Movie Town
Most of the major movie studios and their lots make up this area. These large walled compounds
house the offices, sets, and stages that make up each
of the major studios. In addition, there are numerous
smaller studios and several vacant lots. The majority
of these lesser businesses are situated on Burbank
Avenue—known sarcastically throughout the industry
as Poverty Row.
Surrounding these is a dense cluster of cheap housing,
cheap diners, and cheap bars, all frequented by equally
cheap patrons. In the midst of the glitz and glamour of
the movie industry, Poverty Row and its environs are
a stark reminder of the tawdry side of Tinseltown. Any
vice can be indulged in the all-night speakeasies and
ask-no-questions motels, and being seen in the area
after dark is usually considered grounds for divorce! Not that I would know of such places....ahem.
The majority of the southern part of Movie Town is given over to low rent
accommodations that house the wannabes, has-beens,
and never-weres the movie industry leaves in its
glorious, terrible wake. Here, too, the bit-players and
writers live; the people without whom there would be no movies, but for whom there is no credit. From the
dazzling heights to the squalid Burbank Avenue—and
everywhere in between—Movie Town has an air of
desperation about it, as if everyone knows how crazy
the whole thing is, but nobody dares say it out loud.
Movie Studios and Lots
- 20th Century Fox: This giant company was formed by the merger of 20th Century Pictures and one of the early movie pioneers, Fox Film Corporation. The subsequent merger with Twentieth Century saved the ailing studio and gave Twentieth Century a chain of movie theaters through which to easily distribute its pictures. Daryl F. Zanuck reigns as the head of production at the studio, focusing primarily on biopics and musicals, with great success.
- Columbia Pictures: Founded by brothers Harry and Jack Cohn along with Joe Brandt, Columbia started life as CBC Films. It focused on low-budget comedies and short films, and gradually worked its way up as Columbia Pictures to the second tier of motion picture companies. The biggest movie to date produced by Columbia Pictures was It Happened One Night starring Clark Gabel and directed by Frank Capra.
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM): The infamous partnership between Marcus Loew, owner of Goldwyn Pictures and Metro Pictures, with Louis B. Mayer to form the powerhouse MGM studio has spawned a massive conglomerate that has facilities all over the world. Despite their immense global presence, the business is still ruled with an iron fist. Every penny spent anywhere in the world must be accounted for and woe betide a producer who is too free with the company’s dime. The MGM lions, it is said, eat well when someone blows their budget.
- Paramount Pictures: Paramount Pictures was the first company to distribute films across all states, North and South, throughout the First World War. Founded in 1912 by Adolph Zukor, a merger four years later with two other companies combined the directorial talent of Cecil B. DeMille, the connections of Jesse Lasky and Sam Goldwyn, with the drive and acumen of Zukor.
- RKO Pictures: RKO rose to prominence after its merger with KAO, a company that owned a string of theaters throughout North America. The studio made a number of successful films, but it was really the work of its Chief Technology Officer, a patent scientist named Kevin Stoner, who made RKO one of the “Big Five.” He is also responsible for bringing beautiful sound to the Motion Picture industry, silent films have finally come to an end.
- United Artists: Founded by actors for the benefit of actors, UA is a smaller player, but growing in importance and very much a rising star. Run by no other Mary Pickford she was a promient silent movie star in the early 1920s. She was pretty much put out of the acting business when now current Mayor Kevin Stoner helped invent sound for the movie biz.
- Universal: One of the oldest movie studios still operating, Universal was founded by Carl Laemmle in New York. Facing legal trouble from Edison’s numerous patents relating to movie cameras, Laemmle shifted his operations to the West Coast. Universal found the winning formula with their introduction of monster features in the 1930s. These enduringly popular pictures have found a loyal audience and continue to be a successful staple of the studio’s output.
- The Tank: The Tank is one of the most elaborate and impressive movie lots Movie Town can boast. Situated on the outskirts of the city, on the northeast edge of Movie Town, the facility houses the world’s largest water stage. This massive building is used to film aquatic scenes and movies featuring marine creatures. Thus such movies as “The Monster of the Maze” and “It Came From the Deep” thrilled and terrified audiences with their incredibly realistic scenes of attacking monsters.
Entertainment or Interesting locales
- The Final Draft: This small dingy tavern is open all hours and is a favorite hangout for writers—both screenwriters and their journalistic counterparts. Any writer can put a finished draft of his screenplay behind the bar to drink free with his friends for a night, and numerous copies of famous picture screenplays adorn the walls of the establishment. News writers find the dark, private atmosphere to be a good spot to meet sources, and the bar staff are very understanding of the need for privacy—even offering several small rooms where important meetings can go unobserved.
- Shultz’s: This drugstore/soda shop/coffee house is a favored haunt of all manner of musicians, screenwriters, directors, and other yet-to-make-it movie folk—especially while they are between jobs. Shultz is a friendly, patient, long-suffering owner be sure to say hello to Mr. Shultz when you visit!
- Movie Town Tattler: This rag is foremost among the scurrilous scandal papers that chases down salacious stories about stars and starlets and publishes sensational headlines with racy images and the flimsiest of evidence. Actors and Actresses detest this paper as they say its ALL LIES!
No comments:
Post a Comment