The Land of the Giants television show from 1969 was pure visual candy. It had to be, since the plots were thin and often ridiculous, even by the standards of this outlandish world. Episodes each cost a reported $250,000 to produce. Giant props were built that simulated an oversized world that the travelers in the… Continue reading 27 Giant Props From Land of the Giants
Category: Simulated Places
Movie sets, trainers, simulators, fake cities, etc.
The Real-Life Airflite Cafe from Twilight Zone’s “100 Yards Over the Rim”
In Twilight Zone’s second season show, “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” (1961), Christian Horn, the leader of a wagon train from 1847, leaves the party to help his ill son. What he finds is present-day, early 1960s New Mexico. The center of the action is the Airflite Cafe. Recently, I was amazed to learn… Continue reading The Real-Life Airflite Cafe from Twilight Zone’s “100 Yards Over the Rim”
Alex Prager’s Cinematic Dreamspaces
I will not name the well-established artist who I’m sure Alex Prager’s work is often compared to, but I will say that, like that artist, she does spin off of vintage cinematic ideas. As MOMA’s bio says, she takes cues from Douglas Sirk and Alfred Hitchcock. Great access point to her work, but she takes it… Continue reading Alex Prager’s Cinematic Dreamspaces
Tour I Love Lucy’s Fictional Beverly Palms Hotel
It’s the part of the I Love Lucy TV series that stands out in so many viewers’ minds: Hollywood and the Beverly Palms Hotel. For three seasons, Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel lived in Manhattan. There were location changes between apartments, Ricky’s Tropicana Club, various stores, but mainly they stayed within the New York area. Then… Continue reading Tour I Love Lucy’s Fictional Beverly Palms Hotel
Universal Studios 1972: Scenes from a Studio on a Verge of a Boom
With these photos of Universal Studios in 1972, understand the context: this was the studio at one of its lowest points. Its big, bustling period of huge stars and directors was well in the past. Its next boom, the Easy Riders, Raging Bulls period detailed by author Peter Biskind–Jaws, The Sting, American Graffiti–had not yet happened,… Continue reading Universal Studios 1972: Scenes from a Studio on a Verge of a Boom