Some scenes from Warner Bros. 1938 feature, The Adventures of Robin Hood, were filmed at Midwick Country Club.

By Alhambra Resident Fame Rybicki

Seventy years ago, the Midwick Country Club on Hellman Avenue was the polo playground of Hollywood stars and producers.

In 1934, my father, Giles E. Ratkowski, was given a pass to the polo games, which were held at the polo field almost every Sunday afternoon. I was 13 at the time, and movie struck. Many times, I walked from our home at Fremont and Valley Boulevard to the polo field to watch the games, but mostly to see the stars such as Gary Cooper and Tyrone Power.

Famous producers such as Hal Roach, Darryl Zanuck, Pat Roark, Eric Pedley, and a famous attorney for many Hollywood stars, Neil S. McCarthy, spent their afternoons on the polo field.

[Before] the clubhouse burned to the ground {1944}, which turned out to be Alhambra's biggest ever fire, the Country Club property was put up for auction in Los Angeles. Among the bidders was an elderly man dressed in overalls. As he began bidding for the property, he was cautioned that cash was required for the sale. He ignored the warning and finally Dominic Jebbia, "The Banana King," whose pockets were stuffed with cash, was the highest bidder and became owner of the former club. His home was on the hill just west of the clubhouse where he could look over and see the "celebrities" at play. He had once been turned down for membership.

He sold the former polo field and golf course to the Midwick Development Company, which subdivided it for residences. Streets were named for the polo players and golfers who frequented the club--Roark, Pedley, Riegel, Carwile, Hitchcock, Hathaway, and Guest. Ironically, in 1947, my husband and I built our home on Guest Drive, on the 10th tee of the golf course.