Friday, June 4, 2010

Settings: Part 27

With all the film crews shooting around South Pas this week I just can't resist another round of my favorite game. So tell me, my aspiring Hitchcocks, Weirs and Fassbinders, if this were the setting for a scene in a movie ... what would happen here?

10 comments:

Dixie Jane said...

The demolition crew would be arriving momentarily.

dbdubya said...

This must be where the owners of Gino's Restaurant live. Gino's is finally being torn down this week. This house is salvagable, Gino's is not. That brick foundation doesn't look to sturdy for a big shaker, though.

That leads us to our story: When the ground stopped shaking after the 7.4 earthquake, the old family home had slipped off it's foundation trapping grandma and grandpa inside. It shook so hard, the wallpaper came off the walls and virtually everything that could break was broken. When Jack arrived to rescue his parents, the door was jammed shut. Peering through the living window, he could see his elderly parents frozen in shock, sitting side-by-side on a couch, too frightened to move.

That actually happened to my grandparents in the 1971 Sylmar quake. They had to be rescued from their 1917 home which had to be torn down.

Trish said...

first thot---the original house the Beverly Hillbillies left when they aimed for California...but I like the foundation problem story.

Also love the Gino's story...I have a host of stories to tell about that place, and I only know them from being a teenager---am assuming the "adult" stories were better. Laurie---like the furniture store "family" connection, there were always tales of such things at Gino's too.

and, if this is the house I'm thinking of, it is where a friend lost her virginity with her boyfriend...and yes, they ended up getting married, having kids and so far, living happily ever after (if Al & Tipper can't make a go of it after 40 years, I'm a little wary...)

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Gino's in it's Italian incarnation only existed for a brief time (in terms of being open to the public). Before that it was La Cantina. Same people who owned Taco Treat which is now a Mexican joint across the street from the SP police station.

La Cantina; Bean and cheese burrito with tax $1.01 with Connie as your waitress.

We kids spent our teens hanging out at the stable below while our mom's were blitzed out on valium (authorized by a professional md of course!)

there's your story L

Barbara said...

I think it looks a little like (or at least reminds me of) the house in "It's a Wonderful Life," but the tree is pure Dr. Seuss.

A? the? Gino's used to be next to the Rialto when I was in high school.

Judy Williams said...

I am coming into the game late, so before reading what others have said, this is my take:

Olivia lives in the basement. She rarely bathes or brushes her teeth, much less, speaks to anyone. She has a sparse garden out back and a few 20 pound bags of flour and sugar to sustain her. She lost everything in the 60's and just never got over it. Her love, her mind, the best parts of herself. Everyone is afraid of her, but she's really more than anything, afraid of what she's become. Poor Olivia.

TheChieftess said...

I'm sooooo depressed!!! After reading about the old folks frozen with fear after the "big one", Gino's brief incarnation, the loss of the $1.01 bean and cheese burrito, mom's on valium, and Olivia...geeze, how bad can it be?!!! The bright light was the reference to "It's a Wonderful Life"!!! At least that has a happy ending!!!

Laurie Allee said...

Awww, guys! Here I was thinking of something like Capra's You Can't Take it With You, and you went for valium, demolition and 20 bags of flour!

Actually, "Valium, Demolition and 20 Bags of Flour" is a GREAT name for a novel...

Thanks for playing, everyone. Until tomorrow...

Mister Earl said...

I'm coming to the party late. I love to hear stories about Gino's, and I'd love to hear more. I moved to South Pas in 1981. I lived on Monterey, not far from there. I'd lived there for awhile and never tried Gino's. Didn't seem all that inviting. One day, however, I called Elmer Dills, who had a restaurant show on KABC radio. I asked him about Gino's and he said, "It's not a bad little place." I went there a couple times and found it quite good. Within a year it closed.

ocreynolds said...

Hi Laurie;
I keep meaning to tell you abuot a Facebook page called YOu know you grew up in So Pas in the 80's if....
http://www.facebook.com/pages/You-know-you-grew-up-in-South-Pas-in-the-80s-if/112503942110441

Check it out. I think you'll enjoy it. It's every kid I did and did not go to high school with LOL