Rainy Day Hollywood, California

A Shot in the Rain:  Hollywood, California

Abigail Stone as Princess Fiona from Shrek poses with her umbrella in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on a rainy day in Hollywood. A variety of costumed characters gather at this spot to pose for pictures with tourists in exchange for tips. Photo by Kayte Deioma

A Rainy Day in …Hollywood, CA

While sunshine is the norm in Los Angeles in the summer – at least after the morning haze burns off – winter brings its share of drizzly days and torrential downpours to La La Land. The last thing you want to be doing in LA in the rain is driving around on the freeways. Angelenos really don’t know how to drive in the rain. So I’m breaking Rainy Day L.A. down into neighborhoods that can be navigated without getting on the freeway.

This month we’ll look at things to do on a Rainy Day in Hollywood since that’s the place most visitors start and there’s plenty to do to keep you out of the rain.

Even though you can address mail to Hollywood, CA, Hollywood is not a city; it is part of the City of Los Angeles. Like many Los Angeles communities, it has a personality of its own. With glamorous beginnings as home to some of the earliest movie studios in L.A., Hollywood’s reputation took a dive into sleaze in the 70s and 80s. Since the late 90s, Hollywood has received a major face lift and staged a comeback as a glitzy destination representing the heart of the entertainment industry. There are still remnants of sleazy Hollywood with strip clubs, lingerie and sex toy shops interspersed between the tourist attractions, upscale restaurants and A-list nightclubs, but that’s part of what makes Hollywood, Hollywood.

Hollywood Features:

For more rainy day Hollywood alternatives, check out the Rainy Day Links page.


 

 

Hollywood Museum: a Treasure Trove of Hollywood Memorabilia

story and photos by Kayte Deioma

The Hollywood History Museum in the Max Factor Building. Š Kayte DeiomaIf you’re interested in Hollywood memorabilia, the Hollywood Museum is a great way to spend a few hours on a rainy day. Located in the old pink stucco and green marble Max Factor factory building, the Museum maintains some of the original displays from the Max Factor Museum as well as rotating exhibits from the Museum’s Hollywood History collection and some traveling exhibits related to Hollywood history.

Costumes and set decorations from Master and Commander at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaThe Hollywood Museum has a wonderful collection of Hollywood costumes, props, set decorations and memorabilia. Although each exhibit has a theme, the individual pieces are rarely identified. Actor bios are placed around the exhibits – usually too close to the ground to be easily read – and sometimes reference which item displayed was worn or used by that actor. Despite the shortage of interpretive information, the collection is worth exploring.

The first level showcases the four make-up rooms where Max Factor and his staff transformed actresses into movie stars. Separate rooms for redheads, blondes, brunettes, and brownettes (Max Factor’s own distinction for light to medium brown hair) are painted in colors to flatter the hair and skin tones.

The "Redheads Only" make-up room in the Max Factor exhibit at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaThe “For Redheads Only” room is also sometimes referred to as the Lucy room. It is decorated with multiple portraits of Lucille Ball and features the makeup shades and hair color that turned the natural brunette into a redhead. The walls are painted green as a flattering backdrop for the redheads made-up here.

The room “For Blondes Only” is painted a cool blue. Legendary blondes like Mae West, Jean Harlow, June Allyson and Ginger Rogers had their make-up done here. Marilyn Monroe became a blonde here and even Lucille Ball was made up here during her short stint as a blonde. The walls are lined with Max Factor magazine ads featuring some the most famous faces to wear the Max Factor brand.

The "Brownettes" make-up room in the Max Factor exhibit at the Hollywood History Exhibit. Š Kayte DeiomaThe peachy shades of the “For Brownettes Only” room were designed for the likes of Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall and Donna Reed. Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell are just a few of the many actresses featured in the “For Brunettes Only” room surrounded by flattering shades of pink. As a brunette, I have to admit I looked much better in the mirrors of the brunette room than the blonde room. Beyond the color themed rooms you walk past a glass-enclosed room where wigs were created and dyed, then through a hallway filled with Joe Ackerman’s Autograph Collection into a red room. The far wall is filled with original autographed photos of Hollywood stars that are rotated from the Museum’s extensive collection. On the near wall, historic photos of the Hollywood landscape arranged chronologically show how dramatically it has changed over the last hundred years.

At the back of the Museum is a freight elevator that was used to carry cars up to a parking lot that used to be located on the top level of the building. The parking lot has been turned into a ballroom that is rented out for private functions, but the elevator, with a stained glass chandelier hanging from the highest level is still used to transport party guests to the upper floors for special events.

Cary Grant's Silver Cloud III at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaCary Grant’s 1965 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III is parked in the loading dock behind the elevator where you can look down on it from above. A couple giant “Bunny Legs” from the movie “Along Came Polly” tower in the center of the room with another one near the Rolls Royce. The film is playing on a monitor overhead. Movies are playing in various exhibits around the Museum. They are the movies in which some part of the exhibit was featured, but it is sometimes hard to tell which part of the exhibit is from the movie because there is no explanatory information.

You have to go back to the front of the Museum to get to the stairs to go up to the next floor.

The Marilyn Monroe memorabilia collection at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaThe second floor features a large Marilyn Monroe exhibit, one of the Museum’s most popular displays. It includes photos, costumes, movie posters, jewelry, memorabilia and of course Marilyn’s personal make-up case and its contents. One wall highlights Marilyn’s marriages and divorces in black and white photos. Another wall features an enlargement of Marilyn’s 1949 nude centerfold. Several of Marilyn’s films are running on different monitors.

An L.A. Times newspaper announcing the death of Marilyn Monroe is part of the Marilyn Monroe exhibit at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaThe exhibit is peppered with quotes from the star such as “It’s better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone else,” and “I want to grow old without face lifts. I want the courage to be loyal to the face that I have made.”

From a display case, the headline of a 1962 Los Angeles Times announces “Marilyn Monroe Found Dead.”

A visitor looks at the Mae West exhibit at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaNext to Marilyn Monroe, Mae West has her own large display case with glamorous gowns, corsets and feather boas as well as awards, plaques, photos and other memorabilia. As with most of the exhibits in the Museum, very few items are individually identified.

On my visit, The rest of the second floor featured a nice Greta Garbo exhibit and a collection of gowns from movies old and new worn by such Hollywood stars as Shirley Temple, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Bette Midler and Jodie Foster. There was also aGreta Garbo portrait in glass at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte Deiomasection devoted to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz including a three-reel film projector Desi invented for editing film from the three camera technique he developed.

From December 1, 2005 at least until February 15, 2006, a special legacy exhibit on Barbra Streisand will occupy this space. Three thousand pieces of movie and music memorabilia related to the artist will be on display. This will be only the second exhibit at the museum to showcase a living artist. The first was a legacy exhibit on Phyllis Diller.

Sylvester Stallone's boxing gloves from Rocky at the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaThird level exhibits include more recent Hollywood productions. Sylvester Stallone’s boxing gloves and robe from one of the Rocky movies is next to the door. There are a few costumes and set decorations from “Moulin Rouge” and many more from “Master and Commander.” One of Tom Cruises costumes from “The Minority Report” backs up to Tommy Lee Jones’ black suit and sunglasses from “Men in Black.” A collection of torture instruments from the movie “Quills” is Roddy McDowell's Powder Room relocated from his house to the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte Deiomaacross from Roddy McDowell’s Powder Room transported from his home. A large exhibit on Hollywood’s honorary mayor, Johnny Grant and a nice Bob Hope tribute seem to be out of context on this floor.

Hollywood history continues in the basement with Hanibal Lechter’s cell from Silence of the Lambs,” complete with the reduced-size folding chair that made Jodie Foster look especially small sitting outside his cell. The other prison cells on this block have been used in a number of films and are still rented out for filming prison scenes. At the end of the hall are more props from Red Dragon before you turn a corner and step into the Egypt in Hollywood exhibit. From the 1935 “Charlie Chan in Egypt,” to “Death on the Nile,” “Cleopatra” and “The Mummy’s Tomb,” posters, photos and movie props remind of Hollywood’s favorite Egyptian classics.

Hannibal Lechter's cell from Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon in the basement of the Hollywood History Museum. Š Kayte DeiomaThe Hollywood Museum is open Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adult admission is $15. Students up to 22 years of age are $12 and Children five and under are $5. The Museum is located at 1660 N. Highland Ave., just south of Hollywood Blvd. There is a $2 parking discount at the adjacent parking lot with Museum validation. Parking across Hollywood Blvd. at the Hollywood & Highland shopping complex is $2 for 4 hours with validation from any of the Hollywood & Highland businesses. Check out their web site,www.thehollywoodmuseum.com, for current exhibits and special offers. Discount coupons are also sometimes distributed across the street in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

The Hollywood Museum in the Historic Max Factor Building is included in the Go Los Angeles Card attraction pass.

Find and book Los Angeles tours and activities on Viator.com. Book ahead to save time and money!

Check Goldstar.com for discount tickets to LA shows, events and attractions.Save

Save

El Capitan Theatre and Disney Soda Fountain

story and photos by Kayte Deioma

If it’s too rainy to take the kids to Disneyland you can give them a taste of Disney in Hollywood with a movie at El Capitan Theatre and a visit to the Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store next door.

El Capitan Theatre and Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood, CA. Š Kayte DeiomaPeople often think about going to see a movie when the weather gets bad, and Hollywood certainly has its share of unique movie palaces. The three gems of Hollywood Boulevard, Grauman’s Chinese, the Egyptian and El Capitan, were all conceived and built by the development team of Sid Grauman and Charles Toberman in the 1920s. While any of the three will give you a glimpse into the Hollywood of old, if you’re traveling with kids, El Capitan is the place you want to be.

Originally built as a live theatre, El Capitan was remodeled and converted to a movie theatre in the 1940s. The Walt Disney Company bought it in 1989 and restored the East Indian interior and Spanish Colonial exterior to its original glory. Now the theatre shows only Disney movies, most rated G or PG.

Chicken Little and friends on stage at the El Capitan movie theatre.Š Kayte Deioma Seeing a Disney movie in Disney’s flagship movie theatre is not like going to a Disney movie in your home town. At El Capitan you may feel like you are in the movie, because they’ve decorated the theatre with set decorations and props from a scene in the movie; or you may be greeted with a song and dance number by costumed characters from the film. You never know what the creative minds at Disney will come up with to enhance your movie-going experience.

An organist plays the 1929 Wurlitzer pipe organ before a movie at El Capitan Theatre. Š Kayte Deiomain any case, you’re likely to be welcomed with an organ concert by one of El Capitan’s house organists on the gilded 4/37 Wurlitzer pipe organ at center stage. The 1929 Wurlitzer has four keyboards to operate its 2500 pipes arranged in 37 ranks on both sides of the theatre. Each rank represents a different musical instrument. Arrive at the theatre 45 minutes to an hour before the movie is scheduled to enjoy all the pre-show entertainment.

Mother and daughter enjoy their ice cream at the Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood. Š Kayte DeiomaAfter the movie, stop by the Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store next door for some ice cream, a malt or an old time phosphate. There’s an entrance to the Soda Fountain from the El Capitan lobby, so if it’s raining, you don’t even have to go out in the street. Prepare kids ahead of time with your shopping limits, because you have to walk through the Studio Store past all the tempting Disney movie merchandise to get to the Soda Fountain. There is seating at the counter of the old fashioned soda fountain, or at tables. There is also an ice cream cone window to the street.

This banana split is almost as big as Zöe at the Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood. Š Kayte DeiomaThe Disney Soda Fountain has a sundae for any size crowd from the $4.75 Junior Sundae to the $24.95 Mickey’s Masterpiece with 8 scoops of ice cream and lots of toppings served in a Sorcerer’s Apprentice dish that looks like a wizard’s hat. Some dishes are served in souvenir Disney bowls. The Soda Fountain serves home-made ice cream delivered weekly from the Dewar’s Ice Cream and Candy Shop in Bakersfield, California

Jade enjoys a grilled cheese sandwich at the Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood. Š Kayte DeiomaIn addition to the ice cream options, there are a few kid-friendly food options including a hot dog, a grilled cheese sandwich or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich shaped like Mickey Mouse. Adult selections are more limited with options changing month to month.

El Capitan has VIP and General Admission tickets. All center orchestra and center balcony seats are reserved for VIP ticket holders. For the VIP price of $22/seat, you get your selection of prime seating and you don’t have to wait in line. The General Admission tickets are a better deal, ranging from $10 for kids and seniors to $11 for Adult matinee tickets and $13 for Adult evening tickets. Shows do sell out, so it’s best to get your tickets ahead of time if you can. You can get advance tickets online at the El Capitan Home Page or call 1-800-DISNEY6. You can also preview the Disney Soda Fountain Menu before you go.

Box office of the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Š Kayte DeiomaEl Capitan Theatre
6838 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
Phone: 1-800-DISNEY6

Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store
6834 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
Phone: 323-939-9024
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.