This post has nothing to do with silent movies, but I’ve really been enjoying watching Leave it to Beaver on Netflix instant streaming.  When they showed this idyllic small town main street during a scene from “Beaver’s Fortune” (Season 3:Episode 10; first broadcast December 5, 1959), I had to hit the freeze frame to figure it out.

Leave it to Skokie

Skokie Public Library, Skokie History Project

Although Beaver takes place in “Mayfield,” set in an undetermined state that must have “Springfield” (the rootless home town featured in The Simpsons) for its neighbor, it turns out Skokie, Illinois appears during this stock footage shot (no actors from the show appear in this scene).  The view looks north up Lincoln Avenue from Oakton Street towards St. Peter’s Catholic Church, originally built in 1894.

I was able to solve this easily enough, because even though Beaver was first broadcast over the airwaves in decidedly low-tech, low resolution, it was shot on 35mm “HD” film stock.  I sensed a word on the bank sign said “Skokie,” and was proven right.

North up Lincoln at Warren Street, Skokie Illinois – (C) 2013 Google Inc.

It’s sad to see that the east side of Lincoln Avenue appearing during the scene has been replaced by a 1980s era bank plaza and related commercial buildings.  The west side of Lincoln, appearing off camera, is relatively unchanged.

Watching a prior episode “Her Idol” (Season 2: Episode 6; first broadcast November 6, 1958), I nearly fell out of my chair when I noticed I was able to read this letter sent home from Beaver’s grade school principal.  The person responsible for creating the prop letter obviously relied on the fact that the letter would appear only briefly on camera, in low resolution, without realizing that decades later technological advances would provide bored viewers such as myself the ability to scrutinize his handiwork.  The full text of this letter appears below.

Mr. Ward Cleaver                                                                                                                                     485 Mapleton Drive                                                                                                                                 Mayfield, State

My Dear Mr. Cleaver:

This paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with anything.  It is here merely to fill up space. Still, it is words, rather than repeated letters, since the latter might not give the proper appearance, namely, that of an actual note.

For that matter, all of this is nonsense, and the only part of this that is to be read is the last paragraph, which part is the inspired creation of the producers of this very fine series.

Another paragraph of stuff. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. My typing is lousy, but the typewriter isn’t so hot either. After all, why should I take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with which all of us must contend. Lew Burdette just hit a home run and Milwaukee leads seven to one in the series. This is the last line of the filler material of the note. No, my mistake, that was only the next to last. This is last.

I hope you can find a suitable explanation for Theodore’s unusual conduct.

Yours truly,                                                                                                                                                 Cornelia Rayburn

Well, after decoding this secret message, I felt pretty smug, but not being able to leave well enough alone, it crossed my mind to Google the text I had just deciphered, and low and behold, the Curious Case of the Beaver Letter had already been properly explored, long ago, at one of my favorite websites, Shorpy.com, “History in HD,” a site that posts fascinating high resolution vintage photographs.  It turns out the reference to Lew Burdette ties the letter to Game 2 of the World Series between the Yankees and the Braves, played October 2, 1958, about a month before the episode aired.  Here’s the link to the Shorpy treatment of Beaver’s letter.  It makes me wonder what other Easter eggs from early television lie waiting to be discovered.

Leave it to Beaver – (C) 1958 Gomalco Productions, Inc.; (C) 1959 Revue Productions, Inc.

In a prior post I wrote how an idyllic Skokie, Illinois street once stood in for Mayfield on Leave It to Beaver.  Although that episode has no connection to silent movies, I was surprised to see that the Season 5, Episode 21 installment “Beaver’s Fear” does.  During the show older brother Wally and his cool older friends allow young Theodore to tag along on their trip to the “Bell Port” amusement park in order to qualify for a group discount.  Shaken by Eddie Haskell’s constant teasing, Beaver has doubts about withstanding the roller coaster, but in the end Beaver has a great time, while Eddie freaks out, and must be carried bodily from the coach at the end of the ride.

The former Cyclone twin-track racing roller coaster at the Long Beach Pike (1915-1968) stood in for the Bell Port attraction.  Although the rear projection footage is about as convincing as Ken Osmond’s acting during the scene (see both above), it nonetheless provides a fascinating photographic record of the long lost coaster, the last twin-track (or racing) coaster in the country at the time of its demise.

Click to enlarge. The Loff Hippodrome tower, housing the Pike Carousel, appears behind Harold Lloyd during a scene from Number Please? (1920) to the left, and in the Beaver episode to the right.

USC Digital Library

The twin racing coaster was originally called the Jackrabbit Racer at the time Harold Lloyd filmed Number Please? there in 1920, but was renamed The Cyclone in 1930 after it was upgraded with higher peaks and longer drops.  The Loff Hippodrome shown above and to the right housed a distinctive carousel that appeared both in Number Please? and in Buster Keaton’s 1920 comedy The High Sign.  My book Silent Visions explores in detail all of the beach-side amusement parks appearing in Lloyd’s films.

Lloyd was not the first comedian to feature the Pike’s star attraction in an early film.  Below, the Roscoe Arbuckle – Buster Keaton – Al St. John comedy The Cook (1918) also included many scenes shot on the twin-track coaster.

Click to enlarge.  At left from The Cook, Al St. John streaks uphill between the twin tracks – to the right a matching shot from the Beaver episode.  The curved roof of the Majestic Ballroom (and skating rink) appears at back to the right in both images.

A view of The Cyclone racing roller coaster.  The tower to the Loff Hippodrome appears due north of the coaster.  LAPL 00074673

Curt Gibbs (ExperienceLA):www.flickr.com/photos/experiencela/98771917

In one of my earliest posts, I write about the Long Beach Goatland attraction that appears during the Arbuckle-Keaton-St. John comedy The Cook, and how the surviving Loff Hippodrome roof and cupola tower (right) sits in a nearby parking lot.  Sadly, a check on Google Street View shows that the cupola is no longer sitting in the parking lot.  I have not been able to determine whether it has been safely relocated or has finally been demolished.  The Pike and Silver Spray Pier were torn down long ago, although the Rainbow Harbor entertainment center that stands there today (see below) has a Ferris Wheel.

Harold and Rich

Note: in a Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon connection, director Rich Correll, who as a young man was Harold Lloyd’s friend and film archivist, and who remains a leading Lloyd expert and staunch Lloyd proponent, had earlier been a child actor on Leave It to Beaver, portraying Beaver’s friend Richard Rickover.  Although Rich did not appear in the Bell Port amusement park sequence, he does appear in the same episode, providing another link between the show and the silent era.

HAROLD LLOYD images and the names of Mr. Lloyd’s films are all trademarks and/or service marks of Harold Lloyd Entertainment Inc. Images and movie frame images reproduced courtesy of The Harold Lloyd Trust and Harold Lloyd Entertainment Inc.

Leave it to Beaver – (C) 1962 Revue Studios.

Skokie Illinois stands in for Mayfield

Although Leave it to Beaver takes place in “Mayfield,” set in an undetermined state, I show in a prior post how Skokie, Illinois stood in for Mayfield during a scene from “Beaver’s Fortune” (Season 3: Episode 10; first broadcast December 5, 1959).  While Beaver owns a surf board late in the series, and the gang makes trips to the beach, the show frequently distinguishes the Cleaver’s home state from California, often referred to as a faraway place.

By the 6th and final season, the producers seem to have gotten tired of playing coy.   When Wally and Ward take a test drive (“Wally Buys a Car; Season 6:, Episode 16, first broadcast January 10, 1963), they drive right down 3rd Street in Santa Monica, past the El Miro Theater to the right.  At left in the back stands the Clock Tower Building on Santa Monica Boulevard at 3rd.  The El Miro facade has been preserved as part of the multiplex theater standing there today.

California cruisin’ – Ward and Wally heading south down 3rd Street in Santa Monica.   Clock Tower – Santa Monica Public Library – El Miro – Water and Power Associates

As the scene along 3rd Street ends, the north side of the Keller Building comes into view.  You can glimpse it to the left (yellow box) in each image below.

Looking north up 3rd Street from Broadway. Absent in the 1927 view are the Clock Tower (left) built in 1929, and the El Miro tower (right) built in 1933. The yellow box marks the transition from the historic Keller Building on the corner of Broadway and the two-story building north of it. Closed to street traffic today, the site is now known as the Third Street Promenade.  Santa Monica Public Library

In another post, I show how Beaver and Harold Lloyd both filmed scenes at the Long Beach Pike amusement park forty years apart.  As shown below, they nearly crossed paths beside the Keller Building in Santa Monica as well.

During Harold Lloyd’s 1924 feature comedy Hot Water, the family’s inaugural drive in Harold’s new car ends in disaster.  Their trouble begins when the car grid-locks the intersection at 3rd and Broadway in Santa Monica.  The Keller Building at back was built in 1893.  The yellow box matches the trio of images further above.

Thanks to movie editing, moments after Harold pushes the family car out of this intersection in low-lying Santa Monica (above), the car careens down Bunker Hill on Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles, a setting also appearing in the 1952 noir classic The Turning Point, as described in this post HERE.

If the Cleavers live in Santa Monica, then Ward must work in West Hollywood! During the episodes “Beaver on TV” (Season 6: Episode 22; first broadcast February 21, 1963), and “Lumpy’s Scholarship (Season 6: Episode 24; first broadcast, March 7, 1963) this establishing shot of Ward’s office was filmed at 9034 Sunset Boulevard.

Although the flagstone detailing has been replaced with brick, and a shabby portico with columns has been added, the basic box-like design and proportions of Ward’s office remain unchanged.  (C) 2013 Google.

If you enjoy looking at studio backlots, the wonderful Retroweb site shows how the Cleaver’s home and neighborhood were part of the Colonial Street backlot at Universal Studios.  Beaver and Gilbert even walk past the Munster’s home in one episode!

Leave it to Beaver – (C) 1962, (C) 1963 Revue Studios.  HAROLD LLOYD images and the names of Mr. Lloyd’s films are all trademarks and/or service marks of Harold Lloyd Entertainment Inc. Images and movie frame images reproduced courtesy of The Harold Lloyd Trust and Harold Lloyd Entertainment Inc.

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA