Historic Hollywood Sites

Discussion of the actors, directors and film-makers who 'made it all happen'
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moira finnie
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by moira finnie »

Lynn, I feel as though I'm on a luxury tour of Old Hollywood after reading through your great posts of recent weeks. Thanks so much for gathering us all around for your insightful accounts and tales of another time and world we'll never know.

Meet you at the Troc at around 1AM! I think I saw Wellman and Spence headed there. Maybe things will get interesting, huh? :)
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Rita Hayworth »

Lynn, I just got this from my agent ... he knows nothing about this particular photo. Is the "The Desert Club" has any historical significant in/or around Hollywood?

I just got this photo of Rita Hayworth and unknown Starlet around Poolside at the DESERT CLUB on any given day.
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Rita Hayworth at The Desert Club ... Summer 46
Rita Hayworth at The Desert Club ... Summer 46
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

Moira,

I'm glad that you and everyone else are enjoying my thread!

As for going to the Troc, I'm in.

Now we just need to find Mr. Peabody and that Way Back Machine!
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by knitwit45 »

Isn't that Jennifer Jones on the steps of the Desert Club pool????
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

Kingme,

I'm not aware of a Desert Club in Hollywood. But the Borrego Desert Club, down in La Quinta, was a very popular resort with Hollywood community. It opened in 1950 and the owners were hoping to make it another Palm Springs.

Perhaps, the photo was taken there?
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Rita Hayworth »

Lzcutter,

You are right on the nose! You've jarred my memory - it's the Borrego Desert Club because I remember Rita spending lot of time in La Quinta because she likes hanging out there to be some of her closest friends. When, you mentioned that the Borrego opened in 1950; looking at the picture here again ... this put the time that she visited this club around 1952 when she did AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD with Glenn Ford.

And, most of her pin up modeling shoots were at this Club and looking at my Pin Up Section again confirmed that. You made a big help in this and I appreciated your post here. I know can update my records accordingly.

Knitwit45 said
Isn't that Jennifer Jones on the steps of the Desert Club pool????


Everyone, my Agent got a hold of the seller of this photo that I acquired not so long ago and he confirmed that the lady with Rita Hayworth is none other than Jennifer Jones ... Knitty you are right and you have a good eye on things. I because of both of your help here; I now can update my records regarding this photo with confidence. :)

Thanks Lynn and Knitty for your humble assistance!
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

Here's Los Angeles in 1954 courtesy of Mr. Peabody's Wayback machine:

[youtube][/youtube]
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

Word from the TV Critics TV Tour is that TNT has picked up a pilot by former Walking Dead showrunner, Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption). Tentatively called LA Noir and based on the book of the same title by John Buntin, the show will revolve around the LAPD's attempts to bring mobster Mickey Cohen to justice.

There is also a movie starring Josh Brolin, The Gangster Squad that looks at that era as well. The production crew of Gangster Squad took over a defunct supermarket and built a replica of Slapsy Maxie's nightclub and Mickey's bookie operations.

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Set of The Gangster Squad built inside a former supermarket in Bellflower.

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The real Slapsy Maxie's in 1949.

Legend has it that former prize fighter Slapsy Rosenbloom was simply a front man for Cohen in the ownership of the nightclub. In reality, the nightclub was originally owned by famed men's fashionista, Sy Devore and his older brother, Al. Devore owned a very popular men's store on Vine near Sunset Blvd. As we've seen in previous posts in this thread, Vine Street was the west coast home to ABC and NBC's Radio broadcasts with CBS nearby. So, Devore's store was popular with the Hollywood crowd. Jerry Lewis has said that when he hit the big time he bought 100 suits in 1949 alone from Devore. Other customers included Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Bob Hope. He was also good friends with Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald so it was only natural that he would gravitate towards owning a nightclub.

Devore and Rosenbloom met because Slapsy was a frequent customer of the barber shop that was located in Devore's haberdashery.

So Sy and his brother bought themselves a nightclub and hired Slapsy to be the greeter. For a while, things were flush--Martin and Lewis made a big splash when they played the club, which also hosted performances by the likes of Jackie Gleason and Danny Thomas. Marti says that the Hollywood royalty who came by to see shows included Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, John Garfield, Darryl Zanuck and Sam Goldwyn.

But competition was stiff and by 1950 the club had fallen on hard times, forcing Sy and Al to sell. Mickey Cohen bought the nightclub and moved his bookie operations upstairs.

In Ben Hecht's memoir, "A Child of the Century." he recounts a story about the nightclub. In 1947, the Oscar-winning screenwriter teamed up with Cohen to stage a benefit for the state of Israel at the club. According to Hecht's account, Cohen told him that he would handle the invitations. All Hecht had to do was give a brief speech. When Hecht saw how many people showed up, all flush with cash, he suggested that maybe he didn't need to give a speech after all. Cohen's bodyguard replied: "The speech is what Mr. Cohen wants to hear."

So as Hecht tells the tale, "I addressed a thousand bookies, ex-prize fighters, gamblers, jockeys, touts and all sorts of lawless and semi-lawless characters; and their womenfolk." The hat was passed and with Cohen standing in the footlights, his ferocious glare serving as a warning to any welchers, the crowd ponied up $200,000. When Cohen complained that the bums should've given even more, his bodyguard told him: "You can quit crabbin'. We raised two hundred G's. Furthermore, we been here three hours and nobody's taken a shot at us."

Sounds like both the tv show and the movie could be interesting!

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Jimmy Rist, Sol Davis, Mickey Cohen and Mike Howard being booked by the LAPD on suspicion of murder.

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Mickey Cohen's house at 513 Moreno Avenue in the upscale neighborhood of Brentwood.
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

Speaking of post-war Los Angeles, one of the most iconic Hollywood watering holes was Sardi's:

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Sardi's on Hollywood Blvd was the west coast sister of the famous NYC hot spot. It opened in 1932 in what was then called the Gore Building and was designed by Warren McArthur. It was a favorite of classic era stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Charlie Chaplin. It opened serving breakfast and lunch but quickly opted for being open 24 hours a day. Can you just imagine popping in for lunch at the counter from your job as a clerk in the nearby Broadway store selling shoes or lingerie to the gentile women of Los Angeles or the stars of Hollywood? Or as a chorus girl or a supporting actress making her living working in radio at the nearby radio empires of ABC, NBC or CBS?


A kitchen fire in 1936 destroyed most of the restaurant. It was rebuilt using a design by famed City of Angels architect, Rudolph Schindler in the International style of chrome and glass, it was a favorite of classic era stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Charlie Chaplin. It opened serving breakfast and lunch but quickly opted for being open 24 hours a day. Sardi's was part of a small retail complex that included a drug store, jewelry shop, and tailor shop. The interior of Sardi's included separate bar areas, such as the Jewel Box Bar, popular with the Hollywood film stars and producers, that opened in 1935.

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Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by Lzcutter »

This being the City of Angels, there is no shortage of movie theaters for movie premieres. Back in the days of classic movies, movies premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater or the Egyptian both built by Sid Grauman and both in Hollywood. Downtown was home to a number of movie palaces that dated back to the silents. Chaplin's City Lights premiered at the wonderful (and still standing) Los Angeles theater in the Broadway district of downtown.

But, we had neighborhood movie palaces as well. The Fox in Westwood and in the Carthay Circle neighborhood near mid-town, was perhaps the most beloved Fox theater to grace the skyline of the City of the Angels, the Carthay Circle Theater.

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This magnificent theater was built in 1926 in the Spanish Baroque style that was very fashionable back in the day. It harkened back to California's roots of Spanish exploration and settlement. The theater sat 1500 and the ceiling was painted blue, gold and black. In the middle was a multi-spoke star. There was a giant marquee topped by a neon sign, a gorgeous lobby and at night the bell tower was lit by flood lights dancing in the sky. The neon could be seen for miles, old-timers say. The architects were Carleton Winslow and Dwight Gibbs.

It was originally a silent film theater complete with Wurlitzer organ. It also hosted live shows and plays.

The interior featured chandeliers and artwork featuring the settling of California. There was a bas relief of a pioneer woman standing near a wagon wheel in the lobby fountain, a painting by Frank Tenney Johnson that celebrated the first movie theater in California in 1849 (the Eagle Theater in Sacramento.) Even the drop curtain was dedicated to the Donner Party (called “An Emigrant Train at Donner Lake” also by Johnson.) There were busts and plaques celebrating scouts, a guy who carried mail over the Sierras and of course, Dan the Miner, which sat in the theater’s vast forecourt as part of a fountain. Some of these were chosen by the Sons of the Golden West.

The first movie to ever play the Carthay Circle was the premiere of Cecile B. DeMille’s, Volga Boatman. Other movies that world premiered there were El Cid, The Alamo and The Life of Emile Zola. They recreated the gardens of Versailles to celebrate the opening of Marie Antoinette, with Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power. Gone with the Wind premiered there in 1939.

Walt Disney considered it his lucky theater after the premiere of Snow White there in 1937. Disney installed his Fantasound sound system for the premiere of Fantasia.

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The Premiere of Snow White

Inside, the theater gleamed with wood and tile.

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The theater weathered the post-war expansion of Los Angeles. In 1956, they irreparably altered the inside of the theater when they installed two TODD-AO projectors so they could run Around the World in 80 Days. At the time, only two other theaters had them - The Egyptian in Hollywood and the United Artists downtown.

The last performance at Carthay Circle Theater was in November 1968 with The Shoes of the Fisherman. The TODD-AO projectors went to Fox Westwood Theater (one was replaced in 1994.) There were a lot of excuses about why it was demolished - it was vulnerable to earthquake damage, it was losing money in an age of dwindling audiences and most of the studios were on the ropes. Rumors were rife that the developers planned to raise a huge office tower and rearrange the major streets -- a move that would ruin the small neighborhood, but activists protested and forced them to build a small park in the center of their property, and so they built two shorter structures that are broken up by the park. Today these offices aren’t even full.

The Carthay Circle Theater was digitally recreated for LA Confidential and can be seen in the scene that introduces Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey's character) at the top of the film.

Disney, the studio, is planning on recreating a replica of the theater as part of their California Adventure theme park next to Disneyland.
Lynn in Lake Balboa

"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by ChiO »

Please excuse me, MsCutter, for momentarily hijacking this thread, but it seemed the most appropriate spot.

Several times I have mentioned seeing films at the Portage Theater, a neighborhood theater seating close to 1,300 within walking distance of our home. The Northwest Chicago Film Society ( http://www.northwestchicagofilmsociety.org/ )and the Silent Film Society of Chicago ( http://www.silentfilmchicago.com/ ), among others, use the theater for their series and festivals. It was also used as a location stand-in for The Biograph in PUBLIC ENEMIES.

We may lose the theater. Last night I attended a community meeting (darn those community activists!) at the Portage about its status and how it can be saved. It was two-thirds full and 100% devoted to saving it. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

http://www.portagetheater.org/

SAVE THE PORTAGE!
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

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I suppose we can't keep everything of significance from the past, but this post from the LA Times about the planned demolition of the Warner Bros. Hollywood Lot gave me pause:
Storied West Hollywood studio buildings to be demolished
The studio lot, once owned by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, has had many names and housed many productions over the years. Its new owner intends to raze and replace several buildings.

By Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times

March 26, 2012

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks worked there. So did Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and practically everyone else.
Soon, though, wrecking crews will be at work at the storied West Hollywood movie lot at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Formosa Avenue.
Once known as the Warner Hollywood Studio, it's now called "The Lot." Its new owner, CIM Group, intends to raze its aging wooden office buildings and sound-dubbing stages and replace them with glass-and-steel structures.

According to West Hollywood planning officials, the first phase of work involves the demolition of the studio's Pickford Building — built in 1927 and remodeled in 1936 — and Goldwyn Building, which was built in 1932 and is used for sound editing. Later phases will involve the removal of the studio's Writers Building, Fairbanks Building and Editorial Building and a block-long row of production offices that line Santa Monica Boulevard. Replacement buildings will rise to six stories. The redevelopment plans have riled many in the entertainment industry, particularly those who know the studio from past film shoots and television programs.

"A lot of people have a lot of affection for the place," said Doug Haines, a film editor who has worked on movies there for two decades. "You really had a sense of history when you worked there. Another glass building — that certainly says 'Old Hollywood,' doesn't it?"

CIM Group executives declined to discuss details of their development plans.

Film and TV production companies that rent space at the studio say owners have let leases expire in buildings slated for demolition.

The studio was built in 1919 by silent-movie maker Jesse Hampton. A short time later, he sold the lot to screen stars Pickford and Fairbanks, who renamed the 18-acre place Pickford-Fairbanks Studio. It later became known as the United Artists Studio when the pair teamed up with Chaplin and D.W. Griffith to form United Artists.

Over the years, the now-11-acre lot was also called the Samuel Goldwyn Studio and the Warner Hollywood Studio.

The studio's old buildings are packed with tradition.

Legend holds that a tunnel once connected the soundstages to a bar across the street — the Formosa Cafe — so that stars like Errol Flynn could slip off for drinks between scenes without being pestered by fans.

Fairbanks had a steam bath and gym and is said to have had a private outdoor area where he could exercise in the nude.

Eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, who kept an office at the studio during his movie-making days, had a secret garage he could wheel into from Santa Monica Boulevard and park without anybody noticing.

One studio building was said to be equipped with an ornate wooden door hand-built by Harrison Ford, who was working as a studio carpenter when he was "discovered" by filmmaker George Lucas.

Director Sam Peckinpah not only worked at the lot but lived there as well in the 1970s.

"Sam had a suite on the ground floor of the Writers Building right down the corridor from Mike Medavoy's office," recalled producer Katy Haber, who worked with Peckinpah on eight feature films at the studio. "He used one of the rooms as a bedroom."

Haber said Peckinpah loved the place.

"Working at a studio like that, you always felt you were part of it. It was a creative environment. I'm sad to see anything with an historical heritage torn down. The walls there speak multitudes. It's sad indeed: Developers aren't into aesthetics or history."

Although West Hollywood has described the studio as a landmark, officials have never taken action to formally designate it as one. A street sign on Santa Monica Boulevard in front of the studio calls it a "historic building." But smaller print on the sign labels it "Potential Cultural Resource No. 60."

West Hollywood senior planner David DeGrazia said that CIM Group intends to begin demolition in a few weeks and that construction will be done in six phases. The project will more than double the studio's space to 671,087 square feet, he said. Three new soundstages will join the seven that are now mostly used for production of the HBO vampire series "True Blood," according to plans filed with West Hollywood.

DeGrazia said the development agreement expires in March 2013, although he said CIM Group's position is that the agreement remains in place once construction of the first phase begins.

Complicating things is that the West Hollywood-Los Angeles city boundary slices through several sound-dubbing buildings on the south edge of the studio lot.

A nearby bungalow that Frank Sinatra used when he worked on the lot is on the Los Angeles side of the boundary. It is out of West Hollywood's jurisdiction, although the six-room structure is listed by DeGrazia as scheduled for demolition.

As part of the development agreement, CIM Group will preserve a wall-like facade that extends along Santa Monica Boulevard around Hughes' secret garage entrance.

Preservationists at the Los Angeles Conservancy said they have been asked to help get historic landmark status conferred on the whole studio to block the demolition.

"We've gotten calls from people who are concerned. The problem is it's an approved development. The West Hollywood City Council essentially has already approved the project," said Adrian Scott Fine, the conservancy's director of advocacy.

"Saving a facade is not preservation."
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

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The Walt Disney Company is recreating the famed Carthay Circle theater as part of their remodel of California Adventure. So, if you find yourself in Anaheim, check it out!
Lynn in Lake Balboa

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"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

Post by moira finnie »

Lzcutter wrote:The Walt Disney Company is recreating the famed Carthay Circle theater as part of their remodel of California Adventure. So, if you find yourself in Anaheim, check it out!
I know that the original Carthay Circle is where Walt unveiled Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for the first time in '37, but please pardon my ignorance, could you please explain what California Adventure is? A theme park?

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A big night at the legendary movie house, the Carthay Circle

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Tyrone Power and Sonja Henie (and a few thousand of their close, personal friends) attend an opening there in the thirties.
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Re: Historic Hollywood Sites

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could you please explain what California Adventure is? A theme park?
It's the theme park that the Disney Company built in Disneyland's parking lot. I think this is it's third renovation since it opened in about ten years ago. The latest renovation is themed around Los Angeles landmarks. The entrance is modeled after the old Pan Pacific Park (I think I put photos of that City of Angels landmark on this thread).

And Cars Land is now part of California Adventure with a major Route 66 look.
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"Film is history. With every foot of film lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other and to ourselves."

"For me, John Wayne has only become more impressive over time." Marty Scorsese

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