TV Trivia

Here's something I just learned. The famous
MGM 'backlot' was owned in the 60's by
Desilu Studios. It's where countless movies
were shot from 1926-76. It was where The
Andy Griffith show was made from 1960-68.

What I didn't know was the town of Mayberry
was originally built as the city of Atlanta for
Gone With the Wind. They modernized it and
Mayberry, N Carolina was born. The show was
based mostly on Griffiths memories of growing
up in a small N Carolina town in the 1930's

The original plan was to have Barney Fife as the straight man and Andy to do the comedy role. Thank heavens they soon realized their error. Remember the episode with Barbara Eden ?

Here she is at age 56, USO , on USS Okinawa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Eden#/media/File:Barbara_Eden_Crop.jpg

This home movie is cool if you're an Andy Griffith Show
fan. Mayberry was actually on the backlot of MGM and
was built for Gone With the Wind. They updated the
buildings for the show.

Man, that was a tough gig. And by that, I mean exactly the opposite.

Quote: rxwine

Man, that was a tough gig. And by that, I mean exactly the opposite.

What was tough was working with the
Aunt Bee character. She was a stage
actress and was really petty and demanding
and wanted the best from everybody. She
thought she was the best actor there. She
was nothing like Aunt Bee, the opposite
in fact. Educated and sophisticated, a real
stuck up snob. Most of the cast didn't
like her at all.

I think I watched about one half of one episode of that Mayberry crap.

And I hated that intro/outro music too.

Many people don't know that Andy Griffith began his career in a movie called "A Face in the Crowd" where he was a meanspirited drunk who becomes a media sensation. He might actually have had a career as a first rate dramatic actor had he not chosen that television show. AFAIK, he never tried to play a dark character in a drama again.

During that time period Elia Kazan directed three of his most famous films.

1961 Splendor in the Grass
1960 Wild River
1957 A Face in the Crowd
1956 Baby Doll
1955 East of Eden
1954 On the Waterfront


On the Waterfront was one of the most celebrated films of all time
Winner Oscar
Best PictureSam Spiegel
Best Actor in a Leading Role Marlon Brando
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Eva Marie Saint
Best Director Elia Kazan
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Budd Schulberg
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Boris Kaufman
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Richard Day
Best Film Editing Gene Milford

Nominee Oscar
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Lee J. Cobb
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Karl Malden
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Rod Steiger

You didn't catch that TV movie Murder in Coweta County
Really good TV movie with good ol Johnny Cash playing the good guy
Andy Griffith was great in that movie playing the bad guy
I still remember this movie pretty clearly
Maybe I remember it so well due to Andy Griffith doing such a good job playing a bad guy

Don Knotts made the Griffith show a
hit. And he was cast as an afterthought.
Knotts saw the pilot on TV, called his
friend Andy and said the sheriff should
have a deputy. Knotts got the job and
Andy knew right away he was golden
in the part and let him have all the
comedy lines and Andy played the
straight man. Knotts won an Emmy
every year he was on the show.