This is something I’d never heard of. Pictured here is a rally held at the Hollywood Bowl on the night of July 19, 1939. The rally was in support of a movement called Moral Re-Armament. It was an international moral and spiritual movement started in 1938 by an American minister named Frank Buchman. He was convinced that military rearmament alone would not resolve the military crisis looming in Europe. He felt that the crisis is a moral one and could be solved by civilization recovering its moral center. How nice it would have been if he had achieved his goals but I’m heartened to see that 30,000 Angelenos turned out to support his message.“The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, April 12, 1956
It looks like the weather didn’t cooperate the night of the “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on April 12, 1956. Still, it didn’t stop the parade of glamor – graumanschinese.org lists over 30 stars who attended that night. I love how 20th Century-Fox added to the marquee that they were presenting the movie in “HI-FI” STEREOPHONIC SOUND. In 1956, the studios were still waging war against their nasty stepchild, television, so any way they could get butts on seats was fair game.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 20th Century-Fox, Color photo, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Movie Premiere, Night photo
2 Comments
Original Brown Derby restaurant, 3427 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles with circa late 1920s
Most photos we see of the “original” Brown Derby on Wilshire Blvd is actually its second location at 3377 Wilshire Blvd. But from 1926 to 1937, it sat at 3427 Wilshire between Mariposa & Alexandria. With that fine circa 1928 La Salle parked out front (and note: it’s the ONLY car parked on Wilshire!) I think we can date this to the late 1920s. I wish I could see all of that billboard. It’s advertising some sort of sideways-shining headlights: “Lights the turns before you make them.”
*** UPDATE ***
It looks like the billboard was advertising the Pilot-Ray safety lamp. You can learn more about it here.
Metro Pictures studio lot, 6300 Romaine St, Hollywood, Hollywood, circa 1924
Though mainly remembered now for being the first name in the three-way merger that became the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer behemoth in 1925, Metro Pictures was a reasonably big deal in the early 1920s, especially after Marcus Loew bought it in 1919 to supply his sprawling theater chain. They were the home studio of Alla Nazimova and Rudolph Valentino, as well as Lilian Gish, Ramon Novarro, Jackie Coogan, and Wallace Beery. This photo is of the front gate at 6300 Romaine St, Hollywood is circa 1924, just prior to Loew merging it with Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Productions
Below is an aerial photo of Hollywood probably taken at around this time. The Metro Pictures Studio is in red and its neighbor, the Buster Keaton Studio is in blue. It shows how sparsely developed Hollywood still was at the time.
Metro Pictures main gate as seen from the air:
In the upper left corner of the aerial shot of the studio lot we can see what I’m guessing is the backlot set for Beyond the Rocks starring Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. That movie filmed in January and February of 1922. It was while filming this picture that Valentino met Natacha Rambova in Alla Nazimova’s office on the studio lot. He was covered in flakes of mica, which was used as snow during filming.
Premiere of MGM’s “The Broadway Melody” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Blvd, February 1, 1929
I guess every movie premiere is a big deal in its own way but this night captured here was an extra big deal: the world premiere of “The Broadway Melody” which was MGM’s first all-talking movie that paved the way for all those marvelous MGM musicals to come. It was 1929’s top grossing film and the first first one to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. According to http://www.graumanschinese.org/1929.html the premiere also featured a 12-part prologue(!) that included an overture, a performance of “Rhapsody in Blue”, dance acts, singers, and a ballet. And that was before the audience settled into see the movie!
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, MGM, Movie Premiere, Night photo, Theaters
1 Comment
Window shopping for Easter hats at the Broadway department store at Hollywood and Vine, Los Angeles circa 1940s
In this circa 1940s photo of a woman window shopping at a department store, there are several things we don’t see anymore: She’s browsing outside the Broadway department store at Hollywood and Vine; the display she’s looking at is for Easter hats; she’s wearing a coat with a fur-lined collar and her stockings have seams up the back; reflected in the window glass we can see the semaphore traffic lights and the sign for the Melody Lane restaurant that occupied the northwest corner from 1940 to 1955. But the real question is: did she go inside and buy a new Easter bonnet?
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Easter, Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Blvd, Stores and Shopping
2 Comments
Architectural rendering of the Hollywood Center planned to replace the Hollywood Hotel at Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave, Herald Examiner Aug. 25, 1949
Well now, this is something I’ve never come across. The Hollywood Hotel at Hollywood and Highland was razed in 1956 and replaced with the couldn’t-be-more-boring First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Hollywood office building. But apparently that wasn’t always the plan. On August 25,1949, the Herald Examiner ran this architectural rendering of the Hollywood Center project which included a new Hollywood Hotel, apartment building, office building and retail section. In this photo, Hollywood Blvd runs at an angle along the right hand side leading toward the white Hollywood First National Bank building, which, amazingly, is still around.
Prospect Ave (Hollywood Boulevard), Hollywood, circa 1903
Although I’ve seen photos of early Hollywood, it’s still hard to imagine it was every this sparse. This photo is circa 1903 and was taken on the grounds of Hollywood High School, which would have opened around this time. We’re looking north to the Hollywood Hills. The white stripe in the middle is Orchid Ave which runs into the hills around back of where Yamashiro is now. The buildings we can see line Prospect Ave, which we know as Hollywood Blvd. The one on the far right is the Hollywood Hotel, which would have only just opened. It’s funny to think of it as a country retreat!
Looking north up Vine Street toward Hollywood Boulevard from the roof of the Brown Derby Restaurant, circa 1949
This is a view of Hollywood and Vine that we rarely get: from the roof of the Brown Derby restaurant. From this angle we can see two things I’ve never noticed before. The “The” in the sign is at an angle (how have I never noticed that?) And there is fancy ornamentation around the outside of the top part of the sign. Judging by the back up of traffic, I’d say something was going on along Hollywood Blvd – a parade, perhaps? I bet those motorists wished they had SigAlerts in 1949.
CBS Radio Playhouse and Mike Lyman’s Play House, 1615 Vine St, Hollywood, circa 1942
In 1936, CBS took over what had started out as the Wilkes Vine St. Theatre, which presented live plays, and then became the Mirror and then Studio Theatre, which showed movies. From 1936, CBS broadcast their popular and long-running Lux Radio Theatre radio anthology show. This photo was taken circa 1942 when the building also housed Millers of Hollywood and British Bootmakers. After the show, I’m sure a popular stop was right next door at Mike Lyman’s Play Room. I’m not positive but I think the photo was taken from under the awning of the Brown Derby.
See also: Mike Lyman’s Hollywood Grill and Huntington Hartford Theatre, Vine St, Hollywood, circa early 1950s
That same theater in 2018:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Hollywood, Restaurants, Stores and Shopping, Theaters
Leave a comment