PART TWO
by Ben Glenn II
Universal
Studios (California):
The Munsters, the Cleavers, and more Universal Studios boasts what is
today the largest backlot in Hollywood. It consists of hundreds of outdoor
sets, and Universal's famous backlot tour (and now theme park), attracts
an astonishing 35,000 visitors each day. The tour was begun in 1964,
and at that time visitors could view moviemaking in action and visit
the sets of Universal's popular TV series produced by its television
production company, Revue.
The
heart of Universal's TV Land is Colonial Street, situated on the Upper
Lot at Universal City. Here can be found the house facades used on Leave
It To Beaver, The Munsters, and the TV series adaptations
of Harper Valley PTA, and Animal House. Colonial Street's
mix of homes and other buildings is an intentional mishmash, giving
the studio a wide range of architectural styles to draw upon.
The
Munster house has a particularly interesting history. It was probably
constructed in the early as a pleasant Victorian home. Originally, the
right side of the house was surmounted by a hexagonal, flat-topped turret,
rather than the pointed tower that stands today. (In fact, the hexagonal
turret can be seen in the color pilot of The Munsters.) When the house
was featured in the 1962 film, The Second Time Around, the hexagonal
turret was burned as part of the storyline; concurrently, the house
must have been selected for The Munsters and then rebuilt with the eerie
tower portion that TVparty-ers know well.
When
The Munsters entered pre-production,
Universal spent a reported $1 million to transform the nostalgic Victorian
facade into a creepy mansion. Features such as a dilapidated stovepipe
and weathervane were installed on the roof, and the home's grounds were
"dressed" with groupings of arthritic prop trees (real trees that had
been "embalmed" for repeated use), hanging moss, tumbleweeds, dead bushes,
and strewn leaves. Finally, an imposing stone gate was added, and the
finished set was photographed with a wide-angle lens, often from slightly
below or above, making it appear massive.
Despite
this expense, the majority of scenes were filmed indoors: "We used the
house very little," recalled Al Lewis in a recent interview. Universal
featured the Munster house on its early studio tours, often allowing
children to visit the set and have their photos taken with the cast.
When The Munsters finished production in 1966, Universal continued to
use the house. In keeping with studio practice, the structure was "undressed"
-- stripped of its gate, landscaping, and architectural adornments --
and by the late 1970s was painted a cheery yellow and featured in the
short-lived NBC series Shirley starring Shirley Jones.
Universal
later attempted to convert the house into a Cape Cod-style home for
use on Murder, She Wrote by removing the center window peak and
the gothic-arched porch, replacing it with a homey, wraparound veranda.
The house stands as such today, although it has been painted a weatherworn
gray to remind visitors of its spooky past.
Not
far from the Munster house on Colonial Street is the Cleaver home from
Leave It To Beaver. Actually, the Cleavers had two houses, both
of which are here. The more famous of the two, a stone and wood rambler,
remained intact and in use throughout the 1980s, and was restored somewhat
for the short-lived revival series, The New Leave It To Beaver.
By
the mid-1990s, however, the original facade had fallen into such disrepair
that a replica had to be built for the 1997 film version of the series.
This replica is located on Colonial Street, too, but appears to be a
scaled-down version of the gracious original. The genuine Cleaver rambler
can be seen - in color - as it appeared during the making of Leave It
To Beaver in the 1956 Universal film Never Say Goodbye starring Rock
Hudson (shown regularly on AMC).
PART
THREE: The Warner Bros.
(formerly Columbia) Ranch - A Goldmine!
PART
1 / 2 / 3
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