Van Nuys Tutors Come To You

For many years it was thought that the famous opening scene of “Casablanca” was shot at Burbank airport. However it was revealed in the mid eighties through old studio reports that the airport that audiences see in a few fleeting glimpses during the opening scene, is not Burbank, but in fact Van Nuys airport. Formerly known up until the 1950’s as “Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport”.

The only actors that went to the airport for filming were Claude Rains (Captain Louis Renault) and Conrad Veidt (Strasser). Van Nuys tutors remember the deep satisfaction felt by the community on verification of what they had believed to be true for many years. Van Nuys spokesman Tom Winfrey was ecstatic on hearing the news and is quoted as saying, “We’ll finally get the recognition we richly deserve”.

The movie’s lead actors Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart filmed their scenes on the studio lot, on Warner Bros. sound stage 1. Records show scenes that feature the airport in the background were filmed separately a few days later by a second unit. These scenes were then blended seamlessly with scenes shot on the sound stage. Van Nuys film tutors speculate that an earlier location shoot at Van Nuys airport may have provided some film for ‘process’ shots. This would then later be used to replace the green screen that the actors on set would perform in front of.

During renovations of Van Nuys airport over the years, pieces of the scenery visible in the film have been lost, including the art deco control tower. However the hangars survived for a while. When the airport was realigned the two hangars were no longer contained within the terminal boundaries. The buildings found a new use as engineering workshops, and they were located on Waterman Drive, a small private street running west from Woodley Avenue between Daily Drive and Lindbergh Street. Eventually one of the hangars was demolished, and then finally the final trace of “Casablanca”, the last remaining hangar disappeared.

It was recently revealed that the hangar’s façade, (a stucco arch and 95 feet of sliding red wooden doors), were saved by Jim and Christine Dunn who owned the “Airtel Plaza Hotel.” Jim Dunn spread the surviving pieces across 21 parking spaces in the hotel’s parking lot. They had intended to restore it as part of a Moroccan themed bar facing Van Nuys Airport’s airstrip. However plans were halted when the recession forced the couple to sell the hotel. They still held onto the hangar and have been waiting a decade for someone to take on the responsibility of bringing back to life this important piece of movie history, refusing to discard it despite it’s difficulty to preserve. Tommy Gelinas, founder of “Valley Relics Museum” in Chatsworth, finally offered to give it a home. He aims to restore it back on site at Van Nuys Airport as part of a Morrocan-themed restaurant at a new airport “Propellor Park”.