MovieChat Forums > Bachelor in Paradise (1961) Discussion > Weren't Supermarkets pretty in those day...

Weren't Supermarkets pretty in those days??

posted 16 years ago by Hoohawnaynay
12 replies | jump to latest

Watching that scene in the market reminds me of how as a kid my mom would take me to the market and how pretty they were back then. The displays were well thought out, the colors inside the store were pretty. Stores are so overdone and ugly now. I think this scene was filmed at the Hughes Market in Panorama City. What a mid-century modern beauty this was. I love everything about this movie. I just drove by the Bob Hope house this weekend. Although many in this Woodland Hills neighborhood are heavily remodeled it is still recognizable.

[–] chaosagent-1 16 years ago

I'm with you 100%. I have a strange fascination with American (I'm Australian) supermarkets from the earlier days especially '50s to '70s. Was watching this movie in the background but as soon as the supermarket scene came on it had my undivided attention! Would love to go back in time and walk through that supermarket.

[–] TheJoshman 15 years ago

I also love the supermarket scene. It's good to know that I am not the only one who notices this stuff. The market by the way was the Hughes market on Van Nuys Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. I think it is a Ralph's now. We used to shop there from time to time when I was a kid in the 70s.

[–] MajRusKitt 15 years ago

I have been in the supermarket "biz" for over 20 years, but I remember the ambience of the store in this film, one of my all-time favorites, from childhood. What I wouldn't give to work there! And all those wonderful, nutty early sixties' actors, the pungent satire, the witty and intelligent repartee, the gentle humor, PARADISE indeed.

[–] chaosagent-1 15 years ago

Are you saying you actually were in that supermarket as a kid? If so I'm extremely jealous.

[–] lnoft97 14 years ago

I took special note of the supermarket scene watching this movie again, but frankly I fail to see what was so pretty or special. If anyone has ever been in a Wegmans supermarket in the northeast U.S. you will be spoiled forever. The market in this movie, with all those stacked up cans ready to fall down, and what was with the bucket of eggs??? just crying out to be smashed - today that kind of thing would be a lawsuit just waiting to happen. (Those shopping carts were the most sparkling clean I've ever seen, though.) No, I don't think it was particularly memorable - but I still would have loved to shop there, to be a young and fit housewife like Paula Prentiss, picking out a nice steak for hubby! Sort of a pre-Wisteria Lane vibe.

[–] Hoohawnaynay 14 years ago

Being in Markets then and now I disagree. Most Markets now are too crowded, have ugly garish color schemes and are not as stylized as they were then.

I've since foudn out that this market was the Hughes Market in Panorama City on Woodman Ave. The building is there but it is not a market anymore.

[–] bwalright 11 years ago

And... don't forget the supermarket's background music was so classy & subtle. Not like today where pop classics are blasting overhead, tacky!

[–] TheLightFantastic 10 years ago

The market in this movie, with all those stacked up cans ready to fall down, and what was with the bucket of eggs??? just crying out to be smashed - today that kind of thing would be a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

That was obviously for comedic effect. In real life, no grocery store would stack a display of cans that could easily be toppled over or place eggs in a basket sitting in a cart in the middle of an aisle. Even in 1961, eggs were refrigerated.

I enjoy seeing old supermarkets, especially in films, but I'm not seeing how they were fabulously different that those of today. The markets in my area are rather nice. They go for a homey look with faux wooden floors, warmer lighting, etc. The only stores that irritate me are ones like Wal-Mart. Those supercenters are convenient but they're drab. I'm not sure if this is exclusive to the Wal-Mart in my area but they remodeled it to make it seem more sleek and (I guess) modern, but they made the isles super small and cramped. Two people with baskets can barely pass each other. Then they cram additional merchandise in the walkways forcing people to walk or push their cart in a single file line. People are forever bumping into one another or trying to rush around corners so they don't hold up others behind them.

What's the point of opening a huge warehouse for a store and then making it as small as possible inside? Wal-Mart is already annoying but the powers that be who I presume want to sell more, more, more made an annoying store a huge a pain in the a**.

[–] sherryangl 11 years ago

A beautiful store! I always pay attention to the stores, prices, labels, etc. Good music too. Today's stores do not seem to be as "clean" looking. Maybe the new ones are not allowed to use the cleansers that were ok back years ago. So many things have been deemed "not good for us".

[–] kueskues 11 years ago

Yeah, I don't like the modern grocery stores. Too crowded, can't waste floor space, strategically placed merchandising, the checkouts etc. That's one of many reasons I like the "old" movies. It's takes me back to the "good old days" There are movies that when they were "new" I didn't like them for various reasons. But now I enjoy the actors who have since passed away, the décor and things that we don't have today as I did when I was a kid, grocery stores/supermarkets are one of them.

[–] mikekrit62 10 years ago

I remember as a kid going with my Mom to the grocery store. Everything had an actual price tag on it, and I used to love to watch the cashier ring everything up on the big manual registers, which was just a big adding machine. To do that quickly and accurately was a real talent. She was there for years and you knew her name and she knew you.

[–] urgeking 8 years ago

What I found interesting was the meat aisle, with all the advertising posters for IGA chicken products. All of the IGA stores I've ever seen (in the Northeast, starting in the 1970s) were little storefront grocery stores (franchised, I'm guessing) in very small towns-- usually the only grocery in town. Did that company used to have full-sized supermarkets too?