The Young Philadelphians (1959) - Film Locations

 

Coming up on TCM as part of their Summer Under the Stars tribute to actress Alexis Smith, is one of my favorite Paul Newman films, The Young Philadelphians (1959). Newman plays an up and coming young lawyer, who despite having  a respected family name in Philadelphia society, has to work his way up the corporate ladder. Along the way he faces several ethical dilemmas.

As the title suggests, the film is set in Philadelphia, however, the movie was actually filmed in California in Glendale, Pacific Palisades and the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.  Here are the primary filming locations seen in the film.

The film opens with a scene at a church that is supposed to be located on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. There is even a street sign that reads Rittenhouse Square, but I didn't buy that the film crew would have gone to Philadelphia to shoot this scene so I started researching old Los Angeles churches that had a clock tower. I then found a photo of a matching church in the Los Angeles Library collection. Below are two screenshots of the church in the film, a photograph of the church from the 1920s, and an image showing the same modern day location.

Click images to see larger.

The church as seen in the film.

Don't let the street sign fool you. This is no where near Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square.

Glendale Presbyterian Church.  Corner of Harvard and Louise Streets. Photo Credit: LAPL

Current Glendale Presbyterian Church. Corner of Harvard and Louise Streets.

The Glendale Presbyterian Church building that is seen in the film was constructed in 1923, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1971. There was so much damage that the building had to be demolished and a new building was later built on the same site on top of the existing basement.

Early in the film we see Paul Newman as a young guy managing a construction site. That big hole in the ground was actually on Warner Bros. New York Street backlot. Below you can see a screenshot showing the New York Street set and a modern image of the same set location.

Warner Bros. New York Street backlot used for a Philadelphia construction site.

Warner Bros. New York Street Backlot.

Paul Newman duking it out on WB's New York Street backlot.

Newman's character ends up falling in love with a young socialite played by Barbara Rush. In one scene Newman takes Rush back to her family home. The exterior of the home was actually the Warner Bros. Brownstone Street. These Warner Bros. facades are constantly being changed for project to project and in fact the facade used in the scene below was again being changed out when I took the modern day image.

Warner Bros. Brownstone Street was used for the home of Barbara Rush.

Warner Bros. Brownstone Street as it appears today.

Below is a view of Newman and Rush on Brownstone Street, but looking across to the other side of the street. The facade used during the time of the film has since been completely wiped out. Today this side of the street is the location of the Warner Bros theatre, which does have a facade that can be used for filming - although it now now way resembles the facade which used to be there.

Newman and Rush on Brownstone Street.

The Warner Bros. Theatre now stands on this site of Brownstone Street.

One of the locations in the film is a bar called Ernie's Cocktails. This too was filmed on the Warner Bros. backlot, on New York Street. This facade also has been greatly changed since the film, but you can see below where I've marked with a yellow box, where the Ernie's facade would have been located.

Warner Bros. New York Street was used as the location for Ernie's Cocktails.

The yellow box marks the portion of the facade used as Ernie's Cocktails.

Below is another shot of the Warner Bros. New York Street backlot, this time at Christmas. I love seeing the fake snow on the ground and people wearing heavy jackets. As this is really California - not Philadelphia - I bet it was 80 some degrees at the time.

Warner Bros. New York Street backlot dressed for Christmas time.

The same corner of the New York Street backlot as it appears today.

The next two comparisons show the site of Paul Newman's law office in the film which was also the New York Street backlot.

The Warner Bros. NY Street backlot was used as the exterior for Newman's law office.

The yellow box marks the location of the New York Street backlot exterior used as Newman's law office.

Looking across the street from Newman's office toward the alley.

The WB New York Street backlot. The alley can be seen to the right of the theatre marquee.

This last location is supposed to be the home of the character played by Alexis Smith. In reality, this home is the former Will Rogers Estate, located at 14253 Sunset Boulevard in the Pacific Palisades. The ranch became a State Park in 1944 and today the site includes the 31-room ranch house, a stable, corrals, riding ring, roping arena, golf course, polo field and riding and hiking trails.

Will Rogers House, 14253 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles was used as the home of Alexis Smith.

Will Rogers Ranch House. Source

In addition to airing on TCM, The Young Philadelphians is currently available for streaming on Warner Archive Instant and is available on DVD through ClassicFlix. The film, directed by Vincent Sherman, stars Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith and Robert Vaughn.

Inside The Beverly Hills Hotel

The Beverly Hills Hotel, December 20, 1924

Photo: Los Angeles Library Photo Collection

A few weeks ago CBS Sunday Morning ran a colorful segment on the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel, sometimes called the "Pink Palace." If you missed it you can watch the video below. The Beverly Hills Hotel was one of the first major hotels built in Los Angeles. In 1912, when the hotel opened, the area surrounding the hotel was mainly bean fields and empty land. The hotel was actually created to help attract buyers to what was then a new real-estate development. And attract buyers it did!

Some of the first people to check into the hotel were Hollywood's first major stars including Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Ever since the hotel would be popular with the Hollywood crowd and that open land around the hotel would become covered by celebrity mansions. In the 1930s, when polo was all the rage, one of the hotel dining rooms was a popular hangout for post-match drinks. Will Rogers, Spencer Tracy and film mogul Darryl Zanuck were some of the celebrities who could have been seen in what was later to be named the Polo Lounge.

The video features some anecdotes about celebrities who stayed or lived at the hotel.  One of my favorite anecdotes is about eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes who lived in bungalow 4 on the hotel grounds. According to the video the hotel had a staff member tasked with placing roast beef sandwiches in the trees so that Hughes could sneak out for a midnight snack in privacy. Another interesting bit of trivia is that Elizabeth Taylor spent six of her eight honeymoons at the hotel!

The Beverly Hills Hotel has also been used as a filming location. Designing Woman (1957), Who's Got the Action (1962), Move Over, Darling (1963), Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed (1963), Valley of the Dolls (1967), and California Suite (1977) are just a few of the films that feature scenes of the hotel. Some of the earliest movies filmed at the Beverly Hills Hotel go back to the silent era. Comedians Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd both made films at the hotel.

Have you ever stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel or perhaps dropped in to the Polo Lounge for a drink?

Watch Polo At Will Rogers State Historic Park

Will Rogers Polo Field

When I think of the sport polo, the one where men or women on horseback gallop across a giant field and swing mallets at a ball, I usually think of wealthy, high class, international types. I don't really think of polo as an American sport, although, in the 1930s, polo was much more popular in America, particularly in Hollywood.  According to the Pacific Palisades Patch, there were more than 25 outdoor polo fields in the Los Angeles area in the 1930s. Today, there is only one, at the Will Rogers State Historic Park.

My earliest memories of polo are of watching some of the early Disney animated shorts. There were a few Disney cartoons that featured polo in the story line, but the one that stands out the most was a 1936 short called Mickey's Polo Team. In this short, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Big Bad Wolf, and Donald Duck play against a team of movie stars, which included Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harpo Marx and Charlie Chaplin. Not surprisingly, during the 1930s, Walt Disney was a fan of the sport and would often play in weekend matches at Will Rogers' polo field.