To LA and back, part 2

I'm going to Hollywood baby! Well, that is to say I went one December day with my sweet-sister-in-law Ruby.

Between 1998 to 2000 I was in LA to study at UCLA Extension. I remember visiting Hollywood and being quite disappointed with the drab streets and many runaway children roaming the streets...

That's why it was so great to see how much had changed since then! Especially with the new Kodak building in the middle of it all!



And the buildings were such a treat being as they were a homage to one of the silent eras great film directors - D.W Griffith.



"Intolerance - Love's struggle through the ages" by D.W Griffith from 1916.

Of course Griffith was also the director of the biased and racist influenced "The Birth of a Nation" were he romanticized the Klu Klux Klan...




Then we went to Graumans Chinese Theater !

Image from ebay here

Built in 1926 by Sid Grauman, who had already had great success with his Egyptian Theater, built in 1922,the Chinese Theatre opened the following year with D. W Griffiths "King of Kings".

Mary Pickford at imdb

One of the first stars to put her hand and footprint in the wet cement outside the theatre was Mary Pickford (1892 - 1979).

Image from here.

Mary Pickford, who was originally from Canada, was not only one of the silent eras mega stars she was also a smart business woman and would change movie companies all the time. At 17 her salary was 40$/week in 1909. The following year she had upped it to 145$/week. By 1916 she had 10,000$/week and an additional 300, 000 $ in bonus. Still not satisfied, she once again changed company and in 1917 negotiated her price to 350,000 $ per ...film! She was 25 and Americas first Sweetheart.




Beautiful Olivia de Havilland! So many memorable films - Captain Blood, Gone with the wind, The Heiress just to mention a few.

image from here

Born in 1916 she is still going strong and resides in Paris, France! Her sister is of course the movie star Joan Fontaine, but they have remained permanently estranged since the 1940s...

Myrna Loy at imdb

In my opinion the only one who could outplay Myrna Loy's comic timing was the indomitable Carole Lombard

image from here

Myrna Loy (1905 - 1993) was actually discovered by another über star of the silent era, Rudolph Valentino, as she was one of the background dancers at... the Graumans ChineseTheater!

Judy Garland at imdb

Freda Astaire at imdb

Image from here.

Judy Garland (1922 - 1969) and Fred Astaire (1899 - 1987) in Easter Parade. The film was Fred Astaires fist film since his retirement and became MGM's highest grossing film of 1948.


Todays Vintage Vegan Kitchen :

Homemade Ketchup

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup