More Historic Sites in Hollywood:
The Max Factor Building:
Located on Highland just south of Hollywood Blvd. Designed by famed architect, S. Charles Lee (who designed many of the famed movie palaces around the Southwest), this Moderne jewel of a building hosts the make-up salon of one of the most important men in cosmetic history, Max Factor.
In the mid 1980s, the building housed the wonderful Max Factor Museum with many of the artifacts from the salon on display. Unfortunately, the building’s owners, Proctor and Gamble (who you would have thought would have known better), sold the building and the collection to a developer. Luckily, plans for demolition hit a snag when preservationist groups such as Hollywood Heritage, the Art Deco Society and the LA Conservancy began a campaign to save the building.
Instead of demolition, the building became the home of the Hollywood Museum (this is the Museum’s third location in recent years). Previously located further north on the Blvd in the old Christian Science Monitor Bldg and briefly at the Galaxy Theater complex, the Museum has adapted well to the Factor Building. They have even kept some of the artifacts on display including the salons, make-up props and costumes. Don’t be turned off by the more modern look of the Museum’s website, it is worth the opportunity to go inside just to see the interior of the Factor Building.
http://www.thehollywoodmuseum.com/
for more info on S. Charles Lee:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Charles_Lee
The Hollywood Theater:
Now shuttered, this is one of the oldest theaters on the Blvd. It originally saw life as a Nickelodeon that dates back to the early 1910s. In the 1930s, it was equipped for sound and the beautiful neon marquee was added. According to my buddy Alan Hess, it was one of the first theaters in Los Angeles to be designed with side panels that would capture the eye of passing motorists, not pedestrians.
Musso and Frank’s:
6667 Hollywood Blvd.
Featured in TCM Hideaways with Ben Mankiewicz and Tom Brown. The oldest eatery on the Blvd. Opened in 1919, it wasn’t long before the Hollywood crowd discovered its good food and its good alcohol. It was originally named for owners Joseph Musso and Frank Toulet.
The eatery was remodeled in 1937 and hasn’t changed much since then. The beamed ceilings, red leather banquettes, wooden booths with coat racks and a wait and bar staff who look they have been there for years are just some of the reasons to check it out. Our favorite reason, the bartender who looks and talks like “Cuddles” Sakall. Paid parking is available behind the eatery.
The Janes House:
6541 Hollywood Blvd.
One of the things we often forget is that Hollywood Blvd, back in the early days of the 20th Century, was primarily a residential street. While almost all vestiges of that era are long gone, this house which is still located on the Blvd, is a visual reminder of a past long since vanished.
The house was built in 1903 in the Queen Anne/Dutch revival style and the street was then called Prospect Avenue. The home was built for the Janes family that included three sisters who ran a school on the property from 1911-1926, “The Misses Janes School of Hollywood” The sisters were said to have taught the children of everyone from CB DeMille to Carl Laemmle.
The house was occupied until the early 1980s when the last remaining Janes sister was moved to an assisted-living facility. Saved from demolition by Hollywood Heritage, it stands today in the courtyard of a small office and shopping complex.
The big rumor surrounding the Janes sisters is that the author, Henry Farrell, got the idea for his book,
“Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” from the story of the Janes sisters. Farrell denied the rumor for years.
The Pacific Hollywood Theater
6433 Hollywood Blvd.
Opened in 1927 with the premiere of
Glorious Betty starring Conrad Nagle and Dolores Costello (who lived not far from the theater back then). It was originally a Warners Brothers theater and it was, until recently, the largest theater ever built in Hollywood seating 2,700. Originally equipped with Vitaphone equipment to showcase the Warners commitment to that brand.
Atop the building is a radio transmitter. Back in the day, the Brothers Warner owned the nearby radio station, KFWB and had the tower placed on the roof of the theater where it displayed the Warner name.
The architect was G. Albert Lansburgh and the exterior design was Beaux Arts. The interior was opulent Moorish styling with a giant chandelier hanging in the lobby. Also in the lobby is a plaque to brother Sam Warner who was instrumental in moving the brothers into sound films and who died just before the opening of the The Jazz Singer which brought the brothers back from the brink of financial problems.
This is the theater where Carol Burnett worked as a teenager. She and her grandmother lived nearby at the Mayfair Apartments on Wilcox Avenue. At her request, her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is in front of the theater.
In the early 1950s the theater was renovated and reopened as Warners Cinerama. Seating was reduced to 1500. The experiment in Cinerama lasted a little over a year and a half. In 1961, the theater was renovated again to accommodate showing 70mm films in addition to 35mm.
2001 played there for 37 weeks.
In 1968, the theater was sold to the Pacific Theater chain. In the late 1970s, the theater was cut up to accommodate the addition of two smaller theaters upstairs. Despite the desecration, much of the interior still remains intact.
The theater was closed in 1994 due to structural damage caused by the devastating Northridge earthquake. The theater, like the Janes House and Musso and Franks is a Historic- Cultural landmark.
In the early 2000s, the Los Angeles Film School took over the theater and added digital projection. They also cleaned up the theater and restored the main theater to its 1960s size.
Hollywood and Vine
Perhaps one of the most famous intersections in American culture. Back in the 1930s, many of the radio stations such as NBC and CBS, were located on Vine Street. There was a Brown Derby restaurant also located on Vine just south of the Blvd. Today all of that is gone and only CBS Columbia Square remains to remind us of another era. Hollywood and Vine has always sounded much more glamorous than it really was.
The multi-floor Broadway department store was located on the south side of the Blvd near Vine. In recent years, it's roof-top neon sign has been relighted thanks to the generous support of the man who lives in Gary Cooper's wonderful mid-century modern house in Holmby Hills.
The Palace
1755 N. Vine Street
Playing the Palace, Judy did, Bing did, Frank did, most every popular singer of the classic Hollywood era performed here at the Palace. It’s got a Spanish-Baroque exterior and beautiful Art Deco lobby. The Palace opened in 1927 as the Hollywood Playhouse. During the Depression, it was home to the WPA, who staged plays for all. In the 1940s, CBS broadcast various radio shows from the Palace, including Fanny Brice’s
Baby Snooks.
In 1942, it was rechristened the El Capitan (not to be confused with the movie theater) and was home to
Ken Murray’s Blackout Revues. When the El Capitan closed seven years later, Ken Murray’s production was the longest running show, having played 3844 performances.
The Palace was renovated for television and Bob Hope’s Chesterfield Specials, The Jerry Lewis Show and everybody’s favorite,
This is Your Life all originated from the Palace. In 1964, it acquired a new name, the Hollywood Palace and ABC began broadcasting a weekly tv variety show from the place. Hosted by Bing Crosby, the show offered some of the finest entertainment of the day.
Raquel Welch was one of the card-carrying young showgirls promoting
“Hollywood Palace” for station breaks.
Merv Griffin took over the studios when the Palace series ended but by the mid-1970s, there was talk of demolition. Luckily, two young entrepreneurs came forward and invested almost $10 million in restoration monies. Rock acts performed, the Palace was featured in Against All Odds , two restaurants were added and a recording studio.
Capitol Records
1750 N. Vine Street
“The House that Frank Built” was designed by famed City of Angels architect Welton Becket. The building is 13 stories tall and stands 150 feet tall. Used to landmark Hollywood and Los Angeles in countless movies and television shows. When it was built, due to earthquake codes, it was the tallest building in Los Angeles for 1955. There are recording studios throughout the building as well as below ground.
Recently the controversy has been with a nearby condo project going in and whether or not the underground construction of a parking lot will disturb the nearby recording studios.
Other Welton Becket buildings include the Music Center, the lost and cherished Pan-Pacific Auditorium, the Cinerama Dome, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium (home to the Oscars in
The Oscar), the Beverly Hilton Hotel and many others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welton_Becket
Nancy Olson's
( Sunset Blvd) husband, Alan Livingston was the head of Capitol Records for most of its heyday.
South of the Blvd on North Vine:
The Ricardo Montalban Theater
1615 N. Vine Street
Formerly the Huntington Hartford, this theater has quite the past. It opened in 1927 as the Vine Street Theater. By the 1930s, this part of Vine Street was part of Radio Row West and CBS took over operations and it became the CBS Playhouse Theater. The famed Lux Radio Theater was broadcast from here. The show was hosted by a well-known director that most Americans felt they knew personally, C.B. DeMille. Many of the broadcasts were radio versions of well-known movies of that era.
In 1945, following a well publicized dispute with AFRA, the radio performers union, DeMille stepped down as host.
In 1954, the theater was renamed the Huntington Hartford, after the millionaire heir who bankrolled the renovation, and featured well known plays. Helen Hays opened the theater in What Every Woman Knows.
Until the 1990s, the theater continued to bring plays and the occasional silent film with an orchestra accompanyment, to its subscribers and the public. Following the Northridge earthquake, it sustained some damage and was closed.
In 1999, the Nosotros Foundation headed by Ricardo Montalban, bought the theater, which was then called the Dolittle. When it opened in 2004, it was renamed the Ricardo Montalban Theater to honor the man who helped change the way Latinos are portrayed on film and was the driving force behind the Nosotros Foundation.
For all you TCM fans, Robert Osborne's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located in front of the theater.
Across the street, now long gone due to a fire of suspicious nature, was the famed Brown Derby Hollywood.