If Santa Fe was considered fake, then Hollywood may be considered fickle. We took a trip to the Walk of Fame where more than 2,400 stars are sited along the pavements (or sidewalks as they are known in the US) of 18 blocks along Hollywood Boulevard. Most of the stars are inlaid with the names of ‘celebrities’ from the entertainment industry, many of whom we had not heard of and some were fictitious, including Minnie Mouse and Snow White. Rather ironic was that along this celebratory walk of perceived ‘stars’ were several tents put up by the homeless, of which there were many in this town of obvious wealth.
Our hotel was positioned for easier access to Santa Monica (the end of Route 66), Hollywood and the airport and was on the outskirts of Beverly Hills where $10 million won’t buy you much of a pad – we were told people needed tens of millions. Even for that, many of the houses were squeezed aside each other.
We didn’t last the course of the complete Walk of Fame. Once you had seen one star you had seen the lot, especially in the high heat of the day. We stumbled upon another Big Bus Tour and thought a ride would give us a potted history and a view of parts of Hollywood we would not reach by foot.
Something rather concerned me at the start of the tour – the playing of a lot of ‘musak’ through the bus headphones, repeated over and over again and continuing throughout the two hour trip, valuable time which could be filled with information. Still, I was looking forward to some of the sights and some history.
We saw very nice parts of Beverly Hills, many of the roads having different species of trees, such as palms along one road and Jacaranda along another. Beverly Hills dissuades onlookers; likes to keep itself tidy; and insists that all residents place their trash bins down a back alley and out of site.
We passed many movie, TV and recording studios, such as Paramount where visitors could take a tour, and the Troubadour Club where Elton John, James Taylor and Neil Young made their US debuts, Guns ’n’ Roses were signed up on the spot having been kicked off the stage by the owners, and Janis Joplin partied before being found dead the next day of a heroin overdose. The Eagles song ‘Sad Cafe’ is said to be written about the club.
Bonhams, the auction house, was pointed out where many items from Michael Jackson’s estate were sold after his death, but evidently not the sequinned glove. O J Simpson also sold items to pay towards his multi-million court judgement, we were told.
We also passed the attractive Petersen Automotive Museum building (photo below). We would have liked to visit but our time in Los Angeles was short. The museum contains more than 250 iconic, rare and historic cars, hot rods, trucks and motorcycles going back 120 years.
Then lots of restaurants and shops were pointed out for onlookers to visit who just cannot get enough of the celebs. Mixed within all this were more tents of the homeless along the pavements – paved with gold for some, but not for others.
Popular food outlets were highlighted, such as the Sprinkles cake brand where those desperate for sweet things can satisfy their desire 24 hours a day. For something more savoury there is Pink’s Hot Dog Store, a family company set up by Paul and Betty Pink in 1939 to sell chilli dogs from a push cart. Today, it sells more than 2,000 hot dogs and 200 hamburgers a day.
Then we passed the cemetery for the celebs, named Hollywood Forever, where those unlucky not to see a celeb or two on their journey can go hunting for the tombstones of others! Everything is covered in this trip.
Or is it? Where is that history I was expecting? Yes it was included in the recorded commentary… all 2 minutes of it. So with a bit of further research I will fill in this void. Hollywood’s origins date back to 1853 when the first adobe building was erected. Over the next 20 years a thriving agricultural community developed. By 1883, prohibitionist, politician and real-estate developer Harvey Henry Wilcox moved in and purchased 150 acres of land with the intention of ranching.
Things didn’t quite go to plan and he made arrangements to sell off plots for housing, perceiving a community based on his sober religious principles. I wonder if he is turning in his grave at Hollywood Forever. But it was H J Whitley, referred to as the ‘Father of Hollywood’, who changed the prospects of the area. He was responsible for bringing electricity, gas and the telephone to Hollywood at the beginning of the 20th century, and also opened the Hollywood Hotel, today called the Dolby Theatre which hosts the yearly Oscars ceremony.
By 1908, film companies started to show interest in the location attracted by its varied terrain, mild climate, and a big labour market. By 1913, 20 film businesses had established themselves in Hollywood. Two years later it had become the centre of the American film industry. Big names included Paramount, Columbia, Warner Brothers, Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Twentieth Century Fox.
After WWII many of the film producers moved out, and these valuable large sites were taken over later by the TV industry. But it wasn’t always a win-win situation for these companies. There have been numerous strikes including in 1941 the Disney Animators’ strike; in 1945 the Set Decorators’ strike lasting six months; the Actors’ strikes in the 1960s; Directors’ strike in 1987 lasting just 3 hours and 5 minutes (they know how to be effective); and more recently (2007-8) the hundred days strike of the Writers Guild of America which wanted a bigger share of the profits made by the larger studios. Unfortunately, such shutdowns had a knock on effect for supporting industries, such as florists, prop houses and transportation firms, who could not ride the storm.
All of this is indicative of just how much Hollywood depends on the movie and TV producers and how much the movie and TV producers depend on Hollywood. But it is not just America that depends on it – the need stretches internationally. Just a chance short discussion in the lift with a gentleman when we got back to our hotel reflected that. Recognising our UK accents he told us he was from Bromley. “I’m here on business,” he said. “I work in film production.” It seems many parts of the world need Hollywood as much as Hollywood needs them.
Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022