Your Favorite Movie Abodes

[Guest cooper, jeane]

Which cinematic mansion, apartment or humble hovel do you wish you could call your own? Was it the sweeping elegance of Ashley Wilkes' Twelve Oaks in "Gone With the Wind", the Italian villa in "Enchanted April" or John Wayne's modest Irish cottage with the green door and roses at the window from "The Quiet Man"? Go ahead dream - money is no object.

[Guest son, jery]

Jeane, we must share ESP or something because I was thinking of putting in this very topic! In fact, I wrote a feature for a gay magazine years ago called "Hollywood Homes", about unforgettable film residences. I always loved Bette Davis' farmhouse in "Dark Victory," filled with overstuffed furniture, as well as her great country home in "A Stolen Life" and her mansion in "Mr. Skeffington." Another real goodie: the Hilton home in David Selznick's "Since You Went Away." Talk about cozy houses: burning fireplaces, snow falling outside, huge Christmas tree and gifts. Great topic!

[Guest Rob]

One word.... "Xanadu". And I'm not talking about that lame Olivia Newton-John film either! Any house that has all those lagoons, golf courses, its own private zoo, and all those spacious rooms can't all be bad...

[Guest K, Sandy]

I love the Victorian splendor of the Smith home in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS.

[Guest mongo]

I'll settle for the cold water flat in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". I came from Brooklyn and lived in such a place and I wouldn't trade the experience for nothing. When I moved on to better abodes I learned to appreciate it more however the best and worst times were while living in that cold water flat. I'll never forget it.

[Guest K, Sandy]

Something I've always wondered, mongo-why are they called cold-water flats? Is it because there is literally no hot water heater? BTW, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN is a wonderful movie, as well as one of my favorite books.

[Guest mongo]

Sandy most cold water flats were of a wood structure and of course had no radiators. We had a huge wood and coal burning stove in our kitchen for heat and which my mother prepared meals on. We did have a hot water contraption which was lit at the bottom however heaven forbid if you forgot to turn it off. Also had an ice box with a cake of ice in the top compartment and we had to remember to empty the pan of water at the bottom or else we had some flooding. I guess thats why I relate so much to "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and the wonderful characters that struggled there.

[Guest walker, ken]

Mongo, I relate with some of the things you mentioned in your last post.Before I started in the city schools,I attended a one room school house with my aunts.They had a wood burning stove for heat.We had an ice box also that used a block of ice in the top with a drip pan at the bottom.For you younger folks...These were known as "The good old days!"

[Guest son, jery]

Two great movie homes I'm fascinated with--but would never ever want to live in them--the glowing, black and silver castle of Boris Karloff in "The Black Cat," (1932)where he keeps his old lovers floating in crystal tombs; and Norman Bates spooky old house in "Psycho." Come to think of it, we could write thousands of messages about how important houses are in horror films: "The Haunting," (1960), "Poltergeist," (l972), "House of Dracula," etc.

[Guest walker, ken]

Maybe there should be a board started on set designs [interior and exterior],and the influence they have on films of all genres,especially horror and mystery films.

[Guest K, Sandy]

Thanks ken and mongo for your recollections of the "good old days!" I am a bit younger than you, but I do remember that my Aunt Irene had a old-fashioned wringer that I loved to watch. I guess that there were no spin cycles on the older washing machines. She was someone who always called her refrigerator "the icebox."

[Guest cooper, jeane]

I caught only a few minutes of "A Star is Born" coming in from work, and realized I like sweeping vistas in my homes. The ocean was in this and San Francisco Bay in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". Montana (even if it was really the Candian rockies) in "Legends of the Fall" Monument Valley in "The Searchers" - tho' you could keep the cabin. I DO need running water. London from Ingrid Bergman's apartment in "Indiscreet" I also want the following New York apartments: Bette Davis' in "All About Eve" and Tracy and Hepburn's in "Adam's Rib". Well - I'm off to buy my lottery ticket now.

[Guest cooper, jeane]

Totally off the subject - but you mentioned David O. Selznick. I heard the other day that when Hitchcock made "Rear Window", he purposedly created the murderer - Raymond Burr's character- to look like Selznick. I knew their earlier working experiences had been fraught with tension - but the minute I heard this latest tidbit I exclaimed "That's who Raymond Burr has reminded me of all these years. DOS!" Talk about payback.

[Guest son, jery]

Jeane, if you insist on living in Manhattan, then you must also have yet more knockout abodes: there's Bette Davis' fabulous penthouse from "Deception" which was modeled on Leonard Bernstein's actual house back in the early 40s and dig Bette's skylight; George Brent's bachelor penthouse in "Dark Victory" with Ronald Reagan offering to whip you up some scrambled eggs; and, just for the excitement, the hotel room where Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) was dragged screaming by a certain furry admirer named King Kong.Of course you want a place with plenty of open windows, so you can, uh, look--like James Stewart did in "Rear Window."

[Guest cooper, jeane]

Honey - you're talking to native New York (Inwood Park). My first bedroom's window faced the back area of 5 other apartment houses, and I remember laundry hanging up, when not on the roof, people yelling and the occassional police whistle. The "life" Jimmy Stewart experienced I never witnessed. I remember the penthouse in "Deception", but never cared for it. Now that you tell me whose original it was modeled on could explain why. Lennie was never a favorite of mine. I'll never deny his great talent, however when I was a kid - I went to his children's concerts. I loved the music, but he drove me crazy. Too flighty.

[Guest Alix]

I want one of those awesome Art Deco style penthouses--something that Warren William might have lived in. I like his Deco pad in UNDER EIGHTEEN--it had all that great Deco decor, and then it had a pool on the roof. Ah...the life!

[Guest son, jery]

I don't know about you but last night I dreamt I went to Manderly and what a barn! There wasn't any old prune-faced Mrs. Danvers around to drive us crazy. I loved Rebecca's boudoir. I think I'll move in. See ya!

[Guest cooper, jeane]

Don't forget your fire insurance - Mrs D. might be lurking around!

[Guest razzberry54]

The beautiful lakeside house in Leave Her to Heaven with Gene Tierney and Cornell Wilde. It reminded me of a stone cottage and the color around it was so beautiful.

[Guest Rowley, Stephen]

From the first time I saw it in the film, my favorite movie abode of all time was that wonderful ranch-style house in Bringing Up Baby (1938). For honorable mentions, I'd also love to live in Mary Haines' home in The Women (1939) or the Bullocks' apartment in My Man Godfrey (1936).

[Guest cooper, jeane]

Ohh...that Connecticut home of Aunt Elizabeth in "BUB" would be a dream! The large open rooms and lovely outside. If you could throw in dinner guests like Charlie Ruggles's "Major Applegate" - wouldn't life be a hoot? Or is that a loon? (ha ha)

[Guest son, jery]

I always loved that creepy old mansion, Ingston Towers, in "Night Monster," (1941). They had these big, cozy bedrooms and a den with a big, crackling fireplace. Another goodie is the Cosmo Topper mansion in "Topper Returns." There seemed to be a fireplace in every room. Deanna Durbin also lived in a wonderful, l940 home in "Nice girl?" There were no screens on the windows where the breeze billowed the curtains.

[Guest Goebel, Angela]

I'd like to have a Victorian beach house like the one in "The Ghost of Mrs. Muir." (Especially if it was haunted by a sea captain like Rex Harrison!)

[Guest K, Sandy]

I'd love Elizabeth Taylor's large yet cozy bedroom in FATHER OF THE BRIDE. A fireplace and a large windowseat covered in plush pillows, plus a floor-length three-sided mirror. What more could a girl want?

[Guest olmsted, l]

Ok, this movie is not a classic and never will be because it just wasn't that good, but it had a beautiful plantation home that I would die to live in. Did anyone see the recent Original Sin with Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas. You're not missing much if you didn't but his estate in Cuba on a coffe plantation is absolutely breathtaking!