Sunday, May 8, 2016

Mommie Dearest (1981)



It's Annie meets Friday the 13th (1980).  Mommie Dearest is one of the most beloved comedies biopics in cinematic history.  It is The Razzie Awards wet dream, winning five of it's eight nominations and later taking Worst Picture of the Decade in 1990.  Faye Dunaway surely needed some Pepto Bismol from all the scenery chewing.  Christina Crawford's living hell was depicted in scenes with some of the best quotes like "No wire hangers….EVER!" and "Tina, bring me the ax!"  While I did not the read the book from which the film was adapted from, it has been said there were several embellishments and could've used some editing by Barbara from Redbook.


Mommie Dearest was filmed in Bel Air, Palos Verdes and Los Angeles, CA

Location: Joan Crawford's House
Address: 417 Amapola Lane, Bel Air, CA








This was also used as Marianne Moore's House on Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000)

Location: Joan Crawford's Backyard
Address: 355 S Mapleton Drive, Los Angeles, CA




That's as close to the backyard as I could get.


Location: Perino's Restaurant 
Address: 4101 Wilshire Boulevard/635 S Bronson Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Perino's is Joan's place.  You can check out the full history at Iamnotastalker.com but Perino's was originally located at 4101 Wilshire Boulevard.  An apartment complex was built in 2005 but part of the original exterior still remains around the corner on S Bronson Avenue.









Location: The Chadwick School
Address: 26800 S Academy Drive, Palos Verdes, CA


Headed up by the underreacting Mrs. Chadwick...








Location: The Convent
Address: 200 N Michillinda Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA





This was also The Delta Nu Sorority House in Legally Blonde (2001).


Locations Visited: March 2016



Still Need To Locate:

St. Jude's Orphanage
Christina's New York Apartment Building


3 comments:

  1. Hi..I don't know if you knew this or not, but they have completely torn down Joan Crawford's house in Mommie Dearest. I used to jog by it every day. It was such a beautiful home. Thank you for all you do on this website. Looking through these pics have helped me through some lonely times xo -Tonya

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tonya. Glad it helped. I did not know the house was torn down and am sorry to hear that. Always hate when a filming location disappears. :-(

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  2. Sadly, that's is (most often) L.A. for you.

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