THE BRONSON CAVES IN GRIFFITH PARK

Few people know that there are caves in Griffith Park....man made caves, artificial, but hey! This is LA!  They have always been popular with filmmakers and appear in countless films.

The Bronson Caves are the result of construction companies taking stone from that area of the park to use in the construction of the surrounding streets and houses. There is also a version that the railway company also used some of the stone.

This happened between 1903 and the late 1920s ,and then, having run out of stone, the whole area was abandoned....as a quarry.

Since it is a very accesible place, filmakers started using it as a location for Westerns and science fiction movies that needed a cave in the middle of the wilderness.

Since the "caves" are really a short tunnel, only some angles are tipically used in the scenes. Probably the most famous use of the caves is in the Batman TV series.

How to get there? 

 

 From Franklin Avenue, one can go north on Canyon Drive until the end of the drive. Soon after entering the park,  you can leave your car in the parking lot on the right. (see photo)

 

 

 

You walk round the metallic bridge, and take the dirt path to the caves. No signs but you can't get lost.  It is a very short walk.

 

THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER: THE WEST IS THE BEST

Gene Autry.  The name sounds familiar but hardly anyone today can give details of the man's life....except that he played a singing cowboy. The man is linked to the West and....guess what? That is the theme of this museum.....the American West. It used to be called the Western Heritage Museum.  It is sort of refreshing that in Los Angeles, a place where Fiction is King.(Hollywood, Disneyland)    ....you have this place.  Real guns.....real costumes.....indian art. 

What about Gene Autry the actor? The guy who used to collect Hollywood?  There is a gallery which is informative, but not much. Not even Hollywood's West is very well represented here. In other words, not the place for the movie buff. 

There are other places in the United States that have a Western theme but none like this so.... if visitors to Los Angeles have seen most of the sights.....go to this place. And buy something in the expensive gift shop.  (Real is not cheap!)

Official Website for more info:

http://theautry.org/

 

DISNEYLAND PARK VERSUS THE MAGIC KINGDOM.....A COMPARISON

Disneyland Park is the name of the original park built under Walt Disney's instructions in 1955. It is in Anaheim, near Los Angeles.  During the last years of his life Walt Disney spent a lot of time there, promoting "upcoming" attractions like the Haunted House and Pirates of the Caribbean. So today, despite all the changes,  this particular park is linked to memories of Walt. 

The Magic Kingdom is an almost exact copy of Disneyland, inaugurated in Orlando, Florida in 1971. By then, Walt was gone.  From the visitor's point of view, it gives you an almost identical experience as the Los Angeles park.....unless you are a Disney historian or can "appreciate" the differences.  This is what this article is all about. 

If you look at the maps, the two parks are very similar. The Magic Kingdom is slightly larger, so a visit can be a slightly less crowded affair.

One of the most obvious differences, the castle in The Magic Kingdom is much much nicer.....but remember, the "castles" in these parks are just for the photo ops, they have little to do with what the park really offers. 

Disneyland's castle may be less impressive, but it compensates with other features which are unique. The Matterhorn is only in Disneyland. So is the New Orleans Quarter, and Toon Town.  

OK. Now the main thing.....the rides and attractions.  The main differences?  Both parks have key attractions such as The Haunted House, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain.  The building of the Haunted House in Disneyland is much nicer, but the ride is the same. 

There are some important differences in the less known rides.....For example The Flying Carpets and the Snow White ride are only in Orlando, Roger Rabbit's Ride is in Disneyland.  The Tiki rooms are different.....but in the end the two parks play to a draw. 

So here is the big one. Disneyland has two very good attractions that are missing in Orlando. The Submarine Voyage....and the Indiana Jones Ride.  The last one is particularly good.     

So if you don't care for history, or the fact the Disneyland has a little more style......When in Disneyland remember the uniqueness of those rides. 

SUBMARINE VOYAGE...only at Disneyland

     

THE STORY BEHIND THE SIGN

There is so much action at the Universal City Walk that few people notice the round sign you see in the picture ….

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRLS…….???    OK, so here is the explanation. The sign is an updated replica of an original sign that was in front of a legendary theatre in Hollywood, and was put on the City Walk by the Museum of Neon Art. Briefly, here is the story behind the sign.    

The Earl Carroll Theatre, owned precisely by New York theatre empresario Earl Carroll,  was located at 6230 Sunset Blvd. just off Vine St.,and opened its doors on December 26, 1938.




 It was a glamorous 
1,000-seat supper 
club-theater, and was famous for its musical comedy shows with…..you guessed it…..beautiful girls.  One of them, Beryl Wallace, was the owner’s girlfriend. As a “sign of love”, and to promote her….he put up the neon sign. It soon became famous.  Next to the sign, a famous “Wall of Fame”, but that is another story.... In 1948, when things were looking good, disaster struck. Earl Carroll and his famous girlfriend died when the aircraft they were travelling in hit some wires  in Pennsylvania. The theater was sold soon later, and during the 50s was known as the Moulin Rouge.  The neon sign, and Wall of Fame survived, but their luck ran out some time during the 60s as the place became a rock club….and then another rock club. 

Today the theatre still exists  ..as you can see in the picture below… the sign?  Just the replica on Citywalk.   So much for old Hollywood.  

THE HOLLYWOOD TOWER: WORTH A VISIT?

You probably saw it from the 101 Freeway.  You may have heard about it as the inspiration of the Disney ride. The Hollywood Tower.....

Is it a historic building?  Yes. It was built in 1929, and is in the National Register. But not because it has a particularly interesting past. The truth: No major actor or really famous person from the Golden Era has lived there. Any ghost lives there?  Any murder?   None that we know of......  

The Hollywood Tower today is a fancy apartment building. A very nice place to live in, with good views from the upper floors, but is not supposed to be a tourist attraction.

Did it inspire the Disney ride?  Probably.  Hollywood does not have another similar tower that could have been the source of inspiration. Then there is the issue of the sign. The Disney one is very similar to the real tower's.   Please note: The architecture however is totally different, although the Orlando park's  tower has pointed spirals that are somewhat similar to the ones in the Hollywood building. Note that this was the original ride.....  

Want to take a picture of the front?   Not very easy. Go up Vine from Hollywood Boulevard, then turn right two blocks before reaching the freeway. Try to find a view from there. 

The actual address: 6138 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028   From the official entrance you will get a picture similar to the one below.     

LIVE IN LOS ANGELES WITHOUT DRIVING.....MUCH

New apartment building in Hollywood. 

When people come to L.A., they are thinking of the beach, Hollywood, the shows......Los Angeles is a great place, but it has a catch.....you need to drive to get around.

Granted, most people know this. L.A without a car is a logistical nightmare. What they don't know is how worse it has gotten the last years. Places where there was plenty of 2-hour free parking, like Glendale, now are a crowded disaster during the weekends.  The main boulevards of most residential areas, relatively easy to navigate before, now seem like the streets of New York. The bottom line: the only easy drives in L.A today are on Sunday mornings, and far away from the malls.

So? It finally gets to you. You have to drive.....and driving in L.A. today is not fun. Even the parking lots are chaotic.  And this has quietly changed the thinking of a lot of people. The news is that slowly but surely, an "urban" L.A. is coming to existence. Yes! It is possible to live in L.A without driving....much. 

Option A: Hollywood, the West Side, Santa Monica etc

One option is to study things carefully before chosing a place to live. Most people want to be within walking distance of a supermarket, a pharmacy, a convenience store, the post office. And have good public transportation to work. Public Transportation?  That rules out most residencial areas like Cerritos, Downey, Pasadena. The areas of L.A. best served by public transportation are Downtown, Hollywood, Santa Monica......now let's take those three places. They all have public transportation, but.....Downtown lacks a good retail infrastructure. Its a ghost town during the weekends.  So.....you guessed.....the other two, and other places like Glendale. 

Option B   Live near a Mall....

The malls of L.A. have changed.....they are full of cars, parking during the weekends is not easy. But there is a positive side to this. The malls have grown so much now, that they are like small cities. Banks, Pharmacies, all types of shops.  You live nearby? You have everything within walking distance. And they are nicer than Hollywood and parts of Santa Monica. Less crazies.....  The secret is out, and people are moving in droves to the apartment buildings around Del Amo in Torrance, Glendale Galleria in Glendale.....and the others. 

How is life then if you live in these areas? You can survive most of the week without driving. Since the city is so spread out, you will probably need the car to visit friends during the weekend, to go to certain places.  But the pressure is off. Hey Hey Hey!!!

  

HOLLYWOOD/HIGHLAND. AND THOSE ELEPHANTS?

The shopping center at Hollywood and Highland in Hollywood is probably one of the most visited places in Los Angeles. Most tourists visit the place together with the Chinese Theatre.

OK. Probably the most surprising thing about this place is the design, specially the statues of those two elephants high above the place. Some of us also notice the strange Babylonian mural.

It looks like an old Hollywood set, something out of a picture like Cleopatra.....but most people think it is just a generic thing inspired by Hollywood's Golden Era and forget about it. 

Yes....and No.   This is not generic.......it is a limited reproduction of one of the most grand and fabulous sets ever designed....the set of D.W. Griffith"s 1916 epic Intolerance.  That film was the most expensive to make up to that point, and was a commercial flop, creating big financial problems for Griffith and the studio. The  original set was not far from Hollywood and Highland. Some think that the idea of elephants comes from the italian film Cabiria, another classic. The set was so large that it could not be dismantled after shooting wrapped up, and was a type of "tourist attraction" for a couple of years until it finally came down. The builders of the mall must have known this, and are sort of recreating a great moment in film history. Sort of nice.  

In the pictures, you can compare the original set to what we have now.... 

THE PHANTOM THEATRES OF DOWNTOWN L.A.

A hundred years ago, Downtown L.A. was a West Coast version of Midtown Manhattan, or downtown Chicago.  The sidewalks were full of people, the streets were full of trams and cars.

And with the support of cinema industry, Broadway Los Angeles became the cinema version of Broadway New York.

Big glamorous movie theatres started to appear in 1910, and soon there was a string of them. Twelve movie palaces between Third and Ninth Street, on South Broadway, and a few more in the surrounding streets. Los Angeles, entertainment capital of the world. The star-studded premieres were divided between theatres in Hollywood and downtown. 

But concentration in L.A did not work out.  Starting with Miracle Mile, alternative urban centers appeared in different parts of the L.A. basin, and people had the option of avoiding Downtown L.A. if they wanted.....and they did. 

And if Downtown L.A. today is relatively unpopular for many reasons, Broadway is even worse. It is frankly considered one of the most rundown areas of downtown L.A. 

One of the biggest victims was those famous movie theatres.  All those regular customers disappeared into the residential wilderness. For years Broadway survived offering services to the Latino community, and they are still at it today. Some are churches, some are stores. Some are nightclubs.....Survivors include the Orpheum and the Mayan. 

 But the movies? the star studded premieres?   They are ghosts of a past that will not return. 

Is it worthwhile to see what is left?   Maybe. If you are a fan of fancy buildings. And you like ghosts. 
Please tolerate the area, which has complicated parking and very few people willing to provide public restrooms. 

Interested?  You can go to downtown in public transportation, as many people do today, and simply walk down to that magical stretch of Broadway. Don't worry, its relatively safe. While you are there, its worth seeing the Columbia Eastern Building, one of the nicest. Even if it never was a theatre.  

The City doesn't get it. As long as Downtown Los Angeles doesn't offer what the malls offer......

For more detailed info, go to the wikipedia page for The Theatre District. Los Angeles....