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THE HOLLYWOOD GARDEN COURT APARTMENTS FIVE FLOORS - Rising five floors above Hollywood Blvd., the Garden Court Apartments are a warm reminder of the past and vanished Hollywood grandeur. * L ike most of the downtown section of Hollywood, the once elegant Garden Court Apartments has fallen on hard times. The towering five-story structure just 300-feet from the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd., is still in good condition, but the reputation it once enjoyed as the gayest nightspot in the movie capital is now only a memory. At the start of the Roaring Twenties, the ballroom of the famed building was a gathering spot for all the famous film people of that era. The lavish grill features handmade tile and baroque ceramic trim on the walls and ceiling which would do credit to a palace in Europe. Today both rooms are being used by the American Academy of Dance, but still retain much of their former splendor. The present owner, Erwin Karz was on hand the night the royalty °f the film colony arrived at the Garden Court for the grand opening. Kleig lights, and a long red carpet that stretched out to the still unpaved street added excitement to the long lines of limousines which pulled up, disgorging people like Mary Pickford, John Gilbert, Mack Sennett, and other luminaries of the screen. He little realized he would one day buy the fabled apartments and effect a restoration of its beauty and return to elegance and luxury on that night in December 1919. Many things would happen to the building and Karz before their paths would cross again. The apartment house would fall into disrepair and Karz would become a famous criminal lawyer who had clients like Winnie Ruth Judd. Prohibition had just started and the lavish bar which had been planned for the grill had to be abandoned. Instead, as the owner says with a grin, each apartment became a bar as guests brought their own liquor to their rooms. At the start, the apartment building was so posh, no film people were allowed to register. Thick oriental carpets adorned the floors of each attractive apartment, a baby grand piano was installed in each of the 72 apartments, and original oil paintings were hung on the richly finished walls. Thick crystal windows and all brass fixtures in the bathrooms and kitchens were top quality and the building had a central vacuum system for each suite of rooms. Max Sennett spent the last 35 years of his eventful life in the same apartment, only leaving days before his death for the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital. Another long time resident of the movie colony was Louis B. Mayer, czar of MGM. Suite 417 was his “home away from home for more than 30 years. It has been speculated by various people the film maker probably brought a few of film starlet friends here for private conferences. Mae Murray also spent most of her last days in the building, leaving only long enough to be given treatment by the Motion Picture Country Home Hospital from which she would “escape” and return to her familiar surroundings. During the months following Mae’s tragic end, Karz literally supported the actress with food and free rent. It has been estimated by experts in the movie industry Mae earned $15,000,000 Page 5