Enchanted April.

Spot On Michele! My favorite as well--in fact, I love the whole movie. It's what I rent when I'm under the weather...every February I have "Enchanted April" fantasies.

melanie

Hello All:

For me, the movie gardens I love were filmed before my time and are, of course, tropical. Emil's (Rosanno Brazzi) garden in Kaua'i in 1955's South Pacific and the hotel where Elvis gets married in 1961's Blue Hawaii, also on the island of Kaua'i at the now shuttered Coco Palms Hotel. It was a regular stop for movie buffs and Elvis fans until Hurricane Iniki wiped it out in 1992 and it hasn't reopened since.

As a quick aside, nice to see you coming back in Mich!

spectre

Spectre, since you seem to be familiar with Kauai, I have a question for you, or anyone who might know. When my husband was in Viet Nam, we met for five days of RnR at the Hanalei Bay Plantation. This was the very week men first landed on the moon. At that time, we were told that Hanalei Bay Plantation and Coco Palms were the only two resorts on the island, and we never saw anything else when we were there. The island was very undeveloped--an Eden. I would love to know if Hanalei Bay Plantation still exists--it was so gorgeous. Connection to this thread is that they filmed the movie South Pacific there. A very special time for my husband and me, married just one year.

This isn't a garden per se - but I have riveting memories of scenes from "Medicine Man" with Sean Connery - an early '90's film wheren he was a doctor or scientist searching the Amazon rain forests for biologicals for cancer treatment. They strung up ropes and pulleys so they could travel along the tops of the trees, much like monkeys, lemurs, marmosets. The photography made you feel as if you were right there traveling through the tops of the towering rain forest trees. Beautiful. Breathtaking.

Coincidentally, while trying to clean up my disastrous office today, I came across an old flyer for the New England Garden History Symposium 2002. It lists a Jim Yoch giving a talk on his cousin Florence Yoch's garden design work in California. "She designed gardens for owners of cottages, historic homes, and villas from Pasadena to Hollywood. . . .for David O. Selnick and Jack Warner. . . . specialized in adopting historical gardens to suit the casual Southern California scene. Yoch also designed sets for some of the most celebrated movies of the 1930s. For these, she turned literary descriptions into visual sites -- the Capulet Garden in "Romeo and Juliet", a glade of spring daffodils in "How Green was My Valley", rice fields in "The Good Earth", and most famously, Tara in "Gone With The Wind." " I recall Tara's grounds and the general landscape.

Good thread, Momcat!

Ginger

The solarium in Andie MacDowell's New York apartment in "Green Card". The gate through the hedge in "The Secret Garden". The treehouse in "Swiss Family Robinson". The surreal gardens in "Far From Heaven". Topiaries in "Edward Scissorhands". To name a few.

Mr. Miyagi's Japanese garden in "Karate Kid."

Hey, don't laugh. I was going to say Munchkinland and the poppy field from "The Wizard of Oz"!

Hi Ginny:

The Hanalei Bay Plantation has been absorbed into a planned community known as Princeville. The mid-range Hanalei Bay Resort and the 5-star Princeville Hotel are there now. There are smaller condos for rent scattered throughout the area. The Princeville Hotel now occupies the spot where they filmed the scenes I described above.

The beach itself is still relatively the same and the town Of Hanalei, with the exception of the odd sushi bar or two, seems stuck in a time warp. Last time I was there was Summer 2001. I don't have access to the pics now, but when I do, I'll post some in this thread.

spectre

Howard's End...the opening scene shows Vanessa Redgrave walking through the garden at dusk, her edwardian-style gown trailing on the ground behind her. You know she didn't do her own laundry.
The only problem is, the image is spoiled for me by the knowledge that her family, glimsped through the windows, were complete jerks.
Jo

The scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" where Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed are walking home from the dance and stop to flirt in front of a white picket fence, behind which are some of the most dazzling hollyhocks I've ever seen, even in black and white. To me, that scene is very archetypal in defining the cottage garden look.
I also love "Enchanted April." It's one of my favorite films.

Spectre, thank you for the information. I am glad I was there when it was at the end of the earth, in the middle of the Garden of Eden.

i'm the ultimate "it's a wonderful life" fan, and because of that same scene, i have planted a hydrangea bush in my side yard.........

I saw "The Long, Long Trailer" this weekend and remembered your comments, Momcat, so I made sure to pay special attention to the scene you described. Oh, yeah - gorgeous trellis, and if I were the aunt, I would've killed "Nicky" for backing over it!
This is a favorite nostalgic film for me and my sisters. As kids, we'd watch it every time it came on. Thanks for giving me another reason to love it!

Suddenly Last Summer. The mess of vines and mist is more Southern than anything. The wildness of the garden reflected the wild story line, too.

Gotta love a movie that includes cannabalism...poor Stephen (or was it Sebastian?) Elizabeth Taylor was so beautiful...

melanie