Historic Hollywood Sites

Discussion of the actors, directors and film-makers who 'made it all happen'
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Lzcutter
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

For years the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has been talking about a museum dedicated to film history. They had hoped to build it in Hollywood near their Pickford Center on Vine Street, south of Hollywood and Sunset Blvds.

Earlier this year, they announced they were forgoing the site in Hollywood and had formed a partnership with the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA). A few years ago, LACMA had taken over the old May Company Department store a few blocks west of the main LACMA campus on Wilshire Blvd.

The Academy is taking over the May Company building and will renovate the building for their film history museum. To that degree, the Academy has hired architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali for the projects.

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This is the May Co building in 1954 and surprisingly, it looks much the same almost sixty years later.

Should be an interesting project....
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by MissGoddess »

I hope they keep the facade, it's so much a part of that area.

Who's groovy house is that in your avatar, Lynn?
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by ChiO »

In March, I posted:
Several times I have mentioned seeing films at the Portage Theater, a neighborhood theater seating close to 1,300 within walking distance of our home. The Northwest Chicago Film Society ( http://www.northwestchicagofilmsociety.org/ )and the Silent Film Society of Chicago ( http://www.silentfilmchicago.com/ ), among others, use the theater for their series and festivals. It was also used as a location stand-in for The Biograph in PUBLIC ENEMIES.

We may lose the theater. Last night I attended a community meeting (darn those community activists!) at the Portage about its status and how it can be saved. It was two-thirds full and 100% devoted to saving it. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
It was announced yesterday that the battle to save the Portage Theater has been won. Due to overwhelming community opposition, the church that wanted to buy it withdrew its application for a zoning change. Apparently, with the alderman's help, the church found a more appropriate location.

The fight to save it actually may have had an unintended positive consequence -- it publicized the programming available at the theater and attendance has been up.
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Rita Hayworth
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Rita Hayworth »

Thanks Lzcutter for posting these wonderful tidbits of Hollywood Lore and History.
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by moira finnie »

Marco Place posted this on Facebook and I thought others would enjoy this glimpse of restaurants and watering holes past:

[youtube][/youtube]
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by moira finnie »

As preparations are underway for the first refurbishment of a Hollywood landmark in 35 years, we have one more reason to say "thanks, Andy," as we all say goodbye to the singer...from The Los Angeles Times
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Andy Williams, savior of the Hollywood sign

September 27, 2012 | 12:56 pm

Reader Mike Sims emailed to point out that Andy Williams, who died Tuesday at 84, should also be remembered as one of the nine who helped save the Hollywood sign:

“I was running the Hollywood Chamber in those days -- 1978 -- and was on stage at [Hugh] Hefner's Hollywood Sign Party when Mr. Williams stood up at his table and asked to sponsor the ‘W.’ Alice Cooper had started the letter sponsoring by requesting one of the 'O's in honor of Groucho Marx. Williams, Cooper and the others each donated $27,777.77 and their generosity still sits tall and proud 34 years later.”

Gloria Swanson sponsored a complete makeover of the sign in 1973 but five years later termites had infested the wooden letters, an “O” had tumbled down Mt. Lee and arsonists had set fire to the bottom of an “L,” according to the Hollywood Sign Trust.

The sign needed to be rebuilt, at a cost of $250,000 -- more than 10 times what it initially cost to construct in 1923. For throwing the lavish summer fundraiser at his Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, the chamber “gave” Hefner the “Y.” By fall 1978, the flimsy old sign had been replaced by one with baked-enamel letters fortified with tons of concrete and steel.

Rounding out the “Hollywood nine”: publisher Terrence Donnelly, movie producer Giovanni Mazza, Les Kelley of the Kelley Blue Book, Angels owner Gene Autry, Warner Bros. Records, and businessman Dennis Lidtke.

Hefner called the sign “our Eiffel Tower” and Williams agreed, telling The Times in 1979: “I think it’s important to have some monuments synonymous with Hollywood.”
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by mongoII »

Bless Andy Williams and may he rest in peace. In fact, bless them all.
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

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Thank Moira for posting the YouTube of long gone Hollywood haunts. Made my City of Angels heart sing!
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

Lawry's Prime Rib is one of the most historic restaurants on the City of Angels Restaurant Row:

http://www.oldlarestaurants.com/lawrys/

It's been years since I've been to the one on Restaurant Row but MrCutter and I have enjoyed the Lawry's off the Strip in Las Vegas. In fact, when my film The Story of Classic Las Vegas: An Overview premiered at the CineVegas Film Festival we had our celebratory dinner at that Lawry's. It was a great evening!

Recently, I was trying to find some delicious CC Brown Hot Fudge Sauce (the original CC Brown's was located on next to Grauman's in Hollywood, which I think I have written about earlier in this thread) to serve at our upcoming annual Christmas Eve get together (nothing says the holidays like tamales and hot fudge sundaes), I found this great article about Lawry's (and they sell CC's hot fudge sauce!!!):

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(For the record, Lawry's is now across the street from where they were in this picture. The Stinking Rose is now in this location and they kept the pylon sign. :lol: )

Lawry's Marketing Director Rich Cope recently said, "Every night we have people from all over the world who tell us, 'We forgot how delicious a slab of juicy prime rib can be, drenched with au jus, served with Yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes.'" My guess is that Lawry's is the most successful restaurant in Los Angeles, confirmed by a trade journal that noted they served 350,000 people last year.
Now celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, Rich estimated that some 15 million guests have enjoyed dinner here since they opened in 1938. The two original owners opened their doors at this location on the east side of La Cienega Boulevard, the first restaurant serving only one entrée, the roast beef dinner costing all of $1.25. Until then, prime rib was traditionally served at home. By '47, they had outgrown the site and moved to the west side of the boulevard. After 46 years there, they rebuilt the original space into an impressive $8 million structure and, in '93, I watched the ceremony when, in a triumphant procession at high noon, they rolled their massive silver carts across the street to the new building. Here they have prospered mightily. There are 450 seats in this enormous emporium, and I have never been here when they weren't full, serving an average of 800 people a night.
I once asked Bryan what percentage of diners was Asian and he were told me, "It's about 30 percent, for we represent a truly great value for them." Is it heresy to serve fish at Lawry's? No, it's a convenience for the eight of their customers who prefer it, and on this evening our server Joe told us the choices. Penny opted for the Sautéed White Fish... although when they introduced their version of "Surf and Turf," a combination of twin broiled Lobster Tails added to your choice from the beef cart for an additional $26, I've been tempted because I do so love lobster. The basic turkey dinner this night was $32, and a combination with turkey and prime rib was $39.

For the rest of the article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-westo ... 19459.html

Also this, http://www.oldlarestaurants.com/lawrys/

And CC Brown's:

Many years ago, back in the 1980s, my friends and I used to go to Grauman's (Long before Hollywood and Highland and the extra Chinese theaters) to see a film and grab a hot fudge sundae at CC's. But that was many years ago. I still have the friends but we no longer have CC Brown's. :( Ah progress. sigh.

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Joan Crawford at CC Brown's soda fountain:

And a bit of history (though I think the only place you can order the sauce on line these days is via Lawry's):

http://articles.latimes.com/1999/aug/01 ... e/tm-61441

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Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Rita Hayworth »

Lawry's Prime Rib ... that's one of my favorite places to eat in Hollywood Area ... Lzcutter.

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Vienna »

Wow!
Just want to say, a million thanks for this pictorial history of Hollywood and Los Angeles.
Surely in book form, it would be a big seller.
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

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The spirit of Christmas Past in the City of Angels:

Image

It is 1928. The City of Angels is enjoying the Jazz Age. For over twenty years, people had been moving to the City of Angels. From the regular folks of the mid-west to those who been lured by the movie industry to what today we call hipsters, they saw in the City of Angels, a second chance at life, the opportunity to reinvent themselves, escape the cold weather of the east or in the case of the Folks, escape their mundane lives in the mid-west. The vibrant and bustling downtown area of Los Angeles had been the heart of the city for longer than most could remember.

But, with the advent of the automobile, the City of Angels embraced this new-fangled mode of transportation like no other city in the country. By the 1920s, Wilshire Blvd was leading the faithful out of the downtown area and pointing them west to the sea. Along that boulevard, Bullock's Dept Store signaled that the elite no longer had to travel all the way downtown to buy their clothes. Car dealerships and gas stations along with drive-in restaurants and drive-through markets were popular. As the city began its march to the sea, others got in the ground floor to offer all that Angelenos needed to live that good life.

A good, reliable car was essential in the City and dealerships for all models sprang up, including this one- a Packard Dealership on Santa Monica Blvd according to the caption on the photo but it also looks a great deal like a dealership on Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica. Today the dealership is Mercedes Benz.

The Spanish style and the iron work still adorn the building.

Earl Anthony had a Packard dealership downtown and is credited with bringing neon signs to Los Angeles.

Neon was first used in signage in 1910 at the Paris Motor Show. Georges Claude is credited with creating the neon sign. Earl C. Anthony installed the first neon sign on the West Coast in 1923 when he bought one to adorn his Packard dealership in downtown Los Angeles. The skyline of the City of Angels would never be the same (thankfully) and the neon sign spread to other cities where it found its muse in the desert oasis of Las Vegas.

Here's a short video history that includes a shot of Anthony's Packard neon sign:

[youtube][/youtube]
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by moira finnie »

I really enjoyed this trip down the neon highway. I love the Gothic cathedral-like grill work on the upper story of the Packard dealership. Apropos of the car dealership, is it true that Leon Ames supplemented his acting career by owning and actively running a car dealership in the LA area? Thanks for posting this. It is real fun for those of us who wonder what this area of the country was and is like yesterday and today.
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

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Maybe I'm just feeling a tad homesick but I wanted to share this wonderful short with you.

It's called Hollywood Snapshots and was found in the that wonderful New Zealand archive that included a treasure trove of missing films. Working with the Academy, the film has been restored. It dates to 1922 and according to the notes on the side bar, was made in response to the various scandals swirling around Tinsel Town and an effort to make Hollywood look like any other wholesome town.

Note at the 1 minute mark, that beautiful Beaux Arts building is the long-gone Garden Court Apartments (profiled earlier in this thread) located near Grauman's and CC Brown's. That building was still standing when I first got to the City of Angels in 1977 though it was quite dilapidated by then.

At the five and half minute mark, that looks the Pickford/Fairbanks studio and that looks like a set for Robin Hood.

Enjoy!

http://www.filmpreservation.org/preserv ... shots-1922
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

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Post-war Los Angeles was a heady time. Soldiers who had either trained in southern California or had been stationed here during the war remembered fondly the year-round wonderful weather, the orange groves, the indoor-outdoor lifestyle that made southern California seem laid back long before that word came into vogue. The influx of people had begun during the war when industries like aviation had offered good wages to both and, more importantly, women. Lockheed had pioneered the day care idea so that women with small children at home (and soldier husbands away from home) would feel comfortable working on the line knowing their babies were being well taken care of.

Now, after the war and with the heating up of the Cold War, southern California (especially the City of Angels) was a beacon to those who had fought and sacrificed during the Depression and the war years and who wanted their slice of the American Dream. Los Angeles offered affordable homes, a well-paying job in aviation, aerospace and more, was investing in schools from elementary to colleges and through magazines like Sunset, made that dream seem within reach.

And so they came in large numbers throughout the late 1940s and would continue to do so for the next thirty years. Like Manhattan, the post-war era saw the rise of the mythic city on the Coast where dreams (including a house with a swimming pool) could be fulfilled. The San Fernando Valley went from agriculture to housing tracts as the suburbs exploded.

The City of Angels was blessed with a group of mid-century architects whose imprints are still standing. The Los Angeles our of our collective memory is nestled in the memories of post-war America. Architect Welton Becket who got his start during the Depression would be the architect who most shaped the look of the City of Angels in that era. From corporate buildings (like the one below) to cultural buildings (the Dorothy Chandler Music Center) to hotels (the Century City Hotel) to suburban shopping centers, Welton Becket also gave us such iconic buildings as the Capitol Records and the Cinerama Dome.

Here's the Prudential building on the Miracle Mile (mid-Wilshire Blvd between downtown and Santa Monica) at Christmas time:

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Modern day shot of Capitol Records in Hollywood at Christmastime:

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Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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