Where is Hollywood? We can help you find it

Sunset, Nov, 1987

Where is Hollywood? We Can help you find it

"Hollywood' is a loaded word. For many, it conjures images of movie stars and flamboyant wealth. For others who've walked Hollywood Boulevard, it may mean souvenir shops amid a seedy street scene. The reality, of course, is that Hollywood is both. It's a place whose urban problems haven't obscured its sparkle.

A century old this year, the town--founded in 1887 by teetotaling Midwesterners --still resides in the restored friezes of art deco buildings, in museum displays of mouse-eared movie cameras, in cozily worn cafe booths. On these pages, we offer some guidance to the glamor that was and the fun that still is Hollywood. On a day's excursion, you might take a bus tour, visit a museum, and lunch at an old restaurant near a studio. Or take an architectural tour of the boulevard, search out the Hollywood sign and Rudolph Valentino's crypt, then catch a film in a resplendent movie house.

Scene 1: Tinsel Town's heyday

Begun as a middle-class subdivision, Hollywood annexed itself to Los Angeles in 1910 to share the city's water.

In full bloom from the '20s to the '50s, the town's main thoroughfare, Hollywood Boulevard, boasted some of Los Angeles' largest movie palaces and exclusive department stores. Studios such as Paramount and Metro Goldwyn Mayer ate up acres of real estate. And uphill, Gloria Swanson and Tyrone Power built hideaways in a tangle of narrow streets.

Beginning in the late '50s, retail business dried up as customers moved to the suburbs and the movie industry expanded to the San Fernando Valley and Culver City.

Scene 2: faded star stages comeback

Helped by an active preservation organization, Hollywood Heritage, and by gentrification of surrounding neighborhoods, much renovation has revived the area's historic architecture. Hollywood Boulevard has been dubbed an art deco museum, its buildings--erected between 1915 and 1935--exuberant with marble, tile friezes, and terra cotta icing. In May 1986, the street was named a national historic district.

Over the years, Hollywood has redeveloped like--well--Hollywood. At the turn of the century, the boulevard (then Prospect Avenue) was lined with staid Victorian homes. The last remaining one, the Janes House (16; 6541 Hollywood Boulevard), stands preserved in a minimall court. Similarly, the Frederick's of Hollywood building (15; 6608 Hollywood), designed in 1935, was carefully stripped of a '50s false front in 1979-- then painted a loud purple. Both examples seem in keeping with Hollywood's character. Even in the 1930s, writer S.J. Perelman sneered that the town was "a hayseed's idea of the Big Apple.'

Though Hollywood may never be upscale, some of the projects are. This year, the 1926 Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel reopened (6; 7000 Hollywood). The first home of the Academy Awards, it includes a jazz bar and a fine restaurant where you can wallow in huge pink chairs; on its mezzanine is a time line of Hollywood history. Across the street, the Screen Actors Guild (3; 7065) moved recently into a renovated Congregationalist church.

Scene 3: tours of the town

An excellent introduction to the boulevard is a walking tour led by actor-members of Hollywood Heritage. The 2-hour Saturday and Sunday morning tours stop in movie palaces and turn down side streets. Cost is $6; to reserve, call (213) 465-5993.

For a wider overview, take a double-decker bus trip with Hollywood Fantasy Tours. The guides' patter includes the omnipresent movie trivia as you drive around in a bus painted like a loaf of Wonder Bread. But there's substantial history, too; you'll look up at the exclusive neighborhood of Whitley Heights, and see such landmarks as Capitol Records (19; 1750 Vine), built in 1954 to resemble a record stack. The 2-hour excursions leave 1744 N. Highland Avenue at 10:30 and 1 daily; cost is $12 adults, $10 children. For reservations, call 469-8184.

For the quickest overview, Hollywood in Miniature (9; 6834 Hollywood) features an intricate model built in the '50s and depicting the area in the '30s; cost is $1.

Scene 4: exploring on your own

If you prefer to choose your own route, here are landmarks to check out. Park in any of the lots or parking structures on or near Hollywood Boulevard.

You can't explore the boulevard without stepping on one of Hollywood's earliest attempts to spruce up, the Walk of Fame, begun in 1958. Today, 2,500 stars set in the sidewalk run 1/2 mile along both sides of the street from Gower Street to Sycamore Avenue, and along Vine Street from Sunset Boulevard to Yucca Street. Start outside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Every few months, a new star is added; November 5 is Burgess Meredith's turn. For time and place, call the chamber of commerce, 469-8311.

At a first-run film in one of the movie palaces, you'll also see some architectural showmanship. Sid Grauman's 1927 Chinese Theatre (8; 6925 Hollywood; now called Mann's) is the most famous; the stars' cement prints are still a big draw. In 1922, Grauman built the Egyptian Theatre (11; 6712); though stripped of most of its King Tut finery, it retains a magnificent ceiling starburst. The 1927 Spanish Gothic Hollywood Pacific Theatre (17; 6433), with its curved lobby and coffered ceiling, is much better preserved.