The Bridge over the River Arno

One of the best parts of doing this blog for me has been meeting, or at least hearing from, interesting people from all over the world.  I was very happy to hear from my new friend Cristian in Tuscany (where the Arno flows and my obscure humor doesn't).  This is a model of the Bridge on the River Kwai he built while in Middle School.  The last time I saw this model, it was sitting on the shelf in Higgin's den.  All these years later seeing "my" model brought back memories of sticky fingers, frustration in trying to keep all those little railings vertical, and even to making the side "rocks" out of plaster--or whatever I used.  Who would ever think that someone on the other side of the world from me would someday duplicate this bridge model?  Or are there dozens of duplicates I'm not aware of??

As I mentioned earlier, I did make a beginning, a middle, and an end model and was just off camera when John Hillerman would put a piece on the partially finished bridge model.  They would yell "cut" and I would take the piece off, wipe the glue off, and ready the piece for another take.  I thought I'd died on gone to heaven!   A couple of years later I was in charge (well, for a few years at least).  So many thanks for Cristian for sharing his photos and giving me permission to use them here.

Speaking of permission, some of my photos will be appearing on Magnum Mania with my permission.  The point of my blog is to share information, memories, and answer questions.  However, if these images start appearing on coffee mugs and t-shirts then---hey, I want in!

In my haste to post the 50th anniversary of "legendary" Magnum Prop Master, Rick DiNieri, being in the I.A.T.S.E. Hollywood Local 44, I spelled his name wrong in the previous post.  I'm sorry about that.

Aloha,

Rick