Meet me in St.Louis- vs - Cheaper by the Dozen

It's true. The house in "Meet me in St. Louis" was used again in the movie "Cheaper by the Dozen" Although the CPTD movie was originally filmed in black and white, I prefer the colorized version because it give the sets alone more life. There are many clues to indicate that the house had a working set interior, but on the hand there are things that make me think it was a set on a sound stage.. Either way, the CBTD movie used the same interior set. It had new woodwork and new stairs but the configuration of the rooms is the same. See for yourself.

The Meet me in St Louis House, Designed and built just for this movie.

Here we see it in Cheaper by the Dozen, The addition of a drive way, and the bush lined fence.

The front doors in MMISL. The high door knobs and the etched glass.

This shot is one indication that the set is on a sound stage. The painting of the house across the street, and the lighting out side is to much like the inside lighting.

The front door in CBTD, Same etched glass, and high doorknobs. Although you can not see it the pattern etched on the glass is the same in both movies. The dental moulding under the window is only on the outside side of the doors, as you can see on the shot when the Family first arrives at the house.

The stairs in Meet me in St Louis. They rise to a landing mid way up the stairs, and a large cut lead window.
The stairs in Cheaper by the Dozen, The mid way landing is gone. Moving the upper balcony closer to the front of the house. the wall on the left has been moved in, covering the large led window. The window is now at the top of the stairs, Perhaps the hall felt to large for this movie. I love the painting on the wall at the base of the stairs. The image of a man on the left appears to be looking out of his frame and up the stairs.

Here is a full view of the CBTD entry. I love it! But what is the bump in the upper top left corner. With an entry this size there should be an impressive chandelier hanging in this space.

The MMISL Dining room.
The CBTD Dinning room. The addition of the paneled wainscot, and the door to the kitchen is moved from the left to the right. Incidentaly we never see the kitchen in this movie.

I tried and tried to get a good shot of this scene. If you notice through the front door you can see the painting of the two men at the bottom of the stairs and the blue wallpaper. In the movie they pan back. you can tell that the interior of the house is trimmed out. Whether they trimmed out just what you can see through the door I guess we will never know.

This Shot I happened to spot the shadow of the boom mic on the lawn to the left.

A big thank you to Julia over at Hooked on Houses, for the use of the MMISL pictures that she captured for her post on the movie. Check out Movie Mondays on her site to see house and sets used in various movies. She is just the coolest house person I know.

You can spend hours on her site. You could anyway. I check it everyday so I don't miss a thing.