Tourism could prop up the film industry (From Borehamwood Times)

Tourism could prop up the film industry

10:10am Monday 18th May 2009

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PAUL WELSH remembers strolling through old film sets in LA and laments the loss of movie memorabilia.

THIS week we travel 6,000 miles to the historic Warner Bros studio in Los Angeles which I had the pleasure to visit in the early Nineties.

My first port of call was the museum which of course was fascinating. There were exhibits such as James Dean’s motorcycle, which he used to ride around the studio, the Maltese Falcon statue and original letters from Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis and others.

In one corner was the piano on which an actor played You Must Remember This at Bogart’s request in an immortal scene from Casablanca. For some odd reason they cast an actor who could not play so the keyboard was fake and he pretended to hit the notes.

The sad thing was that nearly all the props were on loan from private collectors as the studio had long since sold them off. Heaven knows what had been thrown away over the years, which is the way of most studios.

I then visited the impressive standing sets that are still redressed and used today although built decades ago. I guess such wooden structures would never survive as long in our climate.

One was a large street set which could be Chicago or New York and was built in the Thirties for the old gangster movies. You can still stand on the steps where James Cagney met his end in a hail of bullets in one of those marvellous old black and white films. Nearby was a smaller street set used for the Paris scenes between Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca.

I spotted the Waltons house from that famous Seventies TV series. The set looked smaller in real life and I watched while they shot a scene from a reunion special. Afterwards Ralph Waite, the actor who played the dad, walked over and we had a chat. It all seemed a bit surreal having been a fan of the original series and when leaving I could not resist mumbling under my breath, “goodnight Jim Bob”. In its heyday Warner Bros specialised in costume pictures, gangster movies and musicals. Its stars were not always happy and the likes of James Cagney and Bette Davis were always rowing with the management.

Many years later, Cagney recalled: “I drove past Warner Bros studio about 15 years after I left and I did not even glance at it.”

To me there is something magical standing on a sound stage where they shot scenes from Robin Hood with Errol Flynn or those Busby Berkeley lavish musicals. It is great that the studio buildings have survived largely unchanged.

As I was walking to the car park who should be getting out of his car but actor Tony Curtis. I loved his movie Some Like it Hot with Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. It even included a cameo from that Thirties Warner tough guy George Raft. I am told he was originally considered for the role of Rick in Casablanca before Bogart was cast.

What a great shame other studios like MGM did not create museums for future generations of movie buffs to enjoy. Film tourism is one of the big growth areas and it is strange that an industry built on publicity seems to miss such an obvious money-spinner. Anyway, until next week, “play it again Sam”.

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