Screenshot of a video showing the demolition of the Hollywood Hotel at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave, Hollywood, August 1956

Screenshot of a video showing the demolition of the Hollywood Hotel at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave, Hollywood, August 1956

Here is a screenshot I took while watching a YouTube posted by Vidstorical Films called “H.J. Whitley – The Father of Hollywood.” It caught my eye because the shot wasn’t just standard footage of the Hollywood Hotel, but it was taken while the venerable (but run-down) hotel was under demolition. That places it in the summer of 1956 when it fell to the wrecking ball to make way for the $10 million, twelve-story First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Hollywood building.

If you want to see the video, you can watch it here

The Savings & Loan building was in turn replaced by the Hollywood and Highland shopping mall. This is how that same corner looked in May 2022.

 

 

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Sioux Indians who appeared in “The Iron Horse” pose for publicity shots with a locomotive in the forecourt of the Egyptian Theater, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, 1925

Sioux Indians who appeared in The Iron Horse pose for publicity shots with a locomotive in the forecourt of the Egyptian Theater, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, 1925Real-life Native Americans aren’t what you expect to see when encountering publicity for a new Hollywood movie. However, it was a whole different story back when this photo was taken in 1925. These Sioux Indians appeared in “The Iron Horse” directed by John Ford, one of five movies he directed that year. It was about the post-Civil War building of the transcontinental railway, hence the name. I assume that’s the locomotive used in the movie because this photo was taken in the (long) forecourt of Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd. (I found this photo on the Los Angeles Theatres blog, which says the photo appears in a new book called “Hollywood’s Trains and Trolleys” which sounds like a must-have.”)

Advertisement for “The Iron Horse” playing at Grauman’s Egyptian Theater 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, 1925

Advertisement for The Iron Horse playing at Grauman's Egyptian Theater 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, 1925

180 boys from the YMCA on their way to the 1924 opening of “The Iron Horse” at Grauman’s Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. (AFI lists the New York opening as 28 August 1924, and its general release date as 4 October 1925)

180 boys from the YMCA on their way to the 1924 opening of "The Iron Horse" at Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood

 

 

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Looking north up Vine St past Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa early 1950s

Looking north up Vine St past Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa early 1950sMost photos I find are looking north up Vine St in Hollywood are taken standing at Sunset Blvd, so it’s nice to see this circa early 1950s one taken little farther south down the block. Not only can we see Wallichs music store, but also a place rarely photographed because photographers usually have their back to it: on the southwest corner of Sunset Blvd and Vine St stood the Radio City Pharmacy and Fountain Grill. It took on that name because opposite on the northeast corner were the NBC radio studios aka “Radio City.”

This is roughly the same view in May 2022.

 

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Movie fans gather on bleachers in front of the Pig’N Whistle Café next to the Egyptian Theatre for the premiere of MGM’s “Cass Timberlane,” Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, January 1948

Movie fans gather on bleachers in front of the Pig’N Whistle Café next to the Egyptian Theatre for the premiere of MGM’s “Cass Timberlane,” Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, January 1948Most 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.

 

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Aerial photo of the Santa Monica pier, Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles, 1924

Aerial photo of the Santa Monica pier, Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles, 1924Here we have an aerial photo of the Santa Monica pier from 1924. We can see the Looff Hippodrome. Built in 1916, it’s that square building with the tower. It houses the Looff’s carousel and is still there. Meanwhile, the Deauville Beach Club at the base of the pier hadn’t yet opened. Construction started in October 1926, but in this photo it’s still a regular bath house. From this bird’s-eye view, we can see how empty the land around Santa Monica was back then. My guess is that most of those large buildings were hotels for Angelenos to stay in when they made the trek all the way from downtown for some seaside holiday-making.

This is a satellite image of the pier from May 2022.

 

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Opening of the Great Southwest Market, 5800 S. Vermont Ave at Slauson Ave, Los Angeles, circa early 1920s

Opening of the Great Southwest Market, 5800 S. Vermont Ave at Slauson Ave, Los Angeles, circa early 1920sI do love finding Los Angeles area supermarket openings that resemble Hollywood movie premieres. This dramatic nighttime photo of the opening of the Great Southwest Market is no exception. This market stood at 5800 S. Vermont Ave, on the northeast corner with Slauson Ave. Those are some serious lights illuminating the store, along with speakers, too. It’s a gorgeously impressive building, especially with those circular windows set back from the outer wall. My friend who works at the Petersen Automotive Museum says that those vehicles silhouetted in the foreground are from the early 1920s.

** UPDATE ** – According to this article from the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, the grand opening was on Saturday, June 9th 1928:

And this sad scene is how that corner looked in September 2022.

 

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Seven men stand on the front of a locomotive chartered by Universal Pictures to publicize the opening of Universal City in Los Angeles, 1915

Seven men stand on the front of a locomotive chartered by Universal Pictures to publicize the opening of Universal City in Los Angeles, 1915On May 15, 1915, Carl Laemmle opened Universal City, home to his newly built Universal Pictures, a studio so large that it became its own city. To publicize the event, Universal chartered this train from New York to Los Angeles. I don’t know if that banner stayed in place for the whole journey (which back then would have taken nearly a week) or just when the train pulled into a town. Either way, I hope those seven men (studio executives or just extras?) didn’t have to stand there the whole way.

** UPDATE ** : Charles Hepperle from San Bernardino Depot Book and Video said: “The photo was taken at the Santa Fe depot in San Bernardino, CA. The Santa Fe locomotive was built by Baldwin in 1913. The red borders in the large photos show the enlargements below that have the same depot building and trees. Below are my comparison photos.”

He also adds: “1915 seems plausible for the photo year. I’m sure that the banner was only used for photo ops along the way. The photo in San Bernardino shows the train being westbound so it was probably near the end of the promo tour. It was probably a chartered train using most or all Pullman cars. Most likely it would have traveled from New York to Chicago (if that was the route) on another railroad then changed to the Santa Fe in Chicago. The locomotive wouldn’t have traveled the entire way — it could have been used from Albuquerque, NM or Barstow, CA to Los Angeles, CA but this is only my speculation.”

 

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Looking northeast along Aldebaran Canal, Venice, California, 1911

Looking northeast along Aldebaran Canal, Venice, California, 1911In this genteel, almost pastoral photo, we’re looking northeast along Aldebaran Canal in Venice, California. Developer Abbot Kinney opened Venice in 1905; this image was taken six years later, in 1911. We can see that quite a few homes had been built during the interim, giving the area more of a community feel. The difference here, of course, is that the main mode of transport around the area was but little boats that could fit under those pedestrian bridges. In time, the canals of Venice would be filled in; these days Aldebaran Canal is now known as Market Street.

This is roughly the same view up Market St as it looked in February 2021.

 

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Angelenos crowd the Olive Street sidewalk outside the Biltmore Hotel to see presidential hopeful, Alf Landon, downtown Los Angeles, 1936

Angelenos crowd the Olive Street sidewalk outside the Biltmore Hotel to see presidential hopeful, Alf Landon, downtown Los Angeles, 1936So many Angelenos turned out to see presidential hopeful Alf Landon that I wonder how many of these people actually saw the man who lost the most lopsided election in over 100 years. These people crowded the Olive Street sidewalk outside the Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA in the runup to the 1936 election in which Landon lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt by more than 10 million votes. But the people I really feel sorry for are the drivers behind the wheels of those cars caught in the middle of that mayhem. I hope they brought something to read because it’d be a while before they got home for dinner.

The Biltmore Hotel is still there, though it’s hard to see behind those shade trees. This image is from January 2023.

 

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Premiere of 20th Century-Fox’s “In Old Chicago” at the Four Star Theatre, 5112 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, 1938

Premiere of 20th Century-Fox’s “In Old Chicago” at the Four Star Theatre, 5112 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, 1938In 1938, 20th Century-Fox released “In Old Chicago” starring three of their biggest stars: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, and Don Ameche, so naturally they gave it a big, splashy premiere. For this one, they chose the Four Star Theatre at 5112 Wilshire Blvd. Though not as well remembered as the Grauman’s Chinese, Fox Westwood, or Carthay Circle, the Four Star launched many a movie. As we can see under the huge lit sign advertising the movie, they also set up bleachers for fans to watch their favorites stars arrive in that river of automobiles.

The Four Star was demolished in 2014. Currently on that site is an apartment building. This image is from July 2022.

 

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