Saturday, July 21, 2012

A TV Tour of Hitchcock Film Locations and Edna May Wonacott's First On-Camera Interview

Bodega School House
Eye on the Bay, a feature of KPIX, CBS’s San Francisco TV outlet, was recently on the trail of director Alfred Hitchcock, traveling around the Bay Area to take an up-close look at locations used in his films. The 20-minute piece, Hitchcock Step-By-Step, focuses on sites featured in Shadow of a Doubt (1943), The Birds (1963) and Vertigo (1958). Aaron Leventhal, co-author of the definitive Hitchcock-in-the-Bay-Area guidebook, Footsteps in the Fog, discusses the director’s work in the region, providing fascinating production background as well as information on many locations. Hitchcock’s granddaughter, Tere Carruba, talks about her grandfather from a personal point of view and Edna May Wonacott, the last surviving featured cast member of Shadow of a Doubt, speaks on television for the first time about how she was chosen for the film and what it was like to work with Alfred Hitchcock.


Clips from each movie accompany location visits. Eye on the Bay host Brian Hackney, a Hitchcock fan, guides the tour.

Note: A brief (15 sec.) commercial spot opens each segment. Closing spots at the end of segments can easily be skipped.

Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa
Click here to view Part 1. An 8-minute segment with a tour of Santa Rosa locations for Shadow of a Doubt and an interview with Edna May Wonacott Green ("Ann Newton"), now living in Arizona.

Click here to view Part 2, a 5-minute segment shot in Bodega Bay, where The Birds was filmed in 1962. The Hitchcock production has had a lasting effect on the small Bay Area town; it’s estimated that 10,000 tourists come each year specifically to visit locations featured in The Birds.

Click here to view Part 3, a 5-minute segment that spotlights sites seen in Vertigo. This tour takes us from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Mission at San Juan Batista and many locations in between.

Click here for Part 4. Just over 1-1/2 minutes long, it references Rebecca (1940) and Marnie (1964) and ventures to the estate Hitchcock purchased in Scotts Valley while shooting location footage for Rebecca, his first American film. It was Hitchcock’s much beloved home away from Hollywood.

Edna May Wonacott on the set with Alfred Hitchcock, 1942

18 comments:

  1. I just finished watching Part 1. of the very well done video. I think it is my favorite interview of all time.. Edna is, such a doll.

    We have driven through Yuma, AZ. many times over the years.. My husband has also, worked on a couple of construction jobs there...

    I will be back to view parts 2-4.

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    1. Dawn, Edna is completely genuine - really nice and completely down-to-earth. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd be happy to meet you next time you're in Yuma. I thought "Eye on the Bay" did a nice job of covering the locations and including film footage.

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  2. Excellent clips - Edna May comes off great - she seems happy and fufilled and her head seems really together. Often child actors who grow up making films seem to experience the Hollywood dream becoming the Hollywood nightmare as they mature. She appeared in some classic films, has wonderful memories, and got out in time to experience the real world - good move. I also loved the Vertigo location clips, which, in addition to the film, hold many personal experiences for me. Whenever I go to North Beach I almost always park in front of Scotty's apartment (at the base of Lombard St) - for some reason, there's always parking there in an otherwise extremely tough parking area. There are usually visitors around for "the World's Most Crooked Street" and I haven't enountered one yet that knew of the Vertigo connection, but I'm sure I will someday. It's true that just by visitng the "Vertigo" locales one can experience a superb taste of the San Francisco mystique, which the movie has in spades.

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    1. MCB - Edna was lucky - it was she who wanted to be in "Shadow of a Doubt" and wasn't pushed by her parents at all. I suspect their rural roots and her normal childhood have a lot to do with her not "going Hollywood." I've read that Natalie Wood's mother (apparently a prototypical stage mother) was inspired by Edna's discovery in Santa Rosa, which is where Natalie's family lived.

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  3. Wonderful post, Lady Eve! As an east-coaster, it has been one of my dreams to do a "Vertigo" tour of San Francisco. Some day!

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    1. FlickChick - Have you read "Footsteps in the Fog"? It covers all things Hitchcock in the SF Bay Area - every location used in one of his films and much backstory. Did I ever tell you that I once worked in a suite of offices that was once a floor of Ransohoff's dept. store in SF? It had been the fine apparel dept. and was recreated (for "Vertigo") in the studio. Every time I watch the scene where Scottie buys Judy new shoes and a suit, I think of that office suite. Little had changed.

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    2. Eve, loved watching these clips, especially the interview with Edna May (who looks and sounds terrific--that's awesome that she still has her script). Of course, I'm also partial to your video of Hitch's San Francisco locations, too.

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    3. Rick - For a short piece, they managed to pack it with interesting footage and interviews. I can only imagine the hours spent filming and editing that went into it.

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  4. Thanks Lady Eve for bringing to light this coverage. I would have not heard of it otherwise and I look forward to actually viewing these tomorrow. S.F. is always fascinating, and how great that you worked in the former Ransohoff's building. Was the store on the ground floor? It's amzing how many of those great old dept stores have disappeared - often building and all.

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    1. Christian - I learned of this TV segment through Edna a few weeks ago and was thrilled it was still available and that I could share it (it first aired about 2 mos. ago).

      The office suite (it was the entire floor) where I worked had been the third floor of Ransohoff's (as I recall). The store had been around the corner from Union Square at 259 Post St. (our entrance and address was at 170 Maiden Lane, which had been the rear of the store). Dior, Hermes and Chanel were some of the shops adjacent to the building by the time I was there.

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  5. Thank you! This was terrific ... I especially love "Shadow of a Doubt" and enjoyed the locations and interview with Edna May.

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  6. CFB - It is a short but sweet tour, isn't it? Hopefully "Hitchcock Step-By-Step" will be available as a single clip on YouTube someday.

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  7. Thanks for the clips and like everyone else I thought the clip with Edna May was tops. Glad to see she had happy experience with her film career. I love San Francisco, have been there twice, another reason this is such a treat.

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    1. John, I hope you had the opportunity to visit a few film locations while in SF. Actually, it's almost impossible not to, since so much footage for so many films has been shot here.

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  8. Mr. Hitchcock was a real master. Richard

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    1. Yes, he was. And you have a very interesting blog.

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  9. As someone who grew up and attended college in SF, I always get very nostalgic seeing footage of the city (haven't been back there in about 8 years). But the biggest thrill of your post was the "Shadow Of A Doubt" clip. It's my absolute favorite of all Hitchcock's films and I've always wondered what became of that little girl who walked off with every one of here scenes. Thanks so much for bringing the clip to our attention. Now...off to look at the rest!

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    1. Ken - If interested, I hope you'll read my interview with Edna one day (click on her name in the post for a link). Since we spoke, she's been interviewed for a book, given presentations for local civic and church groups - and now, finally - TV. As for the Bay Area, is it not one of the most photogenic places on earth? Hitchcock seemed to think so...

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