Universal Tragedy

[john audley]

As we all know it has been reported that Universal Studios have suffered a severe and terrible fire causing great damage. These threads, rightly, show appreciation for actors and actresses both alive and sadly past but I suggest we feel equally grieved when a great motion picture base like Universal suffers for we suffer too. The latest report said that the vast film archive stored there can be saved or they have duplicate copies. Let us all prey this is so.

[batman]

name='john audley']As we all know it has been reported that Universal Studios have suffered a severe and terrible fire causing great damage. These threads, rightly, show appreciation for actors and actresses both alive and sadly past but I suggest we feel equally grieved when a great motion picture base like Universal suffers for we suffer too. The latest report said that the vast film archive stored there can be saved or they have duplicate copies. Let us all prey this is so.

Was anyone hurt?

[wadsy]

A spokesman ( Ron Meyer) stated that "Nothing irreplaceable was lost" .



No word of any casualties! The fire did most damage to the King Kong set.

[Reeldigger]

Over the long haul, I suspect real estate developers are going to be responsible for more destruction at Universal City than this weekend's studio fire. As far as I'm concerned, the Universal backlot was never the same after the loss of the historic Tower of London set which was used in many of the studio's classic horror movies in the 40s. I saw it on my first tour back in the late 70s but on my second trip in 1988, it was no longer standing. Whether it was destroyed, purposely bulldozed (probably to make room for yet another gift shop) I was never able to determine. The best the clueless tour guides could do was point me in the direction of the WAR LORD tower. All the same to them, I suppose.

[christoph404]

name='Reeldigger']Over the long haul, I suspect real estate developers are going to be responsible for more destruction at Universal City than this weekend's studio fire. As far as I'm concerned, the Universal backlot was never the same after the loss of the historic Tower of London set which was used in many of the studio's classic horror movies in the 40s. I saw it on my first tour back in the late 70s but on my second trip in 1988, it was no longer standing. Whether it was destroyed, purposely bulldozed (probably to make room for yet another gift shop) I was never able to determine. The best the clueless tour guides could do was point me in the direction of the WAR LORD tower. All the same to them, I suppose.

I would have thought Universal Studios generates very large income as a tourist attraction/theme park, more so than if it sold the land for real estate? MGM sold of its backlot for housing and I think they regretted it when they saw the example set by Universal. You can get a glimpse of the old dilapidated MGM lot completed with railway station seen in hundreds of movies, in the Bee Gees video "Staying Alive" and the film "Phantom of Hollywood" with Jack Cassidy.

[Reeldigger]

A massive 25-year development plan for the studio was announced last year with the usual calming assurances that the historical integrity of the park would be preserved. A few people noted that it sounded like a conversation The Big Bad Wolf might have had with Little Red Riding Hood.

[earlb]

Not film related but redevelopment related. In Nashville for years they had a big theme park called Opryland which was a magnificent place. The accountantants moved in bulldozed it and built a new shopping complex called Opryland Mills. The things some people do to earn an extra dollar.

[john audley]

I suppose I am a real old thespian stuffy stuck in a time warp! I do appreciate the vast use of locations (but there we have yet another debating point, for if producers are going around the world finding locations perhaps they should promote a little more the local areas used? Bring benefits to the poor of that region? Just a thought) but, I do love the old style system of film making with film sets and back lots and all the rest. The studio names meant the same to me as the stars on the screen.



Another thought; has there been a film made about the workings of a film studio?

[howard 65]

name='john Audley']i Suppose I Am A Real Old Thespian Stuffy Stuck In A Time Warp! I Do Appreciate The Vast Use Of Locations (but There We Have Yet Another Debating Point, For If Producers Are Going Around The World Finding Locations Perhaps They Should Promote A Little More The Local Areas Used? Bring Benefits To The Poor Of That Region? Just A Thought) But, I Do Love The Old Style System Of Film Making With Film Sets And Back Lots And All The Rest. The Studio Names Meant The Same To Me As The Stars On The Screen.



Another Thought; Has There Been A Film Made About The Workings Of A Film Studio?

Stand In



The Intimate Stranger



The Falcon In Hollywood

[Reeldigger]

The Player, The Bad And The Beautiful.

[Steve Crook]

name='john audley']Another thought; has there been a film made about the workings of a film studio?

Peeping Tom

Quite a few "behind the camera" shots of Pinewood



Steve

[batman]

Shooting Stars

Snowbound

Go For a Take



on TV ... The Adventurer

[christoph404]

"La Nuit americaine" (Day for Night) 1973 directed by Francois Truffaut.



"The Last Movie" 1971 directed by Dennis Hopper



"After the Fox" with Peter Sellers has an amusing sequence on how to make films on location.



And on TV; UFO

[john audley]

I see the general point re studio as backdrop but I was thinking more along the lines

of Grand Hotel or link stories within Paramount or Pinewood. Example; The VIPs and London Airport. I can't think of any film that shows the complete studio story from start to finish. Singing in the Rain was a good studio backdrop but the main theme was the Talkies. As the old TV programme said 'there are eight million stories in the naked city'!

Strangely, I found the discussion at the studio gate with the gate keeper just as interesting as the following scene with De Mille in the film Sunset Boulevard

[sippog]

A good subject for another Alan "Burn Hollywood Burn" Smithee production?

[Lord Brett]

name='sippog']A good subject for another Alan "Burn Hollywood Burn" Smithee production?

Good God! One of those was more than enough.

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

Sad to read about. I have a lot of good memories-----and some not so good. I met and worked with a lot of good people.



John

[Moor Larkin]

If the King Kong set-up was like the one Universal had in Florida I'm not surprised it's gone up in smoke. They took away the Florida one a few years ago. It did cross my mind that it might be becoming unsafe after ten or so years of operation. The thing had gas-powered real flames such that if you were in certain seats of the ride you felt the heat on your face so strongly you flinched.



I can imagine the maintenance for such Imagineering (as they called it back in the early Nineties) would be impossibly onerous, especially as the original installation aged.

[john audley]

I think that the news said it was a gas canister fire

[Marky B]

Did King Kong escape?

Ta Ta

Marky B