Warner Bros. debuts new TCM Classic Films Tour

Starting today, the enhanced 90-minute guided tour aboard specially wrapped carts focuses on classic Warner Bros. movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood, many of which are regularly featured on TCM.

“This is a dream collaboration,” said Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood Vice President & General Manager Danny Kahn. “The tour is just fantastic with the TCM hosts as part of it and the new stops we have along the route […] are areas we’ve never visited before on the studio tour. People want classics and we’re delivering on that in a big way with TCM.”

A kick-off event held on Warner Bros. Studio’s Brownstone Street (the location for the classic Warner Bros. gangster movie “Bullets or Ballots” and Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense thriller “Rope”) featured a panel discussion with Kahn, Warner Bros. librarian and movie historian George Feltenstein, TCM Hosts Ben Mankiewitz and Dave Karger, and actor Burton Gilliam, who’s best-known for the role of Lyle in “Blazing Saddles,” which was filmed on the Warner Bros. lot.

“It’s an honor to have TCM involved with this tour,” Mankiewicz said. “And the relationship between TCM and the [Warner Bros.] studio has never felt more connected.”

The grand opening event also featured costumes from “The Music Man,” “Mildred Pierce,” “East of Eden,” “Jezabel,” and “They Died With Their Boots On,” Plus props from “Casablanca” and the wedding gown worn by Vanessa Redgrave in “Camelot.”

A new introduction as well as videos during the TCM Classic Films Tour feature Mankiewicz and Karger, along with fellow TCM hosts Eddie Muller, Jacqueline Stewart, and Alicia Malone.

The TCM Classic Films Tour visits several locations not included in other tours, including the exterior of the apartment where James Dean lived while working on the lot; the studio’s rose garden, which was the location of Jack Warner’s tennis court; the Eastwood Scoring Stage (built in 1929); and the Warner Bros. Prop Department, which houses over a half-million television and movie props, including concept models for the “Maltese Falcon,” a lighting fixture used in “Casablanca,” a desk from “Giant,” a blue Tiffany glass chandelier from “The Letter.”  

The green velvet chair is from “the Seahawk” and “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.” The globe from the 1930s was used for a promotional photo for “Casablanca” (but never appeared in the movie); however, it can be seen in “Hook.”

The TCM Classic Films Tour lasts approximately three and a half hours, including 90 minutes with an expert tour guide and two hours of self-guided experiences, including Stage 48: Script to Screen (the location of the Central Perk Set from “Friends” and Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment from “The Big Bang Theory”) and Action and Magic Made Here, showcasing the DC Universe, Game of Thrones, and the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises. 

For classic movie buffs, Script to Screen includes a display from “Casablanca” and costumes worn by two of Warner Bros. most famous gangsters – James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson – five leading ladies from the Golden Age of Hollywood – Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, and Olivia de Havilland – and from the Academy Award-winning “My Fair Lady.”

Script to Screen also includes a new green screen photo op with a Brownstone Street background. The first photo costs $28, and additional images are $19 each.

Celebration of Warner Bros. at the exit to Action and Magic Made Here showcases original props and costumes from classics including “Casablanca” and “The Music Man.”

A new dedicated merchandise collection debuted with the new TCM Classic Films Tour, including apparel, drink ware, books, pins, and more.

Click here for more information about the TCM Classic Films Tour.

For details about other tours at Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, check out our coverage below: