Comedy Alert

I could not resist this follow-up to the Anthony Hopkins photo.   In the summer of 2005 it is the wide awake Ellen DeGeneres who charms us from the fly tower of The Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater, apparently alerting us to some humorous potential in the area around Hollywood and Vine and publicizing the June issue of Los Angeles Magazine, the "Comedy Issue."   Ellen also happens to be providing a beacon for French General, a small accessories shop hidden away nearby on Vista Del Mar Avenue.

Toluca Lake

Toluca Lake is an exclusive section of the North Hollywood area of Los Angeles tucked up against Burbank and the Los Angeles River in the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley. After reading a piece about Humphrey Bogart golfing at the Lakeside Golf Club and the cast of The Maltese Falcon partying nightly at the club, I went to see the golf club and the lake. I found the golf course, but am not sure I found the lake. There are some beautiful homes in the area, but is there a lake? I walked along Valley Spring Lane. Couldn't find the lake. I walked along Navajo Avanue. Couldn't locate any lake. Toluca Lake Avenue. No lake to be seen. Was I to believe the map or my lying eyes? At the end of Clybourn Avenue, just before the locked back gate of the Lakeside Golf Club I found a spot where through the tree branches a glimple of water was available. I took this photo, but it looked more like a pond at the time. A small corner of the lake? Hard to tell.

I began to ask people. Is there really a lake in Toluca Lake? The replies were usually, "I don't know" or "Yes, but I've never seen it." Apparently there are quite a lot of people in the neighborhood who do not know whether there is a lake or not. Indeed, there are a fair number who actually believe there is no lake. A manager in a restaurant told me, "They call this Toluca Lake, but I don't know why. There's not a lake here." Most folks are like me after my visit. They believe there is a lake, but have not seen it. I met a woman on the street who told me that when she was a girl she would ride her bike along the lake, but no more. Today it is tightly ringed by houses, and she said the only way she sees the lake now from the outside is to catch a chance glimpse through uncovered windows.

The Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce reports that there are two lakes, and they have a photo gallery. I also found some photos online from 1930, 1945, 1956 and of the swans which are a symbol of the lake. Google Maps has a nifty satellite photo of the area which shows the lake. You will need to enter toluca lake ca in the search box, click the Search and Satellite buttons and then zoom in using the scale at left. The beautiful homes, the golf club, the proximity to film and TV studios at Disney, NBC, Warner Brothers and Universal and for some, the lake, have made Toluca Lake a magnet for entertainment celebrities through the years, from Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby on through Dorothy Lamour, Red Foxx and Tennessee Ernie Ford and then Frankie Avalon, Andy Griffith and Goldie Hawn to more recently Denzel Washington, George Lopez and Kirsten Dunst, just to name a few. Yes, there is a lake in Toluca Lake.

Independence Day

Cole's

Cole's is an L.A. survivor.   By local standards almost everything in the place is old, the mahogany bar, the Tiffany shades, the tables made from the sides of retired trolley cars, the photos on the walls.   Even the cash register is old, 50 years old, and won't take a price over $9.99.   They had a bartender in employ for 62 years, but he retired in 1985.   Not much has changed on the menu since 1908 when Harry Cole opened the PE Buffet and originated the French Dip Sandwich.

The site, the Pacific Electric Building at 6th & Main, was completed by California mogul Henry Huntigton in 1905, not only to be the center of his PE Red Car rail network, but a lavish 9-story skyscraper office building as well, with the exclusive Jonathan Club nestled in the upper floors.   A vital spot, at peak 100,000 passengers passed through the electric rail hub daily, many of them stopping for food and drink at Cole's.   But, the automobile and the end of the 1950s brought great change to Southern California.   After the last Red Car rolled out of the PE building in 1961, downtown L.A. continued its sharp decline, and at one point Cole's was the only business open in the building.   Still, through the years the Hollywood dream factory has made good use of Cole's; 500 productions of film, TV and commercials have used the site, including Forrest Gump, L.A. Confidential, NYPD Blue, The X-Files and recently Mr. and Mrs. Smith.   In 1974 the city added Cole's to its list of Historic-Cultural Monuments as the oldest bar and restaurant in Los Angeles.

Now, with downtown L.A. resurging, Cole's may be entering a new phase.   The Pacific Electric Building is under restoration and will join the increasing number of "loft" residences downtown.   Though Cole's has only had three owners in its history, it has been reported that L.A. nightlife wizard Marc Smith is purchasing the establishment and will restore it "to its former glory."   I hope Cole's own cultural policy is not changed.   Beyond the cafeteria food and the full bar, Cole's has offered prose and poetry readings and music performances.   No need to wait.   On Wednesday, July 27, you can get a double shot of L.A. lore when local alternative/country band "I See Hawks In L.A." plays once again at this venerable L.A. venue.

Talmadge Street

An apartment building lights up Talmadge Street with turquoise, yellow and salmon.   In the area where Los Feliz gives way to Franklin Hills and Silver Lake, this is just two blocks north of the Prospect Studios, formerly the ABC Television Center and earlier still, Warner Brothers and the Vitagraph Studio.   From silent films in 1915 through the first "talkie," The Jazz Singer, and later The Lawrence Welk Show, American Bandstand, Let's Make A Deal, General Hospital and others, this neighborhood has seen it all.   Norma and Constance Talmadge began with Vitagraph in New York and became huge stars of the silent movie era.   Their name was applied to the steet along the west edge of the studio's lot in Los Angeles, but their films have not been as well preserved.   Constance is known for comedy.   Norma Talmadge is considered by many to be among film's top few truly great dramatic actresses, but degraded by others as "emotional."   Their charm and appeal live on here, signposts to the memories of Valentino, Pickford, Barrymore, Garbo, Laurel & Hardy, Martin & Lewis, The Beatles and many, many more.

Grand Performances

Updated 6/26/05:   Angelenos turned out last night for the screening of an L.A. classic, Billy Wilder's 1944 murder scheme film noir, Double Indemnity, the second presentation of the season of Grand Performances, the outdoor performing arts series at California Plaza, downtown.   David Kipen, book critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, and CalArts Critical Studies faculty member Norman Klein opened the event with a discussion on noir and L.A.   Klein observed that noir, its paranoia and complexity, is a powerful concept of the 20th century and made the point that Double Indemnity began the unconscious nightmare vision of Los Angeles, dangerous, racist, crazy; began the romance with and hatred of the city that seems today tilting in favor of romance.   Klein's books include The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory, Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles, 1920-86 and The Vatican to Vegas: The History of Special Effects.

The film, with screenplay by Wilder and L.A. storyteller Raymond Chandler, provides a 1940s glimplse of the city, including the Hollywood Bowl, the Glendale train station, a fabulous open atrium downtown office building and Barbara Stanwyck's house on the hill that is described as "Los Feliz," but actually is a little further west and higher in the Hollywood Hills between Beachwood and Cahuenga.   Checking out the house today, at the corner of Quebec Drive and El Contento Drive, is a bit of a let down.   Alterations through the years have changed its look, and homes built later block the film's wide open view across Quebec to the city below.   The arched double garage doors have been replaced by a single, so it's difficult to relive the creepy scene where Fred MacMurray hides in the back seat of the car.   Still, it's a notable house and a lovely neighborhood.   Walking the nearby streets and hiking up the hill on Creston Drive for great views of the city, Lake Hollywood and the Hollywood Sign will likely support Klein's notion about romance.

Walk to The Greek

One of the extra treats of taking in a concert at The Greek Theatre in Griffith Park is the wide tree-lined approach along Vermont Avenue before it enters the park.   Many beautiful homes grace this route, and you might enhance your visit by parking below and walking up Vermont or Hillhurst and Vermont to The Greek.   Valet parking at the theatre is $40.   Other parking nearby is $10, but as they say, "be aware that it is stacked parking."   So, if you can park for $10 or less below Los Feliz Boulevard, you may want to try the walk, about 20 to 30 minutes from Los Feliz to The Greek.   As usual, a varied group of shows awaits the summer.   Wilco, Tom Jones, Robert Plant, The Black Eyed Peas, The White Stripes, James Brown.   James Brown?   Yes, in August.   If you are headed for that one be sure to check out the once again available "Beat The Devil" short film at BMWFilms.com.   The Godfather and Gary Oldman struggle at the Crossroads, and we get the benefit.