Wallace on Wednesday

It’s December 1963, and Mr. Hyde has a pretty young girl by the clutches in front of the Main Street Cinema. LOVE the feathered hat!



The movie on the A-Frame behind the festive young lass is “Her Awakening,” a 1914 silent movie starring Wallace Reid (below) and Blanche Sweet.



Reid was a handsome matinee idol whose career was cut short by an addiction to morphine, caused by an injury he sustained from a train wreck in 1919. In order to keep him working, the morphine was prescribed by the studio to numb his pain. He died in a sanitarium at age 31 in 1923, attempting to beat his addiction.

See more Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. Cinema photos at my main website.

If 2020 had a face…

If 2020 had a face, surely it would look something like this. From August 1964 hails this shot of Mr. Hyde, probably sweating his buns off in that hot costume as he scares guests outside the Main Street Cinema. Like so many, it appears that he, too, is anxiously awaiting the reopening of the hair salons.

 

See more Disneyland Main Street Cinema photos at my main website.

Phantom of the Opera Goes To Disneyland

This scary looking feller, whose outfit is based on Lon Chaney's title character from "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) turns out to be not so scary. On the back of the photo is the story of what occurred that day; I love the description!



We need more characters at Disneyland, and I'm not talking about the cartoon ones. Here's a shot of the real Lon Chaney on the Universal lot inbetween takes of "Phantom":



An undated shot of the Phantom. Keep laughing lady...the Phantom is about to rock your world!



With the marquee in the background, this one is a favorite shot:



A "living" color FauxD© image from August 28, 1965 shows the Phantom hamming it up in front of the Cinema:



Poor little supermodel Twiggy looks apprehensive as she encounters the Phantom over at Universal Studios. This was part of the “Twiggy in Hollywood” 1967 TV show which showed her visiting both Disneyland and Universal.



I hope I didn't give you TOO much of a scare today!

See more vintage & current Disneyland Main Street Cinema photos on my main website.

Wednesday WOW: Celebrities @ Disneyland!

For another glimpse into my psyche and how I decide what to post...when I see photos/slides/negatives for sale, even at that point I am thinking how I can use them in this blog. Would they tie into another image and make a fun theme? Is it a unique enough image to stand on its own, or is it something that I should buy, hold onto, and maybe at a later date stumble onto a good companion piece? Two recent images I just purchased are not really that exciting on their own, but combining them with some previous photos give me today’s theme: vintage celebs at Disneyland. And awaaaaay we go. First up, we have Liz Taylor. Even though the focus of this poor quality wire photo is Liz and current hubby Eddie Fisher, by the wild swirls around them, it is obvious that they are about to enjoy the Alice in Wonderland attraction. Previously, I have posted this photo of Eddie and Liz (also from the same January 1959 visit) in Central Plaza with her two boys from previous hubby Mike Todd:



Here’s a previously posted image of the spooky looking character, who did double duty as both Mr. Hyde and The Phantom of the Opera, depending upon what was showing at the Main Street Cinema:





See more Disneyland entrance photos at my website.

What a difference a day makes, Aug. 28, 1965 Pt. 2

Moving up Main Street, we run into the scary Mr. Hyde, of Dr. Jekyll fame. He’s out front of the Main Street Cinema, attracting (or maybe even scaring away) the guests that walk by into the air-conditioned theater. Here is another shot of Mr. Hyde from a different day:



Obviously, I’m a big Mickey Mouse fan, but the Main Street Cinema certainly had a larger feeling of authenticity when it showed actual silent movies. There’s really no reason why Mickey and the Silent Screen Stars couldn’t co-habitate in the same theater. Last one for today is an off-center photo of the Plaza Inn, which seems to focus on the trash-can and the rear-ends of the shapely guests about to enter for a Fried-Chicken dinner.



In present day Disney news, I went to see "Wall-E" this weekend. For some reason, the trailers really turned me off, and I had virtually no desire to see it. However, the fantastic buzz it has been getting changed my mind, and I'm really glad I went to see it. It’s not your typical Pixar/Disney film; in fact it has a number of chilling commentaries on people and the environment. Still, it is well done, and I am continually blown away by the emotion that the Pixar artists are able to give to the characters. I predict we’ll be seeing more of Wall-E and his romantic interest, Eve. I also enjoyed the use of 2 songs from "Hello Dolly"; mercifully, the obnoxious Barbra Streisand is not included in any of the clips shown from the film. Since I’ve never seen that movie, I had no idea that one of the songs played over and over on Main Street at Disneyland is "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" from "Dolly." This song also provides the optimistic inspiration for Wall-E. So get out of your seats and run to the theaters; "Wall-E" should not be missed!



See more vintage and current Main Street photos at my website