DEEP VALLEY
Strike on the Studio Backlot forced the cast and crew to go on the road to make the picture; Story involved a chain-gang working on the new coast highway (Route 1) winding around Big Sur; Miss Lupino plays a shy, young farm girl whose parents are loveless and repressive. Shot entirely on location in Big Sur and Big Bear, Deetjen built two cabins for the set that became part of the Big Sur Inn (which was called Deetjen’s by local people); Rugged portrayal of the landscape, including heavy rain storms; Dan Totheroh of Carmel wrote the original story as a novel, and the film made its debut at the Old Carmel Theater. The opening-night audience included Big Sur old-timers whose families were pioneers before California became a state.
Ida Lupino, Dane Clark, Wayne Morris, & Fay Bainter
Jean Neguleco and Warner Bros Films
DESIRE ME
During the filming, it had a working title of “A Woman Of My Own”; Drama about the wife of a normandy villager who hears that he has died in a concentration camp and marries the bearer of the news, who turns out to be a psycotic who had left her husband for dead- but he did not die; Scenes filmed at Point Lobos, 17 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach, Malpaso Creek on the coast south of Carmel and elsewhere on the Monterey Peninsula and its environs; The film was plagued by delays and other problems, including retakes and re-editing and a last-minute replacement of Robert Montgomery with Hart as the male lead; Miss Garson was hospitalized after being swept off the rocks by an ocean wave at Malpaso Creek and rolled in 10 feet of water before being rescued by a Fisherman employed on the set, Monterey Purse Seine Skipper Vincent Sollecito; Mis Garson suffered bruises and a back sprain and was off to set for a week for more; MGM had wanted to put up a few buildings at the Point Lobos League, fearful of a repeat of an earlier filming episode at Point Lobos that damaged the fragile environment, tried to stop the filming althogether; MGM was allowed to film at Point Lobos but under the watchful eye of the Point Lobos League; The late 1930s to mid-’40s was a particularly favorite period for peninsula-made films, and the number during that time may have exceeded 50.
Greer Garson, Richard Hart, & Robert Mitchum
George Cukor and MGM Films.
FOREVER AMBER
Story about a lively wench who sacrifices love and honor to get ahead at the Court of Britain’s King Charles II; Considered a racy film in its era’ Oscar nominee for Musical score; Scenes filmed at Cypress Point.
Linda Darnell, Cornell Wilde, & George Sanders
Otto Preminger Films
THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR
Comedy about a widow’s friendship with the ghost of a Sea Captain; Oscar nominee for Cinematography; Scenes filmed in February 1947 on a beach near Stillwater Cove in Pebble Beach.
Rex Harrison, Gene Tierney & Natalie Wood
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and 20th Century Fox Films
CALIFORNIA
Hollywood spectacular set in the days before California became a state, when there was a struggle over whether it would become part of the United States or be its own Republic; Milland played a rugged soldier of fortune in his first outdoor adventure film; Scenes filmed at Monterey’s Historic Landmarks, including Colton Hall, and The Carmel Mission.
Ray Milland, Barbara Stanwyck, & Barry Fitzgerald
John Farrow and Paramount Films
GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT
20th Century Fox; Drama about a journalist who poses as a jew to write about anti-semitism; Oscar winner for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress (Miss Holm); Also nominated for Oscars were the Screenplay, Film Editing, Peck, McGuire and Revere; Scenes filmed at various Peninsula locations.
Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm, & Anne Revere
Elia Kazan Films
MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE
Comedy about a photographer who gets mixed up with mobsters; Scenes filmed at The Crocker Mansion in Pebble Beach; At the time The Crocker Mansion was owned by Paul Fagan and was for sale; Paramount had a replica of the front door of the mansion made and used in on a Hollywood sound stage, where a lot of the scenes were shot; Location shooting began after Labor Day in 1946 at the mansion, which was built in 1927 at a cost of more than $1 million (building materials were imported stone by stone and pillar by pillar from Europe).
Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour & Peter Lorre
Elliott Nugent and Paramount Films
GREEN DOLPHIN STREET
19th century romance set in New Zealand; Oscar nominee for Cinematography and Film Editing; Scenes filmed at The Old Coast Guard Station near Big Sur (standing for a nunnery).
Lana Turner, Van Heflin, & Donna Reed
Victor Saville and MGM Films
