The Oscars: Shirley On Location

Over the years, The Oscars have bounced around from location to location. The very first one was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in the Blossom Room on May 16, 1929. The Roosevelt still operates today; above is a 1950s image of the Hollywood Boulevard hotel. The Ambassador Hotel held the dinner for the second Academy Awards event on April 3, 1930, as well as in 1932, 1934, 1940, and 1943.



All were in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub (below) except for 1932, which was in The Fiesta Room.



The Oscars were held in downtown Los Angeles at the Biltmore Hotel in 1931 and then 1935 through 1939. Below, Shirley Temple gives Claudette Colbert her Best Actress award for “It Happened One Night” (1934):



On February 23, 1939, Shirley famously presented Walt Disney with his specially designed Oscar for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937):



Shirley also hobnobbed with Tyrone Power:



Douglas Fairbanks:



…and Ann Sheridan (Hedy Lamarr is behind Shirley):



An outside vintage view of the Biltmore:



The Biltmore Bowl ballroom where the Oscars were held at the Biltmore:



Increased attendance and World War II made banquets impractical, so the ceremony moved to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre from 1944-1946.



John Derek (of Bo Derek fame!) and Shirley were at Grauman’s for the March 2, 1944 event:



On March 7, 1946, she walked down the red carpet with then-husband John Agar:



The Shrine Auditorium was the location of choice from 1947-1948:



Red Skelton and Shirley, circa 1947:



1948 with John Agar again:



The 1949 Academy Award Theater on Melrose Avene in West Hollywood hosted the 21st Academy Awards on March 24, 1949 (since demolished). The RKO Pantages Theatre on Sunset Boulevard followed in 1950 and remained on the event roster until April 4, 1960.



Zsa Zsa Gabor and George Sanders at the Oscars in 1951:



In 1961, the Awards moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Shirley posed with Annette Funicello that evening:



On April 14, 1969, the 41st Academy Awards ceremonies moved to the brand new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Shirley appeared there on April 9, 1984. Below she is shown holding her miniature Oscar from 1935:



Below, Shirley poses with Ginger Rogers, who she worked with on “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944):



That’s it for my Oscar photo collection!

See more contemporary and vintage photos at my main website.

1950s Visit to MGM

This genuine FauxD© image shows two lovely lasses on the MGM lot, posed perfectly in front of the Thalberg Building. Stitching the left and right sides together gives us a wider view:



Zooming in, you can see the MGM lettering and Thalberg name on the right:



By the time I visited in 2018, MGM was gone and Columbia Pictures/Sony had moved in.



A rainbow was installed in the courtyard to acknowledge the filming of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) on this very lot.



The building still looks like MGM in all its art deco glory…



but it now bears the name of Columbia.



I should be grateful that they kept the light fixtures in front. And I am.



Surprisingly, they also kept the Thalberg name, visible on the nameplate at right:



Thalberg, Vice President of Production, was known as the “Boy Genius” of the lot. Studio head Louis B. Mayer liked glamour; Thalberg preferred more cerebral material for his films. Inside the Thalberg, his portait is on display.



The Oscars on display are all for Columbia films.



Back in 1941, Shirley Temple joined the MGM stable of stars. She was welcomed to the lot by Gable, Rooney, and Garland. What a powerhouse quartet! Here they are in front of the Thalberg building.



See more MGM studio photos at my main website.

Disneyland Transportation Cutbacks: The Keel Boats

One last part to my Disneyland Transportation Cutbacks series; how could I leave out the Keel Boats? Appearing on the Rivers of America, the 38' Bertha Mae and Gullywhumper Keel Boats were based on two episodes of the Davy Crockett miniseries from the 1955 Disneyland TV show: "Davy Crockett's Keel Boat Race" (November 16, 1955) and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (December 14, 1955). The attraction was named after Mike Fink, the "King of the River" who lost the keel boat race. Once again, Walt showed his genius in reusing items already available to him by putting the props from the show into the Park. Over in Tomorrowland, it was the 20K Under the Seas exhibit. But I digress…below are Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen, who appeared in the Davy Crockett episodes as Davy and George “Georgie” Russell:



It would appear that the show also featured a third boat, the Monogahela Belle:



A close-up with Ebsen and Parker:



Some of my earliest shots of the Keel Boats at the Park are from August 1956, both featuring the Bertha Mae:





This October 1956 shows the Gullywhumper, which was much plainer in the decor department:



March 1957:



A June 1957 overhead shot taken from the Mark Twain (or the Columbia!) showing the Bertha Mae docked in Fowler’s Harbor:



This August 1958 image shows a Mike Fink popgun that was found on the deck of the Gullywhumper:



Undated 1950s:



LOVE those early Disneyland Paper Hats!



June 1965:



Some marvelous hairdos and glasses:



June 1967:



From July 17, 1977, the most recent shot in my collection of a Keel Boat still in action:



The Bertha Mae was removed in May 1997 after it capsized; shortly after that the entire attraction was 86'ed. The Bertha Mae was auctioned off on ebay for $15k and the Gullywhumper sat permanently docked in the Rivers of America. From December 2006:



May 2008:



By April 2010, the Gullywhumper got a bit of a reprieve. It was cleaned up, restored back to how it looked in the 1955 shows, and put in front of the former Burning Cabin, which was turned into Mike Fink’s home:



How it looked in May 2015:



Were they comfortable? Probably not. Did they have a high guest capacity? No. Did they add to the flavor and movement of Frontierland? DEFINITELY YES! Slowly but surely, the budget cuts have removed the energy and excitement of what Walt originally created.

See more Disneyland Keel Boat photos at my main website.