Talking Screen (Sep-Oct 1930)

The Seven Wonders of Hollywood lolets, long, yellow Packards. Huge green motor buses rush by, frightening poor, little Ford "coups" half out of their tin skins. An occasional big red Pacific Electric streetcar clangs by. The Boulevard runs directly east and west. Its gayer section begins at Gower street and ends at La Brea. Beginning at Gower and strolling westward along the southern side of tlie street, one passes the broadcasting station of KNX, "the voice of Hollywood." Next comes the "Hollywood Music Box," the theatre originally sponsored by Carter De Haven several years ago. Close by are automobile showrooms and then one approaches Pantages' new Hollywood theatre on the other side of the street. It looks decidedly inviting with its great electric signs glistening in the sun. THEN comes Vine street, with the giant Bank of Hollywood building on one corner, [,iggett's drug store opposite, a series of small stores owned by Carl Laemmle on the third corner and Dyas' great department store on the fourth. A few doors west, across the street, you spy Henry's, one of the inovie city's popular cafes. The next few blocks include banks, gown shops, offices of Hollywood's rwo newspapers, the public library — and then Cahuenga Avenue. To the north, this sweeps out over the Pass to IJniver.sai City and Burbank where the Universal and First National studios are located respectively. At Whitley Avenue begins a row of 10 and 25c stores — there's Newberry's. Kress' and Grand's. And believe it or not, the film players do their bit of shopping in these stores, too. In Kress' that very blonde young lady dressed in black velvet with the motherly-looking woman beside her is Charlotte Merriam of the films and her mother — there's David Rollins looking at some nick-nacks, and lo and behold, there's Sally {Continued from page 45} O Neil and Molly O'Day parked over there by that candy counter. Sally is debating whether or not to buy some "sweets" — she finally does and goes out eating some. The next block or so are a hodge-podge of all sorts of establishments — cigar shops, drug stores with elaborate fountain lunches, gown, lingerie and hat shops, orange-drink stands, banks with famous cinema names listed in gold letters as directors and officials — one notes that John Barrymore, Cecil DeMille and Joseph Schenck are all directors. Across the street a little further along is the famous "Musso-Frank's Grill," one of the oldest of the night cafes. The south side of the boulevard in the next block contains the sumptuous "Pig and Whistle" cafe and the Egyptian theatre, originally built by Sid Grauman but now owned by Fox-West Coast. THEN comes the Christie Hotel, Strasburg's beautiful jewelry store where plenty of stars buy their diamond necklaces and wrist-watches, and just across the street is the world-famous Montmartre, with the Embassy Club next door. A half block to the west, on the north-western corner of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, is the low, palm-shaded Hotel Hollywood, once the most beautiful, best-known and most popular hotel in the film mecca. Hundreds and hiindreds of famous stars have lived here during the hotel's existence. But no more — the house scarcely boasts a single movie player these days. They have outgrown the low, "homey" building and established quaners in far more elaborate, more expensive hc»telries. Another block along is the Chinese theatre and just across the street is the Moorishstyled El Capital, Hollywood's largest legitimate show-house. In the next block is the g-eat Roosevelt Hotel, where scores of stars and celebrities reside and across the street Here's another view ol Harold Lloyd's magnificent estate. Seems impossible that this beautifully quiet, old-world peacefulness has actually been created in the city of sham and glitter known as Hollywood. IS the Garden Court Apartments, one of the most imposing of its kind in all the west. Two more blocks and the street-car tracks swing to the southward and the Boulevard is transformed from a busy Rialto to a palm-shaded street of private dwellings, a character that it keeps up until its end, a half mile further on. THE Second Wonder on our list is the Chinese theatre. Sid Grauman is the colorful theatrical magnate on whom Hollywood and Los Angeles long ago bestowed the title "the world s greatest showman. " Sid really deserves that title. He gave to Hollywood the famous Chinese theatre, one of the finest theatres m the world. A year or two ago he sold out to Fox-West Coast theatres, but recently was persuaded to come back and stage the prologue and manage the showing of that great air epic Hell's Angels, booked at the theatre for a long run of many months. The Chinese theatre, situated on Hollywood Boulevard just above Highland, is without a doubt the world's most bizarre and beautiful show-house. The massive pagodalike entrance supported on a series of gigantic columns is awe-inspiring indeed, and helps somewhat to prepare one for the wonders beyond. Walls many stories high surround the open court. Down them trickles water, whose flow is controlled so as to synchronize with the tempo and volume of mysterious music that plays all the time. On the cement floor of the court are the hand and foot prints of some of the world s greatest stars. They were impressed there in the soft cement just after the theatre was completed and include the prints of Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Norma and Constance Talmadge, Pola Negri, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. Beneath each is a little g"eeting to Sid Grauman. Like a great Chinese temple, the interior of the show-house is developed with all due respect to the best Oriental traditions. The roof is carried on twenty-two great pillars, eight stories high. These are gorgeously ornamented with bronze, brass and other metals. Rich Chinese fabrics are used for drapes and hangings, and a huge special carpet, made in China is used to cover the floor. There are foyers and lounging rooms that are veritable Chinese museums. The stage is sectional, affording the management an opportunity for staging better and bigger prologues than ever. Pages might be devoted to an exhaustive description of the many unique features of the Chinese theatre, which, by the way, accommodates well over 2500 people. ^ND now we come to the third wonder. Hollywood boasts some of the finest residences in the world, but not a single one of them can begin to compare with the magnificent estate that belongs to Harold Lloyd. Strictly speaking, it is just outside of Hollywood, in Beverly Hills, but nevertheless it comes under the heading of Greater Hollywood and so we do not hesitate to [Continued on page 8.5] ■SO