Before I moved to Culver City I was told by several of my softball team mates that “Culver City is the coolest place to live in Southern California! There are so many artists living there you area going to love it.”
While I did like Culver City immediately – its right off the 405, five miles away from the beaches and relatively safe and clean, I was a little disappointed. From all the fanfare I was expecting more of a Davis Sq/Central Sq (Massachusetts) atmosphere. However, this city with its endless strip malls and commercial parks felt more like a Framingham or a less impressive Waltham (Massachusetts)
Once we did a little exploring, however, we found some unique spots and learned about Culver City’s extensive film history. Hundreds of movies were produced on the lots of Culver City’s studios including: The Wizard of Oz, The Thin Man, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Rebecca, the Tarzan series, and the original King Kong. Wizard of Oz and Citizen Kane were filmed throughout My friend David in Boston was impressed because his grandfather Yip Harburg wrote all the lyrics for the Wizard of Oz songs.
In recent years, art galleries, and new eating and drinking venues started to crop up in greater numbers in Culver City creating a hip atmosphere The center of town features the Culver Hotel and Culver Studios. The hotel was built in 1924 and was called a “skyscraper”, even though it’s only about six stories. We are there one night with Jonathan’s old roommate and enjoyed the atmosphere.
The studio is rumored to appear in “Gone With The Wind”, but this is actually not true; it only appears in the credits of the film. The Tara estate from the film was just the facade of a building…it didn’t really exist!
Of course as I mentioned in earlier blogs our two favorite Culver City destinations are the Holy Cross Cemetery and Hillside Memorial Park, as they are retreats for us amidst the clamor.
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Great photos, honey. I hope you’ll have an exhibit this year.
Jonathan