Until I came across this aerial photo of the Hal Roach Studios at 8822 Washington Blvd in Culver City, I hadn’t even known it was there. Perhaps that’s because its neighbors—MGM and the Selznick studios—usually hogged the lion’s share of the attention. But from 1920, the Hal Roach studio produced shorts, movies, and television episodes until it fell into bankruptcy in 1959, and later demolished in 1963. That long administration building facing Washington Blvd is quite impressive, and reminds me of the Selznick admin building. I couldn’t find a date on this photo but I’m guessing it’s from the 1950s (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.)
That admin building was quite a striking color – at least in the 50s:
Here’s an aerial shot showing the Hal Roach studios in relation to its more famous neighbors:
Hal Roach Studios advertisement from The Radio Annual and Television Yearbook, 1955
There is now a plaque commemorating the site of the Hal Roach studios:
And it’s a good thing, too because this is how that site looked in July 2022:
Do you know the year on the aerial shot? It can’t have been in the 50s, because those open fields south of Culver Blvd would have been developed by then.
I vaguely remember the studio building, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that green color. I’ve known since I was a kid that Hal Roach was in Culver City, because we used to try to pick out features when we watched old movies that they made.
The aerial shot is indeed from the early to possibly mid 1950s. Along with a mix of ones from the 30s and 40s, numerous 1950s models are visible, including a light colored, early-to-mid 50s Cadillac – fins visible – parked nose-in, fourth on the right from the center door of the admin building.
I am guessing the color shot is circa 1951~53. The cars are 1950 to 1952 models and the number plate on the red 1951 Studebaker is as California’s looked from 1950 through 1955. Being a studio, I am guessing that the cars are newer ones relative to when the shot was taken. Studio folks didn’t and still don’t like to be seen in ‘last year’s models’.
In 1963 I moved to Culver City, 13 y.o. A friend told me about Hal Roach Studios, and we went down a few blocks away to see. No one was around and many of the sets were already destroyed. At that time, I did not realize the significance of the moment.
Hi, Greg! Did you go to Culver High? I’m just a year younger than you, so if you did, we were there at the same time. You would have been in my older sister’s class. She was valedictorian, so you might remember her.