Pandemic lockdowns notwithstanding, Universal Studios is a busy, bustling complex of movie studio and theme park. Unlike other studios, Universal’s head, Carl Laemmle, welcomed the general public to come see how movies were made right from the opening day. What we’re seeing here in this photo are those first visitors who came to watch movies being made on the studio’s opening day, March 15th, 1915. Those cars stretch as far as we can see, so Universal managed to pull in a decent crowd, although what they actually got to see on the very first day of operation can’t have been very interesting, I’d imagine.
**UPDATE** – They got to see cowboys and Indians, a courtroom scene, have lunch, and then watch a 130,000 gallon city reservoir get drained to flood the “town” of McRae. Also, a comedy sideshow and airplane flight.
The woman in white may have been hoping to get a part?
She certainly stands out, so maybe she did. But back then, motion picture actors were considered the longest rung sort of people, so maybe she was just slumming it.
I never knew until fairly recently that crowds used to watch scenes from silent movies being filmed. It must have been one of the many unsettling aspects of the switch to sound for actors to no longer see those crowds.
I also only discovered last night that Carl Laemmle was a cousin of William Wyler’s mother. Carl got Wyler his first job in movies. It’s always nice to know someone when you come to Hollywood! (Wyler’s brother, Robert, was married from 1947 until her death in 1970 to Cathy O’Donnell, whose first big role was in The Best Years of Our Lives, directed of course by William Wyler. Hollywood really is a small town.)
Until WWII came along and changed everything, Los Angeles (and by extension the Hollywood filmmaking community) was a much smaller town than people realize. With people constantly on the move from one studio to another, and with Hollywoodites being such a highly social bunch o’ party goers, it wasn’t hard to meet pretty much everybody. I did not, however, know the Wyler-Laemmle connection.
They also had a beauty pageant on the 15,
I have one of the beauty contestants photo album. Very exciting.
I guess that’s one way to find a supply of pretty girls.