Bad Ronald (1974) Film Locations
Bad Ronald (1974) Film Locations
I first heard about Bad Ronald during a presentation a couple years back at Comic Con during a Trailers from Hell panel. This made-for-tv movie had an odd vibe, so I ordered from Amazon during the panel. Modern technology does have some benefits.
Bad Ronald aired in 1974 and was adapted from a 1973 thriller novel by Jack Vance. I had read Jack Vance’s Dying Earth books as a teenager. I had not realized that he’d written over a dozen mystery and thriller books. He won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1984. If you like fantasy and science-fiction you might want to check out some of his books.
In the movie, Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby) plays an awkward teenager with an overbearing mother played by Kim Hunter. Ronald accidently kills a neighborhood kid. Life was not that grand for Ronald before this incident, but life surely spiraled downhill afterwards. His mother fears no one will believe his story that it was an accident. Her solution is to hide him in the house until the incident blows over. When does the death of a local young girl blow over? Well, nothing ever goes well when you try to hide someone in a house. Eventually, Ronald’s mother dies and a new family moves in.
The house stood out and I was able to determine the location based on some scenes in the movie. The house is the E.D. Goode House in Glendale. I headed out one day to grab some photos. The Glendale Historical Society has a downloadable self-guided tour brochure that covers this house along with 20 other architecturally significant locations in Glendale.
The house was built in 1880s by Henry C Banker in the Eastlake architectural style. The Eastlake style is part of the Queen Anne style of Victorina architecture. The Eastlake style was named after Charles L Eastlake an English architect and writer whose influential book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and other Details helped frame the movement and style.
Alletia and Edgar D. Goode lived in the home from 1897 until 1917. Mr. Goode was known as the “father of Glendale” because of his civic involvement including in reactivating the Glendale Improvement Association. The Goodes eventually left Glendale for Imperial Valley and then to Palms. Edgar died in 1935 and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale.
In the movie, the Wood family purchases the home. Now, I am not a mathematician, but if a small room was quartered off in the house, I probably would figure something was wrong based on the layout of the house or the square footage of the house listed in my mortgage papers. But, Mr. Wood (Dabney Coleman) and Mrs. Wood (Pippa Scott) and their three teen-age daughters don’t pick up on it. Willful suspension of disbelief. In the meantime, Ronald is coming unglued and we watch his slow descent into his delusional fantasy world of Atranta.
The home went through several owners before it was bought by the city’s housing authority for $785,000 in 1992. The home was renovated d and now serves as adult recreation center
The E.D. Goode House is located at 119 N. Cedar Street in Glendale, California.