The Sheik of De Longpre

If you happen down De Longpre you may notice a little park just past Highland Ave. that is seemingly gated in. Just a tiny block by block patch of land with a little playground and some beautiful landscaping. But if you look closely, even just in passing, there appears to be a little shrine in the middle. And if you are like me and are curious about every hidden treasure in Hollywood, you'll find the barely-cracked front gate, squeeze through, and go closer for further inspection.

I'd seen pics online of a Valentino statue in a park somewhere in Hollywood, but every 5 blocks it seems there are tiny turn of the century gardens so pinpointing a single statue based off an internet picture is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But lo and behold, right there at the corner of DeLongpre and Cherokee, sits a monument that's been there (and not, and then back again) since the 1930's.

A campaign was started in 1926 shortly after Valentino's death by actors and members of the Hollywood community to erect a tribute to the fallen actor. Donations poured in from all over the globe, enough was raised, and Roger Burnham was commissioned to design a statue in Rudy's honor. On what would've been Valentino's 35th birthday, the statue was dedicated and fans the country over would gather here on both his birthday and death every year. It even had it's own mysterious woman who would leave flowers and wreaths every year. The neighbors weren't particularly thrilled as they felt any tribute should be made to the painter De Longpre, (it was his park, after all) but the monument stayed.

In the 50's the neighborhood hit a slump and vandals hit the monument. Some especially arduous thieves even stole the statue from it's pedestal  which the city recovered a few years later. Fearing more vandalism, the city stored the statue for the next 2 decades.

In the late 70's another artist was commissioned to create an accompanying bust of Valentino for the park, and it was then that the original was remounted in it's original resting place, and in 2010 the neighborhood got together to give the whole park a face lift, making it the little piece of serenity it is today.

While stumbling across the statue made my day, what really made the moment special was this: it was early morning and there were a handful of folks in the park, eating their breakfasts, walking dogs, feeding birds, and none of them seemed at all interested in the little art deco statue before them. Once we started making a little fuss over getting clear pictures almost everyone in the park wandered over, asking "who is this?" We told them "Rudolph Valentino, a silent film actor", not wanting to really bore them with the history lesson I could have given them, as the look on their faces told me they didn't know quite who Valentino was anyway.

But, after I'd taken a few more pictures and started to walk away, i noticed one of the people, holding their phone, reading from Rudy's wikipedia page. Everyone was standing around the guy, just listening to the life of Valentino. It made me a little warm and fuzzy inside, because, even in a small indirect way, we just inspired a group of people to learn about a great actor from a bygone era. We left with huge smiles on our faces and before getting back into the car, I turned and looked at the group, still reading up on Valentino, and thought "I had a part in that".

An Unguided History of Universal's Backlot

Front Gate, Circa 1915

Can I start this off by saying I really wanted to take the damn tour before I wrote this to have more than just what peers, books, and the internet have to go on? I hop on Universal's web site and am shocked.  EIGHTY DOLLARS!?! I even tried to land a press pass through work but there's a huge waiting list, so I guess when I get in there sometime in Febuary Ill add a part 2 for a first-hand account. I was pretty saddened by the cost. I live literally less than 2 miles from the front gate.  Are there no allowances for the people that have to finagle through the tourist traffic and live under the constant hum of sight seeing helicopters every single day? But I digress . .  I know it's LA, I know it's a huge tourist stop, but not being able to take just the studio tour without paying full admission was a huge bummer.  Seriously, 90% of the population here would have to choose between driving for a month or taking this tour, alone, in 100 degree weather. Pass.

In 1915, it was an apparently totally different scene.  For a mere 5 cents (with inflation that about $1.20 today. sheesh) Carl Laemmle would invite you to walk around the studio, sit on bleachers and learn about the history, see all the stars, bask in the awe that was being on a live set, and the 5 cents included a chicken boxed dinner. Oh, to have lived here in the early 20th century . . . You could even buy fresh fruit on the lot, since the vast majority of Los Angeles was orchards, and the studio itself was still fully operational farmland. Laemmle took great pride in showing off his pride and joy to the public, dubbing it "The World's Only Movie City!", making it an unforgettable and entertaining experience everyone could come and enjoy. This incarnation of the tour lasted until silents got the boot, officially ending in the early 1930s, as the background noise from passerby would have made filming talkies impossible.  

Universal Studios, Circa 1915

One of my favorite stories about the backlots is a ghost story (it wouldn't be Hollywood without a good ghost story!) that supposedly came to be on Universal's opening weekend. It spans decades -Many claim to have seen a man near Hitchcock's Psycho house, in  full aviator gear, stumbling around, giggling like a mad man, that just vanishes. Security guards, Studio staff, event staff, tourists, actors, all walks of life claim to have witnessed the "unnamed" pilot over the years.

Nicknamed "Uncle Carl" due to the number of family and friends he had on staff at the studio, Laemmle had apparently planned quite a party for the first public opening to the studios. Beautiful girls sprinkled guests in flower petals, cowboys and indians rode around the guests on horseback firing pistols into the air, Directors, actors and crew set up demonstrations of how movie-making worked behind the scenes... I wish I could have witnessed it then, it sounds like a serious party that only early Hollywood was capable of throwing.   The first day went off without a hitch, even a reconstruction of a flood that washed 50,000 gallons of water over the backlot worked flawlessly. Three of the main events, a wild west show, the flood, and a bridge demolition are still features in the tour to this day.

Second day, not so much.  Uncle Carl had hired famed Los Angeles pilot Frank Stites to re-enact a battle in the air for the public. High winds in the area had already postponed the show, and tensions were high as a stunt pilot had been killed earlier in the day in San Fransisco. Stites, assuming the title of "greatest aviator in the world" after the death of the man in San Fran, was supposed to detonate explosives by dropping payloads to the ground to blow up while performing arial dives and other stunts.  Unfortunately, after an explosion, Stites lost control of the craft and either by jumping or being expelled from his plane, fell from the sky to land at the feet of observers, dead on impact.  There is to this day a memorial on the lot for Stites, as it's a common held belief this is their giggling aviator.

While I am not sure where I stand on their recent attempt to have their neighbors pay for a makeover or what their hitting up the notoriously not-Beverly-Hills-earners means for their financial security in the future - the studio sent out mail to all of us that live in the vicinity asking for donations for a studio expansion/revitalization plan, touting the history of the studio, why it needs our donations and support, and how it intends to utilize dead space on their property and slowly devour Universal City, all while promising to provide "rich" job opportunities (that you'll have to know someone on the inside to acquire) and better entertainment (higher admission?-hope that means they'll finally be removing the Waterworld exhibit) - I hope they eventually learn to embrace more of their history in regards to the parks and tours they offer. 

Numbers vary but it's estimated the studio averaged about 500 visitors a day every weekend for the 15 years it was open to the public in it's original vision. Everyone from Valentino to Lon Chaney worked on these lots and glimpses of them could often be seen by fans in attendance.

Winter scene on the backlot

From Universal's first major production in 1913 (Traffic in Souls) to the full on theme park it's become today, it's one of the most visited sites in town and still holds a little air of movie magic, even today.  It's one of only two studios that even bothers with a backlot, as computer imaging and filming on location has become more popular, so it really is a must see if you are on vacation and have the funds to do it.  Guess I'll start a change jar and see what gets here first, admission for me and a friend, or my press pass date after the holidays. Either way, Universal is a really neat chunk of history nestled in the north hills.

You can learn more about the films and history of Universal right here at Journeys in Classic Film's blogathon all week long!  Hooray for Hollywood!

Bullying - 1920's Style

Over the past year or so bullying has been a hot headline.  It seems like opponents to social issues lately always talk about how they didn't have these "problems" in "their day", or use that thought as their reasoning behind their belief that sexual preference is a choice.  When I get into conversations (which usually end up in arguments) with folks once they say they would never support someone taking part in an alternative lifestyle, i have to ask them, "So you don't watch Montgomery Clift?  Or Stanwyck?  Dietrich? Hudson?"

One thing most of us can agree on - Valentino was a beautiful man. at the height of his success in the late 1920's, women swooned, men were jealous, and, much like today, journalists would find any reason to put his name in an article to drum up publicity and make a quick buck.  Often Valentino's masculinity was questioned in print. As one of the first mega stars, he was very concerned with his public image and was upset by the stories questioning his sexuality. Fairbanks was a "man's man", Valentino, while lusted after and adored by women, was seen as a threat to the "American male" with his feminine clothing, product in his hair, and soft mannerisms.  The rumors got so wild in a Chicago Tribune article, blaming Valentino for the weakening of men nation wide, that in July of 1926 Valentino challenged the newspaper writer to a boxing match to prove he wasn't a "pink powder puff".  Although the writer of that article didn't rise to the challenge Frank O'Neill of the New York Post did - and Valentino won the fight that took place on the roof of  New York's Ambassador Hotel.

About a month later, Valentino fell gravely ill. While the rumors continued to fly (He was poisoned by a jilted lover! stabbed by a jealous husband!) In reality Valentino had severe ulcers exacerbated by internal injuries from the fight, resulting in an abdominal tear.  He had put off seeing a doctor for a few weeks between promoting his film and dealing with his recent divorce, and didn't seek help until he was found coughing up blood and doubled over in pain. After surgery and days of suffering, pleurisy set in and there was no longer hope of saving him.

Without the fight to prove he was tough, his condition probably wouldn't have worsened as quickly and he might've lived.  It's sad that what other people think holds so much weight over all of us, that people's opinions, no matter how closed minded, lead us to feel sometimes there's no other way to make the criticism and ridicule stop other than to do something drastic.  Here we are, 100 years later, still dealing with these issues and it just makes me wonder, will we ever reach a point where we can just let each other be happy?

My first Classic Hollywood event in Los Angeles - Valentino Memorial

On this date in 1926 one of the first sex symbols and superstars of Hollywood passed away in New York from pleutitis at the age of 31.

Line of cars wrapping around Hollywood Forever

An estimated 100,000 people lined the streets of New York City in 1926 to pay their respects at his funeral. Fans committed suicide, others rushed the funeral home breaking windows to get to the deceased actor. Over 100 Mounted officers and NYPD's Police Reserve was deployed to restore order.

To this day, fans can pay their respects every year beginning at noon at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.  I honestly thought this was just going to be a touristy memorial but they had it set up as a full blown funeral:

Unfortunately for me, due to LA traffic and a tardy cable guy, I missed most of the ceremony, but made it just in time for the prayers, end of service, and got to see all of the great original memorabilia that has been donated over the decades.

Original Playbills and Postcards

1926 Newspaper 

This didnt have a label on it but I loved the artwork

At the front of the service

The shrine in the mausoleum

If any of you hardcore Valentino fans know, there was a young man and a middle aged woman there that they introduced as Valentino's direct family, but a cast member from Glee was in attendance and they were making such a fuss over him I couldnt hear who it was or get close to see.  The young man looked just like Valentino.

Even missing a lot of it, this was the most amazing thing i've witnessed here so far.  There were at least 60 people there, all ages, all ethnicities, paying their respects to one of the greats.  to be in the same room with so many fans was my pleasure.  I cannot wait for next year at the 85th anniversary,  Im told every 5 years it's a much bigger deal.