I have always liked almost anything that begins with Once upon a time... So then here we go with... Once Upon A Time In Hollywood... I'm not going to be discussing the Quentin Tarantino movie with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio as much as I loved it... because he wrote the happy ending everyone wished had really happened in the first place.
When I was growing up I began my lifelong love affair with movies as I discussed here in (Behind The Scenes) I used to watch the late movie on Friday and Saturday night... and when I got older the Late, Late Movie... and what most all of my favorite movies had in common was they were musicals produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) in the 40's and 50's (truth be told some of them are still my favorites)... as soon as I saw the iconic opening I knew I had a front row seat on a magic carpet ride of non-stop entertainment to some far off land of mystery and intrigue mixed with musical numbers (most of which I learned the words and all the steps) seasoned with laughter and tears... and with all of it I usually learned something about myself, other places in the world... and human nature... and there was always the happy ending I counted on that were par and parcel for movies of this era.
I really can't say that about most of my current Friday and Saturday night movie venues now... From about the age of six or seven I wanted more than anything to be a singing and dancing star in MGM musical extravaganzas... I got my wish but not in the way I was expecting... as most things in life go it's rarely the way you expect it to happen.... But I'll get back to all this later...
If you don't know that much about MGM... in the 40's and into the mid 50's they were at the top of their game producing (in my opinion) the best movies in Hollywood. The studio and backlot was spread across 185 acres of land in Culver City California.
Lot One was on 44 acres and consisted of 195 permanent buildings housing the production offices, commissary and soundstages... The wardrobe department had over 150,000 costumes from almost every historical era. There were over 40,000 employees and they had their own police and fire department and a school for the child actors under contract to the studio; Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland both graduated from MGM High School
Lot Two occupied 37 acres that included the Animation Department and most of the standing sets that included the The New York Street (this one was larger and had more buildings than the other NY location on Lot One) and suburban streets... the most famous was St.Louis Street used in "Meet Me In St. Louis" and New England Street, the swimming pool that came to known as the "Esther Williams Pool" and the horse stables.
Lot Three on 65 acres had the more elaborate sets that included Jungle Island for the Tarzan movies and a 63,000,000 gallon man made lake used for the Cotton Blossom in Showboat. They also had three western towns... one was Prosperous Street, another was a deserted ghost town called Ghost Town Street... and a frontier known as Billy The Kid Street.
Lot Four, had 5.4 acres that had the studio zoo which housed the many animals used in a variety of movies but the majority was parking for Lot 3.
Lot Five sat on 7.8 acres and housed all aspects of transportation the studio used including... wagons, circus carts, planes, trains and automobiles and boats there was also another stable that housed thoroughbred horses (many owned by Lous B Mayer and Fred Astaire)
Lot Six was six acres devoted to growing the flowers, trees and shrubbery used in the interior studios shots and with the existing landscaping on the lot... they even produced their own grass and sod. They even had their own lumber yard and mill
When films and filming changed in the early sixties (most producers shot a movie on an location rather than on the back lot) MGM's revenues started to plummet... but probably the biggest factor was the publics taste in movies shifted away from the grand movie extravaganzas that were the staple and life blood of MGM's success in the past. I'm sure you can imagine that the overhead of maintaining such a property was staggering and with the drop in box-office sales from the studios productions it became a liability to the studio...
To offset some costs and generate some much needed revenue MGM Television Division was formed... many of your favorite television shows in the sixties and seventies were filmed on the MGM sound stages and utilized some of the backlot when necessary... a few are...
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Flipper
ChiPS
Fame
With the exceptions of Flipper (the original) and Fame and the 1983 revival of The Twilight Zone which are still owned by MGM all other MGM TV shows produced prior to 1986 are owned and distributed by Warner Brothers Television via Turner Entertainment who also owns the entire MGM movie library prior to 1986.
Louis B. Mayer who was long gone and Debbie Reynolds with the Hollywood Heritage Organization were about the only people who thought the backlots should be preserved for posterity. There was even talk of turning the lot into a theme park and studio tour much like Universal Studio had done. Debbie Reynolds had tried to make the purchase and was unsuccessful.
Kirk Kerkorian the new owner of the studio in 1969 had no interest in making movies and was more interested in easing the debt and moving forward in Las Vegas with hotels and resorts... The result was massive lay-offs, cancelled productions that finally culminated in an 18 day auction of almost everything on the lot that was movable including sets as well as 12,000 props and 350,000 costumes, decorative arts and furniture, trains, cars... The vehicle used in The Time Machine sold for $10,000.00 the ruby slippers that were actually worn by Judy Garland sold for $15,000.00 (I think there were 10 pair that were made by Gilbert Adrian; five pairs have known whereabouts)... the wedding dress that Elizabeth Taylor wore in "Father Of The Bride" as well as many of the swimsuits worn by Esther Williams.. the whole idea was to clear out the sound stages and storage areas and raise some much needed money...
I have it on good authority (I knew someone at MGM in the 70's and who once invited me to a party on The Cotton Blossom) that almost everything was sold and what was not was bulldozed including the collection of neon signs and thousands and thousands of pages of sheet music that are now part of a landfill in Ventura and Los Angeles County.
If you have not seen the "That's Entertainment" movies the first one was a surprise hit for MGM and it has fantastic film footage of the studios and back lot; it's a little bittersweet to watch because everything was in such disrepair that it resembled more of a foreclosure than the once pristine pinnacle of perfection studio in the movie industry.... What is left after all the land was sold is now a suburban community with street names like Garland Drive and Astaire avenue.
I mentioned here (Since We're Neighbors) that I met Debbie Reynolds for the first time during the auction and boy did she have a great plan for everything she bought but unfortunately the museum she envisioned had some severe financial problems and most of the costumes she bought were re-auctioned in 2014. One of my most prized possessions for many years was one of the sailor hats made for Gene Kelly in "On The Town"... I don't think he ever wore it because it was pristine with no tell-tell signs of make up or perspiration or hair tonic... but his name was inside... So that brings us to the point where I tell you about my dream of singing and dancing in an MGM musical extravaganza...Unfortunately by the time I started auditioning musicals were no longer a staple of venues being filmed... that need was being filled with the television variety shows of the era that really helped me cut my teeth for singing and dancing and performing in general... and it was in the CBS commissary that I met one of my favorite people (you may have noticed if you read here regularly that I have a lot of favorite people) Nanette Fabray and we talked and confided in each other that we both wanted to be performers at MGM and both just had bad timing (hers was actually better than mine)... Have you ever stopped and considered how your life might be entirely different if you had never met a certain person?... I do it all the time... sometimes it's how I lull myself to sleep.
The success of the movie "Grease" made a few people think that maybe, just maybe there was a little wiggle room for movie musicals and from that was what lead to my participation in "Grease 2" and "Can't Stop The Music"...Someone made a rather unkind remark to me once that I was in two of the worst movies ever made in Hollywood... (I beg to differ as there are in my opinion some that are much, much worse)... besides I had my two of of my life long dreams came true from being in both...
When I got a call from my agent that I was requested by name to audition for a singing and dancing number that was going to be filmed at MGM... my heart actually skipped a beat... and because I have gymnastics and springboard diving skills my participation in the film increased to two major scenes...
I had so much fun doing "Can't Stop The Music" I can't even find the right words to convey how I felt at the time...but it was a time in my life when I could not wait to get out of bed and get to work... Theoni Aldridge did the costumes for this number and it was because of this fitting that I tired on one of the finale costumes from "A Chorus Line"...was this the dream I had of being in an MGM musical dancing spectacle?... not really but I realized at the time it was probably as close at it was ever going to get and I needed to appreciate the experience for what it was... rather than what I wished it could be...I've carried this lesson with me since then. I was not very close with anyone on this production but I did gain tremendous respect for Nancy Walker who directed... more people in the world probably know me from the shower and locker room scene... not my first nude scene... in addition to all my other credits "naked boy" predates this... but this is probably the last time I had a tan line...
Still not sure... can you pick me out in this photo?... This was an exhausting set of sequences (many of which were cut from the film) that were shot at the Glendale California YMCA but it was all part of the summer when I could not wait to get up in the morning and go to work!
(Click for YouTube link Y.M.C.A)
On top of everything else... I got to perform the Y.M.C.A. with the Village People.... have you figured out who I am?... here is a hint... I'm upside down in the photo. In addition to this and the dancing sequence I was in the night club scene that was filmed at Studio One in West Hollywood. There was a lot of location work shot in NYC and unfortunately I was not part of any of that. A fun fact you may not know is that Olivia Newton-John was top pick for the role of Samantha played by Valerie Perrine but she was scheduled to be in Xanadu... lucky for me my participation was small enough in each to allow me to appear in both movies.
OK it did not exactly have the same panache or thrill for me showing up to work as it did going to MGM... this studio has had many names over the many years...It's now Sunset Las Palmas Studios... it was where "I Love Lucy" was filmed before Desilu bought RKO studios. "La La Land" was filmed here as well as "When Harry Met Sally", "The Player", "One From The Heart" and "Xanadu" for the front gate, offices, Danny's house, special effects and sound stage, paint studio, Xanadu interior club scene and Sunny's apartment. I was in the musical numbers on the sound stage and the club scene and in the crowds and action at Paradise Park, Santa Monica Pier, Malibu Pier and Venice Beach... I had great time working on this movie... in spite of being badly injured rollerskating... I made some nice friendships and a renewed acquaintance with Olivia Newton-John; not destined to be friends for some reason or another but she is now (from what I've hear) and was then a lovely, charming and talented women... what was my other wish?... Well in all those hours watching MGM musicals I always wished that I could someday dance and work with Gene Kelly... I got my wish... I had the impression at the time that he was not as excited working on the project and with me as I was with it and him... but we spoke briefly in the holding area the first day of filming the sequences filmed at the old Fiorucci store in Beverly Hills...
(Click for YouTube Xanadu link)
That night on the way home I stopped and bought some wrapping paper and nice ribbon and the next day made a present of the sailor hat that that I alway kept with me when I travelled to remind me of where I had been at the beginning and where I still wanted to go... I felt that it had served it's purpose for me... and he seemed genuinely touched with my gesture. Two of my greatest hopes and many other dreams had come to pass since I first acquired it... I hope it brought something back for him and to whoever has it now.
In addition to working with some other remarkably talented people... Electric Light Orchestra for example... this experience was one of the highlights of my entertainment career in front of the camera... the critics had a field day writing bad reviews for "Can't Stop The Music" and "Xanadu"... the failure of both in my opinion was the decline and interest in disco... but for me it brought me to the place that not only did I consider how my life may have been different if I had not met someone... but also how each experience with all of them shaped who I am and how I got from then and there to here and now.
I had four other remarkable experiences at MGM in the few years that followed but the first time like almost any first... will always have a special place in my heart. The same person who told me I was in two of the worst movies ever made also said "It's ashamed you never made it"... I don't talk to this person anymore but one of the last things I ever said was... "I made it... maybe not the way you feel is making it should be considering you are someone who has no experience in the field... but felt like a star each and every time I drove to the studio and got immersed in the work I dreamed of doing since I was old enough to sing and dance"... See you next time.
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