Hooray for ‘Hollywood’

The Latest Arcadia Book Chronicles the Entertainment Capital’s Heyday

Arcadia Publishing first approached California historian Marc Wanamaker as a supplier of images in the early 2000s.   ’By 2004, I was supplying a lot of pictures for many different books,’ Wanamaker tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘When they finally approached me for photos for a postcard book on movie studios, that was the last straw! So I talked to the editor and he said, ‘Why don’t you do some books with us on the subjects you want?” Four books later, ‘Hollywood 1940”2008’ (Arcadia Publishing), a compilation of vintage images and informative captions, courtesy of Wanamaker, captures every aspect of the world’s entertainment capital, from the glamorous to the mundane, from the residential to the presidential. Hollywood, of course, has evolved over the seven decades covered in Wanamaker’s book, which, for the most part, is a story told via its architecture. ‘I do not have a lot of people in my book,’ Wanamaker says. ‘It’s more about historical sites. The only place we really have people is in the restaurants and theaters.’ In ‘Hollywood,’ you’ll find all of the usual suspects”Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Brown Derby restaurant”but much more interesting to Wanamaker are images of the less obvious locations ‘which have never been printed, published or seen before.’ Those rarities include Castillo del Lago (circa 1960), which, in recent years, Madonna moved into but quickly abandoned under the claim that it was haunted; the French Village (photographed in 1939), a themed apartment building which used to exist on Highland Avenue; and the long-standing Universal News Agency newsstand (1947) at Las Palmas, which was shuttered just before ‘Hollywood’ reached the book stores last month. ‘There’s a lot of discovery in this book,’ Wanamaker says. ‘I was always finding something new.’ Arcadia Publishing’s ‘Images of America’ series occupies a unique niche in the historical-book market. Established in 1993, the South Carolina-based company today boasts a catalog of more than 5,000 titles with hundreds of new releases every year. Arcadia chronicles local history across all 50 states. For California, Arcadia has produced books as diverse as the people who populate our state: ‘Filipinos in Los Angeles,’ ‘Italians in Los Angeles,’ ‘Mexican Americans in Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach,’ ‘Early Amusement Parks of Orange County,’ ‘West Adams,’ ‘Pico Rivera’ and ‘The Port of Los Angeles.’ Other themes have focused on Chinatown, Angels Flight, Pacific Electric Red Cars, Dodger Stadium and the movie studios. Last year saw the release of ‘Brentwood’ (see ‘Brentwood: Then and Now,’ April 16, 2008, in our archives) and this summer will welcome a big surprise. But first, there’s Arcadia’s latest, in which Wanamaker brings back the glamour and sparkle of the entertainment capital of the world, from its heyday to present day. Despite the suggestion of the book’s title, Wanamaker has shunned presenting his material chronologically. Instead, he offers 10 diverse chapters, including ‘Parks and Recreations,’ ‘Film Studios,’ ‘Residences,’ ‘Hotels and Motels,’ ‘Restaurants and Nightclubs,’ ‘Radio and Television.’ Key landmarks turn up”Schwab’s Pharmacy (circa 1949), the Roosevelt Hotel (circa 1950), and Sunset and Vine, as does the 1941 premiere of ‘Citizen Kane’ at the original El Capitan Theater. Tiki freaks can enjoy the 1941 shot of Don the Beachcomber (home of such cocktails as Don’s Zombies and the Shark Tooth), while other images capture such local institutions as KTLA Studios over the decades. Elegant, old-Hollywood apartment towers, such as the El Royale on North Rossmore Avenue (once home to George Raft) and the Spanish Colonial-style Lido on Yucca Street (both pictured in 1944), underscore some of the distinctive architecture lingering in Hollywood today. Wanamaker, author of two Arcadia volumes on Beverly Hills and a pre-1940 Hollywood edition, has been archiving local history since 1971 and is based at Raleigh Studios, across from Paramount Pictures on Melrose Avenue, in the heart of Hollywood. ‘Bison Archives is a professional research library in Southern California and a specialty on the entertainment industry,’ he says of the niche company he founded. In ‘Hollywood,’ there’s a 1966 photo of the Whiskey-a-Go-Go on the Strip that dates back to when The Doors were the club’s house band. ‘I took that photo,’ Wanamaker reveals, fessing up to a previous career as a musician. ‘I was the road manager for Canned Heat. We did several concerts with the Doors. I got to know all three Doors. All except Jim Morrison. No one got to know Jim Morrison. He was too out there. He did not relate to people.’ Wanamaker says he befriended Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Evidently, not only does Hollywood’s topography change over the decades, but so do the careers of the people who study it. Wanamaker’s book ends on an interesting (and bittersweet) note with the chapter ‘Hollywood Redevelopment,’ stuffed with mid-1990s to 2000s shots of locations preserved, revamped and/or reopened, such as the Hollywood Boulevard at Edgemont (damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake) and the Avalon, which ABC originally bought for ‘The Jerry Lewis Show,’ starring the comedy legend who served as Pacific Palisades’ second honorary mayor in 1953. Robert Nudelman, Wanamaker’s ‘Early Hollywood’ co-author, was supposed to shoot recent photos for this chapter. He died as work on ‘Hollywood’ began, so Wanamaker hit the streets with his digital camera. Sure, places such as the Ambassador Hotel and the Mocambo will never again grace Los Angeles with their class and glamour. But at least Wanamaker has preserved their memories on paper for us. He’ll next deliver Arcadia’s books on Westwood (late 2009) and the San Fernando Valley (2010). Marc Wanamaker will sign copies of ‘Hollywood 1940-2008’ and conduct a slideshow presentation on Tuesday, June 9, 7 p.m., at Larry Edmunds Bookshop, 6644 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Contact: 323-463-3273. Visit Wanamaker’s Web site: www.bisonarchives.com