Most photos of Hollywood premieres focus on the entrance, the stars, and the lights, which is understandable. But I love this photo because it highlights those movie fans who would sit in bleachers set up by the studios so they could watch Hollywood luminaries arrive. They’re outside the Pig’N Whistle Café which was next to the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. They’ve gathered for the premiere of MGM’s “Cass Timberlane” which starred Lana Turner and Spencer Tracy. It was January 1948, which explains why that woman in the front is wearing a fur coat. I wonder if afterwards, she went across the street to Pickwick Books (whose electric sign we can see in the background) to buy a copy of the Sinclair Lewis novel the movie was based on.
This image is from August 2022 and shows us that the Pig’N Whistle is now Mr. Tempo, and the Egyptian is currently under renovation and is due to reopen next month, November 2024.
Give me a break!!! What the hell is a Mr. Tempo??? How could they do that to such an iconic site??? Shame on the idiots that thought that was a grand idea.
John, you can specifically blame Jorge Cueva. No one was happy about this. Read this article:
https://laist.com/news/food/why-gutting-the-pig-n-whistle-was-a-betrayal-for-hollywood-history-buffs
And then read how Mr. Cueva responded:
https://lataco.com/mr-tempo-mocks-pig-n-whistle
That piece of —–should be horse whipped. Why didn’t the people who have money in Hollywood buy the place in order to save it from this creep? Once again we can blame the damn Pandemic for destroying so many fine establishments. It makes me never to want to see Hollywood again. We will never get to see this fine city as it once stood. Please don’t get me started on the Warner back lot being destroyed. Why is this happening!!!!!
That is one massive female!! Look at the way she is crowding those on either side of her. The poor kid on her right is about to fall off the bench.
People seem to be sitting on newspapers. Almost everyone has newspapers crumpled under their seat. I wonder why?
I imagine they’d been sitting there for quite some time. They needed to do something because they couldn’t look at their cell phones!
Also, the newspapers serves to insulate people’s posteriors from the cold of the benches.