Hollywood History on Eye on LA (ABC)

Caught an Eye On LA show this Sunday afternoon--a repeat of a January 19, 2013 show--all focused on Hollywood History, with commentary from Marc Wanamaker and others. It was so interesting I want to provide these links to the show, so you can see it yourself.

(Actually, all of these segments have the same URL--you just have to click on the video you want to see.)

But who knows if they'll broadcast it again? And since it's a local show, if you live near, say Detroit, how would you see it at all?

The ABC website breaks the show up into these segments:

• Hollywood's basic history and the arrival of the movie studios is summarized in "Studios Arrive, Set up Shop in Hollywood" with tons of pictures. De Longpre, Wilcox, D. W. Griffith, Universal, Paramount, Raleigh Studios, United Artists all get mentioned. Also--Walt Disney explains his 7 Dwarfs and their names, and the early Oscars appear.

"Old Hollywood Hot Spots Still Thriving" is my favorite 7-minute segment. It starts with the Hollywood and Highland Center and its link to D.W. Griffith's sets, then goes to Ye Olde Max Factor Building, now the Hollywood Museum. That place has the Hannibal Lector jail cell set from Silence of the Lambs (who would've guessed that?), plus a room dedicated to Lucille Ball. A new exhibit dedicated to Loretta Young started January 2013 is pictured at right. The segment finishes up with visits to Musso & Franks and the Formosa Cafe.

• More on the first Oscars at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (which begins and ends the segment), Whitley Heights, Harold Lloyd's estate, Greyhall and Greystone, and the Beverly Hills Hotel (below left, circa 1945) are in the segment, "Classic Hollywood Estates Maintain Their Beauty." The Beverly Hills Hotel just celebrated its 100th birthday six or seven months ago and produced a great 5-minute video summarizing the history of Beverly Hills and the hotel here. Guess who did the commentary? Stars like Michael Douglas, Warren Beatty, Jimmy Fallon, and more.

• Finally, the Hollywood Forever Cemetary dominates the last segment. "Stars Live On at Hollywood Forever Cemetary." Although it starts at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

The photos of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in the 1930s and the Beverly Hills Hotel Pool circa 1945 are from the Los Angeles Public Library Collections, btw. The The Loretta Young exhibit photo is from the Hollywood Museum website.