The Best of Everything
Joan Crawford Geography
Movie Sets
Warners Lot (Stage 24) • Mildred Pierce • Sudden Fear • Johnny Guitar • What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Warner Brothers Lot (Stage 24)
Los Angeles
Above: Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. lot, where Mildred Pierce was filmed. Thanks to Dan S., who took these shots in February 2013.
1143 N. Jackson, Glendale, CA
Mildred's Glendale home as it appears in 2013. Thanks to Norman for the photo.
San Francisco
I took the first 6 shots below in July 2006.
I took these 6 pictures during my July 2006 visit to San Francisco
The things I do for Joan. This is the Big Damn Hill (Green Street) that I (with my smoker's lungs and pitifully weak flesh)
had to climb to get to the Myra/Lester home in "Sudden Fear." The house is to the left of the picture---2800 Scott, at the intersection of Green.
When Myra was walking (!) from her house to the wicked Irene's apartment building (see section below),
she would have headed down this street and after about a mile probably taken a left at Hyde.
Front view of the Myra/Lester house, standing on Scott Street.
View of the house from Scott Street. There's a blue eagle above the door, and a plaque to the left of the door reading "Wisma Indonesia."
(Don't know if the plaque was a more recent addition or if it existed during the filming of the movie.)
Sign in front of 2800 Scott (pictured to right). It's a wonder, with all of my wheezing after that hill, that the cops weren't immediately dispensed to this location.
The Tamalpais Building (1201 Greenwich at Hyde). In "Sudden Fear," this was where Lester's floozy Irene Neves (Gloria Grahame) lived,
and where the final showdown between Myra and Lester took place. To the left is the front view of the building.
(In the film, Myra and Lester usually entered via the right side of the building, where you see the iron fence now. The fence didn't exist at the time of filming.)
At right, the rear view of the Tamalpais.
A
better view of the side entrance. Photo from the mistersf.com site; shot by Hank Donat.
The
link will take you to an account of Jack Kerouac stumbling upon the filming
of "Sudden Fear" at this building.
Sedona, Arizona
(See also 3 large 2014 photos by Mike O'Hanlon of the Sedona landscape and Johnny Guitar plaque.)
(map and bottom two photos courtesy of the Johnny Guitar Society site)
Sedona is located 120 miles north of Phoenix. In 1953, while JG was being filmed, it was a town of 1500.
The numbers on this map show where various scenes from the movie were shot:
(1) Site of the hideout cabin.
(2) Site of the town.
(3) Entrance of the waterfall hideout entrance.
(4) Site of the wooden bridge.
(5) Vienna's casino.
A Sedona set shortly after "JG" had wrapped. This site is now known as "Posse Grounds."
See photo below left for what the site looks like today.
The site of the town scenes (#2 on the map above) is now the Sedona West residential subdivision.
Many streets, such as the one shown at the left above, are named after movies filmed in the town.
The waterfall entrance to the gang's secret hideout (above right photo) was actually an irrigation tunnel running from Oak Creek.
(See #3 on the map above.) A firehose was set up over the tunnel to create the waterfall.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Los Angeles
The Hudson Sisters' house. 172 McCadden Place. Photo courtesy of Louis.
Two shots of 172 McCadden Place. Photos courtesy of Danny.
The Best of Everything