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~~ HOLLYWOOD PLACES – L to P ~~

In the course of researching the Garden of Allah novels, I came across all sorts of places in and around Hollywood and the greater Los Angeles area and started to collect the information together into one location on my website. The references at the end of each entry refer to the page number of the book where I found the information. (So “2/15″ refers to page 2 of book 15 listed on my bibliography page.) Readers of these pages will note the occasional inconstancy–that is due to conflicting sources from which this information was taken. This is my long-winded way of saying that I am not presenting this information as professionally-researched, definitive, you-can-take-it-as-gospel. It ain’t. It’s just a huge pile of info I’ll pulled from a wide variety of books, websites, magazine articles. Take it, like it, lump it or leave it.

See also: The Garden of Allah Novels companion map of Los Angeles and Hollywood

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La Brea Club – La Brea and West 3^rd Street – mob hangout (Mickey Cohen)

La Fonda Inn – 12177 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City. Phone Sunset 2-9522

Leonardo Liquor Store,10426 Magnolia Blvd , North Hollywood, Phone SU-1-2155

Le Petit Gourmet, 6334 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood

(Cafe) La Boheme – 8614 Sunset Blvd. Opened 1927. A favorite place for Hollywood types who liked to slum it. It featured its owner, a flamboyant drag queen Karyl Norman. The hit number was a impersonation of Joan Crawford doing a number from Sadie Thompson. Closed down in 1931 after a gun battle. http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm (28/48) Ostensibly a straight club (article) Opened later as Wilkerson’s Café Trocadero. (40/99)

Lafayette – The House of Ivy on Cahuenga was very popular in the 50s and 60s…There was also the Lafayette, which was just across the way from it. And then there was the Open Door, which was on the corner of Selma and Ivar…I also remember the Cherokee House in Hollywood…and Chee Chee’s on Figueroa…There were some others too like the Carousel, in Venice. That was one of the toughest….In the 30s and 40s it was considered quite chic to drop in at an after-hours “speakeasy” knows as Brothers, in the Central Ave area, near the Hotel Dunbar, where the city’s African-American nightlife flourished.  (11/37

L’Aiglon – 314 North Camden Drive Beverly Hills. Opened by Hollywood Reporter‘s Billy Wilkerson. Opened July 1947. Sold by Wilkerson October 1948, and later changed location because in November 1949, Blum’s Candy Store opened in that location.

La Conga – 1551 Vine St, between Sunset and Hollywood. Opened 21FEB38 when the 1937 Hawaiian craze

started to give way to the 1938 Latin beat / Cuban / Rumba craze. Became very popular especially when radio networks – NBC at the Hollywood and Vine intersection and CBS on Sunset east of Vine – built their studio and broadcasting facilities. (40/168) An organization of celebrities which called themselves The 400 Peanut Vendors, pining for a private night away from the gaze of fans, started meeting at La Conga every Sunday night (late 30s) for a complimentary buffet ad a night of rhumba-ing.

La Conga was downstairs from Vine Street’s Hollywood Rooftop Ballroom. (p230/113)

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : La Conga Club, 1551 Vine St. “Dinner from 7pm. No couvert. Two orchestras; two revolving orchestra stages. No floor show. Bar.”

(Chuck Landis’) Largo – 9009 Sunset Boulevard. Phone 878-2222. Burlesque which featured girls with names inspired by celebs (such as “Joni Carson”)

Larry Finley’s restaurant above the Mocambo at 8590 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip), open from 6pm to 4am. During the 1950s, the Mocambo’s next-door neighbor was the Larry Finley Restaurant, where Larry Finley broadcasted his television and radio (rock’n’roll) show. http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com/blog/mocambo-ni/  . . .  KTLA Channel 5 variety program The Larry Finley Show which was broadcast nightly from his Sunset Strip supper club above the Mocambo.  . . .  Later known as Cloister

Larry Potter’s Stardust Café – 6445 Hollywood Boulevard, Phone HO-1234

Larry Potter’s Jade Dragon Lounge, Hollywood

Lake Hollywood and Dam – Chief engineer William Mulholland supervised the construction work that was completed in DEC1924. (61/21)

Lakeshore Bar – Butch lesbian meeting place in Westlake Park–now MacArthur Park about a mile down from the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. (59/96)

La Leyenda Apartments, 1737 N. Whitley Avenue, Hollywood, 1926  http://www.you-are-here.com/hollywood/leyenda.html

Langers Delicatessen Restaurant, 704 S. Alvarado at the corner of 7th Street, downtown L.A. Opened 1947.

La Rue – 8361 Sunset Boulevard (on a visible corner of what is now known as Sunset Plaza). Opened APR 44 – was an elegant Sunset Strip restaurant owned by Hollywood Reporter owner Wilkerson. (17/88) who also owned the Café Trocadero and L’Aiglon. (18/89)

La Rue’s on the Sunset Strip served French food. (1/81) Not as extravagant as some of his former enterprises, it nonetheless became a trademark of discriminating taste and a hangout for the well-heeled Screenland celebrity. Because it was primarily a restaurant, La Rue was more of a gathering place than a niterie loaded with action, which suited a grown-up Hollywood. Stars sat in rich gold leather booths, as opposed to the more prosaic red ones found in other establishments. The red-carpeted main dining room was dominated by two huge crystal chandeliers which were so elaborate that the proprietors had to regularly summon crystal cleaning specialists from San Francisco. (49/57)

The Last Word – 4206 South Central Ave, Los Angeles. Phone: ADams 9846. “The Home of the Blues”

The Latin Quarter – jazz club popular in the 1940s(?) (82/56)

Le Dome / William Haines studio / Don Loper’s Salon – 8720 Sunset Blvd. Build in 1934 as the interior decorating studio for ex-MGM star. In the 1940s William moved out and Don Loper, Hollywood dress designer, moved in. Later in the 1970s (?) it became the sophisticated Le Dome restaurant. (25/161)

Le Grand Prix – a luxurious streamline moderne deco barbershop open 24 hours a day was fronted by Mickey Cohen’s handler, Champ Siegel to handle Bugsy Siegel’s illegal gambling. The nation’s major gamblers, from Nick the Greek, to Sacramento Butch, were in frequent attendance, as were gunman, gamblers, grifters, fight promoters, boxers, jockeys, and stars of film, records and radio. (115/p56)

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Les Comiques Restaurant at the Hollywood Plaza Hotel, 1633 N. Vine St., Hollywood occupying the same site as Clara Bow’s It Café, Cinnabar, and the Russian Eagle Café before it moved to the Sunset Strip.

Lincoln Park Roller Rink – As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “2037 Lincoln Park Ave. Aft. 2.30pm to 5pm; eve 7.30pm to 10.15pm. (Fri 7 to 10 pm)

Lindy’s (Steak and Chop House) – 3656 Wilshire Boulevard, another of Eddie Brandsetter’s ventures that featured sizzling steaks and chops at 65 cents a dinner. (40/137)

Linnys Delicatessen —Beverly Drive, red building. Served the best corned beef sandwich in town.  The building went through several other tenants before turning into R.J.’s, one of the more popular places to eat ribs in Beverly Hills.  The best corned beef in the vicinity is now two blocks to the north at Nate ‘n’ Al’s Deli. http://www.povonline.com/larestaurants/larestaurants04.htm

Little Hitching Post – a very small movie theater near the Pantages that showed nothing but westerns by Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers. (66/273) During the war years, the Hitching Post became a newsreel theatre, named the Tele-View (sometime before 1947.) (p268/113) It was one of the first theaters to close after WWII. No one needed newsreels when television brought news into homes. (p298/113)

Little Joe’s restaurant, 904 North Broadway, Los Angeles

Livingston’s – Canon Drive – where a young girl got her first good bra. (50s?) (Vanity Fair, March 2009)

Little Hungary – 1744 Vine St, Hollywood. A favorite restaurant of Billy Wilder

Loma cocktail lounge, 1507 W. 6^th St, Los Angeles, Phone Dunkirk 4-4746

The London Shop – upscale menswear. THe 1956 LA City Directory lists:
7010 Hollywood Blvd inside the Roosevelt Hotel
303 Rodeo Dr
3400 Wilshire Blvd
6689 Sunset Blvd (maybe offices only?)

Los Angeles Country Club – Los Angeles’ triumvirate of golf establishments were the Wilshire Country Club, the Los Angeles Country Club and the Bel Air Country Club. (78/41)

Louis B. Mayer’s house – 625 Ocean Front Ave ( http://www.movielanddirectory.com/star.cfm?star=306290 ) (51/73 and on) where many Sunday brunch parties took place.

The Louisiana – 5665 Wilshire Blvd – “Heart of the Miracle Mile”
Pacific Glamour Prints – same address

The Luau – Opened July 1953. Closed 1978. 427 North Rodeo, Beverly Hills. (106 says it opened in 1953, and was at 421 North Rodeo.) Co-manager Steve Crane, ex of Lana Turner who, in 1946, bought Lucy’s opposite Paramount. Tables made from lacquered ship hatch covers. Lengthy menu of gardenia-topped rum drinks. Gained rep for hot boy-meets-girl bar. (49/67)

Candice Bergin recalls, “The Luau was always where you were getting hit on by producer Sam Spiegel in the women’s room. It was very racy, very thrilling for a 16 year old to be in the Luau. (1950s) (Vanity Fair, March 2009)

The Luau was formerly Sugie’s Original “The Tropics” restaurant and club. “The Tropics” was opened by Harry “Sugie” Sugarman in Beverly Hills in 1936. This was one of the earliest of the Pre-Polynesian Pop power houses that catered to the motion picture industry. The Tropics was purchased by Steven Crane and turned into the Luau in 1953. http://on.fb.me/Hqyl00

Lucca’s Restaurant – 501 S. Western Ave, at the corner of 5^th Street. The building was built in 1925. Ample servings of everything from antipasto to spumoni in a florid setting with strolling singers.

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Ample servings of everything from antipasto to spumone in a florid setting with strolling singers.”

Later called Marchetti’s (see photo below) which then moved to Beverly Hills in 1933.

Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe – 5536 Melrose, across the street from Paramount and RKO – not to be confused with . . .

Lucey’s Restaurant – 5444 Melrose Ave also across the street from Paramount – which was called Lucey’s New Orleans House later in the 1950s

Lawry’s – 150 N. La Cienega Boulevard. As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Dinner only. A huge succulent beef roast is wheeled to the table, and cut to individual order.”

Lucky Spot Cafe, Western Ave, Los Angeles. Phone Hempstead 5611 – “Paul – Alex – for your favorite food and drink. Snappy entertainment.”

The Lux – Tony Cornero’s luxury gambling ship. The Lux opened for business on August 7^th, 1947 with immense fanfare. A vivid billboard graced the Sunset Strip. Skywriting planes etched the ship’s name into Southland skies, and full-page newspaper ads announced its debut. Days later, it was a hit. Governor Earl Warren, Cornero’s longtime nemesis, commanded the Long Beach Port Authority to shut down water taxi service to Cornero’s ship. Without means to transport the gamblers to the Lux, the era of California’s offshore party boats abruptly ended. (115/p75)

Macayo Restaurant – Wilshire Blvd at 22^nd St, Santa Monica, Phone EXbrook 4-3711 & 4-3712

Malibar – 10663 W. Pico Blvd – West Los Angeles

Mammy’s Shack, 5687 Washington Blvd. (Photo below is circa 1930)

Man Fook Low, 962 S. San Pedro St, Los Angeles

Margaret Shop – 7044 Hollywood Boulevard. “Correct wear for women.”

Martini’s Café Opera, 2507 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles – “A restaurant of distinction”

Mme. Portier’s French Restaurant – 5122-24 East Olympic Boulevard, East Los Angeles 22, Phone: ANgelus 8-7274

Mama Weiss’ Restaurant – 309 N. Rodeo. Opened in 1930, then in 1947 moved to S. Beverly Drive. Closed 1954. Originally the transformed front bungalow apartment of a Hungarian immigrant, back when Rodeo was home to bungalow courts and you could still drive horses down Sunset Boulevard. Six months after opening, Mary Miles Minter put up the money to move it across the street to 309 N. Rodeo.  Was later razed and Romanoff’s went up in its place. Mostly Hungarian and Austrian cooking like blintzes, goulash, stuffed cabbage, and some Jewish dishes too. Among the patrons were actors Edward G. Robinson, Jack Benny, Charles Laughton & Else Lanchester, Johnny Weissmuller and Lupe Velez, members of Hollywood’s European community such as Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder and Luise Rainer. At the end of the night, Mama (Francesca) would come out in her gingham dress and white apron and sing Hungarian lullabies, German leider and Viennese operetta accompanied by a Gypsy violinist. In her prime, she was also the star of her own TV cooking program, ‘The Mama Weiss Show’ which aired 6 days a week on KHU in the 1950s. (49/31)

M & M – a lesbian bar with a mix of blue-collar and pink-collar lesbians that catered primarily to Latinas.

Madame Zucca’s Hollywood Casino
6000 Sunset Boulevard.
Run by Veturia M. Zucca
Opened July 1942 – opened.
June 1944 – Changed name to French Casino

 

 

Mae’s – Not too far from Lee Francis’s business, Mae’s was a large mansion estate high above Sunset. It was  Greek revival building with stately columns and wide porches. Inside there was 14 lavish suites and a full-service restaurant and bar. The establishment was managed by a woman named Billie Bennett, who looked like and spoke like Mae West. Bennett’s was a special house. The women were look-alikes from the various studios. For a hefty price customers could choose between “Joan Crawford”, “Barbara Stanwyck”, “Alice Faye”, “Carole Lombard”, “Claudette Colbert”, “Ginger Rogers”, “Marlene Dietrich”, or any other special request, except for Greta Garbo and Katharine Hepburn who were never copied. (95/96)

Mammy Louise’s Bayou – 8711 Sunset in Sunset Plaza. Owned by Phil Selznick and run by a black woman named Louise Brooks. Raided in the fall of 1938 and subsequently went under. It next became Cafe Internationale, the upscale lesbian bar.

Maison Cesare – Hope St, downtown L.A. (Probably opened sometime in the 1910s, was there by March 1917) Upscale beauty salon. (p42/120)

Maison Gaston French restaurant – “Formerly Café de la Paix”, 7714 Southwestern Ave, Los Angeles, Phone Pleasant 2-2903. Also at 1219 Vine St, Hollywood, Phone HE 7815, Hoyt 067 – “Dinners from 5pm. 90 cents and up. A la carte and supper until 12pm”

Marcel’s – downtown L.A. restaurant. According to Lenore Coffee it was popular to have dinner at Marcel’s and then go to the boxing fights  in a district called Vernon, all in semi-black-tie. (65/41)

The Marcus Daly – 314 N. Camden Dr., Beverly Hills. As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Lunch (winter only) ; dinner from 5pm. ; no couvert. A novel decoration is the Zodiac Bar, where time is shown in an overhead come. The food is good, the atmosphere pleasant.”

 Marchetti’s – formerly Lucca’s Restaurant – 501 S. Western Ave, at the corner of 5^th Street. The building was built in 1925. Marchetti’s moved to Beverly Hills in 1933.

Marlin Inn – a coffee shop on Hollywood Boulevard that catered exclusively to homosexuals, especially underage gays who lacked the proper ID to get into bars. A similar place was Coffee Dan’s. (60/149)

Marquis Restaurant at 8240 Sunset Boulevard on the Stripat the intersection of Sunset and Roxbury. Opened by Paul Verlengia from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s, The Marquis was sometimes known as Paul Verlengia’s Marquis. See: http://www.onbunkerhill.org/manneats4#.UrI-wfZRZIw

Martoni’s – Cahuenga Boulevard,south of Hollywood Boulevard. Sonny Bono wrote of Martoni’s, “Everybody in the record business was there  . . . Sammy Davis might be at one table, Sinatra at another.” (p301/113)

Mary’s – a lesbian club on the Sunset Strip. (41/224) 59/98 says it was opposite Café Gala.

Masonic Old Ladies’ Home – Santa Monica. (p143/120)

Masquers Club – Founded in 1925. It is a private club for actors and actresses. Moved in 1927 to 1765 Sycamore (2/28) http://www.masquersclub.org/ (61/31) Below is a Masquers Club invite, January 1923. (Makes me wonder what “Bring your KEYS” means…?!?!)

Maxey’s Singapore Spa – 119 South Fairfax Ave, LA. Phone  WY9338. (Written on inside of matchbook cover: “Delicious Chinese food – famous for barbecued spare ribs”)

Mattson’s aka Mattson’s of Hollywood – 6501 Hollywood Blvd, on the northwest corner of Wilcox. “One of the best haberdasheries for men. It was a marvelous place to buy. Anything you wanted for a gentleman could be found there.

Maxime’s – 9103 Sunset Boulevard at the Doheny Drive. Also known as the Club Envoy at some point. Tobey’s (“Fountain – Sundaes – Liquor – Prescription Pharmacy”) was on the corner. (Now known as Gil Turner’s)

Maxwell’s – aka M Cocktail Lounge – 214 W.3rd St (1950s era)
By the late 1950s, despite continuing hostility and harassment of the LAPD, a number of gay establishments had sprung up: the House of Ivy, the Cherokee House, Maxwell’s, The Black Cat, the “356” bar downtown. Most gay bars had existed outside Los Angeles city limits where county sheriffs were traditionally far more tolerant. (10/346)

Mayfair Club – a strictly for members-only organization. Everyone in Hollywood wanted to be invited to join. Membership was restricted to 300 – and there was always a waiting list to join. No one could be admitted until an old member had died, or withdrawn. Being a Mayfairite was one of the ultimate status symbols reserved for film stars, moguls, writers, directors and producers, plus a few tycoons whose relationship to the industry was purely monetary. (28/49)

Mayflower Donut Shop – Hollywood Boulevard (66/182)

McDonnell’s – a large chain of restaurants and drive-ins, including corner of Wilshire & La Brea, and  Beverly & La Brea.

McDonnell’s Wilshire Café – northwest corner of Wilshire and La Brea. Also at Beverly and La Brea, circa 1931. Previously the Dyas-Carlton Café: “Built in 1925, the Dyas-Carlton Cafe was located on the northwest corner of Wilshire and La Brea. Designed in a Spanish architectural style by architects and builders Gable and Wyant, the restaurant seated 250 people.”

See also: McDonnell’s menu

McHuron’s Grill – 6160 Hollywood Blvd – “Toad in the Hole”

Melbourne Spurr – Portrait photographer – 1615 North Western Ave – Phone HE-2866. 2714 West 7st St – Phone WA-3952

The Melody Room – 8852 Sunset Boulevard. Opened June 14, 1951. Rumored to have served as an illicit gambling den for notorious gangsters Mickey Cohen and Bugsy Siegel. Pete and Billy Snyder were the (public) owners of the club. In the 1970s, it became Filthy McNastys. The space is now occupied by the world famous music venue Viper Room.

Melrose Grotto – 5507 Melrose Ave, Hollywood. Phone HI 9033, HI 0724, HI 9069

Melody Lane Restaurant – cnr Hollywood and Vine. (66/126) located in the Laemmle Building at Hollywood & Vine St. Previously this was the location of the Richard Neutra designed CoCo Tree Cafe from 1932 to 1940. There was also a Melody Lane drive-in on the southwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.

Melrod’s – 901 W. Santa Barbara, Los Angeles. Home of the Club-Burger. “Home of the Club-Burger.”

Merle’s drive-in and barbecue, 2600 American Way, Long Beach

Merry-Go-Round Cafe – 1304 S. Figueroa St, Downtown Los Angeles. The 1932 City Directory lists five locations.

Merry-Go-Round nightclub – 1500 N. Vine Street, Hollywood. 1940s

Mermaid Club – 9015 Sunset Blvd. Phone BRadshaw 24872. After being raided twice in 1938 for violating the state liquor law, Club Esquire became the Mermaid Club run by ex-policeman Frank Irvine until 1939 when it became the Villa Nova until 1967. Then it became the Windjammer. In April 1972 it opened as the Rainbow Bar & Grill.

Michael’s Exclusive Haberdashery – 8804 Sunset Boulevard – a two-story elegant men’s clothing store, in reality a front for Mickey Cohen, opened in or around 1947. (115/p85)

Mike Lyman’s Hollywood Grill – 1627 N. Vine St. across from the Brown Derby, next door to the Vine St Theater.

Was formally Al Levy’s Tavern – (72/46)

Also at 424 W. 6^th St, downtown L.A. As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Mike Lyman’s Grill, 751 S. Hill St. Especially popular with sportsmen, show people, and Spring Street quarterbacks.”

He also had a restaurant at L.A. international airport, called Flight Deck.

The Mint live music venue, est. 1937 – 6010 W. Pico Blvd, LA, CA 90035.

Miramar Hotel – The original Miramar Hotel was the home of Santa Monica co-founder John P. Jones. Built in 1888, the three story Victorian mansion included 17 bedrooms. In the 1920s the home was remodeled and enlarged and opened as the Miramar Hotel in 1921. The portion of the hotel that comprised of Jones’ original home was demolished in the 1930s. Bungalows that opened to the pool area were added to the hotel in 1938.

Mocambo – known as The Nightclub’s Nightclub, opened with fanfare at 8588 Sunset Blvd. on 03JAN1941 and closed in 1959. (16/82) The third of Sunset Strip’s major nightclubs opened a few years later than the Troc and Ciro’s. The Mocambo was farther west than Ciro’s, on the north side of Sunset. Like the other clubs, Mocambo had its unique feature: an aviary of exotic birds. No one ever saw a pink elephant at the Mocambo, but there were a lot of sightings of cockatoos and macaws, mostly the real thing.

The Mocambo featured a weekly Charleston contest, promoted by a dancer on the sidewalk in front of the club. In the early 1950’s, the special feature was jazz every Monday night. For several years, the Monday night house band was a group called the Firehouse 5 Plus Two, all of whom had day gigs as animators at Disney Studios. http://www.sunsetstrip.com/history/3.html

But of course it took a real McCoy maitre d’, one who didn’t dabble in the silly sidelines like acting, to be the maitre d’ par excellence. Such a one was Andre Dusel, who was maitre d’ for many years at the Mocambo and other flossy film town establishments.

Owners Charlie Morrison (1/81) and Felix Young. Designed by Tony Duquette who based it on Brazilian themes. Fave haunt of Bogie and Bacall, whenever they came in, the band would strike up “That Old Black Magic.” Gable and Lombard liked to come here too, as well as Ball & Arnaz. Louis B. Mayer liked to prowl the room. In 1943 when Sinatra became a solo act, he made his Hollywood debut at the Mocambo.

Located near the Trocadero, the Mocambo was long a favorite of many stars, especially Bogie and Bacall. Whenever they arrived, the band would strike up “That Old Black Magic”. It was there that Sinatra first became known in Hollywood. (6/188)

Built on the site of Club Versailles. Featured nearly 30 live birds.

http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml says The last of the vintage Sunset Strip clubs, Mocambo weighed in on January 3, 1941, and dominated the area’s nightlife throughout the war years. Owners Charlie Morrisson and Felix Young assembled its staff by raiding the finest clubs in the country, and they created a Technicolor riot of an interior that was described as “a cross between a somewhat decadent Imperial Rome, Salvador Dali, and a birdcage.” The last referred to Mocambo’s outstanding feature, glassed-in aviaries of live exotic birds. Their presence initially sparked protests from the ASPCA, which feared the birds would be killed off by all the after-hours racket; but Morrisson, a former agent, smooth-talked the group into believing that the macaws and cockatoos were having as much fun as everyone else.
Weekends at Mocambo were a stargazer’s dream. Making your way through the room you might come across Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Franchot Tone and Burgess Meredith at the same table, Gable and Lombard cracking dirty jokes, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz doing the rumba, and the lecherous Louis B. Mayer on the prowl. It was a favorite haunt of Bogart and Bacall, and whenever they came in the band would strike up “That Old Black Magic.” Lana Turner threw a $40,000 birthday party for her husband here; Myrna Loy and Arthur Hornblow used the club to celebrate their divorce. And when Frank Sinatra became a solo act in 1943, he made his Hollywood debut at Mocambo. The place became so hip that even rival club owners and perpetual homebodies like Ray Milland came here for a good time.
As you’d expect, Mocambo was the site of some interesting altercations, the most famous of which pitted Errol Flynn against journalist Jimmy Fidler. Fidler had ridiculed Flynn in his column, and when the swashbuckling actor spotted him here, all hell broke loose. By the time the police arrived, Fidler was comatose and his wife had stabbed Flynn in the ear with a fork. The combatants settled their differences out of court.
After the war, Mocambo was usurped by Ciro’s as King of the Strip, but it remained on Hollywood’s “A” list well into the next decade. It closed in 1959, and a huge parking lot now covers the Mocambo site as well as that of its celebrated neighbor, the Trocadero.

The Mocambo was later known as The Cloisters.

Moderne Drive-in, 3025 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, Phone SM 57385

Monkey Island – 3300 Cahuenga Boulevard, Hollywood. Opened 1938. “No bars – no cages – no danger – 1000 monkeys running loose” – “Chimpanzee show every half hour” – “3 magnificent acres of continuous amusement” – “Adults 25 cents, children 10 cents” See also: http://laist.com/2009/01/24/laistory_monkey_island.php

Montecito Apartments – 6650 Franklin Ave. – Built in early 1930s, it was particularly popular in the 50s and early 60s with the NY crowd. (25/26) including Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach. (66/269) Ronald Reagan lived there when he came to Hollywood in 1932. Jimmy Cagney lived there. It was also home to Mickey Rooney, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn, Don Johnson, George C. Scott, Ben Vereen. (66/347) http://www.you-are-here.com/hollywood/montecito.html

Mona Lisa Restaurant and cocktail bar – 3343 Wilshire Boulevard. Phone FItzroy 0796. Franco-Italian restaurant and an ideal place to take a woman guest for luncheon. They serve you a 50c luncheon, which cannot be duplicated anywhere for the money, as well as a Continental salad special. At the dinner hour, men like the solidity and comfort of the side wall booths here, as well as the excellence of the food of the $1.00 dinner “with no nonsense about it.” http://www.armchair.com/warp/la30c.html#brown

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “French-Italian restaurant favored by gourmets. Continental atmosphere. Vintage wines.”

(Brandstatter’s) Montmartre Café – 6753-63 Hollywood Blvd. (Meyer & Holler, architects, Opened DEC’22. This cafe and nightclub on the second floor of a financial institution sparked the nightlife of the Hollywood community in the early 1920s. The restaurant was frequented by fans and stars alike.http://www.historicla.com/hollywood/block02.html#anchor1004497

The original name of the Montmartre Café was the Sixty Club as it was located in 6000 block of Hollywood Boulevard.

Spaghetti Tetrazini was their specialty. Eddie Brandstatter, owner, later taken over by Henri de Soto, apparently after hard times in the depression. The original owner was Eddie Brandstatter – the building still stands today almost unchanged and was replicated on the fake Hollywood Blvd. in Florida.

Hollywood’s first nightclub opened on the second floor in 1922. Its motto was “Where everyone goes to see and be seen.” Patrons included Buddy Rogers, Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, Rudolph Valentino, Fatty Arbuckle, Gloria Swanson, Winston Churchill, and Prince George of England. Bing Crosby, while performing here, met his first wife, Dixie Lee. Joan Crawford was discovered when she won the Charleston dance competition. The Lee Strasberg Institute was housed here in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of Bruce Torrence. http://www.hollywoodentertainmentdistrict.com/entertainment/historic.php?choice=display&id=8&category=HistoricSites&disp_type=biz

Hollywood Boulevard’s Montmartre Café was the hot wartime venue, followed by the New Yorker Club down the avenue near Highland, and the Hollywood Ballroom on Vine Street. To the southwest, near Goldwyn’s MGM in Culver City were the Cotton Club and Fatty Arbuckle’s Plantation Cafe. (8/86)

Suddenly, those places identified by the subculture as “gay” were officially “not”. The Montmartre, once the hippest of the hip in the 20s, catered primarily to homosexuals as the 30s went on, but never self-named itself as a pansy club or queer bar. The Crown Jewel, on South Hill Street, was “discreet and elegant”, according to Fred Frisbie, an early gay activist who lives in Hollywood at the time. A driver’s license was needed to enter, “There was a code of conduct in such bars that normally prohibited any same-sex touching,” Frisbie remembered, “making it difficult at times to tell a gay bar from a straight one.” (10/147)

See also 61/68, and 63/91

Brandstatter’s Café Montmartre – 2^nd floor 6763 Hollywood Blvd, near Highland. Opened 1923 and considered Hollywood’s first nightclub. Most popular during Prohibition 20s. Held Saturday afternoon tea dances and Charleston dance contests that Joan Crawford often won. (16/75) Louella Parsons met the studio publicists weekly at a luncheon at the Montmartre…she eavesdropped on lunching celebrities. (15/114) One of the Montmartre’s maitre d’s was Bruce Cabot, start of King Kong. In 1930 it was one of the first clubs to book a young crooner who had recently left the Paul Whiteman orchestra – Bing Crosby. (25/16)

Although open in the evenings with plenty of hot jazz, it was better known for its lunchtime trade, especially on Wednesday s which a wise Brandstatter set up for the film folk. It held 350 patrons. (40/40)

By the mid-1930s, however, the Montmartre had fallen out of popular failure and onto harder times and by the mid 1930s had become a gay bar (called a “queer bar” at the time) which was really a speakeasy in that it did not advertise it’s existence, its patrons could be arrested, and it was run by a gangster. The gangster was a local hood called Les Bruneman. Despite the rundown décor, the patrons dressed to the nines and the place was packed on Saturday nights. But the threat of arrest always hung in the air. An invitation like “How about coming to my place?” was enough to warrant arrest. As a gay bar, the Montmartre’s life is relatively brief. http://www.queermusicheritage.us/may2010h.html

Morgan Green – 1045 Westwood Blvd, Westwood. Opened 1936, ran through the war, possibly later.

Club Morocco, 1551 N. Vine St, Hollywood. Phone HO-0791

Moscow Inn, 8353 Sunset Boulevard. Phone Crestview 4331. “Under the personal supervision of Prince U. Dolgorusk. Special features on Sunday – Russian-French cuisine, 7-course dinner $2. No cover charge. Dancing and Dining. Free parking and free checking.

Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, 159 South Beverly Drive. (p265/118)
Established in Hollywood. FEB1944 – director Sam Wood was elected President, chairman of the executive committee was MGM executive producer James Kevin McGuinness; first vice President was Walt Disney. Other supporters that the Alliance claimed to have were Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck, Irene Dunne and Spencer Tracy.

Moulin Rouge – Frank Sennes Sr. In 1930, Sennes moved to California where he became the manager of Hollywood Gardens, a nightclub where he gave movie star Betty Grable her first break. In 1953 he opened the Moulin Rouge in Hollywood, which was, at the time, the biggest nightclub, restaurant and showroom in America. It used to be Earl Carroll’s. On December 9^th, 1965, it became the Hullabaloo (Club). On March 22, 1968 it became the Kaleidoscope. In 1969, it became the Aquarius Theatre where “Hair” played for two and a half years.

Mullen & Bluett’s– 5570 Wilshire Blvd. between Ridgeley Dr. and S. Burnside Ave.A store that offered rainbows

House of Murphy’s – In the Valley at the corner of Venture Blvd, and Laurel Canyon – Phone Stanley 7-5780 and on Restaurant Row at 4^th Street and La Cienega, Phone Bradshaw – 2-3432
“House of Murphy – It’s my life – I lived it – I loved it – Criticism be damned.”
“If you ain’t eatin’ at Murphy’s, you ain’t eatin’!”

Music City – aka Wallich’s Music City, on the corner of Sunset and Vine. Wallich’s was Hollywood’s largest record store in those days, and they had “listening booths” where you could sample records before making a decision to buy. http://www.pcdon.com/page353.html Radio station KLAC worked with Wallich’s Capitol Records, doing broadcasts from the Music City store window. (p286/113)

Mullen Bluett – golf hose, sweaters and plus fours to the Beau Brummels, whereas Magnin’s catered to the ladies. (65/63) In its heyday, men of distinction shopped at Mullen Bluett, according to a newspaper advertisement for the original store at 101 N. Spring St. opened in 1883. There was also a store at 6316 Hollywood Boulevard.

Musart Theatre, 1320 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles. Phone: PR-6644

Musso and Frank Grill – 6667 Hollywood Boulevard, Phone GRanite 7788 – Opened in 1919, remodeled in 1937 and in the 1940s became a regular haunt of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Benchley and William Faulkner. (25/18) Flannel cakes were their specialty. (66/186)

Writers, playwrights, and Pulitzer-prize winning newspaper people found themselves in Hollywood working for movie studios. Their favorite hangout was Musso & Frank’s, was opposite the Writers Guild office. Musso was the saloon for Paramount writers, in addition to F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Cain, Lillian Hellman, Dashiel Hammett, William Saroyan, Aldous Huxley, Dorothy Parker, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Dalton Trumbo, and Ernest Hemingway. Actors who liked the company of writers also came, John Barrymore preferred a corner booth. Myrna Loy wrote that, when she lived at the Chateau Marmont, she would come for dinner with her neighbor, Bea Lillie, and “talk the night away.” Stanley Rose moved his bookstore next door and turned the shop into a writer’s sanctuary. In a back room, writers and readers talked literature as Rose handed around a bottle of orange wine.

Musso’s Restaurant  – 6300 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles

Naumann’s Delicatessen Café, 623 S. Grand Ave Phone MA 5088 -and- 118 W. 4^th St, Phone MA 0975 – “Delicious luncheons and dinners by one of the very oldest concerns in Los Angeles. Foreign and domestic style cooking – cocktails.”

Nate ‘N’ Al’s Deli & Restaurant – 414 N Beverly Dr, Beverly Hills. Phone 310-274-0101, Daily 7am-9pm, since 1945

 

NBC Radio City – opened in 1938 at the northeast corner of Sunset and Vine Streets in Hollywood.
See my collection of the NBC studios

The New Poodle Dog French Restaurant, 136 – 138 N. Spring St, Los Angeles. Philippe Matieu, proprietor

Neale’s Smart Men’s Apparel – 6161 Wilshire Boulevard. Cary Grant, interior designer Bob Lampe and entrepreneur L. Wright Neale opened a men’s clothing store at 6161 Wilshire Blvd. in 1932. It was dubbed Neale’s Smart Men’s Apparel and boasted expensive mahogany fixtures and mammoth change rooms. Grant was never mentioned as a co-owner — he was strictly a silent partner. But he often would work in the store when he wasn’t required on set. Marlene Dietrich confirmed this business in a letter she wrote to her husband in 1932. “There’s a young, handsome cockney Englishman by the name of Cary Grant, that Jo cast as the lover. What do you think he does? To make more money, he sells SHIRTS on the set and he’s so charming that people come from all over the lot to buy them from him.” From that point on, she referred to him as the “shirt salesman.” http://bit.ly/1BsaWpG
http://bit.ly/1EScRrb says it folded within a year.

Niagra 5 Min. Car Wash. 99c with every 10 Gals Gas. Reg. Price $1.25. Every 6th Wash Free. Niagra Shell Service. Open 24 Hours. Firestone Tires. Phone Hollywood 29506. Huff’s Coffee Shop. Air Conditioned. Open 24 Hours. Hollywood’s Finest. 7920-40 Sunset Blvd. 1 Blk. West of Fairfax. http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/Niagra.jpg

Nibblers restaurant. Family friendly diner

• Spring and 1st Streets, downtown Los Angeles
• Wilshire Blvd & San Vicente
• Wilshire Blvd & Spaulding Dr, Beverly Hills.

Nickodell (Argyle) Restaurant – 1600 Argyle at Selma. Opened in 1928 and located across the street from NBC and ABC studios. (61/73)
Nickodell (Melrose) Restaurant – Close to the Paramount and RKO corner of Melrose and Gower. The largest and most successful of the Nickodell chain. (61/73)

There were two Nickodell’s at one time.  The less-famous one, which closed before the other, was at Argyle and Selma in Hollywood.  No one noticed when that one went anyway…but everyone in town lamented the closure of the one on Melrose, built into the side of a movie studio.  The studio was at one time RKO Studios…then it became Desilu…then it assumed its present identity as Paramount.  For years, it was the place folks working on the lot escaped to for a mid-day cocktail, and many important deals were made at its tables.  When I Love Lucy was casting and they needed someone to play Fred Mertz, Desi Arnaz got a call from an actor named William Frawley and they arranged to get together and discuss the role over drinks…at Nickodell’s Also right down the street was the studio of what was then KHJ (now KCAL), channel nine, a local TV station.  It was said that the KHJ News Crew practically lived at the bar at Nickodell’s and wrote their copy on its napkins. I only ate there twice, maybe three times.  The food was pretty straightforward American — steaks, chops, chicken — and you got the feeling the cuisine was of secondary importance to the libations.  But the meals were served efficiently by real, professional waiters (no aspiring actors allowed) and the whole place had a cramped, wonderful sense of Old Hollywood history. Nickodell’s closed with some fanfare in the eighties.  News crews showed up the last week, as did everyone who’d ever eaten there and wanted a last meal and a souvenir ash tray.  But then it suffered the ignominious fate of completely disappearing.  Paramount just moved some fences around and suddenly, not only was Nickodell’s not there but you couldn’t even see where the building had been.  When I drive by now, I think I know where it used to be…but I’m not sure.

Nikabob – 875 S. Western Ave. The art-deco style restaurant/lounge was named after a guy named Nick and Bob Cobb of the Brown Derby.

90-90 Club – 9090 W. Washington Blvd, Culver City. (WWII era) Probably opened in 1940, fire in 1943, sold to new owners who renamed it Jack London Inn, which burned to the ground in 1948.

New York Café – 6413 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood

The None Such Cafeteria, 629 S. Main St, Los Angeles, Supposedly the first cafeteria in Los Angeles, opened 1909. “Open all day – All meat orders 5 cents – All vegetables 3 cents – Coffee 3 cents – and all other good things to eat at the lowest prices.”

Normandie French Restaurant – 108 W. Olympic Boulevard. As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “First class French food served in a quiet, conservative atmosphere.”

The Office – 1648 Vine St, Hollywood, just south of Hollywood and Vine, just north of Brown Derby, (circa 1940s and ‘50s). Later (circa ‘60s to ‘80s (?)) became Firefly.

Ollie Hammond’s Steak House — 3683 La Cienega, across the street from where there’s now a Tony Roma’s.

Ollie Hammond’s was a great place to get a real meal at any hour of the day…at least until the place burned down.  When Kate Mantilini’s at Wilshire and Doheny opened up, it originally announced that it would emulate Ollie Hammond’s with the same menu and 24 hour service. Then it didn’t and I’m still feeling the disappointment. I really liked Ollie Hammond’s.  Its prime rib was great…and I always thought it took guts to have prime rib on your menu when you’re two doors down from Lawry’s.  The soup du jour seemed to always be a tomato concoction with ground beef and pasta noodles that people informally but not inaccurately called “spaghetti soup.”  On Sundays, they served a corned beef hash that still has folks salivating. Below is an unassembled matchbook cover from when Ollie Hammond’s had three locations in town and weren’t open 24 hours.  Until someone sent me this, I only knew about the one on La Cienega.  The one on Wilshire would have been near the Ambassador Hotel.  The one at Third and Fairfax would have been near me and I might be there right now having a steak or that great hash. http://www.povonline.com/larestaurants/larestaurants02.htm

Old Hickory Brick Kitchen. As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “branches in various parts of the city. A la carte only; specialty: barbequed spare ribs, chicken served with hot biscuits, honey, shoestring potatoes, a pail of water and a washcloth.”

Omar’s Dome, 463 S. Hill St, downtown L.A. Phone MAdison 4222

Open Door – The House of Ivy on Cahuenga was very popular in the 50s and 60s…There was also the Lafayette, which was just across the way from it. And then there was the Open Door, which was on the corner of Selma and Ivar…I also remember the Cherokee House in Hollywood…and Chee Chee’s on Figueroa…There were some others too like the Carousel, in Venice. That was one of the toughest….In the 30s and 40s it was considered quite chic to drop in at an after-hours “speakeasy” knows as Brothers, in the Central Ave area, near the Hotel Dunbar, where the city’s African-American nightlife flourished.  (11/37)

 

The Open Door (just across the street from the If Club) where lesbians blue-collar and pink-collar workers rubbed shoulders with prostitutes. (60/89)

Ontra Cafeterias
5555 Wilshire Blvd
1719 North Vine St
4137 South Crenshaw Blvd
757 South Vermont Ave

Ohrbach’s – Miracle Mile, Wilshire Boulevard. Was a moderate-priced department store with a merchandising focus primarily on clothing and accessories. From its modest start in 1923 until the chain’s demise in 1987, Ohrbach’s expanded dramatically after World War II, and opened numerous branch locations in the metro areas of New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles. Its original flagship store was located on Union Square in New York City, and they maintained home and administrative offices in Newark as well as in Los Angeles.

Original Barbecue – 801 S. Vermont Ave – Phone DUnkirk 9-2171 – opened 1936. – Brian Weiss bweiss@aol.com said: “See if anyone has info/remembers the Original BBQ on Vermont, I believe just south of the 10 freeway. The parking lot was around the corner. Huge rotisseries in the window with ribs (the best) and chicken always going around, and around. My father was a watchmaker and worked for a jeweler not far away. Our family going to eat at Original BBQ was almost as special as a trip to King’s Tropical Inn! And yes, the latter WAS without question the best chicken. Ever. I know it was there through the late 60s, because when I was a student at UCLA and living in Santa Monica, I’d occasionally get a craving for Original ribs and down the 10 I’d go. Even then, the neighborhood was funky, but it was worth the risk.

Oscar’s drive-in restaurants – 12 locations around San Diego with four in Los Angeles: Lakewood, Buena Park, Van Nuys, Panorama City.

Pacific Isle Lounge, 936 W. Washington Blvd, Los Angeles – Phone PR 8291, RI 4021 – Banquet rooms, ballroom, Rodger Young Auditorium

Pacific Ocean Park – the perpetual, mist-shrouded carnival that rambled along the length of the Ocean Park pier, in Santa Monica. (78/175) Opened July 1958, closed October 1967 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ocean_Park

Pacific Turkish Baths – 4^th & Hill St, downtown Los Angeles. Phone F-2553, Main 3468. “Bath and Bed $1. Hot room, steam room and plunge, open day and night. Baths: Turkish, Russia, Shower, Cabinet, Tub

Pago Pago – 131 East First Street, Long Beach. Phone 678-170

Palace de Glace – Melrose Ave, ice skating rink. (Burned down)

The Palomar – a massive ballroom, nearly a block long, on Vermont at 2^nd and 3^rd. Opened 1936. (40/140, 155) The Palomar was built in 1925; then known as the El Patio Ballroom, it boasted being “the largest and most famous dance hall on the West Coast.” Many VIPs, including a number from the film industry, attended its opening. A few years later, it was renamed the Rainbow Gardens Formerly known as the Rainbow Gardens. Where Benny Goodman got his big break during late Summer 1935. In the late 1930s, weekday prices were 40 cents for ladies and 65 cents for men. Closed when it burned down 02 OCT 38, sending 1500 dancers scrambling for the exits. (40/181)

Legend has it this is where the “swing era” started, specifically on Aug. 21, 1935, when Benny Goodman and his band began a three-week engagement there. Goodman’s combo, which had appeared on the NBC Saturday night program “Let’s Dance” earlier that year (his segment had aired at 9:30 p.m. in the West, 12:30 a.m. in the East), had experienced mixed success on its subsequent nationwide tour. But they were received more warmly at several western stops — Salt Lake City, Oakland and San Francisco — and the Palomar stay made it evident that young audiences (who had become Goodman fans from the radio show) simply loved this band and its Fletcher Henderson arrangements. “Swing” rapidly rocketed in the musical lexicon. (Ten tracks from a radio broadcast the following evening, Aug. 22, can be heard on the CD “Benny Goodman — On The Air: Original 1935-36-38 Broadcasts.”)

The Palomar had been successful for a few years, but now, as the de facto West Coast capital of swing, it really took off. Many bands performed there, including Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Dick Jurgens, Glen Gray, Will Osborne, Jimmy Dorsey and Isham Jones.

http://www.latimemachines.com/new_page_42.htm Boasted an Arabian decor (47/329)

See also: Palomar Ballroom

See also: http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/484127.html

Palms Grill
5931 Hollywood Boulevard
Shown here in 1937

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “One of the few good outdoor restaurants in Los Angeles. Indoor dining room also.”

Pan Pacific Auditorium– 7600 Beverly Blvd. – Built in 1935 for expositions, auto shows, ice revues, and concerts. (25/90) In 1957 Elvis Presley appeared before 9000 fans in his gold lame suit.

Originally built as part of a major exposition complex in Gilmore Island bounded by Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Ave., the auditorium was one of several major sports and entertainment buildings. Next came Gilmore Field (1939), Pacific Theater (1946) and the Gilmore Drive-In (1948) all of which were gone by 1989. See also my collection of Pan Pacific Auditorium photos.

Pan Pacific Bowling Lanes – 7568 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles.

(Jimmy O’Neill’s) Pandora’s Box – Sunset Boulevard – Teen and young adult hangout in the 50s(?) (Vanity Fair, March 2009)

Pantages Theater – 6233 Hollywood Blvd. Opened June fourth, 1930 with MGM’s The Floradora Girl staring Marion Davies (when its owner was serving a prison sentence for raping a 17 year old girl in the mezzanine office of the downtown Pantages – he was later acquitted on the appeal- 63/92). Acquired in 1949 by Howard Hughes who changed the name to RKO Pantages and he kept an office on the second floor (108/49). Academy Awards held there from 1949 to 1956.

Panza’s Lazy Susan Restaurant – on Fountain at La Brea Ave.

Paradise Club – lesbian venue (60/89)

Paramount Italian Kitchen, 1617 N. Vine St, Hollywood / 6270 Sunset Blvd, Phone HI 0338
also at 2015 West Seventh Street, Los Angeles

Paris Inn – Downtown L.A. near City Hall. Opened New Year’s Eve 1924. (40/43)110 East Market St., Bert Rovere, owner and manager, Innocente Pedroli, co-owner. Later moved to 210 E. Market, then 845 N. Broadway.
As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ : “Dinner from 5.30pm. Orchestra. Dancing. Floor shows 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Separate bar. A rather unusual bar and singing waiters. Closed Sundays.”

Party Pad – lesbian bar (1940s/50s?) on Vermont Ave (60/91)

Patrone Restaurant – 829 N. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, Phone Olympia 2-9209 – European cuisine. We serve Special Antipasto Maison as an appetizer. Specialty of the house, Scampi, prepared by owner-chef, Angelo Patrone. Open 5:30 to 11PM. Closed Mondays.

Paulais Café, Hollywood Boulevard, 1920s, next to Grauman’s Egyptian theater

Peacock Alley, 3188 W. Eighth Street, downtown Los Angeles.

Perino’s Restaurant – 4101 Wilshire Blvd., Near the corner of Wilshire and Western. Opened 1932, closed 1969. (6/169) (First location at 3927 Wilshire which used to be the failed Hi-Hat restaurant (47/34) Perino sold it in 1969 and finally it closed in 1985. (49/36) Perino’s was opposite the Ambassador Hotel, near the original Brown Derby. None of the Garden of Allah crowd went to that Brown Derby. They preferred the one in Beverly Hills or on Vine St.The original restaurant opened on that location was the Hi-Hat opened as an upscale café by Derby owner Herbert Somborn, but it didn’t work.  (40/57) (49/35)

Perino’s, on Wilshire, was opened by people who had been associated with Victor Hugo’s and it quickly established a reputation for providing the best food in Los Angeles. It was probably the one restaurant patronized by the movie colony that could have been set down in New York or London without seeming out of place: the ambiance was conservative and the service excellent by any standard. (41/316) Perino’s was a white-glove, European-style, restaurant presided over by the courtly Alexander Perino and favored by Los Angeles society. (48/12) After joining the Plaza Hotel in New York, he worked his way up to captain and then maitre d’, then shifted coasts in 1925. Following a stint at Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel he became head waiter at Victor Hugo’s in Beverly Hills, then considered the finest restaurant in the city. Perino, though, decided he could run a better place and opened his own in 1932. Pink-toned dining room. No garlic used – Perino hated it. Menu changed daily, always including some authentic Italian fare. (49/35)

As listed in the ‘Los Angeles Guide, 1941’ :
Perino’s Restaurant – 3927 Wilshire Boulevard. Table d’hote and a la carte. Specialties include scallopini of veal, chicken curry, crepes suzette, and strawberry Italienne.
Perino’s Roof – 9600 Wilshire Blvd (Saks Fifth Ave) Luncheon, tea, dinner. A la carte only. Elegant atmosphere, notable cuisine.

Perino’s at Saks Fifth Avenue:

 

Pickwick Bookstore, 6743 Hollywood Blvd. Opened 1931, closed 1995.

Pig ‘n Whistle – 6714 Hollywood Boulevard. Opened 22JUL27 adjacent to the Egyptian Theater. Full name: Pig ‘N Whistle’s Contribution to Filmland, A Bit of Romance. Tomato soup was a specialty. (66/186)

Pink Club – lesbian venue in the Valley (60/89)

Pirates Den – On May 3, 1940, a celebrity-owned restaurant opened up at 335 N. La Brea, right where the Bob Hope Health Center is today. And guess what? Hope was one of the owners of the Pirates Den. Other owners, according to the book Out With the Stars: Hollywood Nightlife in the Golden Era, were Bing Crosby, Fred MacMurry, Jimmy Fiddler, Johnny Weissmuller, Ken Murray, Rudy Vallee, Tony Martin, Errol Flynn, and Vic Erwin. Quite a line up. On any night, though, the waiters dressed as pirates and their manager carried a bullwhip to enforce discipline in his crew. Mock battles were staged and female patrons abducted & held in the brig until they screamed–at which point, they were released with a scream diploma. The bar, btw, was called the Skull and Bones Bar. The Victualling Blog credits Don Dickerman, a pirate fanatic, with opening Pirates Dens in NYC, Miami, and Washington DC, and with being the actual operator of the restaurant on La Brea. http://historylosangeles.blogspot.com/2011/03/pirates-den.html

Pirate’s Den – 335 N. La Brea Ave. Advertised as the “Jolliest, most unique and colorful rendezvous in the whole cock-eyed world. Had a bottle throwing gallery, the Skull & Bones bar, and a dance floor. (67/74)

See also: PIRATES’ DEN

Pixie Town – Beverly Drive – where young girls bought their first good dress. (50s?) (Vanity Fair, March 2009)

P.J.’s – 8151 Santa Monica Boulevard. Phone 656-9333. Dancing and entertainment.

Plantation Café – 7600 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City. Opened by Fatty Arbuckle on 02AUG1928. Designed by Cedric Gibbons from MGM. Was a huge success at first but by 1930 the Depression had hit and he sold his interest. http://nfo.net/usa/niteclub.htm (40/31) See also 61/70.

On opening night, Mabel Normand sent her former co-star a life-sized model of himself made of flowers. Her husband, Lew Cody, emceed the show while Tom Mix led the orchestra. Some of the first-nighters were Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Snr, Buster Keaton, the three Talmadge Sisters, Harry Langdon, Ruth Roland, Bebe Daniels and directors James Cruze and Marshall Neilan. Another night Al Jolson sang 30 songs in a row. John Barrymore and Jack Coogan worked together in a comedy routine. Fanny Brice and Leatrice Joy did turns on other evenings. Even mogul Jack Warner was once induced to sing for Fatty. (63/15-16)

http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml says Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was on top of the world in 1921. As a comedian he was second only to Chaplin in worldwide popularity, and he had just signed a multi-million dollar contract with Paramount which gave him complete creative control over his films. But it all came crashing down later that year when he threw a wild weekend party at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. One of the partygoers, a starlet named Virginia Rappe, became ill and later died, and Arbuckle was charged with manslaughter. The nation’s newspapers played up the Arbuckle affair and kept it on the front pages through three successive trials, the first two of which ended in a hung jury. In the third trial Arbuckle was acquitted, but his career was ruined. It is now believed that Rappe died as a result of a botched abortion and that the comedian was victimized by the tabloid press, ambitious lawyers, and Hollywood figures who were jealous of his success.

Slowly, Arbuckle began to pick up the pieces. He managed to direct a few films under the pseudonym of William B. Goodrich, and on August 2, 1928, he launched the Plantation Cafe on the western edge of Culver City. Cedric Gibbons, head of the MGM art department, designed the decor without charging a fee, and many of Arbuckle’s famous friends came out to congratulate him on the opening. Buster Keaton, Chaplin, Pickford and Fairbanks, Tom Mix, Bebe Daniels, Harry Langdon, Marshall Neilan, Ruth Roland, and the three Talmadge sisters provided the evening’s entertainment, and an ailing Mabel Normand (in one of her last public appearances) presented Arbuckle with a life-sized likeness of himself modeled in flowers.
For over a year the Plantation was the hottest spot in town, and its stage gave Arbuckle the performing outlet he so desperately needed. But along came the Depression, and the club seemed to empty overnight. Unable to deal with this latest bout of ill-fortune, Arbuckle sold his interest in 1930, and the Plantation closed soon afterwards. The comedian died in New York three years later.

The Plantation, 1930 S. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles

The Players – 8225 Sunset Boulevard opposite Garden of Allah. Opened by Preston Sturges quietly during the Summer of 1940. He would close it when he wanted to entertain his pals. Closed 1953 (16/77) (40/191) (49/49) (61/77)

The Players Club almost opposite Garden of Allah was owned by playwright Preston Sturges who lost most of his money on it. It resembled a Swiss Chalet (1/82) Bogart often went there, often with Mayo. It had a small theater at the top. Howard Hughes often dined at the top floor before it became a theater. Of often dined alone, at the start of his hibernation. (1/82)

The restaurant was on two levels and when, after the first season, it showed a loss, Sturges closed it and substituted a music and dance area called the Playroom which had a gala opening in the first part of 1942. Writers and stars made it a home base, and it flourished with regulars Howard Hughes, Barbara Stanwyck, Orson Welles, and Bogie. Superb food was its trademark and the Blue Room its formal dining.

Named after the New York theatrical club…Through its various costly face-lifts, The Players eventually grew to include a barber shop and a dinner theater cum nightclub known as “The Playroom”. After the play ended, the room, with the push of a button, was transformed: the floor leveled to become a supper club with an orchestra in a revolving stage. Regulars included Bogie, Chaplin, Stanwyck, Rudy Vallee, Joel McCrea, William Wyler, William Faulkner. Sturges held court every night. Howard Hughes frequently dined there alone or with a starlet. (49/49)

Writer-director Preston Sturges was Hollywood’s premier satirist of the ’40s, with such comic gems as The Great McGinty (1940), The Lady Eve (1941), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944), and Hail The Conquering Hero (1944) to his credit. But that was just his day job. By night he was a commanding presence on the Sunset Strip as Hollywood’s most eccentric club-owner.

Sturges opened The Players here in 1940 in an attempt to bring some sophistication to the local nightlife. The son of wealthy socialites, Sturges was well connected with the East’s uppercrust; and millionaires from Boston to Chicago came here to drool over pretty young starlets. The entertainment and literary crowds were represented as well. Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Orson Welles, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallee, William Wyler, Howard Hughes, William Faulkner, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, and Donald Ogden Stewart all got bent on The Players’ drinks, which were said to be the most potent in town. Sturges held the cast parties for his movies here, and this was also where he married his fourth wife, Anne Margaret Nagle.

At its peak during WWII, The Players was a three-level extravaganza with a restaurant on each floor, a barber shop on the mezzanine level, and a dinner theatre/dance floor with a revolving, hydraulic stage. Sturges later added a burger stand for the tourist trade and made such zany improvements as tables that swiveled out to provide easier access to the booths. His plans to install a helicopter pad so fresh fish could be flown in were dropped only after the neighbors threw a fit.

Sturges may have been a genius behind the camera, but he was no businessman. He regarded The Players as his private domain and closed its doors to the public whenever he wanted to be alone with his friends, which was often. He had customers thrown out just because he didn’t like their looks, and the regulars had to contend with their host’s caustic wit. Needless to say, The Players never broke even, but Sturges kept pouring money into it even after his movie career nosedived in the late ’40s.

By 1953 Hollywood had written Sturges off as an alcoholic has-been, and the burger stand was the only part of The Players still open for business. Screenwriter Earl Fenton recalled seeing Sturges serving the greasy burgers himself, wearing a tattered dinner jacket, and “making loud, drunken jokes about how the mighty had fallen.”

Soon afterwards, The Players was sold out from under Sturges by his creditors.
Then became Imperial Gardens and Later the Roxbury and Miyagi’s.
http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1996/winter/hollywoodhotspots.shtml

The following description was given to me by someone whose architect father did remodeling and design work for the Hollywood Reporter’s Billy Wilkerson, as well as Preston Sturges’ The Players club:

Interior of Players…there was a roof patio where diners could sit…umbrellas for the lunch crowd, no umbrellas for evenings.  Two longish interior rooms at same level (to the left as you look at exterior photo) as patio, white tablecloths for four-tops and such, and on the walls, shadow box models of sailing ships in glassed frames (burgundy with gold piping) above each table.  Very restrained decor, vaguely gentleman’s club in tone.  The maître d’ was almost too elegant to share the same airspace, but the waiters were gabby enough to explain what each dish was (soufflé potatoes, profiteroles and the like).  My favorite dinner was a starter of marinated herring, rare roast beef, those glorious potatoes, and for dessert, a Napoleon from the pastry tray.

The Players Motor Hotel, 777 N. Vine Street, Hollywood 38, California

Phelps-Terkel – 5550 Wilshire Blvd. Opened in 1923 by Richard B. Terkel & David S. Phelps, became part of the Phelps-Wilger chain in the 1960s, with several LA locations. Later became Phelps-Meager, then just Phelps, closed 1992.

Playtime Theater, 1642 North Las Palmas, Hollywood.

Pokey’s coffee shop Corner of Beverly Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard

20/218 – Even before Prohibition became federal law in June 1919, local laws had severely cramped public nightlife in Los Angeles, most municipalities forbidding dancehalls and nightclubs to serve liquor. To drink, listen and dance to a first rate band with Paul Whiteman playing violin, it was necessary to drive out to the Vernon Country Club, a ranch-style building surrounded by beet fields, where Valentino worked as a tango dance when he first arrived in California. And on the private circuit, Nazimova created the movie colony’s first salon. Pickfair didn’t open its doors until 1926, the same year that Hearst and Marion Davies began entertaining at Ocean House, in Santa Monica.

Prohibition era speakeasies in the Culver City area: (40/25)

• The DooDoo Inn
• The Kit Kat Club
• Monkey Farm
• Hoosegow (on Washington)
• Club Royale
• Harlow’s Café
• Midnight Frolics
• The Sneak Inn – Washington Boulevard

After hours snacks could be had at:

• the Chicken Roost (5738 Washington)
• the Lighthouse
• Tommy Ryan’s Diner
• Fil’m Hut Tea Room
• King’s Tropical Inn (Washington and Adams, Culver City) had a jungle look in the 20s and then a Polynesian look in the 30s when the Mainland-to-Hawaii route opened up. (40/156)

Pucci Café – 1760 N. Vermont Ave. Opened in 1937 and in the 1950s became the Dresden Room. http://www.latimemachines.com/new_page_5.htm

Roy Harlow’s Pump Room, 13003 Venture Blvd, Studio City

The Pup at 12728 Washington Blvd, Venice (circa 1940s)
Not to be confused with the Bulldog Café at 1153 West Washington Blvd (opened 1928)

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