So the long awaited Forget the Talkies Field Trips have begun! In the next month I'm gonna try to get to Mary Pickford's Museum, as well as the Mary Pickford Theatre. But for now this is a great start. May I present: The Hollywood Heritage Museum!For those of you not in the know back in the mid 80s Paramount decided they didn't want the famous Cecil B DeMille barn. The barn is where DeMille and Lasky filmed "The Squaw Man" in 1914. The first feature length film in California. But not the FIRST in California (as it is often mistakenly reported, D.W. Griffith had that honor with 1910's In Old California). DeMille had kept it on his lots throughout the years because he was all sentimental and stuff. But by the 80s he was no longer around, and Paramount didn't appreciate what they had. So they gave it to the city.
Hollywood moved the barn (the third or fourth time it had been moved since DeMille first used it) to Curson Avenue...right across from the Hollywood Bowl. There they turned the barn into a Museum honoring for the most part Silent Film. Seriously I'd say 99.5% of the artifacts were from the Silent days. Ever since then the barn has remained open Thursday-Sunday from 12 to 4pm. Here's a picture tour! Also please note that they change their displays all the time (meaning they have tons of things not currently on display) so what you see here may not be there next time or if you've seen something before it might not be out now. Apparently this was the case with Mabel Normand's Make up case which I was so anxious to see (but could not find.)
An artifact from the first version of The Ten Commandments. Pretty huge in person!
A massive picture of D.W. Griffith's "Intolerance". Very cool and detailed in person.
A program from the premiere of Mary's "Sparrows" and Douglas Fairbanks "The Black Pirate". The Premiere was held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1926.
An Invite to the premiere of Charlie Chaplin's "The Circus" also at the Grauman Theatre.
An Albert Vargos painting for the Moulin Rouge. He did a lot of nudes including Olive Thomas.
Whitley Heights Postcard. This is where Valentino lived when he first moved in with Natacha (but the postcard doesn't show his house)
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Card featuring a bunch of women dressed in Egyptian costume. The Egyptian Theatre was a lot cooler back then...they'd have a guy come out in full costume on the roof, blow a horn, and announce movie show times. I demand we do this practice returns!
The court of the Egyptian Theatre.
The street outside the Egyptian (bare compared to how it looks now!)
The entrance of the Egyptian
A flyer for "The Big Parade"
A Metro Pictures Award from 1915. It was a big publicity thing and this one was given to Francis X. Bushman.
A Valentino Estate Catalogue (I woulda paid good money to flip through this!)
A massive Valentino Picture display. All of those are 8X10s!
This is a massive Blood and Sand poster, but its unfortunately obscured by a TV showing a Valentino Death Reel Documentary. Hopefully they'll move that.
This is the Valentino display. Honestly I was a little underwhelmed by it as the Silent Ebay Watches have shown way cooler things. A lot of it was just replicas or things from the 80s made for collectors. However the replica Eagle ring was kinda cool. Really that was all that was of note. Sorry guys! They just need a haunted Valentino Wax Figure...that's all!
Despite not being impressed there were a few things in there that were interesting enough. This was a copy of "Monsieur Beaucaire" that Valentino signed, and had a note from Ditra Flame (the original kook).
Speaking of kooks, and that weird obsession with his death over his life, there was this odd piece. A bronze vase with a red rose...literally LOANED by Hollywood Forever FROM Valentino's grave. This is by far the weirdest thing I seen in there or even expected to see, and honestly I think its a tad distasteful. But I'll live.
This is a close up of the posters, sheet music, and flyers from the back of the display. Kinda neat!
A check from Famous Players-Lasky to Valentino. I didn't write anything down but I remember it was for about $950. Wish I could remember the year!
This was one of the first sound projectors. Its HUGE (I'm 5'4 and its about my height) and must weigh a ton. It was from Buster Keaton's private collection.
I believe this wasn't part of the sound machine but it really wasn't labeled so it was hard to tell. If not then it was part of the silent projectors, and it was also HUGE.
This was one of the first silent home projectors. These were extremely rare and only the wealthiest folk could afford them (the first home theatre outside of the White House was at Pickfair). This one was also from Buster Keaton's and he bought it after the Silent era ended.
A flyer for The Big Parade. Not sure what the lion's about.
A Mary Pickford paper doll.
A Bebe Daniels tin
A program from Theda Bara's "Cleopatra"
A poster from Walt Disney's "Alice" series.
A poster for Goldwyn
Now THIS is cool. This is a sound disc for a John Gilbert film, and there's a picture of him holding it. My apologies I cant remember the name, but given Gilbert and his talkie myth this is a pretty cool. And how huge were those things?! Jeesh!
A flyer for Douglas Fairbank's "The Thief of Baghdad". Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is Miss Anna May Wong beside him!
The inside of the flyer.
A poster of the same film.
A picture of the filming of the flying carpet scene from "The Thief of Baghdad".
Near Hollywood and Vine where Pantages is. Doesn't look much different these days!
The star bungalows at Fox Studios. Wonder if Theda had one...
A film light. Most of the early actors complained these lights were freakin BRIGHT and gave them eye problems later on in life.
A mini projector. These were used in smaller theatres nationwide.
Film camera.
A poster for Universal City
Charlie Chaplin's home
Chaplin Studios. Looks the same today...only with more strip clubs around and Kermit on top (the Muppets own the studio now)
The Italian Gardens which I dont believe exist anymore.
Verdict
Pretty cool. Overall I wish they just had more (or had more on display) actual artifacts instead of a huge multitude of posters, flyers, and photos. I also (despite acknowledging its a DeMille barn) wish it had a little more focus on all out silents then just DeMille and his cohorts. There were only about 3-4 Mary pieces on display (and none of them that neat), 1 piece of sheet music with Mabel on it, and a major lack of early early Hollywood (no Olive Thomas, very little Fatty, very little Harold Lloyd). Come to think of it I dont think I seen any Gloria Swanson stuff in there, and beyond pictures there wasn't anything on D.W. Griffith. I feel thats a bit of an oversight, but again since they are always changing things I'm sure they can get that stuff in their possession and display it. I'm *thisclose* to loaning them my Olive magazine just to balance it out!
HOWEVER I dont wanna sound like a downer. The admission price for adults is $5 and thats as high as it goes (children under 3 are free, children under 12 are a $1, and Seniors and Students are $3). I think any film lover would gladly pay $5 just to STEP IN DeMille's barn, let alone see the cool things they do have. And for the record they even have a replica of DeMille's office, I just didnt get any pics of it.
The staff was extremely friendly (and they are volunteers so major props there) and helpful. And in addition to that Hollywood Heritage is constantly fighting to preserve historic Hollywood...a major feat considering devlopers like to smash buildings...illegally...(and no one seems to care). They also run the Silent Society which puts out a cool newsletter (with worldwide Silent movie related info) and runs screenings at the Paramount Ranch during the summer. ON TOP OF THAT they also tend to screen films and documentaries on silents during the winter which is great.
So definitly a must if your in the area!
Details
Hollywood Heritage Museum
Across from the Hollywood Bowl (Cross streets Cahuenga and Curson Avenue)
2100 North Highland Avenue
Hollywood, California USA
Hours: Thursday-Sunday open Noon-4pm
Admission: $5 for general, $3 for Seniors and Students, $1 for kids under 12, Members and children under 3 are free
Parking: Free and right on the sight! BEAUTIFUL!
Website: http://www.hollywoodheritage.org
Virtual Tour: http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/museum/map.html
Memberships/Special Things:
*Members get free admission for 2 adults and 2 kids to the Museum, 10% off at the Museum store, Advance notice of special events, and discounts on Silent Society films and all screenings. Membership levels vary from $20-$2500 and all funds go to help the Hollywood Heritage. Click here to purchase.
*The Silent Society runs special Silents under the Stars screenings in the Hollywood area. They also produce a newsletter with worldwide information on Silent films, releases, and screenings. Click here for Silents Under the Stars information and click here to sign up for the online newsletter (a physical version is available upon request).
*Hollywood Heritage works hard to preserve Historic Hollywood buildings. If you would like to help please click here. And if you would like a preservation issues newsletter click here.
*Hollywood Heritage runs a Historic Walking Tour every Saturday at 9am. The cost is $10 for non members, and $5 for members. The tour takes 3 and a half hours and ends at the Roosevelt Hotel. You must reserve your spot before arriving. Click here for more information.
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