For those of you who have read the book “Sweethearts,” or have read our “Mac/Eddy Today” journal about the hideaway house located at 1330 Angelo Drive, high above Beverly Hills–well, now you have a chance to see the property in a wonderful documentary about screenwriter Frances Marion.
It’s airing on Turner Classic Movies at 3 am Eastern time, this Sunday morning, December 17. It’s called “Without Lying Down.”
Frances Marion, as you may remember, is of some interest for a few reasons. First, she did one of the screenwriting drafts on “Maytime.”
Second, Nelson dated her after Jeanette’s engagement to Gene Raymond. Nelson proposed marriage to Frances Marion a number of times but she turned him down for the last time…just before he started filming “Girl of the Golden West” with Jeanette.
Third: Frances Marion no doubt introduced Nelson to “Mists,” as the property once belonged to her!
“Mists” was originally known as “Enchanted Hill”, built for silent cowboy star Fred Thomson and his wife, screenwriter Frances Marion. Frances Marion sold it after Thomson’s death and in 1937 Nelson leased the separate, smaller building on the grounds that originally housed the six stable hands. Nelson remodeled the place for himself and Jeanette in “knotty wood” and nicknamed it “Misty Mountain” or “Mists” for short.
In the excellent documentary, there is some footage of the property. Of course, it is about a decade before Nelson was there but at least you get a glimpse of the grounds. Remember that the “Mists” was a separate building from the main house.
I recall that when we did a driving tour of Nelson and Jeanette’s homes a few years back, a couple of Nelson/Ann Eddy fans dropped out when our next stop was “Mists;” they met up with us later. (I saw a picture of Nelson with his wife in one of the woman’s wallets.) Seems they didn’t want actually drive to this house because it would mean having to admit that it existed! Well, yes, it does indeed exist!
Anyway, thought you might want to set your VCR or DVR to record the show, since it airs in the middle of the night. NOTE: the photo was taken by Google Earth and shows 1330 Angelo Drive as it looks today. The elevation, by the way, is 908 ft above sea level.
1330angelo.jpg
