Actress
Ida Lupino co-wrote and co-produced
Not Wanted. She also directed most of the picture
after its credited director,
Elmer Clifton, had a heart attack shortly after filming began. Several of
the film's scenes were shot in locations that will be familiar to many NLA readers. Other locations,
some shown below, might be recognized by a smaller circle of noirishers.
The film, about "
the woeful problems of a young unwed mother," stars
Sally Forrest (in her debut),
Keefe Brasselle, and
Leo Penn (Sean and Chris's dad).
Here's Sally Kelton (Forrest) at the end of the opening credits, walking up the north side of 2nd Street
toward Olive, with Hill Street below in the background:
All screencaps by me
Sally notices an unattended baby in a stroller at the bottom of The Argyle. She picks up the baby and starts
to walk off with it, which causes the baby's mother to shriek with fright:
This is an undated but late photo of The Argyle at 2nd and Olive. I think the pole with the red and white parking sign at
the bottom center of the photo is the same one that is to Sally's right where she's holding the baby in the screencap above:
411241 at Huntington Digital Library
Anyway, the mother's shriek gets the attention of a cop across the street in front of the Hotel Northern:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
|
Sally is arrested for kidnapping the baby. As she sits in a holding cell, the film flashes back to what brought her to the cell.
At age 18 or 19, Sally is tired of living with her bickering parents. She meets lounge piano player Steve Ryan (Penn). After
spending some time together they go to what I'm pretty sure is Fern Dell in Griffith Park (there is a lot of day-for-night
shooting in this film):
They kiss, and he flicks away his cigarette, which flows down the creek. This is followed by a shot of Sally's mother, lying on
her tear-stained pillow at 4:43 a.m. After Steve leaves town for a gig in Capital City, Sally surprises him by following him
there. On the bus to Capital City she meets Drew Baxter (Brasselle), who works at a Capital City "gaseteria" on a street
that has lamps just like those on Wilshire Boulevard:
Drew helps Sally get a room in a rooming house and a job at the gaseteria. Sally keeps pursuing Steve, who finally tells
her in no uncertain terms that they have no future together. Drew, however, very much wants to have a future with Sally,
and she soon feels the same way about Drew. But right after their first kiss, she passes out. When the doctor examines
her, she finds out she is pregnant with Steve's baby. Scared and confused and without telling Drew, she leaves her Capital
City boarding house, which looks like it may have been on Bunker Hill somewhere:
Sally takes a bus to Watertown. Here she's sitting in Watertown, above 1st and Hill and with the LA Times building in
the background:
While wandering around tired and weak, Sally sees a church across the street . . .
. . . and collapses in front of it:
Sally next goes to the hospital for unwed mothers. While there, Sally writes to her Capital City landlady, who passes
along Sally's address to Drew. He travels to Watertown, finds the address, learns the truth about Sally, and leaves
broken-hearted. Sally has her baby and gives it up for adoption, but she soon regrets her decision. In her heartache,
she picks up the baby out of the stroller at the bottom of The Argyle, and we return to the present.
Sally meets with the Assistant District Attorney and the mother of the baby Sally was accused of kidnapping. Sally says she
just wanted to hold the baby because it looked like the one she gave up. The baby's mother declines to press charges, and
Sally goes free. As she walks out of the building after the meeting, who do you think is waiting for her? Yes, it's Drew!
But Sally feels shame and runs from Drew. Here she's running east down 1st Street toward Hill, with The Gladden
at upper right:
This is May 1955, about six years after
Not Wanted was filmed:
408184 at Huntington Digital Library
She eyes the stairs next to the Hill Street tunnels north of 1st Street:
This looks south from the stairs. Sally has crossed 1st Street, and Drew has just stepped off the far curb. Because
Drew lost a leg to a mortar shell in WWII, he has a hard time keeping up:
Nonetheless, Drew is able to prevent Sally from throwing herself over the railing:
But she gets away, and the chase continues up the rest of the stairs. That's the old 1st Street Police Station in back:
The chase continues here, wherever this was:
But we end up at the
Cornfield Pedestrian Bridge (not the Taylor Yard -- Thanks
Ed Workman):
On account of his leg, Drew can't go much farther:
So how does the movie end?
A) Sally keeps running, again leaving broken-hearted Drew to return to the gaseteria.
B) Drew tries to save Sally from jumping, but in the struggle they both fall from the bridge.
C) Drew's bad leg causes him to lose balance and fall from the bridge.
D) Sally comes to her senses, goes to Drew and embraces him.
E) None of the above.
See for yourself at
YouTube!
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