Along the western perimeter of Van Nuys Airport, on Balboa Blvd., is a collection of Cold War era buildings. They have a lonely and sinister aura, are unoccupied and most likely awaiting demolition. Spies, secrecy, clandestine plans…. what activities went on here 50 years ago? Those dark times can scarcely be imagined in the bright light of today.
The architecture, of steel windows and flat roofs, is plain and straightforward, like the old Disney studio structures that emphasized efficiency and work instead of gloss and pretense. Barbed wire fencing and “no trespassing” signs keep vandals at bay.
This is a landscape made of men, American men, who once built things and earned the world’s respect for their guts, innovation and fairness. On screen, the guys who worked here would have been tersely played by Robert Mitchum or Dana Andrews. Dressed in black bomber jackets and flat front khakis, the heroes would have kissed Donna Reed or Dorothy McGuire before flying off to Korea to do their duty.
Let it also not be forgotten that yesterday’s fog also recalls “Casablanca”, part of which was filmed here in 1942.
The airport still engenders cinematic tribute: Brian Terwilliger’s new documentary about the history of the airport called “One Six Right“, dramatizes the glorious history which includes Amelia Earhart, bootleggers and Hal Fishman.
Here in Van Nuys 