Again, there was much discussion about what Agatha would have in her house. In the end they pretty much trusted me to "go for it" and I did! Looking at these photos now, I can tell you it would be impossible to do this set here in Honolulu today. Even with the number of things I again brought from my own house, you would never find all these things in town today.
You can see how much detail and work went into constructing these sets. All those windows were custom built, painted, and then I covered them all up with my drapes! Because of the size of this set, you can see that above the set they used "headers" or sort of fake beams to help hide the overhead lighting and allow the camera to shoot a little wider without worrying they would see the top of the set. Looking at it now 24 years later, it seems odd the way the drapes I stapled up are on the INside of the arched window. There should be some curved molding around them. Oh well, too late now! Again, the pedestals on either side of the fireplace, the portrait of Queen Victoria (my great uncle was a guard for her BTW), the bench with arms, the marble top commode in front of the window, the burgundy side chair, that huge oriental rug (later stolen from me) and some of the smalls all came from my house. I would never do that again today!
This set was only used once as I recall. A lot of work but a wonderful episode. I think that there could have been a spin-off of Magnum staring Gillian. "Agatha, P.I."?? Maybe not. She was capable of a lot more. I have many happy memories of her.
Aloha
12 comments:
Rick, thanks so much for Agatha`s set-potos, she indeed passed away (same as Jeff Mackay, who died on November 14th in Colorado). I always enjoyed her acting on Magnum pi very much, in my opinion she gave the series another great and unique character which are missing in myn Tv-series our days. Aloha
Rick, thanks so much for Agatha`s set-potos, she indeed passed away (same as Jeff Mackay, who died on November 14th in Colorado). I always enjoyed her acting on Magnum pi very much, in my opinion she gave the series another great and unique character which are missing in many Tv-series our days. Aloha
I always loved and was impressed with this set and all the intricate detail of it. But Rick is correct when he says that the darkness of the fireplace wasn't noticed. (At least I never noticed it!)=)
Same here! The moment, when Higgins goes up to her to tell her - as usual through a lengthened story - that he did not intend to marry her but Lady Ashley, is a classic in the Magnum series. The set totally fit the character as well as the story that was told there. Excellent work indeed! Agatha is one of my favourite guest stars in the series - she was a perfect sidekick to Higgins. She allowed many funny moments - and also this classic, romantic one.
The way Gillian was treated is not really nice but likely it is what you said: If in the business you do not complain and just "work", you do not get much attention.
As a continuation of my prior post, I also wanted to ask about the episodes where the guesthouse was totally redecorated. I think there were three instances. The "Sherlock Holmes" episode, Murder By Night, and the episode where Magnum dreamed he woke up in the 1930's. I guess I don't have any questions, I would just like for you to talk about them. :)
I always have fun watching the small changes in the set decor from season to season, like the bedspread, appearance of the carpet on the stairs, the "disappearing" hanging light over the dining room table in the Pilot, the light over the hatrack, the mantle knickknacks and wall hanging over the mantle, etc, etc.
It took an act of God to change anything on those permanent sets. The first thing I did was change the light fixture when you entered the guest house at the top of the stairs and you'd think I had painted a moustache on the Mona Lisa! Sometimes things changed because they were broken or stolen. Maybe the hanging light cast too many shadows, etc. There can sometimes be odd reasons why things changed or were moved. Buck LOVED artificial flower arrangements (which were plastic in those days) and I slowly got rid of those dust collectors! I forgot all about that Sherlock Holmes and dream episodes. I'll have to jog the memory a bit on that one!
I think you absolutely nailed that set, so to speak. Everything is just so her! It could very well be my favorite seldom seen set.
Don't worry about the drapes on the far wall - out of curiosity I scanned through those scenes in "Echoes of the Mind" (part 2 of 2, the first episodes of season five) and only the very edge of the drapes was seen on camera. : ) I do believe you're correct that the Agatha home set was only seen in one episode. Twice in Echoes of the Mind part 2.
I love how her home is so full of items. My grandparents home was just like that, filled with the many things they had accumulated over a lifetime.
I would have dropped everything to watch "Agatha, P.I." !! I'd picture it being very similar to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novels. And I'm a huge fan of Margaret Rutherford's performances in Murder, She Said and the three following movies. (She's been lovingly described as a British battleship : ) Gillian Dobb would have made a wonderful Miss Marple type character, whether or not played as Agatha Chumley.
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Getting slightly off topic, I think that whomever choose the real life house that Agatha is supposed to live in really made a perfect choice. The home appears smallish in size which reflects her likely financial means, and looks like a cottage one could find in the English countryside, almost as if Agatha had had the home built for her in the English style when she originally came to Hawaii from England. As if to remind her of home. Even the landscaping fits with the Agatha character, I can just see her outside gardening and pruning the hedges.
I've wondered before about who the location scouts were and how they went about finding such appropriate locations.
Thanks Rick, I can hardly wait to hear about the alternate sets!
I also posted a comment in an earlier blog, either "what is a set director" or "higgins bedroom"
So YOU are the one responsible for the gold glass light fixture! LOL
Did you add the microwave? And wrap the dishtowel around the empty paper roll on the paper towel dispenser? :)
Another interesting point you might like to know....Once the set was dressed and the director had accepted it, I was OUT of there. It was very rare that I would remain any longer than necessary to watch. First of all it was b-o-r-i-n-g, second I had all the other sets to get ready, and third there were 50 other people who had work to do and I would be in the way. Of course I WOULD hang around if it was scene with Carol Burnett or Frank Sinatra! I was about 4' away from Frank when he was going a scene (I don't remember which), but I had goose bumps the whole time!
I can certainly understand that you must have been frantically busy!!
A couple of more questions, but I will tack them onto your last post so that they don't get lost.
Happy Halloween!
I can certainly understand that you must have been frantically busy!!
A couple of more questions, but I will tack them onto your last post so that they don't get lost.
Happy Halloween!
You were that close to Frank Sinatra? Amazing. I would love to hear any stories you may want to share regarding any of the actors or guest actors :)
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