This is a true gem of industrial documentary. As a nearby homeowner, I have a love/hate relationship with CC. Let's hope they get that Purple line built to ease the traffic through our neighborhoods.
I worked at The Hollywood Experience in Century City. It was one of those multi-experience entertainment cinemas with motion seats and other gimmicks to enhance the audience's enjoyment of the show. At times, I seem to remember wearing a lot of hats in my position and the manager was a really great guy who let you take on new responsibilities. Funny, but I do remember that at the end of the show bubble would rain down on the audience and cleaning the seats of all the gooey residue was my least fun job. "Hooray For Hollywood" would play at the beginning and the end of the show and we sold a variety of Hollywood themed merchandise. It was located on the other side of Avenue of The Stars from the Century Plaza Hotel. The TV Networks would hold their sweeps week events at the hotel and I had fun sneaking into the previews and discussions promoting the new Fall shows. Does anyone else remember these events and The Hollywood Experience in Century City?
Oh my gosh! As a kid I would visit my aunt who worked in one of the towers, and at least once I got to go to this and I remember it well to this day! There was a segment at the beginning showing an (aspiring?) actress and what she did to prepare for the day, right? It makes my day to share this memory with you, friend. Maybe we were even there in the same day. Happy times.
We stayed in the Century Plaza Hotel on New Year’s Eve 1999. A wonderful memory. I have so many memories of Century City as it was in the 1970s, and how it is now in 2024. Good things in each time.
wow this was great!!! brings back soooo many memories i loved shopping and going there, i attended beverly hills high school and after class we would go to the century city mall and just walk around hang out. I also remember the Schubert theater!! saw some great shows there like dreamgirls, beatlemania....such happy times back then.
There was a Jetson's quality to this report, optimistic on one hand, but strangely sterile on the other. When the 20th Century sets were being bulldozed, it was like watching a beloved elderly family member being laid to rest, never to seen again. I suppose change is inevitable, but skyscrapers aren't a natural progression, nor the highest evolution of a people. Interesting, but slightly sad video. Thanks.
Wow this is cool. The Broadway is now a Bloomingdales. And there was a Clifton's Cafeteria there at one time too. This location reminds me of the former Culver City MGM backlot I remember as a kid.
This brought back wonderful memories! My Godmother lived in Century Towers West and as a teenager, I used to watch Batman being filmed across in the park. No park there now, just a sea of condos......Thanks for posting this Alison!
I know that the original condo towers, were not the later, sleek twin ones that are so familiar. There were many commercials. movies that had the mdoern twin towers in them. (Valley Of The Dolls)
I used to work for marketing research company in the late '70's. It was on Avenue of the Stars. 1900 block I think. Anyway loved hanging in the shops and restaurants. Thanks!
Thank you for posting this. As a frequent visitor to area I am fascinated with Los Angeles of the 50s and 60s. Seems like it was the "Golden" time. Is Century City still as built?
Century City Shopping Center ( now Westfield Century City) has been reconfigured and remodeled as often as lifestyles and trends have changed over the past 60 years. Time travelers from 1970, 1989 or as recently as 2002 no doubt would feel lost and overwhelmed if they were plunked down onto the center today.
Funny - At 06:15 and 17:33 - in the very center of the video is the intersection of Ave of the Stars and Constellation. My office overlooks that intersection.
The old Los Angeles commuter rail system was phased out in 1961, which is also the year that the 20th Century back lot was razed. According to city planners, rail was out in favor of a modern freeway system. Looks like these planners and developers were not so forward thinking after all. They did not foresee the population explosion of the 21st century. Century City does not have a nearby freeway and congestion in the area is only getting worse. Planning a mass transit system into the original scheme would have been highly beneficial to those who live and work there.
There is a very nice photo exhibit documenting the conception and construction of Century City located in the basement level of the new C.A.A. building. If you are interested in the history of its outstanding modernist architecture and the architects behind it, I highly recommend checking it out.
The 1964 time capsule and commemorative plaque at the south side entrance to The Broadway 'vanished' during the 1996 re-model of The Broadway into Bloomingdale's. Did anyone ever track down if the plaque was removed and the time capsule covered over, or if both were removed and tossed?
This is awesome! I never wanted it to end. Funny though how they never addressed the real reason Fox sold most of their land: Cleopatra. I worked at Fox for a few years and during orientation that went right into the topic of how that film almost killed the studio. I thought it was cool that they were so up front about it.
+Benovite The Cleopatra story is just an urban myth. True that that film was a huge loss for the studio, but Century City was planned before production on that movie began and began construction before that movie came out. The bottom line was that that land was becoming increasingly valuable and, with travel to other filming sites becoming more affordable, it was no longer necessary to have a large backlot in the middle of the city. MGM also sold much of their backlot not long after Fox sold theirs.
+Kedem Har-Shalom An Urban Myth it may be, but like most most legends and myths, there is at least a grain of truth there. Cleopatra was shot from 1960 to 1962, and even though FOX had sold all that land, Cleopatra ate up a huge chunk. The 'Wall Street' business men running FOX had it completely F'd up to quote Darryl Zanuck who swept in to re-take his position as head of the studio in the summer of 62. It's biggest star, Marilyn Monroe had been fired, then rehired, then dying in Hollywood's biggest mystery to date. FOX outlasted her by mere days, bouncing back smaller in reorganization with the help of the Alchoa money and the insurance policy on Monroe. Cleopatra was a bomb, and it took many years from foreign bookings and the sale to TV before it even earned back it's production costs. So without Century City, FOX would have likely gone the way of RKO.
Simply amazing. During early lawyerhood my dream was to date a girl who worked in a building with numbers on the top. When I first met my wife she worked at 1801 C.P. East which I always thought was the first office building there, but maybe not per this PBS report. Now, the place is just one big traffic nightmare and long walk in underground garages. All of the old restaurants are gone, and most of the bigger firms moved downtown.
Great posts Alison- I know you had a personal history here (Century City), traipsing around the shopping/dining area. Was there a store called "Julies" in this shopping complex? I ask because somewhere I read of a clothing store in this complex, that had a female name, and in Las Vegas, in our Boulevard Mall, which opened in '68, I know in '71 on for a few years, there was a Julies shop, with both stylish male and female clothing. Can't say if it was an original store though, when the mall opened.
You possibly are thinking of ‘Judy’s’, which was a fantastic and successful women’s specialty shop. Their larger locations also carried menswear ‘Gear for Guys’.
@@theqrealm I received one reply that said the clothing store I was thinking of at CC, was called 'Judy's' and not 'Julies'. Thanks for your input though.
Never knew the history, so interesting. Century City s......they thought this was truly innovative in 65, I can see that at the time......yes....:) 2021, most of Century City is fairly vacant & not so much a destination for shopping and movies like it was in 2000 when I was a kid old enough to drive there from The Valley.... these days the huge mall and the theatrical productions and even the movie theaters not really needed for all the buildings and high rises that the complex contains. I have always loved the high rise several million dollar valued condos and the office buildings
This is a true gem of industrial documentary. As a nearby homeowner, I have a love/hate relationship with CC. Let's hope they get that Purple line built to ease the traffic through our neighborhoods.
My High School is right there, and many buildings were already there, you can tell by the white out sky.
I worked at The Hollywood Experience in Century City. It was one of those multi-experience entertainment cinemas with motion seats and other gimmicks to enhance the audience's enjoyment of the show. At times, I seem to remember wearing a lot of hats in my position and the manager was a really great guy who let you take on new responsibilities. Funny, but I do remember that at the end of the show bubble would rain down on the audience and cleaning the seats of all the gooey residue was my least fun job. "Hooray For Hollywood" would play at the beginning and the end of the show and we sold a variety of Hollywood themed merchandise. It was located on the other side of Avenue of The Stars from the Century Plaza Hotel. The TV Networks would hold their sweeps week events at the hotel and I had fun sneaking into the previews and discussions promoting the new Fall shows.
Does anyone else remember these events and The Hollywood Experience in Century City?
Oh my gosh! As a kid I would visit my aunt who worked in one of the towers, and at least once I got to go to this and I remember it well to this day! There was a segment at the beginning showing an (aspiring?) actress and what she did to prepare for the day, right? It makes my day to share this memory with you, friend. Maybe we were even there in the same day. Happy times.
We stayed in the Century Plaza Hotel on New Year’s Eve 1999. A wonderful memory. I have so many memories of Century City as it was in the 1970s, and how it is now in 2024. Good things in each time.
wow this was great!!! brings back soooo many memories i loved shopping and going there, i attended beverly hills high school and after class we would go to the century city mall and just walk around hang out. I also remember the Schubert theater!! saw some great shows there like dreamgirls, beatlemania....such happy times back then.
Me too.
Love!❤️❤️, such thoughtful works Allison! ⭐️⭐️
So wonderful to see this...what a history ! I never knew all these details !!
There was a Jetson's quality to this report, optimistic on one hand, but strangely sterile on the other. When the 20th Century sets were being bulldozed, it was like watching a beloved elderly family member being laid to rest, never to seen again.
I suppose change is inevitable, but skyscrapers aren't a natural progression, nor the highest evolution of a people.
Interesting, but slightly sad video. Thanks.
Natural progression is not how they roll.
Wow this is cool. The Broadway is now a Bloomingdales. And there was a Clifton's Cafeteria there at one time too. This location reminds me of the former Culver City MGM backlot I remember as a kid.
It's Now Part Of The Westfield Mall.
Good times, on my minibike ripping through the empty areas.
This brought back wonderful memories! My Godmother lived in Century Towers West and as a teenager, I used to watch Batman being filmed across in the park. No park there now, just a sea of condos......Thanks for posting this Alison!
I know that the original condo towers, were not the later, sleek twin ones that are so familiar. There were many commercials. movies that had the mdoern twin towers in them. (Valley Of The Dolls)
Two years before I was born. Damn I feel old. Cool video though
Thanks for posting...Very interesting.
I used to work for marketing research company in the late '70's. It was on Avenue of the
Stars. 1900 block I think. Anyway loved hanging in the shops and restaurants. Thanks!
Love this! So relative!
wonderful, allison - thanks!
Welton Becket and Minuro Yamazaki.
Two of the mid century masters of architecture!
Century Square Is Now Known As The Westfield Mall
Thank you for posting this. As a frequent visitor to area I am fascinated with Los Angeles of the 50s and 60s. Seems like it was the "Golden" time. Is Century City still as built?
Yes it still exists
Century City Shopping Center ( now Westfield Century City) has been reconfigured and remodeled as often as lifestyles and trends have changed over the past 60 years. Time travelers from 1970, 1989 or as recently as 2002 no doubt would feel lost and overwhelmed if they were plunked down onto the center today.
Thanks Ali
Funny - At 06:15 and 17:33 - in the very center of the video is the intersection of Ave of the Stars and Constellation. My office overlooks that intersection.
Love this!
Interesting Film Sad To See They Sold The Fox Studio Lot For Century City. Bad Decision
It was empty, a waste of land.
The old Los Angeles commuter rail system was phased out in 1961, which is also the year that the 20th Century back lot was razed. According to city planners, rail was out in favor of a modern freeway system. Looks like these planners and developers were not so forward thinking after all. They did not foresee the population explosion of the 21st century. Century City does not have a nearby freeway and congestion in the area is only getting worse. Planning a mass transit system into the original scheme would have been highly beneficial to those who live and work there.
Rail was out, and GM was in.
I used to play in the "Fox lot" when I was a kid.
Lots of dirt and fun on a minibike.
What an amazing memory. It makes me happy that my son had some fun like that on the Universal lot.
There is a very nice photo exhibit documenting the conception and construction of Century City located in the basement level of the new C.A.A. building. If you are interested in the history of its outstanding modernist architecture and the architects behind it, I highly recommend checking it out.
Nice one!
The 1964 time capsule and commemorative plaque at the south side entrance to The Broadway 'vanished' during the 1996 re-model of The Broadway into Bloomingdale's. Did anyone ever track down if the plaque was removed and the time capsule covered over, or if both were removed and tossed?
It was jacked.
This is awesome! I never wanted it to end. Funny though how they never addressed the real reason Fox sold most of their land: Cleopatra. I worked at Fox for a few years and during orientation that went right into the topic of how that film almost killed the studio. I thought it was cool that they were so up front about it.
+Benovite The Cleopatra story is just an urban myth. True that that film was a huge loss for the studio, but Century City was planned before production on that movie began and began construction before that movie came out. The bottom line was that that land was becoming increasingly valuable and, with travel to other filming sites becoming more affordable, it was no longer necessary to have a large backlot in the middle of the city. MGM also sold much of their backlot not long after Fox sold theirs.
+Kedem Har-Shalom An Urban Myth it may be, but like most most legends and myths, there is at least a grain of truth there. Cleopatra was shot from 1960 to 1962, and even though FOX had sold all that land, Cleopatra ate up a huge chunk. The 'Wall Street' business men running FOX had it completely F'd up to quote Darryl Zanuck who swept in to re-take his position as head of the studio in the summer of 62. It's biggest star, Marilyn Monroe had been fired, then rehired, then dying in Hollywood's biggest mystery to date. FOX outlasted her by mere days, bouncing back smaller in reorganization with the help of the Alchoa money and the insurance policy on Monroe. Cleopatra was a bomb, and it took many years from foreign bookings and the sale to TV before it even earned back it's production costs. So without Century City, FOX would have likely gone the way of RKO.
Simply amazing. During early lawyerhood my dream was to date a girl who worked in a building with numbers on the top. When I first met my wife she worked at 1801 C.P. East which I always thought was the first office building there, but maybe not per this PBS report. Now, the place is just one big traffic nightmare and long walk in underground garages. All of the old restaurants are gone, and most of the bigger firms moved downtown.
Underground garages, like subways were inherited.
Am I the only one who noticed how different traffic was on Santa Monica Blvd in 1964?
Alison! When you ever gonna to upload your Mysteries and Scandal?! I want to see Bruce Lee and Freddie Mercury's one! I love your show!
Great posts Alison- I know you had a personal history here (Century City), traipsing around the shopping/dining area. Was there a store called "Julies" in this shopping complex? I ask because somewhere I read of a clothing store in this complex, that had a female name, and in Las Vegas, in our Boulevard Mall, which opened in '68, I know in '71 on for a few years, there was a Julies shop, with both stylish male and female clothing. Can't say if it was an original store though, when the mall opened.
There was a clothing store, a watch shop, but they were always empty.
You possibly are thinking of ‘Judy’s’, which was a fantastic and successful women’s specialty shop. Their larger locations also carried menswear ‘Gear for Guys’.
@@theqrealm I received one reply that said the clothing store I was thinking of at CC, was called 'Judy's' and not 'Julies'. Thanks for your input though.
Was it the first business after the bridge?
Never knew the history, so interesting. Century City s......they thought this was truly innovative in 65, I can see that at the time......yes....:) 2021, most of Century City is fairly vacant & not so much a destination for shopping and movies like it was in 2000 when I was a kid old enough to drive there from The Valley.... these days the huge mall and the theatrical productions and even the movie theaters not really needed for all the buildings and high rises that the complex contains. I have always loved the high rise several million dollar valued condos and the office buildings
Always empty.
Bullock's Century City opened in 1976.
Agreed, they could have had rail service all the way to the beach by now.
Reverse tech.
Developers really could care less about history. Developers and architects are probably the worst human beings alive.
Who controls the developers and architects?
I love this. Really love century city. It's pretty.