Backlot connections

Gibbs, John

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Gibbs, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0876-1798 (2025) Backlot connections. Research in Film and History. pp. 1-14. ISSN 2627-5848

Abstract/Summary

The video essay investigates the standing sets of the Universal Studios Backlot. The reuse and adaptation of such sets is a pragmatic reality of production but sometimes the relationships between spaces, through time and project, become suggestive or surprising in the meanings and experiences they produce. Drawing on films made or set in the 1950s, the video maps the artificial geography of a small town, encountering characters from different stories and genres, drawing out overlooked and uncanny links between films shot in the same or neighbouring spaces.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/122311
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Arts and Communication Design > Film, Theatre & Television Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Film Aesthetics and Cultures (CFAC)
Uncontrolled Keywords	Universal, Backlot, Production History, Small Town, Colonial Street, Melodrama, Creative Geography, All that Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind, Psycho Douglas Sirk, Alexander Golitzen, Russell A. Gausman, Julia Heron, Alfred Hitchcock.
Publisher	University of Bremen
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Works cited: Babington, Bruce & Peter William Evans (1990) 'All that Heaven Allowed: another look at Sirkian Irony', Movie, 34/35, 48–58. Bignell, Jonathan (2010) ‘Transatlantic Spaces: Production, location and style in 1960s–1970s action-adventure TV series’, Media History, 16: 1, 53–65. Evans, Peter William (2013) Written on the Wind. London: BFI. Mulvey, Laura (2005) ‘Repetition and return: textual analysis and Douglas Sirk in the twenty-first century’ in Gibbs, John and Douglas Pye Style and meaning: studies in the detailed analysis of film. Manchester: MUP. — (2006) Death 24x a Second: Stillness and the Moving Image. London: Reaktion Books. Rappaport, Mark (2009) ‘The Secret Life of Objects’, Rouge, 13. (http://www.rouge.com.au/13/secret.html) Rebello, Stephen (1990) Alfred Hitchcock and the making of Psycho. New York: Dembner Books. (especially, p. 92-3) Vermeulen, Timotheus (2014) Scenes from the Suburbs: The Suburb in Contemporary US Film and Television. Edinburgh: EUP. Walker, Michael (Winter 1990) ‘All I Desire (1953)’, Movie, 34/35, 31-47. Wood, Robin (1974, 1998) ‘Written on the Wind’ in Hill, John and Pamela Church Gibson (eds) The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford: OUP, 24–6. Filmography, in the order they appear in the Backlot Connections: All That Heaven Allows (Sirk, Universal International Pictures, 1955) Grease (Kleiser, Paramount Pictures, Robert Stigwood Organisation, Allan Carr Production, 1978) All I Desire (Sirk, Universal International Pictures, 1953) Has Anybody Seen My Gal (Sirk, Universal International Pictures, 1952) Harvey (Koster, Universal International Pictures, 1950) Written on the Wind (Sirk, Universal International Pictures, 1956) Back to the Future (Zemeckis, Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, U-Drive Productions, 1985) Psycho (Hitchcock, Shamley Productions, 1960) Rock-a-Bye Baby (Tashlin, York Pictures Corporation, 1958) Bedtime for Bonzo (De Cordova, Universal International Pictures, 1951) The Desperate Hours (Wyler, Paramount Pictures, 1955) Live view of the LA River in Universal City (NBCLA, 5th February 2024)

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Date Deposited:	08 May 2025 16:14	Date item deposited into CentAUR
Last Modified:	30 Nov 2025 08:06	Date item last modified