Temple Tuesday: Roman Holiday

“Roman Holiday,” the Audrey Hepburn/Gregory Peck classic, had its world premiere in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on August 27, 1953, followed by the Los Angeles opening on September 30.



A special premiere was held on September 14, with the proceeds going to the Santa Monica Hospital’s building fund. It was appropriate for Shirley to attend (with her handsome husband Charles) as she was born there in 1928:



The Los Angeles Times announced on the morning of the premiere:

A charity premiere of the film “Roman Holiday” will be held tonight at the Village Theater in Westwood with funds from ticket sales and donations expected to add $75,000 to the Santa Monica Hospital’s building fund. The hospital is planning a new wing in a $1,000,000 expansion program. The institution is a voluntary, nonprofit organization and is the only emergency service for a large portion of West Los Angeles and the beach area. The film costars Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn and was contributed for showing by Paramount studios at the theater by Charles P. Skouras, head of National Theaters. Voluntary contributions for the epansion already have netted $325,000 and $600,000 has been donated by the Lutheran Hospital Society of Southern California, according to actress Esther Williams, general chairman.



Audrey’s arrival, surrounded by music legends Cole Porter and Irving Berlin:



Shirley and Charles arrive:



The theater seen in the background of both photos is The Bruin, which I photographed in 1986:



The premiere was held at the nearby Fox Westwood Village:



How it looked, Summer 1989:



It is wonderful to see the love in Charles’ eyes as he proudly looks at his gorgeous wife:



In their seats for the screening:





On the back of the three photos in my collection of Shirley and Charles at the back is stamped the name and address of Darlene Hammond:



This is what I was able to dig up about who she was when I found a Bonham's auction of her photos:

From the 1950s through the early 1980s, there was rarely a Hollywood event at which photographer Darlene Hammond was not present, capturing the glamorous yet candid moments of the Golden Age of Hollywood and witnessing with her lens the changes that took over Hollywood in the late 1960s and beyond. A woman ahead of her time, Darlene was one of the few female photographers during these formative years in the film industry. Darlene's work appeared in national magazines such as Life, People, The National Enquirer, and in hundreds of movie magazines from the 1950s through the '70s. Her ability to catch just the right moments in both the private and public lives of her celebrity subjects, which included Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, and every other major star of the Golden Age, makes Darlene Hammond's photographs some of the most unique and vibrant in Hollywood history.

In 2017, Christie's auction house sold a number of shots from the premiere that were from Audrey Hepburn’s personal collection:







Another shot of Audrey with Porter and Berlin. In the background is a poster for James Stewart’s film, “Thunder Bay,” which had been released a few months before on May 20.



How did the event go? According to the Evening Vanguard:

Hundreds upon hundreds had a real “Roman Holiday” Monday night when they attended a gala benefit premiere of the picture in Westwood…Among the first nighters were cute Audrey Hepburn, who plays the lead in the film with Gregory Peck…She made a personal appearance…Leo Carrillo and Duncan Renaldo were there in their Pancho and Cisco costumes…Had just come in from working on the Cisco films…MGM’s Esther Williams was chairman of the show and presented silver spoons to five proud papas who became fathers of wee ones (they were all girls) at S. M. Hospital that day…Then an added celebration…Every man in the theater (thousands of them) got a cigar with the familiar band “it’s a girl”…It was a big night…Searchlights, red carpets, grandstands and a welcoming committee of dinner-jacketed men were on hand to greet the first nighters…The theater was jammed…

Also in attendance were Jan Sterling, Paul Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Debbie Reynolds, Gene Barry, Macdonald Carey, Wendell Corey, Ann Miller, Ann Robinson, Mercedes McCambridge, Rex Allen, Anne Francis, Terry Moore and Keenan Wynn.

 See more Shirley Temple Black photos at my main website.

Poolside at the Cavalier

In my batch of 1956 Disneyland and Mission Inn slides there were a few of the Cavalier Hotel, located at 10724 Wilshire Boulevard near Westwood Village in Los Angeles. Zooming in to see the sign:

This shot of the pool area is everything. ALMOST postcard perfect.

Look at those gals soaking up the sun, slathered in tanning oil. Yes people...oil, not lotion, back before SPF, harmful rays, and ozone had become part of our lexicon.

There didn’t seem to be too much info about this place on the net, other than this vintage card which had sold on ebay. The front:

…and the back. Apparently it was part of the Lee Hotel chain. Is that Sara Lee? Or Robert E. Lee? Inquiring minds want to know.

I also found this image of a vintage ashtray for the hotel:

Apparently the Cavalier is long gone. This is the massive building that replaced it. Sigh.

See more vintage and contemporary hotel photos at my main website.

Fundraiser at the DeFore's, 1951

As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a batch of images that turned out to include Don DeFore ("Hazel" and Disneyland's Silver Banjo Restaurant) in them. His son Ron was able to explain their context:

These are from a fundraiser my Dad produced for the Village Church in Brentwood circa 1951. It was held at our house and had an old fashioned theme. Here’s another photo from that same event (see first black and white shot below). The local TV station covered the event, which included Eddie Bracken and a number of other celebrities.

A vintage publicity caption from July 25, 1951 provides some further info:

When the Village Church of Westwood, California needed funds for some new additions the Film Folk of the congregation decided to put on a Gay Ninetees box lunch social and entertainment to raise the money…Actor Don DeFore, one of the active members of the congregation, donated his home in Brentwood for the occasion and the rest of the film folk and congregation donated the box lunches which were auctioned off…the purchasers of the lunches then had the privilege of dining with the actresses who donated the luncheon. Tony Caruso, Don DeFore, and John Bromfield furnished some of the entertainment.



This closeup of the first image shows Don and his wife:



A detailed view showing actor/comedian Eddie Bracken:



He is best known to today's audiences for his cameo as Roy Wally of Wally World fame in the Chevy Chase comedy "Vacation":



The Village Church of Brentwood was built in 1946. Those not aware of this church may have at least seen the large cross which was lighted at night and visible for a mile along the 405 freeway.



DeFore and is wife are at left again in this image; I am sure there are a number of other celebrities that my readers would be able to identify. Many look familiar but I couldn't begin to name them.



I believe this last shot showing Ozzie and Harriet is from the same event.



See more Don DeFore/Silver Banjo photos on my main website.