Wrecking Crew".
My two cents: It's almost impossible to be 100% accurate doing a period film, especially when you have a lot of exteriors. So a swing of a year or so in either direction is not going to be a deal-breaker, at least for me. And anyway, isn't this a "fairy tale?" Since much of it is fiction, that kind of detail is going to be questionable anyway.
Friday question for you, Ken: In the episode of Frasier, "Fool Me Once, Shame on You, Fool Me Twice..." (Season 2, Episode 14), there's a caller, "Denise", who is not credited. Usually the callers were celebrities, and they were credited at the end of the show. Do you know who this actress was, and why there was no credit? Thanks!
Some nice references that I wouldn't have noticed except for this blog and podcasts:
The Real Don Steele
Two mentions of Robert W Morgan
The fanfare at the very end of the credits - "borrowed" for the podcast.
Red Apple cigarette brand - goes back to the Bruce Willis boxer character in Pulp Fiction. Interesting that we have a Red Apple grocery store in Anchorage.
For us non-Angeleno late-boomers, the music really evoked some nostalgia as did, of course, the TV shows. Went with my Sis, who was once a "Vee-Jay" at a local station, which nearly "scooped" MTV.
Big focus on the 80s then, but she surprised me how she could sing along with many of the songs I didn't know.
A more personal and obscure bit for me - that Dual Record Changer - Model 10-something in the Polanski place. My first real "stereo envy" was a friend's dad's hifi, which included a later Dual turntable.
It is so disconcerting to hear that radio package from your youth with the wrong damn station. Here in Memphis, we also had An RKO General station, 56 WHBQ, and we thought it was just the best. George Klein, Rick Dees in his early days and Jumpin' Jack Parnell, father of actor Chris Parnell. And we got all the great productions like " The History of Rock and Roll" that went on for what seemed like hundreds of hours. Those were the days.
One of my Laws of Movies: In every period piece, all the cars are in mint condition.
You really thought Cliff's car, and all the cars at the drive-in, and the vehicles at the ranch, were in "mint condition"? I'm no car-spotter, and wasn't alive in 1969, but the cars seemed cast for their particular settings to me.
I think it's a sure Oscar for the production designer, despite the little glitches here and there. And of course, while KHJ was the #1 rocker at the time, most of my teen friends were listening to KRLA, which we felt had a better playlist, and later had The Credibility Gap. Also we tuned in KABC-FM, because we thought one of the DJs was an android. Within a year we were listening to KPPC. No one I knew who was older than 13 listened to KHJ. Also, I would think our two heroes would prefer a country station. I mentioned this to a colleague who grew up in Texas and worked in Houston radio in the early '70s. He said top 40 pop beat country -- even in Texas. I don't believe him.
Mitch,
KHJ's ratings in 1969 were astronomical. KRLA, despite the brilliant Credibility Gap, was far behind. And FM stations like KPPC barely registered. When KHJ first aired "the History of Rock n' Roll" it got 50 shares. If a station gets a 4 share today in LA they're thrilled. Make no mistake, in 1969 everyone listened to KHJ. That would not be the case in the '70's.
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