I don’t have much information on this colorful photo of an Arabian Bazaar set up along the western side of Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles in 1950. However, I spy with my little eye a number of men on the sidewalk wearing red fezzes, so I assume this was part of a Shriner convention. That big yellow tent extends deeper into the square, so whatever was going on, was quite a big deal, by the looks of things.
Here’s a close-up of the sign. I’d like a ticket to the Motion Picture Electrical Pageant, please.
It’s not hard to see why photographers would regularly point their camera looking north up Vine Street through the Hollywood and Vine intersection. The spectacular Capitol Records building never fails to make a memorable backdrop—especially at night, when it’s all lit up. But that goes double when the vehicle passing is a bright yellow 1959 Pontiac. It’s great to look at, but all I can think of is what a pain it must have been to find a space to parallel park it.
The Fox Film Corporation really wanted Angelenos to know they were driving past their movie studios with this huge neon sign that stood on the southwest corner of Pico Blvd and Fox Hills Drive in Century City. The sign and that lovely ornamental tower (is that what you’d call?) heralded the original entrances to the studio. Fox Studios are still there, although vastly different from how they were when this photo was taken, but unfortunately the sign nor the tower are a distant memory. But I bet that sign was a sight to see when lit up at night.
Every time I see a vintage photo of a new LA freeway, it boggles my mind that any Southern California freeway could ever have been this empty. This shot was taken on September 13, 1957. The photographer was facing south on the Golden State Freeway (aka “the 5”) toward what is now the interchange with the Ventura Freeway (aka “the 134.”) With traffic so light, I guess anyone with a camera could just stop his car on the median strip and take a photo. In fact, he could have just walked across those lanes without risking his life!
I would imagine that by day, the Mark C. Bloome gas station and tire store on the southwest corner of Sunset Blvd and El Centro Ave in Hollywood would have been unremarkable. But come nightfall, with the lights switched on, it becomes an atmospheric setting for striking photograph, or perhaps even the opening scene for a film noir where murder is afoot in the 69-cent car wash.
Until I came across this aerial photo of the Hal Roach Studios at 8822 Washington Blvd in Culver City, I hadn’t even known it was there. Perhaps that’s because its neighbors—MGM and the Selznick studios—usually hogged the lion’s share of the attention. But from 1920, the Hal Roach studio produced shorts, movies, and television episodes until it fell into bankruptcy in 1959, and later demolished in 1963. That long administration building facing Washington Blvd is quite impressive, and reminds me of the Selznick admin building. I couldn’t find a date on this photo but I’m guessing it’s from the 1950s (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.)
In a still from a 1919 silent short called “Waiting at the Church,” we’re treated to an early view of La Brea Ave looking north from (I’m guessing) around Lexington Ave. Now a major north/south thoroughfare, back then La Brea was mostly a few houses and some overgrown grass. The white building directly above the head of the motorcyclist on the right is the then-new Charlie Chaplin studios at 1416 N. La Brea (now the Jim Henson Studios) which were built in 1918. And halfway up the hill at around the center of the image we can see the Bernheimer estate, which went up in 1913 and is now the Yamashiro Japanese restaurant.
Here we have the second movie premiere held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. (The first was Cecil B. DeMille’s “King of Kings.”) It took place on November 4, 1927, and was for “The Gaucho,” starring Douglas Fairbanks, which helps to explain the huge crowds gathered out front. The movie had a 12-week run, which was fairly typical back then. But the lucky people who got to attend the premiere (and who plunked down $5.50 for the privilege) were treated to a 12-part prologue put together by Sid Grauman himself. All in all, it must have been a thrilling night.
This image is a still taken from a 1924 silent short called “Lizzies of the Field.” This particular scene was captured somewhere on Glendower Ave which is the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, near Griffith Observatory. It offers us an elevated view of Hollywood off into the southwest distance. The building to the immediate right of the streetlight is the Taft building at Hollywood and Vine, and had only just opened the year before. Next to it is the Plaza Hotel at 1633 Vine St, which was under construction at the time, and didn’t open until October 15, 1925. In fact, from this image we can see that Hollywood already had a number of high-rises by the early 1920s. (Oh, and let’s not forget that cute rumble seat in back of that roadster!)