!!!Hollywood

by members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

30 July 2010

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

2010 is an anniversary year for Hollywood. Exactly one hundred years ago
an American film director David Wark Griffith shot there the film In Old
California which became the first Hollywood movie. But the history of
the place itself had begun much earlier. The first Spanish conquerors
appeared on the West Cost exactly in this region. They banished the
Indians from their land and settled ranchos on that territory. Then near
the ranchos a whole village grew. It was called in the honor of the
local flora Wood and Holly, a kind of bush with sharp leaves, and it
covers the hills. Movie came there represented by N. Zeling who in the
beginning of the XX century purchased the part of the land for his
Chicago film company's branch.

And off it went. The film companies became more and more, first, thanks
to the immigrants who flooded the USA. So, the Hungarian Adolph Zukor,
who began his carrier as an apprentice of furrier, founded Paramount.
The German Carl Laemmle, who sold clothes, created Universal. Brothers
Warner, who advertized bicycles in their native Poland, founded Warner
Bros. And Luis B. Mayer from Minsk, who earned a livelihood by reselling
of scrap metal, became the head of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer.

From that moment Hollywood as a rancho stopped to exist and stayed in
the past. Banks, restaurants, clubs and many other places which a
developing film industry is interested in appeared there. Hollywood was
spoken about all over the world. Everyone wanted to go along its streets
and to take part in the shooting process; and the most desirable wish of
any lady was to become a new star. In its turn, Hollywood had not been
able to keep its independence for a long time, because the lack of water
made it became a part of Los Angeles.

A famous sign HOLLYWOOD with its huge letters appeared in 1923 on the
South slope of Mount Lee at a height of 491 meters with an advertising
purpose exclusively. It was the way to announce publicly about itself of
the Hollywoodland Construction Company. It was planned that the sign
would be there for about 1.5 years, however, owing to the developing of
the American Dream Factory and its fame it was decided to leave it.

The inscription was associated with a movie industry so much that in
September of 1932 actress Peg Entwistle committed a suicide: she jumped
down  from the letter "H" as a sign of protest against Hollywood which
had repudiated her.

When the inscription was constructed nobody planned its long life that
is why the letters made of wood and metallic plates were losing their
good state. During another restoration in 1949 it was decided to take
off the part of the word «LAND». But in spite of the restoration works
the sign's state continued worsening. Finally, the first letter «O»
tumbled down and became similar to the capital letter «u» and the third
letter «O» was completely destroyed and the sign became «HuLLYWO D».

In 1978 the destroying sign was completely changed. The present letters
have the following size: 14 m height and 9-12 m width. This size is
little less than in the original version.

Now the inscription on the hill is guarded by the law and it's forbidden
to make unauthorized changes. However, there were cases when it
happened. So, in January of 1976 the sign became in the state of
«HOLLYWEED» as a protest of the public against new Californian law about
marihuana. In May of 1987 the students of Californian Technological
University changed the sign for «CALTECH» with covering the part of its
letters. And in 1993 before the American Football match between
Californian University in Los Angeles and South Californian University
the sign was changed for «GO UCLA».

In 2000 Los Angeles Police Department installed a security system
equipped with movement detectors and video surveillance devices. Now if
somebody approaches to the sign less than 50 yards (45.72 meters), the
alarm system is on and police comes.

It's curious, but now Hollywood is one of the poorest districts of Los
Angeles. Its inhabitants earn in average 20-30% less than those who live
in other districts. Besides, the record number of unhappy people live
there and it's quite simple to be explained, because hundreds and
thousands of sufferers come there in a rush for fame, but only select
few can achieve it.

Although at present time Hollywood is formally the heart of American
movie industry (now there is only one large movie studio - Paramount,
when Warner Bros., Universal and other companies moved long time ago),
however, this district is more than just a "land" or a geographical
point. The word itself became a common noun and it is one of the symbols
of American Dream as well as a peculiar standard for the film creators
all over the world.

\\ \\
[1 Panoramas of Hollywood|Geography/America/United_States/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Hollywood]











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