As I recall, this was the first set I worked on at Magnum at the beginning of the 4th season. Technically I was still the assistant decorator, but as it was pointed out to me by the producer (when I officially became the decorator 5 episodes) later, I had been doing far more than being an assistant all along. This was supposed to be some sort of English import shop that had some sort of fight or something that happened to damage some of the items. I found a potter to make a bunch of items out of unfired "slip" pottery and then had them hand painted so they looked fairly real and could be easily broken. As fate would have it, the local department store, Liberty House, was having a British fair and had a lot of English themed items. I remember being with the decorator when he bought several thousand dollars worth of stuff at the counter in the store. I was still in my "WOW!" mode. Twenty years later I learned to max out the company credit card before noon while driving 65 mph on the freeway ordering things on my cell phone! That water filter crock has been in my kitchen for 24 years now and I think that scale is still at the film studio. The building we used is the Kamehameha V (Kam V) Post Office downtown on Bethel and Merchant St. It's credited as being the first all concrete building in Hawaii (1871). Those are 2 cannons vertically inserted into the sidewalk for some reason I don't remember. We used both the exterior and interior. Looks like some sort of magazine stand outside. I'm sure we got by using real magazines and papers back then. When I did a stand on "LOST", EVERY magazine cover and newspaper had to be created in L.A., cleared and then glued on to an existing magazine. As usual, they probably weren't seen at all.
It's always tricky for locations when we film downtown as the directors always want "ITC" or intermittent traffic control. That means they can stop traffic whenever the camera rolls for sound and background continuity. If there are cars driving, they could be extras driving their own cars so continuity can be controlled. These 2 streets are not particularly busy in this area. We have to hire police to stop traffic so it does help the economy even if it does irritate drivers--unless Tom was playing in the scene, of course!
Aloha, Rick
P.S. Hope you all had a great Easter or Passover - you can see that I did!
9 comments:
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the new pictures.I don't know the episode from the exterior shots.The interior shots remind me of " Letter to a Duchess" which was directed by Bernard Kowalski but I don't remember a fight scene inside the shop.The Higgins fight was outside of the shop.
In the first picture,exterior,is that BK on the railing....Thanks for sharing..
Just Carl
Hi Rick,
I'm French (sorry for my English) and your blog is very interesting because your job is passionnant and the pictures are beautiful. I don't understand some remarks and anecdotes but if you have still a lot of pictures, I have "hurry" to see the new picture.
Alexandre
Hi!
The episode is indeed "Letter To A Dutchess" - a wonderful episode which revealed some background info about Higgins. As Carl said, the fight scene in the final episode was outside the shop but left to the shop in some small alley. When I was in Hawaii 2001 (oh my ... so long ago!) I searched for some locations as I had a rough idea about where they were and that was one of them (besides the china town locations for "Memories are forever", "Forty" and so on among many others)
Maybe a dumb question - but is there a large english (UK) community on Oahu indeed and are there shops like the one showed in the episode? I also remember an english Pub used in a different episode ("Professor Jonathan Higgins") and I wondered if that is all just fiction or if there are truly all-english shops & bars around for a potentially large english community?
I'm watching "The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai" on the History Channel which was apparently as accurate as "Hogan's Heroes" represented life in a concentration camp. I'm afraid it doesn't even look like Higgin's version nor was it wood or blown up by prisoners..
No, that's not Bernie Kowalski (one of my 3 favorite directors, Russ Mayberry and the former child star Jackie Cooper being the others). This gentleman was Lou Montejano our Art Director who also was a good friend and later we worked on "Jake and the Fatman" in L.A. together.
As to your English, Alexandre, it is far better than my French! Coincidently, I just sent my first eBay purchase to France this morning--sorry, it was from "LOST" not Magnum.
Well, I'd like to think there are no "dumb" questions, but this one comes pretty close! (lol) No, I can't imagine there are any places where UK, or German, or French communities hang out. There isn't even a place where local Japanese, Chinese, or Koreans hang out. The two pubs (Murphy's and O'Toole's) are across Nuuanu Street from each other, but are likely to have Samoan, Lithuanian, or Portuguese patrons as well as Irish or English. Such is the nature and mix of people in Hawaii. It's not always the racial paradise that is portrayed, but when you live on an island, tolerance is helpful! I'm not aware of any ethnic specialty shops other than South Sea themed ones.
Don't stop asking questions, however!
Aloha, Rick
Well, background for my question was that I am often to Texas and there are quite many german shops etc. because there still is a big german community. Same was suggested in Magnum where Higgins often arranges some "Anglo-Hawaiian-"[whatsoever] happening and when looking at this article here I wondered if it was all fiction or not (which seems it was). Thanks!
Not to split hairs, but "Hogan's Heroes" was set in a POW camp, not a concentration camp. True, the Bridge on the river Kwai story that the movie portrays is complete fiction. They didn't even get the river's name right, the river was later renamed so as not to confuse the tourists.
Sorry, you're right about it being a POW camp--but they weren't exactly suffering (except maybe later in the ratings). From what I recall, Bob Crane's death was more akin to a real POW camp.
Yes the British Lawn Ladies Society or Anglo-Hawaiian Society of Something-or-Other was very Higgins and apropos. Queen Emma did make the Anglican Church the official State religion and a magnificent Cathedral Church of St. Andrew (begun in 1865) is still in use. As you may know, the Union Jack is in the upper corner of the Hawaiian flag. As a wedding present to Queen Emma, Prince Albert designed this incredible Gothic Revival cabinet, Emma sent Hawaiian Koa logs to Europe for carving, and Queen Victoria sent it back as an amazing piece of furniture. It's still in the Queen Emma summer palace maintained by the Daughters of Hawaii. The entire short lived Hawaiian monarchy was based on a British model. Unlike the British empire,however, the sun did set on the Hawaiian version 116 years ago. The 50th anniversary this year of Hawaii becoming the 50th State is not being celebrated by all.
Aloha, Rick
Hi again Rick,
Hypothetical question for you.
Suppose, for the sake of this question you were contacted by the producers of the Magnum movie. They want replicas of the original main house and guest house sets done for the movie. Given that all the sets, and items have likely been tossed by now, could that be done? would you use photos, or the DVDs to try and match as close as possible the original sets? Would this be vastly more expensive than having new sets that don't look anything like the originals?
Please see my l-o-n-g answer and comments to these otherwise simple questions in my blog posting. I HOPE it answers them and you can stay awake!
Aloha, Rick
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