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It's been a long time since the corner just down the street was, on the southeast, Schwab's Drug Store -
In the movie "Sunset Blvd," William Holden's character calls Schwab's Drug Store "headquarters; a combination office, coffee klatch, and waiting room" for Hollywood writers. And so it was. F. Scott Fitzgerald (author of "The Great Gatsby") had a heart attack here in 1940, while buying a pack of cigarettes. Songwriter Harold Arlin wrote "Over the Rainbow" (from "The Wizard of Oz") by the light of the Schwab's neon sign. Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd used to play pinball in the back room. And the rumor still persists that Lana Turner was discovered at Schwab's, but it isn't true.
On the southwest corner is where "The Garden of Allah" once stood. You can read all about that here. Joni Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi" ("they paved paradise and put up a parking lot") is supposed to be about the Garden of Allah - she was living just up the hill in Laurel Canyon at the time. "The Garden of Allah" is a strip mall now - fast food and a florist and this and that, and a big branch bank. Buffalo Springfield's song "For What It's Worth" is about the minor riot on this corner on November 12, 1966 - the cops trying to take back the Strip from the hippies. Arthur Dreifuss' junk film Riot on Sunset Strip (1967) is also about that riot.
Things have changed. They always do.
What was Schwab's is now Sunset Plaza, a complex with a giant Virgin Megastore, a few chain restaurants, a multiplex theater, a fancy gym for the narcissistic, offices for minor film and television companies, and four or five layers of parking deep underneath. F. Scott Fitzgerald would hardly know the place - they tore down the building where he last lived to build the complex. But Greenblatt's Deli is still there across the street, where he had his last meal. The sliced tongue and chopped liver on rye is good. Maybe that killed him.
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