Photoplay (Jan-Sep 1937)

of the past mingle with the film celebrities of the moment. To begin with, the Grove was an accident. When, in May 1921, the managers of the Ambassador Hotel looked over the barren white walls of the new ballroom, they knew something had to be done about decorating it. That year Rudolph Valentino had burst upon Hollywood and the world with "The Sheik." Jimmy Manos, still the maitre-de-Cocoanut Grove today, had known Valentino well; in fact, Jimmy had paid Valentino's room rent for seven months while Rudy was looking for work. Now Jimmy happened to know that there were several thousand imitation palm trees left over from "The Sheik" that could be had cheap. He bought them, had them carted into the ballroom. On May twenty-first, the Grove opened with a grand party, palm trees very much in evidence. Incidentally, the same palm trees are still there. From the first moment, the Grove made history. With a normal seating capacity of 1,000 people, there was plenty of room for all the important people in Hollywood. In those days the colony gathered at the Grove each Tuesday night to see the scantily clad Grove girls put on elaborate shows depicting scenes from the latest movies, and to compete against each other in Charleston dance contests. The stars came to revel. The rest of the world came to watch. And it was a sight to behold. Hollywood, fifteen years ago, was wild and woolly and had never been curried below the knees. The Alexandria Hotel and the old Vernon Country Club had been the scenes of rare hi-jinks among that old guard of Mabel Normand, Lew Cody, Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, and the Terrible Trio — Lottie Pickford, Alice Lake, and Teddy Sampson. Some of this robust — very robust — hilarity carried over into the new and ultra fashionable Cocoanut Grove, to diminish in the same ratio that the industry outgrew its rompers and assumed dignities in keeping with its growing importance. Star nights still hold the spotlight each Tuesday night at the Grove, but the fun is more sedate, kj the stars of yesterday lived only for the thrill of the moment. IT was a wise management that selected an Army welterweight pugilist to rule the Grove. Dark, curly-headed Jimmy Manos launched his war against the night club battling element the very night the Grove was opened, by knocking out two stars, whose names he has conveniently forgotten. Since then in his major engagements he lists one hundred and twenty-six fights, and in all of them he was victorious. From the first, to keep their customers out of mischief, the Grove arranged entertainment into which the patrons could enter. When the Charleston dance craze came in, the management offered trophy cups for the best dancers. Prominent members of the audience acted as judges. A kid named Lucille LeSueur was in Hollywood from New York, hoping for a chance in pictures. A clever dancer, she began to cop these cups from under the noses of the local girls. Lucille was plumpish then, and hardly would you recognize the same girl in the smooth Joan Crawford of today. Lucille was the hey-hey girl of the day, and the wild gyrations of the Charleston were just her dish. One night the scion of a great Chicago family, young Michael Cudahy, saw her win a cup. He obtained an introduction and one of Hollywood's most tempestuous romances was on. The family opposition was intense and unrelenting. They were a handsome couple, for Mike was tall, dark and good-looking as a movie star. It was a heart-broken Lucille who finally gave him up. Her chief rival in the dance contests was a plumpish little girl named Jane Peters. This young one also dreamed of a movie ca Peters to get reer. Youthful producers, now grown sedate, used to vie for hilarious dances with these pretty young cup winners so that they could boast of winning, too. In this way stars-to-be met the coming picture makers The (jrove got mixed up several other times in the life drama of Jane Peters, Carole Lombard to The brilliant Carole, then known as Jane, first attracted the attention of Herbert Somborn, who had opened his Brown Derby restaurant just across the street from the Grove. Somborn had been married to Gloria Swanson. He was an outstanding figure of the colony. He invited Jane over and gave her some advice. 22