Friday, January 1, 2016

UPDATE: Rockford Files - Episode: Deadlock in Parma (1980) Parma is actually Wrightwood CA - Don Oster Realty - Wrightwood Village Realty - Tehachapi Belle Restaurant, East Valley Family YMCA in North Hollywood & THE YODELER RESTAURANT - 6046 Park Drive, Wrightwood, CA

The exterior courthouse scene was filmed at the Inyo County (CA) Courthouse - 168 North Edwards Street, Independence California - Above still frame from the scene and below as the courthouse is seen today in 2016.

UPDATE: Bill Anderson has pegged the location of the YMCA & Bishop Bus Stop filming location - Look below for the update


ABOVE IMAGE: A small blooper - The above images show Jim Rockford at his motel door. The room only has one entry/exit door. In one scene the door has a deadbolt lock above the doorknob and wood paneling on the wall. The next scene has the door with just a doorknob and plasterboard walls.

 



ABOVE THREE IMAGES: This episode is about saving the park with the bell from being sold by the City of Parma. Somebody from Wrightwood California is going to have to let me know if that really was or is such a park in their town.
UPDATE ON THE BELL'S LOCATION
12/07/2013 - Thanks to many of the kind residents of Wrightwood, CA who supplied us with so much information about their beautiful town!
The park & bell are located in Griffith Park, California
 ABOVE IMAGE: The original DON OSTER REALTY in Wrightwood California. They are still listed on the Internet as being in operation.
 ABOVE IMAGE:  UPDATE: This location was identified by Bill Anderson!
5142 Tujunga Ave. North Hollywood, CA
EAST VALLEY YMCA
ABOVE IMAGE: The "FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH" which also housed the "TIMBERLINE LIONS CLUB"
12/06/2013: Entrance to the Wrightwood Community Center - Thanks to John

ABOVE IMAGE: The late great Mary Munday played the cranky old city hall clerk. 
  
ABOVE IMAGE: Parma Sheriff,  the late Henry Beckman, walks past the old Standard Gas Sign.
 Henry Beckman joined the Canadian military service in WWII by changing his birth date, before he was 18, and served from 1939-1945. Less than 7% of his group survived the Normandy Invasion.

ABOVE IMAGES: Jim Rockford inside the "TEHACHAPI BELLE" restaurant. In this scene Jim talks about how bad the food is there... so needless to say the named used for this restaurant was fictional and not the real name of this eatery. 
12/05/2013: Now Identified -
The Yodeler Restaurant in "downtown" Wrightwood, California.
6046 Park Dr
Wrightwood, CA 92397

ABOVE IMAGE: The Parma Sheriff Office. The address on the wall is correct, 1300 Highway 2 Wrightwood CA. The "Parma Sheriff" sign is fictional.
12/06/2013: Used to be the Wrightwood Travel Agency building now occupied by a motorcycle tour company called Admo - Thanks to John
ABOVE IMAGE: As always the Rockford Files has a beautiful actress in this episode - Sandra Kerns played a news reporter by the name of Carrie Osgood

ABOVE FOUR IMAGES: A trip in time gone by in Wrightwood, California. What a beautiful town. I am placing this location on my travel wish list!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE IMDB WEBSITE TO SEE A COMPLETE LIST OF THE CAST FOR THIS EPISODE
Two things you can always count on in a Rockford Files episode were a car chase and Jim Rockford using a payphone, long before the cell phone era.

 In the above still image, James Rockford is eating at one of the cafes location on South Main Street in Lone Pine, CA. Neither this restaurant or the one seen through the open door are still around in Lone Pine. 


In all 3 of the above still images from the episode "Pastoria Prime Pick"  the motel shown is what is now known as the Dow Villa Motel located at 310 South Main Street, Lone Pine, CA

The above image is the Dow Villa Motel (2011) located in Lone Pine, CA


In the above three images, Smith Evans (Now she is Smith Wordes) played Rita, the underage mayor's daughter.
She was born Sep 18, 1955.



Mayor Karen Sanders was played by the late Kathie Browne.
Born: Sep 19, 1930 and died on April 8, 2003. 
Husband: Darren McGavin - Lead actor in Kolchak - The Night Stalker TV Series
Left: Sheriff Cliff Gladish was played by Richard Herd, who was born Sept 26, 1932 and is still alive as of this writing in 2016 - Right: County Prosecutor Gilbert Univaso was played by Don Billett, who was born Dec 26, 1935 and is still alive as of this writing in 2016.


The cranky mechanic Vern Soper was played by the late Warren J. Kemmerling - He died at age 80 in 2005.

The nylon masked thugs: Far left: Luis Delgado - a regular actor on the Rockford Files and the brother-in-law to Roy Huggins, one of the show's producers. He died in 1997 at 71.
Far Right: Bruce Tuthill, born July 26, 1943 and still with us as of this writing in 2016.
Middle: Unknown & Unaccredited
Waitress was played by Barbara Collentine, she was born on June 17, 1924 and is still with us as of this writing in 2016 at age 91. Retired Sheriff Emmett was played by the late Bill Zuckert who died in 1997 at age 81.

Judge Cline was played by a returning favorite to the Rockford Files, Bill Quinn, who died in 1994 at age 81. He appeared four times on the Rockford Files.


BELOW ARE SOME EXTRA STILL IMAGES FROM THIS EPISODE OF THE ROCKFORD FILES











5 comments:

Valerie Martin AKA WWWatchdog Wrongwood.com/forum said...

Amazingly, most of Wrightwood, California looks exactly the same (without the TV show's PARMA signs, of course). Do be sure to come visit us 6,000 feet up in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California whenever you can. WW has facebook pages and also two forums...

http://wrightwoodcalif.com and

http://wrongwood.com/forum...

If interested in coming to, renting or buying or current issues, disasters... these are your best bet.

Hope 2 C U Around The Wood Hood,

Valerie Martin, Wrongwood.com

Anonymous said...

The People Magazine on display in the magazine rack in the drug store in this episode was dated November 19, 1979, which gives an indication of the actual filming date of the final episode of The Rockford Files.

U.N. Owen said...

Yes, I can see it clearly, thanks to my 4K TV (I believe it's Loni Anderson on the cover).

dsadowski said...

Most of the captions in this post incorrectly identify the fictional town in this episode as "Purma." It should be Parma.

Unknown said...

The Sheriff played by Henry Beckman was also Col. Harrigan on the last season of "Mchales Navy"