1938 was quite a torrid year for the world, war was looming in Europe, political instability, the Great Depression was in full swing and still, a burgeoning industry was taking a foothold in the United States: Cinema as an alternative to theater entertainment. One of those films from that era is Norman Taurog’s “The Girl Downstairs” which we will explore its filming locations today.
The movie, whose script was penned by Sándor Hunyady, Felix Jackson, and Harold Goldman features Franciska Gaal, Walter Connolly and Franchot Tone in a story where a playboy with deep pockets courts and falls for a maid with the intention of not getting the maid’s heart but as a gateway for the mistress with whom he has the hots for. What happened? The maid fell in love with him.
Instead of focusing on the story, we’re going to take a look at where was this classic film shot during the golden age of cinema back in the years where everyone had a focus in both entertainment and the general state of the world because what came after, in the following years was a World War that shaped and changed the world as we see it today. Without any further ado, let’s explore the The Girl Downstairs filming locations.
The Girl Downstairs Filming Locations
Clocked at one hour and seventeen minutes, this Norman Taurog black-and-white film is one of the only three movies made in America where Franceska Gaal worked and it is the only one she ever did for Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios. The entire movie was filmed in the United States, right in the Mecca of movies, California at the Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios located on Washington Boulevard in Culver City.
One interesting fact about Franciska Gaal is that right at the height of World War II, and despite being Jewish, she went back to Hungary in 1940, where she stayed for the remainder of the war. After the war, she starred in a Soviet-made film called Renee XIV but that movie never came to fruition. Then, she came back to the US but never with the same impact that she had prior to leaving the US in the first place.
Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios
Nestled in Washington Boulevard, California, the Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios was the place where Norman Taurog made this delightful romp that captures the spirit of the time and reflects that production company’s knack for creating lots —and I mean lots— of character-driven narratives that captivate and resonate with the audience.
This movie, like many others produced at this legendary studio, shows us how MGM began with movies like these to carve its way into the elite of what the entertainment world is right now.
In that sense, the MGM studios at Culver City date back to when Hollywood was just beginning to turn into the capital of cinematography. It dates back to the silent film era. In fact, MGM is the result of a process of mergers and acquisitions in which three studios: Louis B. Mayer’s, Goldwyn Pictures, and Metro Pictures became MGM in 1923.
With a very dilated trajectory of movies that range from Ben-Hur, James Bond, The Wizard of Oz, RoboCop, Rocky, and The Hobbit. MGM Studios is a film powerhouse. Its facilities are open to the public with previous bookings and are part of the body and soul of what Hollywood and its spirit represent.
The studio complex in which The Girl Downstairs was filmed is quite different from what it is today. Back in its day it was a huge sort of hangar with the kind of equipment a period filmmaker would employ.
But over the years, the studios located at 10202 West Washington Blvd. have evolved, they’ve changed hands, and now, it is the home of Sony Pictures. Still, and in the process they have never, ever lost their cinematic charm or meaning.
The MGM Studio was named a landmark by Culver City’s authorities back in 1990 and its a huge complex with all the things a modern filmmaker could take advantage of today.
