There is a lot to like about the film Raw Deal (1948) directed by Anthony Mann. The story is fast paced, the action violent and thrilling and the cinematography is beautifully shot by John Alton. On top of that there is an excellent cast including many noir regulars such as Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland and Raymond Burr. Although the story may be a tad slapdash, it's easy to put rationality aside and just enjoy the show.

The story is about a prisoner named Joe (Dennis O'Keefe) who has taken the rap for pyromaniac gangster Rick (Raymond Burr). Rick arranges an escape for Joe using Joe's girlfriend Pat (Claire Trevor), but the whole thing is a setup. Rick plans on Joe either being shot trying to escape or to be put away in jail forever. However, Rick's plan fails and with the help of Pat and a social worker Ann (Marsha Hunt), Joe is able to escape and go on the lam. The story gets more interesting as a love triangle forms between Pat, Joe, and Ann.

Although there are not many real exterior locations we get a glimpse of Malibu during one scene while Joe is on the run. Joe and Ann pull over at a gas station on their way to San Francisco. The gas station looks different from the time of the film, but I easily recognized the building across the street with its distinct arches. The location is the intersection of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and Rambla Pacifico Street.

Joe and Ann pull into a service station.

Looking across the PCH from the service station.

Rambla Pacifico St. at the PCH

Looking up Rambla Pacifico St. and across the PCH.

Below is another scene at the service station looking north and showing the Pacific coast shoreline in the background. As you can see in the Bird's Eye View below where the yellow box marks the site of the service station, there are many more homes dotting the shoreline where in the film it was an open space with just sand.

The Pacific coast can be seen in the background.

Bird's Eye View of the service station.

A view of the service station as seen in the film.

The service station is now a 76 gas station.

Just to the left of the 76 gas station in what is now a vacant lot was the former site of the Albatross Hotel Restaurant, which can be seen in the wonderful film, Strangers When We Meet (1961), starring Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, and Walter Matthau.

Raw Deal (1948) is available on DVD, for rent through ClassicFlix, and is currently available for streaming on Netflix.

Belles on Their Toes (1952)

In less than two months, Santa Monica High School seniors will be participating in their graduation ceremony at the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre located on the campus. This is the same theatre in which Myrna Loy, in the film Belles on Their Toes (1952), joyously watched her youngest daughter's graduation ceremony. Although there have been some dramatic changes to the theatre during the last 61 years since the film was made, the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre is still very recognizable.

Belles on Their Toes is the sequel to the original Cheaper By the Dozen. In Belles, Loy, the mother of twelve children, continues to look after her family, but now without the help of her husband who had passed away at the end of the first film. You would expect the film to focus on Loy and the difficulties of a single woman raising twelve kids, but instead the film is centered more on the teenage romances of the older daughters. The film begins with Loy, done up in makeup to appear older, attending the graduation ceremony of her last child and then the story jumps back in time to show events preceding the graduation.

Note: Click images to see larger.

Graduates walk the steps of the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre at Santa Monica High School in the film Belles on Their Toes.

A contemporary view of the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre at Santa Monica High School. Photo from Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

Memorial Greek Amphitheatre as it appears in Belles on Their Toes.

The outdoor Greek style amphitheatre was originally built in 1921 to honor Santa Monicans that had served in World War I. Plaques on the walls of the amphitheatre listed all of the Santa Monicans that had served in the war. In the 1950s, a second level was added to the Greek, which you will notice by looking at the comparison of the screenshot and contemporary images below. Other additions to the theatre since it first opened in 1921 include plaques honoring Santa Monicans who have served in every major military conflict, as well as one for a student who was killed because of gang violence in the early 2000s. The Memorial Greek Amphitheatre first hosted a graduation ceremony in 1921 and has every year since.

The Memorial Greek Amphitheatre in Belles on Their Toes.

Contemporary view of the Memorial Greek Amphitheatre in Santa Monica.

Myrna Loy on the steps of the Santa Monica High School Memorial Greek Amphitheatre as seen in Belles on Their Toes.

Most of the scenes in the film were shot on the 20th Century Fox Studios lot, with the exception of the graduation scene which was filmed on location at Santa Monica High School, and another scene that was filmed on location at Paradise Cove in Malibu. In the scene below the kids spend a day at the beach and two of the teenage daughters try flirting with the local boys. Minus the vintage bathing suits and umbrellas, this stretch of coastline is pretty much the same quiet beach area.

Paradise Cove, Malibu, Ca as seen in Belles on Their Toes.

Paradise Cove Pier, Malibu, Ca. Photo: Wikimedia.org

Don't you just love those bathing suits?

Paradise Cove, Malibu as seen in Belles on Their Toes.

Photo from LA Observed. Paradise Cove Pier

In addition to Myrna Loy, the Belles on Their Toes cast includes Jeanne Crain, Debra Paget, Jeffrey Hunter, Edward Arnold, Hoagy Carmichael, and Verna Felton who voiced many Disney characters. Belles on Their Toes was directed by Henry Levin. The film is available on DVD and can also be rented through ClassicFlix.

Move Over, Darling (1963) is a remake of the unfinished Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin film, Something's Got to Give (1962), which was a remake of the Cary Grant and Irene Dunne film, My Favorite Wife. With Something's Got to Give, Monroe was fired from the film and was to be replaced by actress Lee Remick; however, Dean Martin had final approval of his leading lady and refused to work with anyone other than Monroe. 20th Century Fox rehired Monroe, but tragically she died before the film was completed and the movie was abandoned. Fox, which was struggling financially, decided to reuse many of the sets that were built for Something's Got to Give and produced a new film that followed more closely the original story of My Favorite Wife, with Doris Day and James Garner starring. That film became Move Over, Darling.

Day and Garner do not disappoint in this silly screwball comedy.  In the film, Ellen Arden (Day) and Nicholas Arden (Garner) are a happy married couple with two infant daughters living in Los Angeles. While on a flight traveling over the South Pacific, their plane goes down. Garner survives the crash but Day's body cannot be found. Five years later Garner is ready to move on with his life and he remarries the young and attractive Bianca Steele (Polly Bergen). Amazingly, it turns out that Day had survived the flight and was living on an island with another man who survived the crash. Day is rescued by the Navy and brought back to Los Angeles where she learns that her husband has left for Monterey to go on a honeymoon with his new wife. Day goes to Monterey where she surprises Garner, who is shocked to see her alive. Garner has a predicament. Does he go back to his wife that he has not seen for five years and has gone on believing was dead? And how does he break the news to his new wife?

In the beginning of the film Garner and Bergen are seen driving from Los Angeles up the Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey. They are on their way to the fictional Monterey Inn hotel for their honeymoon. Along the way, they pass the landmark Mugu Rock, not too far from the city of Oxnard.

Garner and Bergen drive pass Mugu Rock.

Mugu Rock on the Pacific Coast Highway near Oxnard.

The fictional "Monterey Inn" where Garner goes for his honeymoon.

After Garner learns that his first wife is still alive, he thinks up an excuse to head back home to Los Angeles. Garner's home is located at the corner of Wyton Drive and S. Mapleton Drive in the posh Holmby Hills neighborhood. In the screen comparisons below, taken from different points in the film, show the entrance of the home and the house from different angles. It appears that the house seen in the film must have been demolished, as now a massive mansion stands where the modest sized home seen in the movie once stood.

Doris Day arrives at the home on Wyton Drive.

Looking down Wyton Drive from S. Mapleton Drive.

The home as seen in the film looking down Mapleton Dr.

Looking down S. Mapleton Dr. at the intersection of Wyton Dr.

Day walks up the driveway from the Wyton Drive entrance.

A huge mansion now stands at the corner of Wyton and Mapleton.

Later in the film Garner wants to find out who the man is that Day has spent the last five years with living on an island. He learns that the man is staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel, located at 9461 West Sunset Boulevard. Garner scouts out the hotel and then arranges to have lunch with Day by the hotel pool, where Day's companion of the last five years has been staying.

Garner spots the man at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool.

The pool as it appears today. (c) Oyster.com

Day and Garner have lunch by the hotel pool.

The pool as it looks now. Photo credit: BeverlyHillsHotel.com

Day and Garner at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool.

When Day learns why Garner brought her to the Beverly Hills Hotel she storms out and drives off like a maniac. Garner runs to the valet, hitches a cab and follows after her. They drive through a car dealership in Santa Monica and then through a car wash at Pico Boulevard and S. Beverly Glen Boulevard.

Day races off from the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The Beverly Hills Hotel as it appears today.

Day and Garner drive through a Porsche dealership on

Wilshire Boulevard at East 20th St. in Santa Monica.

The car dealership is now the site of a Walgreens.

Looking down Wilshire at 20th St. Santa Monica.

The dealership side entrance on 20th Street. The 

Lighthouse Church steeple can be seen in background.

Looking down 20th Street. The Lighthouse Church

building can still be seen on the right.

Day drives pass a car wash on Pico Blvd at S. Beverly Glen.

The Car Wash is still in business nearly 5 decades later.

Day rounds the corner of Pico and Beverly Glen.

St. Timothy's Catholic Church is in the background.

The corner of Pico and S. Beverly Glen Blvd.

Garner follows Day passed an apartment building

behind the car wash.

The apartment building on S. Beverly Glen near Pico Blvd.

Move Over, Darling gets many added laughs from a hilarious supporting cast including Thelma Ritter, Fred Clark, Don Knotts, and Edgar Buchanan. The film has been released on DVD as both a stand alone disc and also as part of 20th Century Fox's 75th Anniversary Studio Classics quad sets. In the quad set the three other films included are, O. Henry's Full House, On The Riviera, and Rally 'Round The Flag, Boys!.