The stars align for big shoot in Riverdale

1958

On location

Lights, camera, action; Hollywood came to Riverdale in 1958. Several residents braved the cold as camera crews from Columbia Pictures shot scenes at the abandoned Seton Hospital grounds in south Riverdale. The scenes would only comprise two minutes of the film Bell, Book and Candle, starring Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak and Jack Lemmon. The actors spent most of the night around a pot-bellied stove, trying to keep warm.

The weather took a turn for the worse a week later when the blizzard of '58 struck the Northeast, leaving Riverdale and Kingsbridge coated in white. A cop told The Press the morning after the snowstorm, "Any driver who comes up this way will swear he's made a wrong turn and has wound up in Vermont!"

Henry Hudson Parkway was transformed into an Alpine ski run. Thrill seekers slalomed down the parkway. Brightly clad children on sleds also took the chance to scoot down hills that had been cleared of cars. Despite the heavy snow, police reported that there were surprisingly few accidents.