Hello Dolly! Hello Knott's!

When it comes to the history of Hollywood studio tours, it's little noted that for a brief time 20th Century Fox offered tourists a little peek behind the scenes - just like their bigger competitor across town; Universal Studios.

Driven largely by their pride in the monumental sets built for their Gene Kelly musical epic 'Hello Dolly!' (starring Barbra Streisand and featuring, yes, EJ Peaker!), the New York street sets were a central part of the tour. And for good reason. The sets were amazing. On par perhaps with DW Griffith's 'Intolerance' sets from 1916 in their towering scale, forced perspective and grandeur.

Okay, but what has any of this to do with Knott's Berry Farm? Bet some of you know already. Let's visit once more the Charleston Circle Fountain in Knott's Roaring Twenties area. Here it is on the postcard below.

And HERE it is on the 20th Century Fox lot in Century City! All dressed and ready for 'Hello Dolly!' Pay no mind to the rental strollers in the foreground.

Believe it or not, for years there's been a friendly disagreement between the amusement and film making communities surrounding that Charleston Circle fountain. Everyone in the amusement community seemed to know the story about how Knott's bought the fountain from the Fox studio and moved it to Buena Park. The problem was that some in the film community questioned that story. Specifically because they had seen the same fountain still at home on the Fox lot. And it was there for years after Knott's installed theirs in the park! It was pretty hard to reconcile the stories... Knott's had borrowed the fountain and gave it back. Knott's had made a duplicate fountain. Knott's never had the fountain. And so it went.

Well, let's look closely at this slide because it's easy to solve this caper. There are two identical fountains in place for filming in 1968. Clearly, one went to Knott's and the other must have stayed at Fox. Now, can't we all just get along?

These slides were all taken in July 1968 and offer us a rare look at the 'behind the scenes tour' that 20th Century Fox gave tourists for just a brief moment in time.

Below, we find ourselves on the Peyton Place street. Some of you may not be familiar with the Peyton Place television series but it was wildly popular during the 60s and helped launch Ryan O'Neil's career. Well, how about this! There he is now, in living black and white! Feel free to pose for a picture with him. Clearly, our lovely tour guide felt the urge (or a nudge in the back).

More 'Hello Dolly!' sets below. They give us a fine 'you are there' view of the New York street facades and their construction.

Who can't appreciate some fine forced perspective artwork on the side of a sound stage? Which of these hanging clothes are real? And which are not? It's so confusing. Those crafty Hollywood wizards. They're sneaky little stinkers, aren't they?

If you take a second look at the top picture you may be interested in knowing that many of these sets stayed in place for years. In fact, the entrance to the 20th Century Fox studios retained part of this grand approach for some time. It was really something to see up close. Unfortunately, very little remains today.

But there is a little fountain we know about in Charleston Circle, Buena Park...