A look back on the history of film in Forest Hills
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The set of “Sentimental Tommy.”
A column in the Forest Hills/Rego Park Times by Michael Perlman:
Forest Hills and Rego Park boast an impressive record on camera since the neighborhoods were founded in the early 20th century.
On November 26, residents found signs indicating that scenes from “The Good Wife,” a political and legal drama on CBS, were being filmed on 99th Street between 66th and 65th roads.
According to Lauren Kamm, director of Publicity for CBS, the episode is tentatively scheduled to air on Sunday, January 11. Buildings that may appear include Tower Diner and the Thorneycroft, Blair Hall, and Queens Gardens apartment complexes.
One of area’s earliest moments on camera occurred in the 1920s. The rural steep hill along 66th Road between 102nd and 110th streets caught the attention of Astoria Studios, which built a set depicting a Scottish village for “Sentimental Tommy,” a silent film that was released in 1921.
Two years prior, the same spot hosted a replica of a Civil War-era American village for Augustus Thomas’ play “The Copperhead.” Architect Robert Haas, chair of the Art and Decoration Department of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, designed both sets.
This same forested hill, popular with children as a sledding spot in the winter, was nicknamed “the green jungle,” and in the 1960s was where Birchwood Towers was built. [FHT]
