Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1449234
When a last-minute location complication forced the company to shoot this as a stage set, Art Director Andres Cubillan and the amazing construction and paint departments, led by Joe Ondrejko and Chuck Clark, built and painted an exact replica of the location on stage in eleven days! In 1942, Lucy gets the opportunity to star opposite Henry Fonda in The Big Street. he film was a critical success, leading Lucy to hope that this will lead to more starring roles. Instead, RKO abruptly canceled her contract. This scene was set in another impressive art deco salon on the Queen Mary. The grand scale and décor of the setting raise the stakes for the unexpected dismissal which Lucy receives from the studio president, Charles Koerner. The architecture and scale of this room on the Queen Mary readily lent itself to the needs of the scene—a grand central space with murals, carved bas relief panels, and a fireplace, plus a large anteroom for the receptionist. The logistics of turning this room into a film set turned out to be more challenging than initially expected. Joe Ondrejko hired a construction crane to load the scenery from the parking lot onto the deck of the ship, ten stories o the ground. We then discovered that the entire space was built at an angle (because it's part of a ship!). Each wall plug had to be custom leveled and fittedthere were no right angles! Chuck Clark and his team matched the grain and tone of the ship's rich walnut veneers. After the sudden demise of her movie career, Lucy finds herself on a weekly radio program called My Favorite Husband. The production recreated the A. CHARLES KOERNER'S RKO OFFICE MURAL. BY GRAPHIC ARTIST JASON SWEERS. B. RKO OFFICE. ILLUSTRATION BY FERNANDO ACOSTA. C. RKO OFFICE. SHOT AT THE QUEEN MARY HOTEL IN LONG BEACH. SET PHOTO. D. RKO OFFICE MURAL. BY GRAPHIC ARTIST JASON SWEERS. E. CBS BOARDROOM. SHOT AT THE QUEEN MARY HOTEL. SET PHOTO. F. CBS BOARDROOM MURAL. BY GRAPHIC ARTIST JASON SWEERS. G. CBS BOARDROOM. SET PHOTO. H. CBS COMMISSARY. SET PHOTO. A B C D