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Wednesday, June 16, 2010 – In Years Past

The year was 1952 and the film was MGM's The Bad and the Beautiful – directed by Judy Garland's husband, Vincente Minelli (Vincent Minnelli) – Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon and Dick Powell chew the scenery and have a fine old time. Kirk Douglas is the cad – the film producer who alienates all around him. It's a hoot. Those were the days.

The year was 1927 and the film was Fritz Lang's Metropolis – and this poster is here because in 2008 a copy of the film thirty minutes longer than any other known surviving copy was located in Argentina, and after a long period of restoration in Germany, the restored film was shown publicly for the first time simultaneously at Berlin and Frankfurt on February 12, 2010. And it's now playing here in Los Angeles.

The year was 1929 and the film was Fritz Lang's Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon) – his science fiction silent that premiered October 15, 1929. It was released in the United States as By Rocket to the Moon. But it's better in German.

Yep, Rise Up! And it's the old Montmartre Café – the building is from 1922, by Meyer and Holler –

The acts of have changed over the years –

The Baine Building – formerly Merchants National Trust and Savings, and now the UTB Building – from 1925, by Gogerty and Weyl – 6601 Hollywood Boulevard –

From 1922, the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard – Meyer and Holler designed the building and it was built by The Milwaukee Building Company, which is kind of odd. But it was the site of the first-ever Hollywood premiere – Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks, on Wednesday, October 18, 1922. But Egyptian was all the rage back then. And archaeologist Howard Carter finally discovered the tomb of King Tut on November 4, 1922 – two weeks after the Egyptian Theater opened – so Sid Grauman's bet paid off. The building is structurally a hacienda-style thing – the original plan. The façade is Egyptian – the plans changed mid-stream. It's Hollywood. You go with what's hot.

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All text and photos unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik

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