It’s not often that we get a peek into the daily working life of a top movie star, so this shot is quite rare. It was Bette Davis’s dressing room on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank. I would have expected something a little more elaborate. After all, Marion Davies had an 11-room bungalow at the same studio. But then again, Bette didn’t have America’s richest man in her arm. But in a way, I think it does reflect Bette’s no-nonsense, straight-forward approach to how she lived her life. Still, the upholstery does match the curtains around the vanity, which also matches the drapes bracketing the window, as well as the counter beneath it. And unless I’m mistaken, I think the top of that stool is also covered in the same material. Wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on that wall?
Bette Davis’s dressing room on the Warner Bros studio lot, Burbank, California
The premiere of MGM’s “Queen Christina” starring Greta Garbo at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, February 9, 1934
This particular night – February 9, 1934 – would have been a big one for Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and MGM as it was a premiere for “Queen Christina” starring Greta Garbo. To the right of the theater behind the movie fans we can see huge letters lit up: “GARBO.” Usually the readerboard features the name of the movie, but Garbo was such a big star that simply her surname sufficed. Above her name was also “Sid Grauman Prologue” which refers to the five-scene live 40-minute prologue that preceded the movie during its six-week run. Oh, and audiences were also treated to a Walt Disney cartoon short called “The Grasshopper and the Ants.” Movie-goers sure got their money’s worth. You can get more information on graumanschinese.org
Apparently Garbo’s name is all you really need. The movie’s title is MUCH smaller in this ad than her name. And get a load of who was there that night!
And here is a day-time shot of Grauman’s Chinese taken during the run of “Queen Christina”:
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Tagged Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, MGM, Movie Premiere, Movie Stars, Night photo, Theaters
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The Foy House in its original location on the northwest corner of Figueroa and Seventh Streets, downtown Los Angeles, 1919
The corner of Figueroa and Seventh Streets in downtown Los Angeles is an always-busy intersection due, in part, to there being a Metro subway stop on the northeast corner. But back in 1919, when this photo was taken, the skyscrapers that now would have been unimaginable. Instead, this is what Angelenos saw on the northwest corner. It is the Foy house, built in the early 1870s, by Samuel Calvert Foy, whose father laid out the grounds of the White House and the Capitol. His daughter, Mary, was the first woman to serve as Los Angeles city librarian. Judging by the signs in their front yard, the Foys had a side hustle of selling Christmas trees.
Remarkably, the Foy house still exists. It has stood in four different locations, and you can now see it at 1325 Carroll Ave in Angelino Heights, where it is L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument No. 8. This image is from December 2017.
This is how the corner looks nowadays. This image is from February 2021.
Looking east along Wilshire Blvd from Westmoreland Ave, Los Angeles, 1928
In this photo, we’re looking east along Wilshire Blvd from Westmoreland Ave in 1928, when it seems there was plenty of room for all the motorists heading into downtown Los Angeles. What makes this photo memorable is that the home on the right with the line of trees out front would soon be razed to make way for the Bullocks Wilshire department store, which opened in September 1929. At this time, Wilshire was lined with grand homes, so that house was probably quite lovely, but in its place, L.A. acquired an instant architectural icon that’s still with us today.
Susan M. says: “I remember stately homes along Wilshire in the early 30s. People thought we lived in the country being as we were above Sunset out in Beverly Hills and had stables, chickens, an orchard and large veggie garden. Both the Wilshire corridor and land above Sunset out our way and beyond out in Brentwood, began to change really fast in the 30s, despite the Depression. The real building boom in our area came in ’38-’40. The Hills became fashionable vs living in the flats. Wilshire became mostly commercial when I was a kid. I remember shopping at Bullocks Wilshire in the early 30s. Lunch with a Tues fashion show, the “by appointment” dept and the fur salon were my fav things about Bullocks. And oh yes, walking on the floors with tiles in my patent leather shoes with the taps on their soles!”
Roughly the same view in March 2021:
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Tagged Bullocks Wilshire, Stores and Shopping, Wilshire Blvd
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Looking west along Hollywood Blvd from Las Palmas Ave, Hollywood, 1925
In this 1925 photo, we’re reminded how tranquil Hollywood Blvd was back then. We’re looking west from La Palmas Ave, with the Paulais Café on the southwest corner, Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre next door (opened 1922) and the Hotel Christie (also opened 1922) next to that. Nearly 100 years later, the Egyptian is now owned by Netflix, and the hotel is now a church of Scientology building, but this view hasn’t drastically changed.
This is roughly the same view from December 2020.
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Tagged Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hotels, Restaurants, Theaters
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Collection of photographs of the Brown Derby restaurant on Wilshire Blvd at Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles
When people think of the Brown Derby restaurant, they usually think of the original one, shaped like an actual brown derby hat, or the one on Vine Street in Hollywood, which attracted a A-list Hollywood crowd. But there was also a third Brown Derby, which opened in 1931 at the corner of Wilshire Blvd and Rodeo Drive. This one was popular with the Beverly Hills crowd, so it was busiest on Thursday nights which was the traditional maid’s night off. (In 1940, a 4th location at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd in Los Feliz. It also included a “drive-in” called the Car Café.)
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Tagged Beverly Hills, Brown Derby restaurant, Color photo, Night photo, Restaurants
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Collection of photographs of Schwab’s Pharmacy, 8024 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles
In 1932, the Schwab brothers (Bernard, Leon, and Martin) opened a second pharmacy at 8032 Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. Their first was in downtown Los Angeles on 6th Street, with subsequent locations at 6255 Hollywood Blvd, 430 N. Roxbury Dr, and 401 N. Bedford Dr. They chose the Sunset Blvd location because it had already been a drugstore, so it required minimal investment on their part. It was also close to the movie studios. This proved to be a smart move because Schwab’s Pharmacy on Sunset Blvd quickly became one of the most popular and famous meeting places in all Los Angeles, especially with the movie crowd.
Here are some of the photos I’ve collected over the years:
Advertisement for Schwab’s Pharmacy in Hollywood Low-Down, May 1935:
The above photo was taken during the construction of Googie’s Coffee Shop next door at at 8100 Sunset Boulevard in the very late 1940s.
The next two photos were taken during the 1950s remodel and expansion.
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Tagged Color photo, Night photo, Restaurants, Schwab's Pharmacy, Stores and Shopping, Sunset Blvd
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Humphrey Bogart’s platform shoes worn during the making of “Casablanca.” (1942)
The chaotic filming of Casablanca was only one reason why Humphrey Bogart wasn’t in a happy place in 1942. Another reason was that his marriage to Mayo Methot was foundering on the rocks so badly they were known around Los Angeles as “the Battling Bogarts. But I’m sure the necessity of his wearing three-inch wooden platforms didn’t help his mood. His co-star, Ingrid Bergman, was five foot nine, so several inches needed to be added to his stature because having a Hollywood hero shorter than his leading lady broke every rule in the Hollywood Myth-making rule book.
See also my novel set against the making of Casablanca: ALL THE GIN JOINTS – a novel of World War II Hollywood.
The Rose mansion on the southeast corner of Grand Ave and 4th Street, downtown Los Angeles, 1888
Once upon a time—and by that I mean the late 1800s—downtown Los Angeles—in other words “Los Angeles” because that’s all there was—became dotted with magnificent homes. This particular one was known as the Rose mansion, named after J.L. Rose, whose 1,900 acre property in Pasadena became famous for its vineyards whose vines were imported from Spain, Italy and Peru. Rose’s enormous success made him a very wealthy man, hence his mansion on the southeast corner of Grand Avenue and 4th Street. It cost $50,000 to build in 1888, which is when this photo was taken.
The mansion had fallen into disrepair by the 1930s and was gone in 1950s. These days, that corner no longer even exists. 4th Street is now an underpass. Here’s what it looks like nowadays. This image is from March 2021.
Aerial photograph looking south up Coldwater Canyon from Ventura Blvd, Studio City, California, 1925.
This aerial photograph from 1925 was taken looking south toward the Hollywood Hills from the San Fernando Valley. The straight road leading into the hills on the right is Coldwater Canyon Avenue and is still one of the main roads between the valley and Los Angeles. These days, of course, most of that empty land is now filled in. That golf course to the left of Coldwater Canyon Ave is now Harvard-Westlake School, a private (and I assume very expensive) 7 through 12 high school.
The golf course was called the Hollywood Country Club and you can read more about it here.
This aerial shot from 2021 shows how filled in the land now is.
