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KENSINGTON AVENUE VIS-A-VIS DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS

posted 9 years ago by snsurone
2 replies | jump to latest

One thing I notice is the dirt road that is Kensington Avenue.
Considering how affluent that neighborhood seems to be, I wonder why the street wasn't cobblestone.
I'm sure the business section of the city was; trolley tracks can't be laid out in mud.

So…could the Smith home actually be on the outskirts where paving had not yet begun?
I wonder how far Mr. Smith had to walk between his house and the trolley station.

BTW, in the opening scene, there is a "horseless carriage" eyed by pedestrians.
I imagine in a short time, there would be many automobiles, necessitating the paving of Kensington Avenue.

[–] Ghetto_Defendant 9 years ago

I think because it was filmed at the studio backlot, and they just threw dirt over the road. (It's not good for the horses to be ridden or driven on asphalt for long distances.) And the only cobble-stones I've seen in the U.S. are in very old cities like Philadelphia.

[–] snsurone 9 years ago

I think I see.
It's rather like the ending, which was so abrupt and anti-climactic that one would think the budget had run out.
Personally, I believe the last scene should have depicting the Smith's and their friends singing the title song (with the final frame being the close-up of Esther and John singing the last line), rather than have them spew that idiotic dialogue!
I'm sure there were many viewers (then and now) who never considered St. Louis to be THAT great a city.