Jean Harlow At The Chateau Marmont

On the anniversary of actress Jean Harlow’s untimely passing in 1937 at the age of 26, I thought it appropriate to do a post about the room she inhabited at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood. According to Vanity Fair, she stayed in rooms 32-33 with third husband, Harold Rosson. Harlow expert, Darrell Rooney (co-author of Harlow in Hollywood), adds that Rosson had a house, but it was being rented so they rented this apartment at the Chateau to live in as man and wife, since Rosson refused to live at Harlow’s Beverly Glen residence. Rooney also believes there probably aren’t any photos of the star at the Chateau, as her “time there was marred by appendicitis and a hospital stay.” A photo of Jean, Rosson, and her mother and stepfather (below) is often referred to as having been shot at the Chateau, but it was taken at their private residence instead.



In probably the most reliable book about the history of the hotel, Life at the Marmont (1987) by former owner Raymond Sarlot and Fred Basten, it says this about her stay:

On the afternoon of September 20, 1933, a black Pierce Arrow touring car, its wire wheels reflecting the hot California sun, made its way up Marmont Lane and parked directly in front of the colonnaded entry to Chateau Marmont.…The newlyweds had come to the Marmont, bypassing the revitalized Garden of Allah and nearby Sunset Tower, in search of a honeymoon suite. It was Hal’s choice. He had had a soft spot in his heart for the Marmont ever since he learned of Albert E. Smith’s takeover. It was Smith who had given Rosson his first break in show business, hiring him as a teenage bit player with Vitagraph in 1908.…“Jean and I are going to love this place.” It was fifteen minutes later when Harold Rosson, accompanied by Ann Little [hotel manager], returned to his bride. With one hand,…Rosson jangled the keys to Suite 3BC. He followed the sweep of his arm, pointing to the third floor windows that stretched nearly the entire length of the Marmont’s north-south wing.…Ann Little invited Jean inside, but she declined. “I’ll take a rain check,” Jean sighed, sounding wilted. “I’d better get home [her Beverly Glen Drive residence] before I keel over.” She pulled a small square of chiffon from her handbag and dabbed at her forehead.…It would be a full week before the Rossons took occupancy of 3BC at the Marmont, but Jean didn’t wait that long to acquaint herself with her new surroundings. Less than twenty-four hours after Hal had signed the guest registry, a revitalized Jean appeared at the front desk. She was accompanied by a stately blonde woman and a suavely handsome man who identified themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Bello [her stepfather and mother]. “We’re here to look around,” Jean told Ann Little. “Is my rain check still good?”

While still retaining much of its charm from the 1930s, the Chateau Marmont has had a few renovations over the years. It is extremely difficult to find vintage interior shots of the hotel. As fate would have it, I connected with Dennis Lee Cleven in a Jean Harlow Facebook group, and he graciously supplied me with photos from his 1981 visit to one half of the Harlow honeymoon suite.

I was there way back in 1981 and it was refurbished after that. Apartment 33 is the one which cinematographer Harold Rosson and Jean Harlow lived during their 1933 marriage at The Chateau Marmont at 8221 Sunset Boulevard.

Is it just me or does this 1981 shot from Dennis make anyone think of “Come on knock on my door…” from “Three’s Company”?



How 33’s door looks today:



The living room, 1981:



December 2002:



April 2018:



A peak into the bedroom, circa 1981:



December 2002:



April 2018:



Dennis in the kitchen, 1981:



December 2002, with new tile:



April 2018:



Here’s where things get interesting. The entry hallway, circa 1981:



April 2018. The arches and fire sprinkler match up, but in the 1981 photo, there is a door at the end of the hallway; in 2018, it has been sealed up. This would lend credence to 33 once being connected to 32. Unfortunately, I have not stayed in 32 yet! Bucket list…



A closeup of the now removed door to…?



In my chat with Dennis, he was under the impression that the adjoining room was 34, not 32.

I stayed there in 1981 and I called the front desk and I asked which apartment was hers and he said the one I was in (33). One thing I have asked before is where did that door lead to down the hall? Did it go to a bedroom which is now apartment 34? I found it rather confusing back then and it’s a mystery that I've not solved. 

I’d like to solve it, too! I need to see logistically where 32 and 34 are situated in relation to room 33. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Dennis just found a shot of the bathroom from his 1981 visit:



From my stay in 2002:



My 2015 stay:



And my most recent visit to this room in 2018:



See more Chateau Marmont room photos at my main website.

Calling All Disneyland Ephemera Nutz!

Calling out to all my Disneyland brochure/guidebook/ephemera nutz! I have a batch of undated slides (most likely 1960s) that include this shot of the Flower Market on West Center Street. Can anyone give a year based on the book/brochure next to the register visible in this detailed view? I know, the lady in the pink fluffy hat is pulling your focus. Try…try hard to look away.



UPDATE! Thanks to Daveland readers Tom & Eric over on X, the mystery has been solved. The publication is Disneyland World of Flowers, released in 1965.





Here are two previously unposted shots that the guest had the kindness to get date stamped! From August 1966 (might even be the same cast member):



…and September 1963, which includes a Keystone Kop:



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

Temple Tuesday: Trailers and Tutors

The September 1938 issue of Better Homes & Gardens ran a feature story on Shirley titled, “Mrs. Shultz visits Shirley Temple.”



Gladys Denny Shultz was part of the magazine’s Child Care & Training Department, and was sent to Hollywood to interview Shirley on the set of “Just Around the Corner” (1938) which was still being referred to as “Lucky Penny” at the time this article was written.

How do you bring up a child to have a million-dollar personality? That’s what I went to Hollywood to discover, if I could, and I came away with a brand new appreciation of a happy, healthy little girl and her mother—of Shirley Temple and Mrs. Temple.…I had an excellent chance to watch Shirley—at the studio, doing scenes for “Lucky Penny,” rehearsing and discussing the next “take,” studying her lessons in snatches in the little dream trailer which is her schoolroom during pictures, with her mother, her teacher, her director, other children in the cast, and with several dozen more people all engaged in making the important Temple pictures. I saw her in action thru a long grueling afternoon as she made and remade a difficult sequence that had the adults on pins and needles long before it was over.…Shirley off the screen is perhaps even more remarkable than the Shirley in pictures. To me, she’s most attractive in real life. The camera makes her seem plumper than she is—her 68 pounds is just a good, sturdy, 9-year-old weight for her 50-inch height. Neither can a camera really show her healthy, glowing complexion. Shirley never wears make-up. To prepare her for a scene, Mrs. Temple merely sees to it that her curls are in order.…In the scene they were shooting…Shirley was supposed to snip off the long red ringlets of Bennie Bartlett with electric clippers, in the dog lounge in the basement of a luxurious apartment house. It was Shirley’s first experience at barbering, and she wasn’t quite sure about the clippers. She attached the job gingerly, afraid alike of cutting her fingers and shearing Bennie of his real curls. For those Shirley clips in the picture are false ones, artfully interpolated in the glowing mass of Bennie’s own crowning glory. The children rehearsed the scene and then were ready with lines and action. But things went all wrong. Every time Shirley took hold of an artificial curl, it would come off in her hand before she could touch the clippers to it, and it was necessary to start over again. As the afternoon wore on, Shirley got more and more intrigued with those clippers. Between attempts, her eyes darted about the set, seeking whom she might pretend to clip, and discussing the possibilities with delight. Then, as will happen, and as would have happened much sooner with another child, the fun began to get a little hysterical. At once Mrs. Temple leaned forward on her stool and said, not sharply, but as tho she meant it, “That’s enough now, Shirley. Let’s attend to business.” Instantly Shirley snapped into character again. Before they stopped, the scene was in the bag, Shirley operating the clippers in the final take with impish abandon.…There’s a very beautiful bond of love and understanding between mother and daughter. Mrs. Temple is simply quietly determined that what Shirley does shall be done right.



The photo below is courtesy of Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) who was recently gifted a copy of it by fellow Shirley’s Army member, Lori. It was Shirley expert supreme, the great Rita D, who let us know what the occasion was for this photo shoot, and then I hunted down a copy of the magazine itself. Yes, it takes an Army! Now you can see Shirley’s Fox studio trailer which was cropped out of the magazine article.



This photo from my collection also shows Mrs. Shultz, along with Shirley’s beloved studio tutor, Frances Klamt, inside the trailer.



Here’s what Mrs. Shultz had to say about Frances Klampt:

Miss Frances Klammt, Shirley’s teacher, is an M.A. who taught five years in the Los Angeles public schools before taking over Shirley’s education two years ago. She represents both the Los Angeles Board of Education and the Child Labor Board and has authority to halt production if anything occurs on the set which she considers harmful to Shirley, or if they’re not getting in the three hours’ schooling daily which the law requires for movie children. Even when the Temples vacation between pictures, Miss Klammt goes wherever they go, for Shirley must have her three hours of schooling every day that other children are in school. It’s often piecemeal study, but, as Miss Klammt pointed out, “Shirley possesses marvelous powers of concentration. She throws herself into a scene for al she’s worth, then instantly centers upon her studies the moment she sits down at her table.”



Another interior view of Shirley’s trailer taken during the filming of “Just Around the Corner”:



Shirley had to catch a snack between takes in her trailer during the filming of “Little Miss Broadway” (1938). Gotta’ keep that energy up!



A series of three shots taken during filming of “The Little Princess” (1939) with Miss Klamt:





Time for the cameras!



Shirley’s cute little trailer was the perfect place to keep up on her correspondence:



SPELLING COUNTS! A note about the spelling of Shirley’s tutor’s name. In the BH&G article, it is written as “Klammt.” In a vintage 1935 drawing Shirley created to give to her tutor, she wrote “Miss Klamt.”



When Shirley was welcomed back to the Fox lot in 1948 with a gala party, the publicity blurbs used the “Klamt” spelling.



By the time Shirley wrote her autobiography Child Star in 1988, Shirley referred to her as “Miss Klampt.” Shirley expert supreme Rita D also used “Klampt” in her book, as did author Gavin Lambert in his Natalie Wood bio, as did former pupils (and “Sound of Music” stars) Charmian Carr, Nicholas Hammond, Angela Cartwright, and Kym Karath.



The Palo Verde Valley Times referred to her as “Frances M. (Klamt) Willis” in her May 23, 2008 obituary as does imdb. In the A&E Shirley Temple documentary, she was interviewed and the onscreen credit reads, “Klamt.” I would hope they got it right for that one at least!



But that’s not all in the questionable spelling department for this post! The author of the BH&G article, Gladys Denny Shultz, was written up this way by the New York Times for her June 22, 1984 obituary:

Gladys Denny Schultz, a writer and editor, died of cancer Tuesday in Allentown, Pa., where she was staying with the family of her son, Peter. She was 88 years old and had retired to San Diego, Calif., in 1972. Mrs. Schultz was a writer and correspondent for The Ladies Home Journal from 1946 to 1961. Earlier she had been a child care writer for Better Homes and Gardens from 1927 to 1945. Mrs. Schultz was the author of several books. Among them, she wrote or edited ''It's Time You Knew,'' a discussion of sex problems of younger girls, (1955), “Lady from Savannah: The Life of Juliette Low,” a biography of the founder of the Girl Scout movement, (1958 - see cover below), ''Letters to Jane,'' a revised edition of a book published in 1947, (1960), and ''Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale,'' (1962). In addition to her son, she is survived by a daughter, Eleanor Dale, of East Lansing Mich., six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.



So much for the NYT’s spellchecker! Thanks to Mrs. Shultz for her vintage insights into Shirley’s world!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Mark Twain and the Helicopter

Back in the day, you could take a helicopter from LAX to Disneyland (and back), as seen in this vintage April 19, 1965 image.



In “40 Pounds of Trouble” (1962), little Claire Wilcox, Suzanne Pleshette, and Tony Curtis boarded such a vehicle in a memorable sequence (from the otherwise forgettable film) where their characters visit Disneyland.



For vintage Disneyland fans, this footage inspires rapid heartbeats because of its time capsule value. See the helicopter circling over the Mark Twain below?



This recently acquired 1965 slide did not inspire much in me when I first saw it.



When I began cleaning it up though, I let out a whoop! Did you hear it? Just above, you can see one of those helicopters above the Twain. I wonder if it was the one with Curtis and Pleshette?



To round out the post, here are a few other vintage Twain images that have not yet been posted. From September 1963, I can’t look away from the interesting art on this woman’s dress:



Pirates of the Caribbean had only been open a few months when this July 1967 image taken aboard the Twain was snapped:



That’s a respectable line of guests waiting to see the treasures within the show building:



From the same batch, a panorama view of the Twain on the Rivers of America:



In this September 1969 evening shot, guests were serenaded aboard the Twain by the Disneyland Strawhatters:



You have seen this September 1969 trio in a previous post.



If you didn’t know how to take a proper photo, the Kodak Picture Spot was a good guide.



Today, nobody needs any advice on where to take a selfie; that would just be any place that other guests could be inconvenienced!

See more Mark Twain at Disneyland photos at my main website.