Hollywoodland! (pt.2)

This chapter is devoted to an intersection 

that has been celebrated in movie and in song:

I never saw this movie. But I stood on this corner.

"We been here for thirteen weeks,
but you ain't made a dime;
Waitin' to be discovered
on Hollywood and Vine..."

~ Kenni Huskey Hollywood & Vine song

Country singer Kenni Huskey (above right) was just a teenager when she recorded the song Hollywood and Vine for Capitol Records (which, not coincidentally, is located on Hollywood and Vine) in the 1970s... 
Click on the photo to hear it, if you want.

The first afternoon of my Hollywood trip was spent in the Hollywood and Vine area. This is at the base of the foothills known as The Hollywood Hills. There are many old theaters in this area. It's kinda what I would consider "downtown Hollywood." The epic Hollywood Sign is nestled up in the hills and is pretty much visible almost everywhere you go down here. It's like one of those paintings in old horror movies: wherever you go it seems to be looking down at you!

Here's a classy art-deco sign for an apartment building located at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. Note the spiral design at the top which mimics the Capitol Records building next door.

TjH Photo 2012

The Walk of Fame is down here on Hollywood and Vine; the sidewalk where all the celebrities put their hand prints in the cement is down here; the studio where they film iCarly is down here... but the thing that stands out most to me in this area is the big, round, Capitol Records Tower. It was built in 1955 and it's design has been described as a stack of records with a spindle through the top. Others have said the spire at the top represents a record player needle. Still others say that none of that was taken into consideration when the tower was designed. Nevertheless, I've always wanted to see the Capitol Tower, home of The Beach Boys and the American home of The Beatles. Oh yeah, and some guy named Sinatra made many albums there. Prob'ly loads of other people too. Like Kenni Huskey.

The sidewalk in front of The Capitol Tower is part of the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame... 
TjH Photo 2012

Some say it's unintentional, but others say the tower was built to look like a stack of records ... or CDs. Who knows what it'll be shaped like in the age of MP3s...

TjH Photo 2012

The Beatles, of course, are all represented on the Walk of Fame in front of the Capitol Tower. The guard tells me there are flowers and gifts on John Lennon's star every day.

TjH Photo 2012

The Walk of Fame extends for several blocks around the Hollywood and Vine area. It's not just Capitol Recording stars.

TjH Photo 2012

How come George Harrison doesn't warrant flowers and gifts on his star? Oh well, All Things Must Pass.
TjH Photo 2012

And last but not least, 'Allo Bongo!
TjH Photo 2012

Here are a few more pictures of the Capitol Tower just because I like it so much...

Did you know the spire atop the Tower has a blinking light that blinks H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D in morse code? I told you, I know a lot of worthless stuff.
TjH Photo 2012

Capitol Records was purchased by EMI records in the mid fifties and it was EMI who commissioned the construction of this building. EMI also owns Abbey Road Studios in London, where the Beatles recorded. That's probably why they are on Capitol Records in America. But that's a whole 'nother story. Don't get me started.
TjH Photo 2012

The Capitol Tower was built between 1955 and 1956. Beatle money had nothing to do with it. Actually, Beatle money might be why it's still standing. And this year's 50th Anniversary Beach Boy's money should keep it alive another fifty years...
TjH Photo 2012

... which would explain why this banner has been hanging in their window All Summer Long...

TjH Photo 2012

The Capitol Tower used to adorn the paper sleeves that 45s came in back in the late 1950s...

What else is in the Hollywood and Vine area?

Surely not just the Capitol Tower!

The Famous Hollywood Pantages Theater, Hollywood and Vine
TjH Photo 2012

The Pantages Theater played host to the Academy Awards throughout the forties and fifties. Think of the great names that have been here! John Wayne, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo... Fibber McGee & Molly, perhaps!

I bet there aren't too many people taking photos of THIS star these days...
TjH Photo 2012

... I felt bad for them, so I took two! Tain't funny, McGee! (Heh-heh) (That's a catch phrase from 70 years ago. Why aren't you laughing?)
TjH Photo 2012

Yes, the Famous Hollywood Pantages Theater has been here since the 1930s. In the forties and fifties The Pantages was where they would host the Academy "Oscar" Awards. (Now they hold them down the street at the Dolby Theater.) The Pantages is now Hollywood's big broadway-style live theater. If it's playing on Broadway in New York, it will probably play at The Pantages in Hollywood. When I was here The Book of Mormon was playing. (I didn't see it.) Book of Mormon is a musical comedy by Trey Parker and Matt Stone -- the brilliant minds that created the TV show South Park.

I know that sounded sarcastic when I said "brilliant minds," but really, I meant it. Below is a photo of them which I took when was in Aspen Colorado in 2002 (?) at the HBO Comedy Festival. (I asked them to flip me off and Matt said, "That would be naughty." I said, "Yeah, I know about your reputation." He laughed.)

Matt Stone and Trey Parker at the St Regis Hotel in Aspen Colorado in 2002. Creators of South Park and the award-winning broadway play, The Book of Mormon.  TjH Photo circa 2002

Grauman's Famous Chinese Theater

Grauman's Chinese Theater, as you can see in the photo, is a big tourist destination. I don't know too much about it. I know it's where celebrities, old and new, come to stick their hands and feet in the cement and then sign their autograph next to it, creating a nice memorial and time capsule. It's kinda weird to see John Travolta right next to Abbott and Costello, but in fifty years time it will all be "Hollywood History" anyway.

When we drove past it in the tour bus, the announcer said that the owner Sid Grauman accidentally stepped in the wet cement when it was first under construction. Somebody said, "You should autograph it and make it look intentional!" Grauman then realized what a great tourism gimmick this was and started the tradition of having famous guests do the same. And the rest, as they say...

I looked for Laurel and Hardy but I don't think they ever left their marks at Grauman's. Abbott and Costello, however, were here the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Imagine the mood as Bud and Lou tried to make people laugh.

I never saw this movie, either.

I couldn't find John Wayne's footprints in the concrete, then I remembered, that's because Lucy and Viv stole it in the 1950s.

Scene from I Love Lucy, stealing John Wayne's sidewalk block at Grauman's.

When the tour bus parked, I backtracked to this location and there was a big t'do happening at Grauman's, with millions of people and guys walking around in costumes, like Superman, Batman, and assorted Star Wars characters. Little kids were getting their pictures taken with them but they weren't real celebrities, just characters. I thought I was gonna see some real celebrities but to no avail.

Actually, when the tour bus parked I was starving. So I asked the bus driver if we were gonna be parked for awhile, and he said about an hour and a half. (It was more like two and a half, but there was lots to see, so it gave me a chance to walk around.) Anyway, I asked him where I should eat and he said he was going across the street to McDonald's. So I joined him. My first Hollywood meal was McDonald's. What a pathetic creature I am.

"What a pathetic creature I am!"

~ Ian Holm from the movie Brazil (1985)

The place where I had my first Hollywood meal.
Happy Meal, that is.

Oh, and here's another picture of Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl on the TV show Batman.
She has nothing to do with my trip, I just like this picture.

End of Part Two ... Click to Go to Part Three ...