LOS ANGELES FEB. 2017

Norma Talmage House

“WHAT’S GOING ON?” LOVE, THAT’S WHAT

HOLLYWOOD, USA — Marvin Gaye’s hit song could serve as an anthem for the multitude who gathered Saturday (Feb. 4) at the Hollywood Pantages Theater for “Motown the Musical” in a communal cross generational outpouring of emotion during the week of hell from the twisted mind of a maniac in Washington, DC.

You could feel it in the gorgeous art deco auditorium as we clasped hands and gently swayed and sang “Reach Out and Touch” someone and make this a better world.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time; Los Angeles is America and I was happy to be among it’s assembled multitude on that beautiful day. 

REMEMBERING GOLDEN ERA MOVIES

CULVER CITY — From the alley I could get a shot inside MGM’s Sound Stage 15 where the “Wizard of Oz” was filmed in 1939 and also “A Day at the Races” with the Marx Brothers.  An entire race track was constructed for the later in this sound stage.  In this darken building are old movie sets, but photos aren’t allowed.  In a similar alley, Gene Kelly in Navy blue denims drew approving glances from ladies on the lot in a scene from “Anchors Aweigh,” an MGM musical.

MGM STARS REMEMBED

CULVER CITY — The MGM studios has been reduced to a mere 500 acres by Japanese electronics giant Sony.  Much television is recorded here.  We rubber necked ourselves through sound stages for “Wheel of Fortune” and “The Goldbergs.” 

 We also spent time in the sound recording studio which is named for Barbra Streisand.  Bungalows on the old MGM lot have been named for famous stars.  One of these bungalows appears in the 1945 MGM musical “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood.”

LOS ANGELES — Thanks to Road Scholar tour guide John Daugherty for taking us to the downtown Fine Arts Building, a prime example of Gothic architecture. We also toured the Art Deco Union Station which is featured in several movies (below).

POVERTY ROW STARS ON BOULEVARD

Dave O’Brien was stoned on pot in “Reefer Madness” and was the Dead End Kids social worker in “Spooks Run Wild.”  Their stars are on Hollywood Boulevard.

POVERTY, WEALTHY CONTRASTS

LOS ANGELES — This strange door was donated by a wealthy arts patron to the city for the plaza near the Forum performing arts center.  Nearby, the homeless sleep in the streets.  Psychologist Dr. Stuart Perlman illuminated the humanity and pain of the homeless in his paintings that can be seen in City Hall. 

You can see Perlman’s paintings when you go to the conference room in the Los Angeles City Hall.  

WHERE RACIAL HATRED LEADS

Now is the teachable moment about race relations in America so see the exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles for critical discussions on the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans 1942-45.  In Little Tokyo.

SANTA MONICA TOUR

Norma Talmadge’s Santa Monica house also was home to Brian Aherne, Cary Grant and Randolph Scott together and David Niven and Merle Oberon together.  Talmadge, a silent era star, was married to United Artist chief Joseph Schenk.

Japanese American barracks, WW2, Wyoming

Fine Arts Bldg., downtown LA