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©

REMEMBERING RUDY

"Aspiration" a statue of silent movie actor Rudolph Valentino was sculpted by Roger Noble Burnham and erected in DeLongpre Park in Hollywood on May 5, 1930

The inscription on the base of "Aspiration" 

In 1979, another statue dedicated to Rudolph Valentino was erected in the park,
this time a bust sculptured by Richard Ellis

For an interesting (if not downright bizarre) history of the park and these statues, visit Hollywoodland

IT'S WHAT'S UP FRONT THAT COUNTS

In May of 2019, Godzilla burst through the roof of the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood

The forecourt of the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood 

The former Hollywood movie theater on Hollywood Blvd. is currently
 the home of the Guinness World of Records Museum 

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.

NO BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE

The El Royale Apartments on Rossmore and Rosewood in Hollywood was built in 1929 by William Douglas Lee (designer of The Chateau Marmont on Sunset Blvd). The El Royale is now a designated Historical Cultural Monument and was home to notables like George Raft, Loretta Young, and William Faulkner.

YESTERDAY ONCE MORE

 Throughout the summer of 2018, various locations around Hollywood were transformed into the summer of 1969 for director Quentin Tarantino's forthcoming film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."  Here the Paramount studios on Melrose display posters for 1969 movie releases.

SOME LIKE IT HOT - SOME LIKE IT COLD

Both on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood

HOT

COLD

 

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

SUMMER IN THE CITY

West Hollywood interactive art installation titled "Kalidoscope" by Daveed Kapoor & Rob Barry is composed of color mirrored acrylic squares. It's one of a series of  micro-parks throughout the city

An enormous "Rosemary's Baby"-inspired banner poster for the film "Mother!" overlooks Wilshire Blvd

Halloween came early to Hollywood when late August 2017 saw the materialization of the dreaded Neilbolt Street house from Stephen King's "IT" on the corner of Hollywood & Vine. A haunted house tour called "The IT Experience," it's a promotional attraction for the September release of the theatrical motion picture remake of  "IT."  King's book was initially made into a TV movie in 1990.

FACE-LIFTED FACADES

These Hollywood buildings are still standing, just no longer as the business pictured here.

The Ivar Theater on Ivar St. between Hollywood and Sunset Blvd - photo 1980
Opened in 1951 as a legitimate theater. Turned to a burlesque house in the mid-'70s.
Adjacent to it on the right is the old Hollywood Branch Library, which was torn down in 1985. In 2002 the facade of the Ivar was renovated and space operated by the California Youth Theater.

Hollywood Blvd Chicken Delight 

Morgan Camera Shop on Sunset Blvd near Vine

UP ON THE ROOF

On the occasion of the 88th Annual Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theater on Hollywood & Highland on February 28, 2016, the iconic dinosaur perched atop the roof of Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium  donned a top hat and tie. Since 2014 the popular curiosity museum has been dressing the rooftop dinosaur in seasonal attire (surfboard and sunglasses for summer, Santa Suit, horns and pitchfork for Halloween).

The enormous marquee at the Highland/Hollywood complex housing the Dolby Theater. Chris Rock was the Oscar host that year

 This is what comes of taking photos and leaving them in your camera for six months.  A Hollywood restaurant whose name escapes me features a swordfish (shark?) crashed through its roof .

HOLLYWEIRD SCIENCE

Exterior of the Science Building at Hollywood High School on Sunset and Highland

MORE SIGNS

The late and lamented Dan-Dee Shoe Repair on Vine St near Hollywood Blvd. A (suspicious) nearby fire in 2008 gutted neighboring businesses on this historic block eyed by land developers. After occupying this place for many decades (at least since the 50s) Dan-Dee was demolished. 

The Gardenia Restaurant and Lounge on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood

The Hollywood Downtowner Motel on Hollywood Blvd.