I'm a huge fan of not only Disney Animation, but the Disney live action films from the 50's and 60's. One of my favorites is 1960's "Pollyanna" starring Hayley Mills and Jane
Wyman. I was up in the bay area last month, so I decided to visit Santa Rosa and St. Helena to find a few of the filming sites.
This is the Bale Grist Mill near St. Helena. The mill, built in the 1800's, was seen in the opening credits of the film. This area was beautiful.
They give milling demonstrations on the weekends.
The St. Helena train depot. This is where they shot the film's opening and closing scenes.
The building is now used as offices for various businesses.
Hayley Mills as Pollyanna arrives to town.
This is a publicity photo of Walt Disney taken at the station.
This is the
Mableton Mansion in Santa Rosa. It was used for all the exterior shots of Aunt Polly's house. The top floors of the house were painted in by Disney matte artist Peter
Ellenshaw.
The house is currently being renovated and restored.
The towns people coming by the house for a meeting.
The top shot is another matte painting by Peter
Ellenshaw, combined with live action footage of Aunt Polly with the Reverend.
Hayley and Jane
Wyman.
Last night I attended the Hollywood Heritage event, "An Evening With Jane Russell", at the Lasky-DeMille Barn in Hollywood. The barn was built in 1913 and used as Hollywood's first movie studio.
The barn was moved to its present location across from the Hollywood Bowl.
Before the program they had a raffle and I won! I received this wood shingle from the barn signed by actresses June Havoc, Carroll Baker, and Marsha Hunt.
Studio shots of actresses Havoc, Baker, and Hunt.
Here's the evening's guest, actress Jane Russell.
Born in 1921, she's probably best remembered for her role in 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", where she costarred with Marilyn Monroe.
The two put their hand prints in cement together at Graumen's Chinese Theater. It's still there today.
Afterwards Ms. Russell signed her book, took photos with fans, and had Birthday cake.
That's it for this post!
