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95-569: Three demobilized United States Navy aviators, Johnny Morrison, Buzz Wanchek, and George Copeland, arrive in Hollywood , California . All three flew together in the same flight crew from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific . Buzz has shell shock and a metal plate in his head above his ear. While George and Buzz get an apartment together, Johnny surprises his wife, Helen, at her hotel bungalow where she

190-555: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csa ) or dry-summer subtropical climate . Winters are typically mild and with light rain, but there are still plenty of warm, sunny days in the winter, as well. Summers are hot, sunny and dry, with virtually no rain falling between April and October; while summer days can be warm, they are considerably cooler than in the San Fernando Valley . Spring and fall are generally warm, sunny, and pleasant. Santa Ana winds typically occur during

285-607: A biopic directed by Minnelli of Vincent van Gogh , although it was extremely well-received critically. Houseman moved into television producing, notably doing The Seven Lively Arts (1957) and episodes of Playhouse 90 . He also returned to theatre, producing revivals of Measure for Measure (1957) and The Duchess of Malfi (1957). Houseman was enticed back to MGM as a producer, and given his own production company, John Houseman Productions. His films were All Fall Down (1962), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) and In

380-467: A blue dahlia. Johnny escapes Leo and his side-kick, knocking them both out just before Eddie arrives. They talk and Eddie admits with regret that, fifteen years earlier, he was involved in the shooting of a bank messenger. Leo comes around and tries to shoot Johnny, but during a scuffle, he shoots Eddie instead. Johnny ends up shooting Leo and flees to the Blue Dahlia, where the police are trying to force

475-578: A campaign for the area to secede from Los Angeles and become a separate municipality. In June of that year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors placed secession referendums for both Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley on the ballot. To pass, they required the approval of a majority of voters in the proposed new municipality as well as a majority of voters in all of Los Angeles. In the November election, both measures failed by wide margins in

570-420: A car crash that happened because she was driving while drunk. Johnny and Helen scuffle, which is witnessed by the hotel detective, "Dad" Newell. Johnny decides to leave. He pulls a gun on Helen, states 'that's what you deserve,' but drops the gun on a chair and leaves. Buzz goes out to find Johnny at his hotel bungalow. He meets Helen Morrison in the hotel bar and, unaware of her identity, goes to her bungalow for

665-550: A cheap hotel in Los Angeles under an assumed name. Corelli, the hotel manager, finds Johnny's framed photo of himself with Dickie and tries to blackmail him. Johnny punches Corelli out, smashing the frame in the process; he discovers on the back of the photo that Helen has written an insurance note revealing that Eddie is really Bauer, a murderer who is wanted in New Jersey . Corelli revives and sells information on Johnny's identity to

760-525: A confused Buzz to admit that he killed Helen. Johnny enters and suggests that Joyce turn up the jazz music that Buzz hates. As his head pounds, Buzz remembers leaving Helen alive in her bungalow. Newell tries to shift suspicion towards George, then attempts to leave as Police Captain Hendrickson confronts Newell with the accusation that he tried to blackmail Helen about her affair, and that he killed her when she refused to comply. Newell then tries to escape from

855-637: A contract with Paramount Pictures to produce movies. His first credit for that studio was The Unseen (1945). He followed it with Miss Susie Slagle's (1945) and The Blue Dahlia (1946), both with Veronica Lake . The latter, starring Alan Ladd and written by Raymond Chandler , has become a classic. He left Paramount and returned to Broadway to direct Lute Song (1946) with Mary Martin . Back in Hollywood he produced Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) for Max Ophuls at Universal. Houseman went to RKO where he produced They Live by Night (1948)

950-527: A corporate dinner for the Mercury crew, Welles exploded, calling his partner a "bloodsucker" and a "crook". As Houseman attempted to leave, Welles began hurling dish heaters at him, effectively ending both their partnership and friendship. Houseman later, however, played a pivotal role in ushering Citizen Kane (1941), which starred Welles. Welles telephoned Houseman asking him to return to Hollywood to "babysit" screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz while he completed

1045-444: A drink to wait for Mrs Morrison. Helen rings Eddie who breaks up with her over the phone. However, she then blackmails him into seeing her again. Eddie visits Helen at her bungalow; this is witnessed by the hotel detective. Johnny is picked up by Joyce Harwood (who is driving to Malibu) while walking in the rain. She is estranged from Eddie. Neither reveals their names. Although attracted to each other, they part ways and Johnny spends

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1140-413: A fairly original idea." He also disliked the performance of Lake. "The only times she's good is when she keeps her mouth shut and looks mysterious", he told a friend. "The moment she tries to behave as if she had a brain she falls flat on her face. The scenes we had to cut out because she loused them up! And there are three godawful close shots of her looking perturbed that make me want to throw my lunch over

1235-511: A friend and fellow Public School man. The way the interview had been conducted ('sneakily') filled Ray with humiliation and rage. Chandler wanted to quit, but Houseman convinced him to sleep on it. The next day, Chandler said he would be able to finish the film if he resumed drinking. Houseman said that the writer's requirements were "two Cadillac limousines, to stand day and night outside the house with drivers available", "six secretaries", and "a direct line open at all times to my office by day, to

1330-473: A gangster named Leo (the nightclub partner of Eddie), who then kidnaps Johnny when he visits George and Buzz. Buzz and George visit Eddie at the Blue Dahlia. Joyce, who has agreed to meet Eddie, introduces herself. As Joyce picks at a blue dahlia flower, the nightclub's music sets off a painful ring in Buzz's head. Lapsing into a fit, he remembers the agonizing music that he heard at Helen's bungalow, as she played with

1425-584: A huge success with The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), directed by Vincente Minnelli . He followed it with the film adaptation of Julius Caesar (1953) (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture) Also popular was Executive Suite (1954), a highly creative adaptation by Ernest Lehman of Cameron Hawley 's bestselling novel. However, although Her Twelve Men (1954), Minnelli's The Cobweb (1955) and Fritz Lang 's Moonfleet (1955) all lost money. So did Lust for Life (1956),

1520-509: A motivating force, but the part is good." By May 1945, the government ruled that all men aged 30 or over would be released from the obligation to go back into the Army. Ladd did not have to re-enlist after all. The Blue Dahlia ranked among the most popular films at the British box office in 1946. In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Bosley Crowther called the film "a honey of

1615-618: A new career path in the theater, where he took the stage name of John Houseman . He began by translating works in German and French into English for the New York stage. He became a United States citizen in 1943. On Broadway he co-wrote Three and One (1933) and And Be My Love (1934). Composer Virgil Thomson recruited him to direct Four Saints in Three Acts (1934), Thomson's collaboration with Gertrude Stein . He later directed The Lady from

1710-436: A novel but was "stuck" and was considering turning it into a screenplay for the movies instead. Houseman read the 120 pages Chandler had written and, within 48 hours, it was sold to Paramount. Houseman would produce it under the supervision of Joseph Sistrom. It was the first original script for the screen that Chandler had ever written. He wrote the first half of the script in under six weeks and sent it to Paramount. Delighted,

1805-437: A rough-'em-up romance" and wrote: "[A]n air of deepening mystery overhangs this tempestuous tale which shall render it none the less intriguing to those lovers of the brutal and bizarre. ... George Marshall has tautly directed from Mr. Chandler's crafty script. The tact of all this may be severely questioned, but it does make a brisk, exciting show." Variety magazine wrote: "Playing a discharged naval flier returning home from

1900-544: A script. The Mercury Theatre on the Air featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead , Bernard Herrmann , and George Coulouris . The Mercury Theatre on the Air subsequently became famous for its notorious 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells ' The War of the Worlds , which had put much of the country in a panic. By all accounts, Welles was shocked by the panic that ensued. According to Houseman, "he hadn't

1995-643: A vice-president of David O. Selznick Productions. His most notable achievement during that time was helping adapt and produce the adaptation of Jane Eyre (1943) which starred Joan Fontaine and Welles. In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor , Houseman quit his job and became the head of the overseas radio division of the Office of War Information (OWI), working for the Voice of America whilst also managing its operations in New York City. In 1945 Houseman signed

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2090-417: Is 112 °F (44 °C) on June 26, 1990, and the all-time record low temperature is 24 °F (−4 °C) on both December 8, 1978, and December 23, 1990. The 2000 U.S. census counted 77,818 residents in the 3.51-square-mile (9.1 km ) Hollywood neighborhood—an average of 22,193 people per square mile (8,569 people/km ), the seventh- densest neighborhood in all of Los Angeles County . In 2008

2185-527: Is an accepted version of this page Hollywood , sometimes informally called Tinseltown , is a neighborhood and district in the central region of Los Angeles County, California , mostly within the city of Los Angeles . Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Sony Pictures , Walt Disney Studios , Paramount Pictures , Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures , are located in or near Hollywood. Hollywood

2280-472: Is hosting a riotous party with many drunken revellers. Johnny discovers that Helen is having an affair with Eddie Harwood, the owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub on the Sunset Strip . Johnny punches Eddie as he leaves and then apologizes for losing his temper. The party ends and everybody leaves. Helen, drunk, confesses to Johnny that their son, Dickie, who Johnny believed died of diphtheria , actually died in

2375-737: Is part of the ongoing rebirth of Hollywood. The Art Deco-style studio complex, completed in 1938, was once the Hollywood headquarters for CBS . It became home to a new generation of broadcasters when cable television networks MTV , Comedy Central , BET and Spike TV consolidated their offices there in 2014 as part of a $ 420 million office, residential and retail complex. Since 2000, Hollywood has been increasingly gentrified due to revitalization by private enterprise and public planners. Over 1,200 hotel rooms have been added in Hollywood area between 2001 and 2016. Four thousand new apartments and over thirty low to mid-rise development projects were approved in 2019. In 2002, some Hollywood voters began

2470-642: Is responsible for police services. The Hollywood police station is at 1358 N. Wilcox Avenue. Los Angeles Fire Department operates four fire stations, 27, 41, 52, and 82 in the area. The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Hollywood-Wilshire Health Center in Hollywood. The United States Postal Service operates the Hollywood Post Office , the Hollywood Pavilion Post Office, and

2565-484: Is run by the boss, Mister Mister (played in the original production by Will Geer ). The show was thought to have had left-wing and unionist sympathies (Foreman ends the show with a song about "unions" taking over the town and the country), and became legendary as an example of a "censored" show. Shortly before the show was to open, FTP officials in Washington announced that no productions would open until after July 1, 1937,

2660-593: The Lafayette Theatre on April 14, 1936, to enthusiastic reviews and remained sold out for each of its nightly performances. The play was regarded by critics and patrons as an enormous, if controversial, success. After 10 months with the Negro Theater Project, however, Houseman felt he was faced with the dilemma of risking his future: ... on a partnership with a 20-year-old boy in whose talent I had unquestioning faith but with whom I must increasingly play

2755-527: The vineyards , barley fields, and citrus groves. A single-track streetcar line ran down the middle of Prospect Avenue from it, but service was infrequent and the trip took two hours. The old citrus fruit-packing house was converted into a livery stable , improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood. The Hollywood Hotel was opened in 1902 by Whitley, president of the Los Pacific Boulevard and Development Company. Having finally acquired

2850-428: The 1920s, Hollywood was the fifth-largest industry in the nation. By the 1930s, Hollywood studios became fully vertically integrated , as production, distribution and exhibition was controlled by these companies, enabling Hollywood to produce 600 films per year. Hollywood became known as Tinseltown and the "dream factory" because of the glittering image of the movie industry. A large sign reading HOLLYWOODLAND

2945-485: The 1973 film The Paper Chase . He reprised the role of Kingsfield in the 1978 television series adaptation . Houseman was born Jacques Haussmann on September 22, 1902, in Bucharest , Romania, the son of May (née Davies) a governess and Georges Haussmann, who ran a grain business. His mother was British, from a Christian family of Welsh and Irish descent. His father was an Alsatian -born Jew . Haussmann

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3040-458: The 53.8% of the residents who were born abroad, a figure that was considered high for the city as a whole. The median household income in 2008 was $ 33,694, considered low for Los Angeles. The average household size of 2.1 people was also lower than the city norm. Renters occupied 92.4% of the housing units, and home- or apartment owners the rest. The percentages of never-married men (55.1%), never-married women (39.8%) and widows (9.6%) were among

3135-474: The Air . An adaptation of Treasure Island was scheduled for the program's first broadcast, for which Houseman worked feverishly on the script. However, a week before the show was to air, Welles decided that a program far more dramatic was required. To Houseman's horror, Treasure Island was abandoned in favor of Bram Stoker 's Dracula , with Welles playing the infamous vampire. During an all night session at Perkins' Restaurant, Welles and Houseman hashed out

3230-670: The Federal Theatre Project was headed by Rose McClendon , a well-known black actress, and Houseman, a theatre producer. Houseman describes the experience in one of his memoirs: Within a year of its formation, the Federal Theatre had more than fifteen thousand men and women on its payroll at an average wage of approximately twenty dollars a week. During the four years of its existence its productions played to more than thirty million people in more than two hundred theatres as well as portable stages, school auditoriums and public parks

3325-501: The Hurd ranch and subdivided it, Whitley built the hotel to attract land buyers. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue , the structure fronted on Prospect Avenue (later Hollywood Boulevard ). Although it was still a dusty, unpaved road, it was regularly graded and graveled. The hotel became internationally known and was the center of the civic and social life and home of movie stars for many years. Whitley's company developed and sold one of

3420-561: The Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center mall, is the site of the annual Academy Awards programs. The mall is located where the Hollywood Hotel once stood. After the neighborhood underwent years of serious decline in the 1980s, with crime, drugs and increasing poverty among some residents, many landmarks were threatened with demolition. Columbia Square , at the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street ,

3515-441: The L.A. sewer system. With annexation, the name of Prospect Avenue was changed to Hollywood Boulevard and all the street numbers in the new district changed. For example, 100 Prospect Avenue, at Vermont Avenue, became 6400 Hollywood Boulevard; and 100 Cahuenga Boulevard, at Hollywood Boulevard, changed to 1700 Cahuenga Boulevard. By 1912, major motion-picture companies had come West to set up production near or in Los Angeles. In

3610-527: The Pacific first to find his wife unfaithful, then to find her murdered and himself in hiding as the suspect, Alan Ladd does a bangup job. Performance has a warm appeal, while in his relentless track down of the real criminal, Ladd has a cold, steel-like quality that is potent. Fight scenes are stark and brutal, and tremendously effective." Diabolique called it "a fantastic film noir, full of atmosphere, intrigue, crackling dialogue and sensational performances, which

3705-573: The Sea (1934) and Valley Forge (1934). In 1934, Houseman was looking to cast Panic , a play he was producing based on a drama by Archibald MacLeish concerning a Wall Street financier whose world crumbles about him when consumed by the crash of 1929. Although the central figure is a man in his late fifties, Houseman became obsessed by the notion that a young man named Orson Welles he had seen in Katharine Cornell 's production of Romeo and Juliet

3800-696: The Sunset Post Office. Hollywood is included within the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council (HUNC), Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, and the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council. Neighborhood Councils cast advisory votes on such issues as zoning, planning, and other community issues. The council members are voted in by stakeholders, generally defined as anyone living, working, owning property, or belonging to an organization within

3895-587: The acclaimed New York drama company, the Mercury Theatre . Houseman wrote of their collaboration at this time: On the broad wings of the Federal eagle, we had risen to success and fame beyond ourselves as America's youngest, cleverest, most creative and audacious producers to whom none of the ordinary rules of the theater applied. Armed with a manifesto written by Houseman declaring their intention to foster new talent, experiment with new types of plays, and appeal to

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3990-620: The army in 1943 before being honorably discharged due to illness; however, he had recently been reclassified 1-A for the military draft, and he might have had to go back into the Army. Paramount kept applying for deferments so he could make films but Ladd was due for induction in May 1945. The studio wanted to make a movie starring him before that happened, but had nothing suitable. Producer John Houseman knew Raymond Chandler from having collaborated on Paramount's The Unseen , which Houseman produced and Chandler rewrote. Houseman says Chandler had started

4085-539: The beginning of the new fiscal year. In his memoir, Run-Through , Houseman wrote about the circumstances surrounding the opening night at the Maxine Elliott Theatre . All the performers had been enjoined not to perform on stage for the production when it opened on July 14, 1937. The cast and crew left their government-owned theatre and walked 20 blocks to another theatre, with the audience following. No one knew what to expect; when they got there Blitzstein himself

4180-605: The boundaries of the council. Hollywood residents aged 25 and older holding a four-year degree amounted to 28% of the population in 2000, about the same as in the county at large. The Will and Ariel Durant Branch, John C. Fremont Branch, and the Frances Howard Goldwyn – Hollywood Regional Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library are in Hollywood. John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann ; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988)

4275-660: The capital of the film industry in the United States. The mountains, plains and low land prices made Hollywood a good place to establish film studios. Director D. W. Griffith was the first to make a motion picture in Hollywood. His 17-minute short film In Old California (1910) was filmed for the Biograph Company . Although Hollywood banned movie theaters—of which it had none—before annexation that year, Los Angeles had no such restriction. The first studio in Hollywood opened in early 1913, on Formosa Avenue down

4370-415: The city estimated that the population had increased to 85,489. The median age for residents was 31, about the city's average. Hollywood was said to be "highly diverse" when compared to the city at large. The ethnic breakdown in 2000 was 42.2% Latino or Hispanic , 41% Non-Hispanic White , 7.1% Asian , 5.2% Black , and 4.5% other. Mexico (21.3%) and Guatemala (13%) were the most common places of birth for

4465-528: The citywide vote. According to the Mapping L.A. project of The Los Angeles Times , Hollywood is flanked by Hollywood Hills to the north, Los Feliz to the northeast, East Hollywood or Virgil Village to the east, Larchmont and Hancock Park to the south, Fairfax to the southwest, West Hollywood to the west, and Hollywood Hills West to the northwest. Street limits of the Hollywood neighborhood are: north, Hollywood Boulevard from La Brea Avenue to

4560-526: The combined and tricky roles of producer, censor, adviser, impresario, father, older brother and bosom friend. Houseman later produced for the Negro Theatre Unit Turpentine (1936) without Welles. In 1936, Houseman and Welles were running a WPA unit in midtown Manhattan for classic productions called Project No. 891. Their first production was Christopher Marlowe 's Tragical History of Dr. Faustus which Welles directed while also playing

4655-527: The country over. Houseman immediately hired Welles and assigned him to direct Macbeth for the FTP's Negro Theater Unit, a production that became known as the " Voodoo Macbeth ", as it was set in the Haitian court of King Henri Christophe (and with voodoo witch doctors for the three Weird Sisters ) and starred Jack Carter in the title role. The incidental music was composed by Virgil Thomson . The play premiered at

4750-504: The county's highest. There were 2,640 families headed by single parents, about average for Los Angeles. In 2000, there were 2,828 military veterans, or 4.5%, a low rate for the city as a whole. These were the ten neighborhoods or cities in Los Angeles County with the highest population densities, according to the 2000 census, with the population per square mile: In 2022, there were 1,374 homeless individuals in Hollywood. KNX

4845-526: The directorial debut of Nicholas Ray . He also did The Company She Keeps (1949) and On Dangerous Ground (1951). He returned to Broadway to produce Joy to the World (1949) and King Lear (1950-51), the latter with Louis Calhern . RKO's head of production had been Dore Schary . When Schary moved to MGM he offered Houseman a contract at the studio, which the producer accepted. Houseman's stint at MGM began with Holiday for Sinners (1952); then he had

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4940-435: The early 1900s, most motion picture camera and equipment patents were held by Thomas Edison 's Motion Picture Patents Company in New Jersey , which often sued filmmakers to stop their productions. To escape this, filmmakers began moving to Los Angeles, where attempts to enforce Edison's patents were easier to evade. Also, the weather was ideal for filmmaking and there was quick access to various settings. Los Angeles became

5035-585: The early 1950s, the State of California constructed the Hollywood Freeway through the northeast corner of Hollywood. The Capitol Records Building on Vine Street , just north of Hollywood Boulevard, was built in 1956. The Hollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 as a tribute to artists and other significant contributors to the entertainment industry. The official opening was on February 8, 1960. The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District

5130-534: The early residential areas, the Ocean View Tract. Whitley did much to promote the area. He paid thousands of dollars to install electricity and arrange for electric lighting, and he built both a bank and a road into the Cahuenga Pass . The lighting ran for several blocks down Prospect Avenue. Whitley's land was centered on Highland Avenue . His 1918 development, Whitley Heights , was named for him. Hollywood

5225-511: The east boundary of Wattles Garden Park and Franklin Avenue between Bonita and Western avenues; east, Western Avenue ; south, Melrose Avenue , and west, La Brea Avenue or the West Hollywood city line . In 1918, H. J. Whitley commissioned architect A. S. Barnes to design Whitley Heights as a Mediterranean-style village on the hills above Hollywood Boulevard. It became

5320-400: The faintest idea what the effect would be". CBS was inundated with calls; newspaper switchboards were jammed. Without Welles, Houseman staged Douglas Moore 's The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939). While Houseman was teaching at Vassar College , he produced Welles' never-completed second short film, Too Much Johnson (1938). The film was never publicly screened and no print of the film

5415-459: The fall and winter months, although they can occur during any month; Santa Ana winds bring heavy winds, higher temperatures and lower humidity levels, which increases the risk of wildfires , especially in dry years. Smog can sometimes occur during the summer months. May and June can be foggy and cloudy in Hollywood, a phenomenon known by southern California residents as "May Gray" or " June Gloom ". The all-time record high temperature in Hollywood

5510-501: The fence." Chandler received a lot of deference on the set, but Lake was not familiar with him so, upon asking about him and being told, "He's the greatest mystery writer around", she made a point of listening intently to an analysis of his work by the film's publicity director to impress newspaper reporters with her knowledge of a writer she had never read. Chandler developed an intense dislike for Lake and referred to her as "Moronica Lake". Lake later said about her role, "I'm not much of

5605-540: The first celebrity community. Other areas within Hollywood are Franklin Village , Little Armenia , Spaulding Square , Thai Town , and Yucca Corridor . In 1994, Hollywood, Alabama , and ten other towns named Hollywood successfully fought an attempt by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to trademark the name and force same-named communities to pay royalties to it. Like the rest of Los Angeles , Hollywood has

5700-409: The front-office calculation, I suppose, that by dangling this fresh carrot before Chandler's nose they were executing a brilliant and cunning maneuver. They did not know their man. They succeeded, instead, in disturbing him in three distinct and separate ways: One, his faith in himself was destroyed. By never letting Ray share my apprehensions, I had convinced him of my confidence in his ability to finish

5795-500: The issue: "The argument is Orson's own fault. He wanted to be given all the credit because he's a hog. Actually, it is his film. So it's a ridiculous argument." After he and Welles went their separate ways, Houseman went on to direct The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939) and Liberty Jones (1941) and produced the Mercury Theatre's stage production of Native Son (1941) on Broadway, directed by Welles. In Hollywood he became

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5890-648: The last broadcasters (television or radio) with Hollywood addresses, but KCET has since sold its studios to the Church of Scientology on Sunset, and plans to move to another location. KNBC moved in 1962 from the former NBC Radio City Studios at the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street to NBC Studios in Burbank. KTTV moved in 1996 from its former home at Metromedia Square on Sunset Boulevard to West Los Angeles, and KCOP left its home on La Brea Avenue to join KTTV at

5985-666: The modern-day Fox Television Center. KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV moved from their longtime home at CBS Columbia Square on Sunset Boulevard to a new facility at CBS Studio Center in Studio City . As a neighborhood within the Los Angeles city limits, Hollywood does not have its own municipal government. A person was appointed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to serve as an honorary " Mayor of Hollywood " for ceremonial purposes. Johnny Grant held this position from 1980 until his death on January 9, 2008. The Los Angeles Police Department

6080-589: The new town with General Harrison Gray Otis , publisher of the Los Angeles Times , and Ivar Weid, a prominent businessman in the area. Daeida Wilcox , who donated land to help in the development of Hollywood, learned of the name Hollywood from an acquaintance who owned an estate by that name in Illinois. Wilcox is quoted as saying, "I chose the name Hollywood simply because it sounds nice and because I'm superstitious and holly brings good luck." She recommended

6175-456: The night in a beach-side inn. The next morning, at the same inn, Joyce sees Johnny at breakfast and reveals that she stayed at the same inn. They decide to walk on the beach to look for moonstones. Whilst purchasing a bus ticket for Los Angeles, Johnny hears the radio announce that Helen has been murdered and that Johnny is suspected. He then quickly leaves to board a bus. The police interview Newell, Harwood, Buzz, and George. Johnny checks in to

6270-436: The office but is shot dead by Hendrickson when he pulls his own gun. Later, outside the Blue Dahlia, Buzz and George decide to go for a drink, leaving Johnny and Joyce together. Uncredited performances include Mae Busch as Jenny the maid, Anthony Caruso as a corporal playing a jukebox, and Noel Neill as Nolie the hatcheck girl. In 1945 Alan Ladd was one of Paramount's top stars. He had served for ten months in

6365-479: The only serious job he ever did in a lifetime of film writing. But Orson turned Kane into a film: the dynamics and the tensions are his and the brilliant cinematic effects—all those visual and aural inventions that add up to make Citizen Kane one of the world's great movies—those were pure Orson Welles. In 1975, during an interview with Kate McCauley, Houseman stated that film critic Pauline Kael in her essay " Raising Kane ", had caused an "idiotic controversy" over

6460-479: The play as a political melodrama with clear contemporary parallels." Houseman and Welles later presented The Shoemaker's Holiday (1938), Heartbreak House (1938) and Danton's Death (1938). Beginning in the summer of 1938, the Mercury Theatre was featured in a weekly dramatic radio program on the CBS network, initially promoted as First Person Singular before gaining the official title The Mercury Theatre on

6555-601: The play opened to indifferent notices and ran for a mere three performances, it nevertheless led to the forging of a theatrical team, a fruitful but stormy partnership in which Houseman said Welles "was the teacher, I, the apprentice." He supervised the direction of Walk Together Chillun in 1936. In 1936, the Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration put unemployed theatre performers and employees to work. The Negro Theatre Unit of

6650-537: The same audiences that frequented the Federal Theater the company was designed largely to offer plays of the past, preferably those that "...seem to have emotion or factual bearing on contemporary life." The company mounted several notable productions, the most remarkable being its first commercial production of Julius Caesar . Houseman called the decision to use modern dress "an essential element in Orson's conception of

6745-490: The same name to her husband, Harvey H. Wilcox , who had purchased 120 acres on February 1, 1887. It was not until August 1887 that Wilcox decided to use that name and filed with the Los Angeles County Recorder's office on a deed and parcel map of the property. By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, and two markets. Los Angeles, with a population of 102,479, lay 10 miles (16 km) east through

6840-506: The screen. A 200-page script was written. Some models were constructed, while the shooting of initial test footage had begun. However, little, if anything, had been done either to whittle down the budgetary difficulties or begin filming. When RKO threatened to eliminate the payment of salaries by December 31 if no progress had been made, Welles announced that he would pay his cast out of his own pocket. Houseman proclaimed that there wasn't enough money in their business account to pay anyone. During

6935-427: The script on time. This sense of security was now hopelessly shattered. Two, he had been insulted. To Ray, the bonus was nothing but a bribe. To be offered a large additional sum of money for the completion of an assignment for which he had already contracted and which he had every intention of fulfilling was by his standards a degradation and a dishonor. Three, by going to him behind my back they had invited him to betray

7030-502: The script, and keep him away from alcohol. Still drawn to Welles, as was virtually everyone in his sphere, Houseman agreed. Although Welles took credit for the screenplay of Kane , Houseman stated that the credit belonged to Mankiewicz, an assertion that led to a final break with Welles. Houseman took some credit himself for the general shaping of the story line and for editing the script. In an interview with Penelope Huston for Sight & Sound magazine (Autumn, 1962) Houseman said that

7125-681: The street from Helen Muir's home. Her father John Muir returned from his tour of Europe and East Africa a few months later and continued work on Yosemite and his book, The Yosemite . The Nestor Film Company was the first studio, established in October 1911 by the New Jersey–based Centaur Film Company in a roadhouse at 6121 Sunset Boulevard (the corner of Gower ). Four major film companies – Paramount , Warner Bros. , RKO , and Columbia – had studios in Hollywood, as did several minor companies and rental studios. In

7220-503: The studio arranged for filming to start in three weeks' time. Paramount announced the film in February 1945, with Ladd, Lake, Bendix and Marshall (the director) all attached from the beginning. Houseman said George Marshall had a reputation for rewriting extensively on the set and had to persuade him to stick to the script. (Marshall said he was so impressed with the writing he never had any intention of rewriting.) Houseman recalled that Ladd

7315-401: The studio switchboard at night and to my home at all times." Houseman agreed and says Chandler then started drinking: [Chandler] did not minimize the hazards [of drinking]", said Houseman in 1964, "He pointed out that his plan... would call for deep faith on my part and supreme courage on his, since he would in effect be completing the script at the risk of his life. (It wasn't the drinking that

7410-482: The title role. Houseman and Welles put on Horse Eats Hat (1936). Houseman, without Welles, helped in the direction of Leslie Howard 's production of Hamlet (1936). In June 1937, Project No. 891 produced their most controversial work with The Cradle Will Rock . Written by Marc Blitzstein , the musical was about Larry Foreman, a worker in Steeltown (played in the original production by Howard da Silva ), which

7505-481: The writing of Citizen Kane was a delicate subject: I think Welles has always sincerely felt that he, single-handed, wrote Citizen Kane and everything else that he has directed—except, possibly, the plays of Shakespeare . But the script of Kane was essentially Mankiewicz's. The conception and the structure were his, all the dramatic Hearstian mythology and the journalistic and political wisdom he had been carrying around with him for years and which he now poured into

7600-544: Was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane and his collaboration, as producer of The Blue Dahlia , with writer Raymond Chandler on the screenplay. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Professor Charles W. Kingsfield in

7695-415: Was at the piano and started playing the introduction music. One of the amateur performers, Olive Stanton, who played the part of Moll, the prostitute, stood up in the audience, and began singing her part. All the other performers, in turn, stood up for their parts. Thus the "oratorio" version of the show was born. Apparently, Welles had designed some intricate scenery, which ended up never being used. The event

7790-405: Was dangerous, he explained, since he had a doctor who gave him such massive injections of glucose that he could last for weeks with no solid food at all. It was the sobering up that was parlous; the terrible strain of his return to normal living)." At the end of that time, Chandler presented the finished script. Chandler was unhappy with the forced ending, saying it made "a routine whodunnit out of

7885-448: Was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the April 21, 1949 broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater , starring Lake and Ladd in their original film roles. The movie was also adapted into a stage play in 1989. Houseman's narrative of the film's creation was dramatized for BBC Radio by Ray Connolly in 2009. Notes Bibliography Streaming audio Hollywood, Los Angeles This

7980-643: Was educated in England at Clifton College , became a British subject, and worked in the grain trade in London. He moved to Argentina as a speculator in the international grain markets before emigrating to the United States in 1925. He had a successful business career and was on the Chicago Board of Trade. Having just married actress, Zita Johann weeks before the 1929 stock market crash and with international markets in chaos, she encouraged him to reinvent himself with

8075-515: Was erected in the Hollywood Hills in 1923 to advertise real estate developers Woodruff's and Shoults' housing development. In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce entered a contract with the City of Los Angeles to repair and rebuild the sign. The agreement stipulated that LAND be removed to spell HOLLYWOOD so the sign would now refer to the district, rather than the housing development. During

8170-501: Was incorporated as a municipality in 1903. The northern and eastern parts of the neighborhood were consolidated with the City of Los Angeles in 1910. Soon thereafter a prominent film industry emerged, having developed first on the East Coast. Eventually it became the most recognizable in the world. H. J. Whitley , a real estate developer, arranged to buy the 480-acre (1.9 km ) E.C. Hurd ranch. Whitley shared his plans for

8265-455: Was incorporated as a municipality on November 14, 1903, by a vote of 88 for and 77 against. On January 30, 1904, the voters in Hollywood decided, 113 to 96, to banish the sale of liquor within the city, except for medicinal purposes. Neither hotels nor restaurants were allowed to serve wine or liquor before or after meals. In 1910, the city voted for a merger with Los Angeles in order to secure an adequate water supply and to gain access to

8360-604: Was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In June 1999, the Hollywood extension of the Los Angeles Metro Rail Red Line subway opened from Downtown Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley , with stops along Hollywood Boulevard at Western Avenue ( Hollywood/Western Metro station ), Vine Street ( Hollywood/Vine Metro station ), and Highland Avenue ( Hollywood/Highland Metro station ). The Dolby Theatre , which opened in 2001 as

8455-455: Was recognized as a classic almost immediately and made a tonne of money." The film's title could have been the origin of the Black Dahlia nickname, given to 1947 murder victim Elizabeth Short. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of its critics gave the film a positive review, based on 11 reviews. Chandler was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay . The Blue Dahlia

8550-463: Was so successful that it was repeated several times on subsequent nights, with everyone trying to remember and reproduce what had happened spontaneously the first night. The incident, however, led to Houseman being fired and Welles's resignation from Project No. 891. That same year, 1937, after detaching themselves from the Federal Theatre Project , Houseman and Welles did The Cradle Will Rock as an independent production on Broadway. They also founded

8645-448: Was the ending. Originally, Chandler intended the killer to be Buzz having a blackout. However, the Navy did not want a serviceman to be portrayed as a murderer, and Paramount told Chandler that he had to come up with a new ending. Chandler responded at first with writer's block . Paramount offered Chandler a $ 5,000 incentive to finish the script, which did not work, according to Houseman: It was

8740-572: Was the last radio station to broadcast from Hollywood before it left CBS Columbia Square for a studio in the Miracle Mile in 2005. On January 22, 1947, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River , KTLA , began operating in Hollywood. In December of that year, The Public Prosecutor became the first network television series to be filmed in Hollywood. Television stations KTLA and KCET , both on Sunset Boulevard, are

8835-584: Was the only person qualified to play the leading role. Welles consented and, after preliminary conversations, agreed to leave the play he was in after a single night to take the lead in Houseman's production. Panic opened at the Imperial Theatre on March 15, 1935. Among the cast was Houseman's ex-wife, Zita Johann , who had co-starred with Boris Karloff three years earlier in Universal's The Mummy . Although

8930-505: Was thought to have survived. Footage was rediscovered in 2013. The Welles-Houseman collaboration continued in Hollywood. In the spring of 1939, Welles began preliminary discussions with RKO's head of production, George Schaefer, with Welles and his Mercury players being given a two-picture deal, in which Welles would produce, direct, perform, and have full creative control of his projects. For his motion picture debut, Welles first considered adapting Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness for

9025-628: Was unhappy with the casting of Doris Dowling as his wife because she was half a foot taller than he but this was disguised during their scenes together. Shooting began in March 1945 without a completed screenplay. Houseman was not worried initially because of his confidence in Chandler. He says four weeks into filming the studio began to worry as they were running out of script. "We had shot sixty-two pages in four weeks; Chandler, during that time, had turned in only twenty-two—with another thirty to go." The problem

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