Today I did some digging through photos which reminded me of one of my favorite movies as a kid, The Monster of Piedras Blancas. If you have never seen it, how can we even be friends? Seriously, you simply have to watch it. If nothing else, you'll know me better and who doesn't want to do that?
The Monster of Piedras Blancas was filmed in April of 1959 when I was a year old. Now, here are some interesting tidbits on the movie. There really is a Piedras Blancas lighthouse about thirty miles north of Cayucos, California. I know this because I've been there a zillion times. But, the actual lighthouse wasn't used in the movie. They filmed the Point Conception lighthouse near Lompoc for the Piedras Blancas lighthouse scenes. That's Hollywood for you.
Here's where it gets good. The town in the movie is called Piedras Blancas but in reality the town was Cayucos. Cayucos! You heard me correctly. Cayucos was the filming location for The Monster of Piedras Blancas! If you don't think that's hilariously cool, we definitely can't be friends. But wait! There's more! My Aunt Sisi was one of the town gals that did all the cooking for the film cast and crew. Al Bettencourt had a restaurant across the street from the Cass House where the cast and crew ate all their meals. I can't stop laughing as I type this. I had forgotten this memory until today and it's like I'm a kid again hearing Aunt Sisi tell the story before we watched the movie together. The Monster of Piedras Blancas would usually come on about once a year and I could hardly wait to catch it year after year. It was terrifying as a kid and there was always something incredibly satisfying to me about being terrified. Don't judge me. At least not until you've watched the movie.
Oh, and Little Charlie was in the movie. Our Little Charlie that we all loved. His market was the best of anywhere on this planet. Little Charlie always wore a white butchers apron and greeted us when we walked through the two heavy front doors. They were wood frame with glass windows and had a bell at the top that rang out when we swung the doors inside the building. As you stepped inside onto the old wooden flooring, the smell of sausage hung in the air like the best Italian perfume imaginable. There were long wooden cases with glass fronts filled with breads and sweets and a meat counter in the very back. Aunt Sisi often sent us over to Little Charlies to pick up this or that for lunch or dinner and he never let us leave without some little treat for ourselves. Little Charlie and his wife Sue were two of the finest people anywhere. I loved them both. That's why it was such a shame the Monster from Piedras Blancas killed Little Charlie in his market in the movie. It was sort of terrifyingly thrilling at the same time so anyway....
I'm digging through pictures like a madwoman because I know I had some photos of Aunt Sisi with the cast and crew outside of Little Charlies. I'm pretty sure that was before they killed him.
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