Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery - Exploring Filming Locations and the Kafitz Affair

hello everyone this is matt from grave explorations i'm back out on the road after completing a two-part series on LA's historic Angeles Rosedale cemetery in case you missed one or both I will pop in some links in case you're interested while I was making them I realized that I was going to have material that for one reason or another wouldn't make it into the two main parts so I kind of knew that I would be making another rosedale video but there wouldn't be quite enough material to call it part three also I felt it was time to give another short update on the channel and to tease just a few of the things I'm working on for you okay so how about we get to walking into Angelus Rosedale Cemetery extras with its old-fashioned monuments and mausoleums Angelus Rosedale cemetery has long been a favorite location for Hollywood filmmakers and during one of my visits I decided to find the exact spots where a few classic movies were filmed [Music] in 1964 Rosedale was the setting in two big films with legendary casts first is Robin and the Seven hoods a musical comedy that was a send-up of 1930s gangster films it starred Frank Sinatra and two of his Rat Pack buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis jr. it featured the song my kind of town that became a signature Sinatra tune the film also starred Bing Crosby Peter Falk and Barbara rush and it had a memorable cameo from Edward G Robinson that leads to the following scene near the start of the film the scene takes place in pioneers circle and in many shots the Rindge Monument is visible in the background here the cast is assembled for the funeral of boss Big Jim Stevens notice the two monuments to the left of the frame as well as the path behind the casket then compare them to roughly the same angle as it appears today many of the headstones throughout this scene were dressed with false plaques or made-up names most likely for legal or privacy reasons here is Peter Falk playing guy Gisborne giving a cringe-worthy but hysterical eulogy to his former boss you can see the base of the Rindge monument as well as other landmarks in the background that as we can see look almost the same today the running gag is that big Jim's eulogize errs are frequently distracted by the loud singing of give praise by mourners at another funeral the characters respond by glancing to their left which is the correct orientation to where the next scene was shot here are the give praise singers notice the private mausoleum on the left as well as the main mausoleum in the distance here is the same shot today not many changes worth noting except maybe for the addition of the concrete curve added sometime after the film's production now we have the scene introducing Barbara rush where she places flowers on big Jim's casket the monument to the left has been dressed with a false name notice the path between the casket and the wreath you'll see a row of small headstones and here you can see them today keep them in mind because we're going to get back to them in a little while also in the shot are two bigger headstones in the foreground the one on the left reading Hannibal Spencer is a prop and the larger one on the right is real but the false name of Elijah Adams has been attached and here you can catch a small mistake because in the next shot the Spencer or prop headstone is in a different location the smaller stone in the middle is real but again the actual name is covered up with a fake one here is the location as it appears today in this final scene where Sinatra and his two henchmen watch Barbara rush return to her limousine we are given another view of Pioneer Circle in the background on the right is the Grigsby pyramid and noticed the cement footpath behind Sinatra and crew jump to today and notice how the footpath is long gone but once again much of what we see is hardly changed [Music] a bit of trivia about the Robin and the seven hoods funeral scene it was filmed on the morning of November 22nd 1963 the same day that President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas and a few weeks later on December 8th the film's production was shut down when Frank Sinatra jr. was kidnapped from his hotel room he was released after two days when his father paid the two hundred and forty thousand dollars ransom the FBI later captured the three kidnappers and recovered most of the money but Sinatra jr. was dogged for the rest of his life by false rumors that he helped stage the kidnapping the second film from 64 is dead ringer starring Betty Davis it followed the success two years earlier of the psycho Biddy thriller whatever happened to Baby Jane in dead ringer Davis plays a dual role as twin sisters in a dark tale of revenge murder and false identities it might have been the only time in miss Davis's career that she didn't butt heads with the second female lead in a film at least since she made a stolen life in 1946 oh she played twins in that one too the film opens with a shot of Davis getting off of a bus and walking through the front gate of Rosedale in the scene Davis's character makes an uninvited appearance at the funeral of a rich man she fell in love with years before only to lose him to her scheming twin sister the entrance is located on Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles and this is how it looks today [Music] notice the white headstone visible just through the gate you can also see it in the movie it belongs to Eugenia and Sam Nainoa and gives visitors a warm Hawaiian welcome as she makes her way to the gathering Betty Davis walks along a road where a Lincoln Continental and a Cadillac limousine are parked just past them you can make out a mausoleum and headstones in the background here is the same section of road today the mausoleum belongs to the Henry Dowell family it is enclosed with an iron gate and within there is a small tree growing from the crypts [Music] if the funeral site in dead-ringer looks familiar it's because it was shot in the same location as Robin in the seven hoods only facing in a different direction notice the monument in the top center of the shot here's one more look at it in the Sinatra film it belongs to William calf it's and family and behind it is a very interesting story you'll want to hear but I'll get to that in a few minutes the delorca monument seen in the upper right corner of the frame was a prop built for the movie here is a view of the same location today and here we see it from a reverse angle notice that the casket is in the same place as the one in Robin and the Seven hoods again we see the same location today the brick building across the street is Loyola high school seeing Rosedale in these classic movies and visiting the cemetery today really gives you an eerie sense that times somehow stopped here in 1964 [Music] Rosedale was used extensively throughout the run of TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this scene we see the Egyptian styled mausoleum of dr. William HH ward for our last filming location we will turn to the 2005 hit comedy the wedding crashers its starred Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as two ladies men who pick up women at weddings the scene at Rosedale takes place after John played by Owen Wilson looks up his mentor Chas played by Will Farrell who convinces him to crash a funeral because according to him grief is nature's most powerful aphrodisiac the scene contains the film's only poignant moment where Owen Wilson's character upon seeing a grieving widow finally understands what real love is and that his life of chasing women has been a mockery of it the scene was filmed in Section M about half way from Pioneer Circle and the main mausoleum the headstones you see on the bottom right are props that were most likely added to better frame the shot here is the location today in between the two pine trees in the upper half of the frame is where the mourners were gathered here is a closer view the large monument you see in the center frame belongs to Matthew and Mary blank iron who were prosperous farmers in the latter half of the 19th century the scene cuts to a shot of Will Ferrell's character faking grief in a totally obnoxious way periodically he breaks from his performance to celebrate the eminent conquest of the sympathetic woman on his arm notice the rugged looking obelisk in the upper left corner of the frame here it is as we see the same view in the cemetery today it marks the resting place of Willie Helpmann who came to California in July 1897 like so many sufferers of tuberculosis at the time they came here in the hopes that the dry climate would ease their symptoms but for most like Willie it was too late he succumbed to his illness five months later on the day after Christmas just ten days short of his 18th birthday if you know of any other films or TV shows that feature the cemetery please let me know in the comments I'm always up for something good to watch the story we are about to examine centers around one of old LA's most prominent families it played out in the public arena over a century ago and involves murder-suicide betrayal and revenge and most of its players can be found right here in Rosedale [Music] the monument visible and dead ringer and Robin and the Seven hoods was erected by William calf 'its who came to Los Angeles after emigrating from Germany at age 13 he was a successful real estate trader who helped develop the neighborhood of picot heights that can be seen in this 1894 map of the city notice its proximity to Rosedale cemetery William had two sons with his first wife Katharina there was Fritz born in 1877 and Ludwig born in 1884 in October of 1904 Caterina died unexpectedly from heart failure her sudden passing was a devastating blow to the cafeterias he suffered from deafness and quite possibly an undiagnosed psychological disorder perhaps for these reasons his father favored younger brother Ludwig with his mother gone fritz felt increasingly marginalized and in the following year his father gave Ludwig power of attorney over his entire estate being passed over enraged firstborn son Fritz and set into motion the tragic event that occurred at 9:30 in the evening on November 14th 1905 as William had gone to bed four gunshots rang out in his home fearing the worst he rushed upstairs to find the lifeless blood-soaked bodies of both sons Ludwig was packing for a trip to Arizona when he was shot twice in the head and once in the heart his big brother who was also his murderer was found with a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head he left behind a rambling suicide note that was published in the Los Angeles Herald two days after the shooting fritz wrote that he was tired of life and by taking the lives of his brother and himself he was freeing his father from the many pains they were causing him he said that with them out of the way William was free to remarry his words had a ring of prophecy that in time would seem like a curse on the day of the funeral curious onlookers crowded the grave site where Fritz and Ludwig were buried beside their mother [Music] in May of the following year after spending months in seclusion 55 year-old William calf 'its did remarry his bride was 26 year old Maude Myers the couple moved from the house and pìkô Heights to one in Gramercy place it was within walking distance of Rosedale cemetery where William paid daily visits to the graves of his family over the next 10 years things seemed to be going well in the marriage then in late December 1917 William discovered that his young wife was cheating on him with another man the confrontation that followed ended in violence Maude chased William out of the house with a revolver and fired three shots at him two missed while the third struck him in the shoulder he managed to wrestle the gun away from her before she could fire a fourth conflicting versions emerged about what caused the incident according to mod William was fervently pro-german and became enraged when she purchased Liberty Bonds to support America's recent involvement in World War one she said he tore up the bonds and became physically abusive to the point where she shot him in self-defense William denied her story saying that he was a loyal naturalized citizen of the United States he claimed that Maude intended to kill him and use the anti-german sentiment in the country as an excuse to get away with murder no charges were brought against Maude but William filed for divorce the proceedings dragged on for months and proved to be too much strained for William who was in failing health in November 1918 he passed away before the divorce was finalized the last fourteen years of his life were made up of sorrow and loss but at last he was reunited with his beloved Katharina and their sons in the family plot but the battle over his will was about to begin and it would literally come to an explosive conclusion [Music] [Music] the day after William was buried Maude hired Charles McGuire to administer her late husband's estate at the time he was an engineer for the LA Board of Public Utilities and was likely romantically involved with Maude McGuire discovered that at the time William filed for divorce he also amended his will leaving everything to his niece and nephew and nothing to Maude in the spring of 1919 a bitter court battle ensued that spilled onto the front pages of newspapers across the country mods attorney charged that the new will was invalid because her late husband was not of sound mind when it was executed they cited his devotion to the German Kaiser as the reason accusations of disloyalty to the United States were leveled at the nephew as well and a photograph of him dressed in a German military uniform were given as proof the catheters hired high-profile attorney Oscar Lawler who alleged that Maud had been serially unfaithful throughout the marriage as evidence he presented amorous letters from one of her lover's he called as a witness Reverend JM Shaiful the longtime pastor of the Pico Heights Congregational Church who vouched for Williams excellent character attorney Lawler also alleged that the Estates Administrator Charles Maguire was unfairly biased and had been bribing and blackmailing witnesses after a month-long trial a jury of 10 women and two men ruled against Maude they also agreed that Maguire should be removed as administrator and in a touch of poetic irony the verdict came down on what would have been william and mods 14th wedding anniversary with the matter settled CAF it's as heirs moved on and the story briefly slipped out of the headlines but the final act had not yet been played a little over a month after the trial on the night of July 1st a fire severely damaged the Pico Heights Congregational Church building fire and police officials felt that the cause of the blaze was suspicious then on August 3rd a pipe bomb exploded at the home of attorney Oscar Lawler the house was destroyed by fire but Lawler and his wife managed to escape with their lives although they were severely burned a citywide manhunt for the bomber was launched and within a few days they had their man it was city engineer and former administrator of the CAF it's will Charles McGuire police quickly made the connection between the two events Oscar Lawler was counsel for the CAF its heirs and Reverend Shaiful the pastor of the Pico Heights Congregational Church was his main witness once they had revenge as the motive McGuire was brought to the district attorney's office on the 11th floor of the Hall of Records as the evidence against him was being read he left from the window and fell to his death [Music] McGuire's dramatic suicide did not close the investigation because eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a female accomplice as the French say cherchez La Femme and so all eyes turned to Maude calf it's who had lost the most in the outcome of the will case naturally she denied having a hand in any revenge plot but admitted that she was unwillingly drawn into it she spun an elaborate tale of victimhood that could have been a chapter of The Perils of Pauline she said that on the night Lawler's house was bombed she had been with McGuire but had no idea of what was going to happen for the Los Angeles Times she dramatically recreated the harrowing Drive they took across the city she said McGuire was highly agitated and threatened to kill her at one point she tried to escape and was beaten and pistol-whipped before she could get away suspiciously there are no injuries visible on her face in The Times photo that was taken shortly after the event she claimed to have kept silent out of fear for her life the police found Maud story unbelievable but mysteriously no charges were ever brought with McGuire dead they quickly if not eagerly closed the book on the case recently researchers claimed that to escape justice Maud had blackmailed several high-ranking city officials whether or not it's true is hard to tell but if anyone had the Moxie to pull it off it was mod mod skipped town the following year after she was named as a third party in a divorce action it's then that she vanishes from the pages of history but whatever became of her it must be a damn good story [Music] [Music] in life William calf 'its and the legatees of his will all lived within a few miles radius of the place where they now spend eternity nephew Willie calf 'its lies only a few feet from his uncle he was the vice president and secretary of Union Federal Savings and Loan nice Lizzy Michaud who was a homemaker rest beside her husband Lewis in a Far section of the cemetery the calf it's story is just one of the countless tales that can be told about LA some of it seems to have been conjured in the mind of a dime novel writer but this mighty obelisk standing at Rosedale is a testament that it did happen and the names carved into the stone belonged to real people who lived and breathed a new life at its best and at its worst and struggled as each of us do to make sense of it all [Music] you [Music] [Music] these were the first few shots I recorded at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery they were taken shortly after launching grave explorations in August 2016 a lot of time has passed since then but I clearly remember that my first impression was intimidation the place was so immense that I didn't know where to start so I didn't i shelled the footage I took that day until I felt that I would be able to do with justice but that doesn't mean I didn't flirt with Rosedale once or twice one of those efforts resulted in a video about LA's lost city cemetery and fort Moore Hill two years would pass before I felt equal to the task of making a proper video the first step in that process was to reacquaint myself with the original footage and I discovered that very little of it was usable so I had to start from scratch over the next several weeks I made multiple visits for reshoots as I did I noticed many subtle changes had taken place in the landscape especially in the foliage trees that were present in 2016 were gone in late 2018 its most noticeable around the Rindge Monument [Music] but the grave of Charles Volney Howard that was featured in the city cemetery video is a far more startling example the grave dates to 1869 and I selected it not only for the story behind it but because old photographs exist of when it was still in its original location on Fort Moore ill I was so impressed by this that I took a rare selfie beside it on July 4th 2017 and this was how I found Howard's headstone in January of this year it's barely visible in the tangle of branches a winter of historic rainfall and wind took its toll on many of the old trees in Southern California and Rosedale did not escape damage an extensive cleanup of the cemetery is currently underway so far the maintenance staff has done outstanding work in carefully removing the fallen trees they are also restoring and replacing the historic headstones and very soon Howard's marker will be standing upright once again keep in mind tree Falls can happen anywhere at any time and are a serious safety concern it's something to be mindful of when you're out on your own grave explorations for now the book on Angelus Rosedale is closed and the time has come to move on to other places and other stories but the voices from the past speak plainly here so it wouldn't be a surprise of my pursuit of history sees me through its gates once again [Music] now my constant viewer you might be wondering what's next and the answer is a lot most of it I want to keep a surprise but I can give you some hints for one I'm going back to the beginning to the place where this channel was born at silver Terrace Cemetery in Virginia City Nevada I revisited not long ago and came away with hours of footage in multiple locations throughout the area and they came across a few interesting characters so if you enjoy stories about the Old West you're going to be in for a treat sometimes the story begs to be followed outside of the cemetery so I will be pursuing more themed videos like the ones I made about Ned Doheny and the shootout at the Bella Union and so on and there's this little Cemetery in Hollywood that viewers have been requesting forever but what I'm most looking forward to is the great unknown not that unknown you see many times it seems that I don't find the stories the stories find me and they take me places I've never been and teach me things I never dreamed of and best of all I'll have you there - so come walk with me the best is yet to be [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Grave Explorations

Views: 32,517

Rating: 4.9087949 out of 5

Keywords: Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Rat Pack, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

Id: YlzY9Vq5zpQ

Length: 32min 36sec (1956 seconds)

Published: Mon May 06 2019