“This movie is going to be pretÂty obviÂous.” That’s not the best way to get the viewÂer’s attenÂtion. And the rest of the script, read by Bob Crane, is not much betÂter: “Hey KitÂty, look … KitÂty, you didÂn’t look hard enough … See the thing that looks like a buildÂing? That’s a buildÂing!” Nor is the premise of the film very good: KitÂty is a novice actress, and, before appearÂing in her first movie, she gets an aerÂiÂal tour of HolÂlyÂwood and its landÂmarks.
But from a hisÂtorÂiÂcal perÂspecÂtive, this 1950s footage of the Los AngeÂles movie indusÂtry has its intriguÂing moments. It’s parÂticÂuÂlarÂly interÂestÂing to see how much space there still was around some of the stuÂdios and movie theÂaters. Just comÂpare the image of GrauÂman’s ChiÂnese TheÂater on HolÂlyÂwood BouleÂvard takÂen from the film with a Google Earth shot from today:
By proÂfesÂsion, Matthias RaschÂer teachÂes EngÂlish and HisÂtoÂry at a High School in northÂern Bavaria, GerÂmany. In his free time he scours the web for good links and posts the best finds on TwitÂter.