WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT?

This theater marquee that has seen better days represents the last gasps of what started in 1940 as the Monica Theater at 7734 Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood (before it became West Hollywood, of course). A neighborhood theater showing 2nd run major motion pictures, it was briefly an arthouse, showing foreign films before, in 1968, it changed its name to the Left Bank Theater and went into the nudies game.

In 1970 it became the flagship theater of the adult film Pussycat Theater chain and remained so until the '90s when it became a gay adult theater and changed its name (appropriately enough) to the Tom Kat. 2006 saw Mr. Tom Kat make way for STUDS, and after that, it just seemed a slow but inexorable slide to obsolescence. The above photo, post-COVID, reflects the theater's 2022 fate.

Whatever lies in store for the empty space now, I hope someone holds on to the "celebrity" footprints of the deceased legends of the "porno chic" '70s that grace the front courtyard. 

John Holmes / nee John Curtis Estes (1944 -1988)

Linda Lovelace / nee Linda Susan Boreman (1949 - 2002)

Harry Reems / nee Herbert John Streicher ( 1947 - 2013)

Marilyn Chambers / nee Marilyn Ann Taylor (1952 - 2009)

STEP BACK IN TIME

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE FOOTPRINTS IN THE FORECOURT OF
GRAUMAN'S CHINESE THEATER IN HOLLYWOOD

ELEANOR POWELL

Tap dancing great Eleanor Powell placed her hand and footprints in cement as well as copper casts of her tap shoes when she was honored on December 23, 1937. The occasion was the premiere of the musical "Rosalie" in which she co-starred with Nelson Eddy 

JEAN HARLOW

Blonde Bombshell Jean Harlow actually had the honor of placing her footprints in cement twice. The first time was on Monday, September 25, 1933 during an evening ceremony in honor of the premiere of her film "Dinner at Eight." For the first time (and probably the last) the footprint ceremony was held on the Grauman Theater stage due to traffic complaints related to the usual outdoor affair. However, in transporting the 500-pound block of cement to the forecourt, it broke in half. Harlow was invited back to repeat the whole thing on Friday, Sept. 29th for a noon ceremony held in the forecourt... with the cement block already safely in place.  

CARMEN MIRANDA

Portuguese-born, Brazilian entertainer  Carmen Miranda had just completed her first American film ("Down Argentine Way") when invited to place her hands, signature, and platform wedgie prints in cement. The ceremony was held March 24, 1941, making Miranda the first Latin-American performer to be honored in the forecourt. Sadly, her block of cement looks to have weathered a great deal of wear and tear.

JOAN CRAWFORD

Then known as "America's Dancing Daughter," future megastar Joan Crawford's footprint ceremony took place on a Saturday evening at 11:15pm prior to a midnight screening. When Joan left her prints and autograph in the cement on September 14th, 1929, she was appearing onscreen in "The Hollywood Revue of 1929."  

JUDY GARLAND

The premiere of the MGM musical "Babes in Arms " (co-starring Mickey Rooney) was the occasion for Judy Garland to put her prints in cement outside Grauman's. The event was held Tuesday evening, October 10, 1939, and patrons wishing to be the first to see Judy in her follow-up film to "The Wizard of Oz" had to pay a hefty $2.20. With Mickey Rooney at her side (he'd put his footprints in wet cement the year before with the premiere of his film "Stablemates") Judy Garland was the 74th star to be honored by Grauman.

Ken Anderson©

THE AGE OF AQUARIUS

When the Broadway hit "Hair" came to Los Angles for an extended run in 1968 (for two years, in fact), it opened at The Earl Carroll Theater on Sunset Blvd. The Theater, in operation since 1938 under various names, changed its name to The Aquarius Theater in 1968 and underwent a psychedelic facelift. In 2018, director Quentin Tarantino, for his forthcoming film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," restored the exterior of the now-abandoned theater to its late-'60s glory.

The Aquarius Theater as it looked in 1968 --Photo by Richard Wojcik

The Tarantino production has been delighting locals and tourists alike with surprising recreations of Los Angeles, circa the summer of 1969, throughout the city. Here, the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Blvd. is outfitted with a marquee for "3 in the Attic" and other period-perfect posters.

HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

The Hollywood and Highland Shopping Center (mall) with its design inspired by the Gates of Babylon set from D.W. Griffith's 1916 film "Intolerance." Built in 2001, the elephants, pillars and archway - towering minimally some three stories high - are identical in scale to the sets of the original classic silent film.

The "Intolerance" Babylon set. Built in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles (today, the site of the Vista Theater).

WHO NEEDS OSCAR?

The Four Ladies of Hollywood statues creating the Hollywood Gateway on the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and La Brea. A stainless steel gazebo structure was created by Catherine Hardwicke, and unveiled in 1993. Atop the structure of these female forms reminiscent of the Academy Award Oscar, is a weathervane Marilyn Monroe.

Mae West

Dorothy Dandridge

Anna May Wong

Dolores Del Rio

ON A CAROUSEL

Located near the Griffith Park Zoo and said to have been Walt Disney's inspiration for building Disneyland, the Griffith Park merry-go-round was built in 1926 (it was originally located at the Mission Beach Amusement Center in San Diego, but was moved to Griffith Park in 1937). The ornate carousel has 68 horses and contains a Military Band Organ that plays more than 1,500 songs. 

THE LAST MOVIE HOUSE

The Sierra Theater, Chowchilla, Ca.
The Sierra Theater was the larger (474 seats) of two motion picture houses in the small town of Chowchilla. Built in 1941, the Sierra Theater closed in the mid to late '70s, but stood, abandoned until it was demolished in 2006. As you can see in the last B&W photo, there used to be an outdoor ticket booth.
The first three photos were taken by me in 1997. My partner was born and raised in Chowchilla, as was his father, who, as a teen, worked at the Sierra Theater.
The last to photos were found on the site Cinema Treasures

Rear view of the Sierra Theater

 

Cinema Treasures

THE DOCTOR IS IN

Located in Brand Park in Glendale, Doctors House Museum and Gazebo is a Victorian house built in 1888 that was home to four different families of physicians. Originally located on Wilson Avenue, the house was moved in 1979 to Brand Park where it was renovated and opened as a museum in 1984. Tours are held, and the museum features displays of Victorian era artifacts. 

The house was the home of silent screen star Nell Shipman from 1970 to 1920

CRUISING ON SUNSET BLVD

Crossroads of the World - Hollywood's first Shopping Mall
Located at 6671 Sunset Blvd and extending north to Selma, the Disney-esque outdoor shopping mall, Crossroads of the World, is an collection of buildings (retail stores and studios) recreating the architecture of various parts of the world, all surrounding the center structure/building, which resembles an ocean liner.
In May of 2015, plans were announced for an extensive redevelopment of Crossroads and the surrounding area.

WELCOME TO THE THEATER

The Hollywood Palladium Theater- Sunset Blvd.  Built in 1940

The Tower Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. 

Built in 1927, the site of the premiere of "The Jazz Singer" that same year

LOOK TO THE SKIES

Sign atop Jensen's Recreation Center in Echo Park, California. The sign is atop the 3-story building built in 1924 by Henry Jensen. The electric sign, depicting a bowler striking a set of pins, advertised the billiard room and bowling alley that occupied the complex that also housed a drugstore.

Eccentric advertising by the folks behind the Mini Cooper in 2013 featured an automobile used as a standing lamppost outside of the Hollywood/Highland complex on Hollywood Blvd. as part of its "Not Normal" campaign.

LIKE A CIRCLE IN A SPIRAL, LIKE A WHEEL WITHIN A WHEEL

This Denny's Restaurant located on Huntington Drive in Arcadia, Ca. sports a non-functioning windmill atop its angular roof. Built in 1967, it started life as a Van De Kamps restaurant and the windmill actually turned.

OF PARAMOUNT CONCERN

The Hollywood Heritage Museum 

2100  North Highland, Hollywood, CA

The museum is housed in the landmark Lasky-Demille Barn, a refurbished 1895 structure considered to be one of Hollywood's first film studios. Original leaseholders Jesse Lansky and Cecil B. DeMille, the building is considered the birthplace of what would later be Paramount Studios.