1.
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
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Upon its grand opening in 1923, the Los Angeles Biltmore was the largest hotel west of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. In 1969 the Biltmore Hotel was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles, regal Hotels purchased the Biltmore in 1996, and then sold it in 1999 to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. As of 2009, the Los Angeles Biltmore is operated as part of the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels chain as the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, the hotel has 70,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space. From its original 1500 guestrooms it now has 683, due to room reorganization, the Biltmore Angel is heavily incorporated into the design—as a symbol of the city as well as the Biltmore itself. With a thick steel and concrete frame, the structure takes up half a city block and it was meticulously restored in the 1980s by Smeraldis apprentice, Anthony Heinsbergen. The imported Austrian crystal chandeliers that adorn it are 12 feet in diameter, two figures appear on the stairwell front—on the left is the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres, while on the right is the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Each ballroom on the Galleria level is themed either after the original function or the hotels overall California-heritage premise. The Emerald Room was once the main guest dining room, its decor features images of hunt and harvest, with hand-painted animals. The Tiffany Room was formerly an open corridor used as a point for Crystal Ballroom functions. Now enclosed, the elegant space centers around exploration, with sculptures and panels depicting Queen Isabella I of Castile. It is decorated with a gold cast-plaster ceiling, hand-oiled wood paneling, the South Galleria is painted with floral friezes inspired by the decor of ancient Roman Pompeii, and features a vaulted ceiling, marble balustrades and heavy Roman piers. Gold-painted wrought iron gates open to a staircase leading down to the Biltmore Bowl, also of interest is the hotels health club and indoor pool, which was modeled after the decks of 1920s luxury ocean liners. Solid brass trim on windows, doors and railings, teakwood deck chairs and hand-laid Italian mosaic tile on the walls, in 2015, four restaurants and bars serve the hotel, including Smeraldis Restaurant, newly relaunched Bugis Street Brasserie, the Rendezvous Court, and the Gallery Bar. The Los Angeles Biltmore is known for being a home to the Academy Award Ceremony for the Oscars. Legend has it that MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, who was in attendance, immediately grabbed a linen Biltmore napkin, eight Oscar ceremonies were held in the Biltmore Bowl during the Academys early years of 1931, 1935–39, and 1941-42. In 1977 Bob Hope hosted the Academys 50th Anniversary banquet in the same room, the Biltmore Theater was situated at the corner of 5th and Grand from 1924–1967, now the Biltmore Court & Tower location. Will Rogers emceed the opening of the theater in 1924, which then ran plays starring luminaries such as Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, in 1929, Germanys Graf Zeppelin airship soared over the hotel on its round-the-world voyage, sponsored by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Crew and passengers were fed by Biltmore culinary staff, who replenished their on-board supplies
2.
You Can't Take It with You (film)
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You Cant Take It with You is a 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Capra and starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, and Edward Arnold. The film received two Academy Awards from seven nominations, Best Picture and Best Director for Frank Capra and this was Capras third Oscar for Best Director in just five years, following It Happened One Night and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. It was also the picture of the year. A successful banker, Anthony P. Kirby, has just returned from Washington, D. C. where he was granted a government-sanctioned munitions monopoly. He intends to buy up a 12-block radius around a factory to put him out of business. Kirby instructs his real estate broker, John Blakely, to offer a huge sum for the house, Kirbys son, Tony, a vice president in the family company, has fallen in love with a company stenographer, Alice Sycamore. When Tony proposes marriage, Alice is worried that her family would be looked upon poorly by Tonys rich, in fact, Alice is the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, led by Grandpa Vanderhof. Unbeknownst to the players, Alices family lives in the house that will not sell out, Kirby and the snobbish Mrs. Kirby strongly disapprove of Tonys choice for marriage. Before she accepts, Alice forces Tony to bring his family to become acquainted with their future in-laws. But when Tony purposely brings his family on the day, the Sycamore family is caught off-guard. As the Kirbys are preparing to leave after a disastrous meeting. Held up in the drunk tank preparing to see the court judge, Mrs. Kirby repeatedly insults Alice. At the court hearing, the judge repeatedly asks why the Kirbys were at the Vanderhof house and this causes a sensation in the papers, and Alice flees the city. With Alice gone, Grandpa decides to sell the house, thus meaning the whole section of the town must vacate in preparation for building a new factory, now, the Kirby companies merge, creating a huge fluctuation in the stock market. Kirby visits the Vanderhofs as they are moving out of the house, Alice takes Tony back and the film ends with the Vanderhofs and Kirbys enjoying a meal together. In November 1937, Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures bought the rights of the original play for $200,000. Barrymores infirmity was incorporated into the plot of the film and his character was on crutches the entire movie, which was said to be due to an accident from sliding down the banister. In reality, it was due to his increasing arthritis – earlier in the year he had forced to withdraw from the movie A Christmas Carol
3.
The Adventures of Robin Hood
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The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film, produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, that stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, written by Norman Reilly Raine and Seton I. The Adventures of Robin Hood has been acclaimed by critics since its release, in 1995, the film was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. Alan Hale, Sr. who plays Little John, had played the character in the 1922 version of the film and went on to play him again in Rogues of Sherwood Forest. Richard the Lionheart, the King of England, is taken captive in 1191 by Leopold V, richard’s treacherous brother Prince John usurps the throne and proceeds to oppress the Saxons, raising taxes to secure his own position. Only the Saxon nobleman Sir Robin of Locksley opposes him, Robin acquires a loyal follower when he saves Much the Millers Son from being arrested for poaching by Sir Guy of Gisbourne. At Gisbournes castle, Robin boldly tells Prince John and his followers, Robin escapes, despite attempts by Johns men to stop him. Robin and his men capture a party of Normans transporting tax money extorted from the people of England. Among Robins guests are Sir Guy of Gisbourne, the cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham, at first disdainful of Robin, Marian comes to accept his good intentions and begins to see the reality of Norman brutality. Robin allows the humiliated Sir Guy and the Sheriff to leave Sherwood, All goes as planned, Robin wins the match, is taken prisoner, and is sentenced to hang. Marian helps Robins men rescue Robin, and he later scales a castle wall to thank her, each pledges their love for each other but Marian declines to leave, believing she can best help the rebellion as a spy by staying where she is. King Richard and several trusted knights have returned, disguised as monks, at an roadside inn, the Bishop of the Black Canons discovers their presence and alerts Prince John and Gisbourne. Dickon Malbete, a former knight, is given the task of disposing of Richard in return for the restoration of his rank, with Robins manor. Marian overhears their plot and writes a note to Robin, but Sir Guy finds it and has her arrested, pending trial, Marians nurse, Bess, romantically involved with Much, sends her paramour to warn Robin. On his way, Much intercepts and kills Dickon, being wounded in the process, King Richard and his liegemen journey through Sherwood Forest and are soon stopped by Robin and his men. Richard assures him that he is traveling on the Kings business, when asked if he supports Richard, will finds the injured Much, who tells Robin of Marians peril and that Richard is now in England. Robin orders a search to find Richard and bring him to Robin for safety. Now certain of Robins loyalty, Richard reveals himself to the outlaws, Robin devises a plan to sneak his men into Nottingham Castle
4.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
5.
12th Academy Awards
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The 12th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honored the best in film for 1939. The ceremony was held on February 29,1940, at a banquet in the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and it was hosted by Bob Hope. David O. Selznicks production Gone with the Wind received the most nominations of the year with thirteen and this was the first year in which an Academy Award was awarded in the category of special effects. This was also the first time that two awards for cinematography were presented, hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to receive an Academy Award, winning in the Best Supporting Actress category for Gone with the Wind. Sidney Howard became the first posthumous winner for his screenplay for Gone with the Wind, AMPAS presented Academy Awards of Merit in twenty categories. Nominees for each award are listed below, award winners are listed first, among those who campaigned in favour of the film were Hedda Hopper who declared it as great as Lincolns Gettysburg speech, while Sheilah Graham called it the best talking picture ever made. Screen Book magazine stated that it should win every Academy Award, frank Capra, the director, and James Stewart, the films star were considered front runners to win awards. Gone with the Wind premiered in December 1939 with a Gallup poll taken shortly before its release concluding that 56.5 million people intended to see the film. The New York Film Critics Award was given to Wuthering Heights after thirteen rounds of balloting had left the voters deadlocked between Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Gone with the Wind, the press were divided in their support for the nominated actors. West Coast newspapers, particularly in Los Angeles, predicted Bette Davis would win for Dark Victory, observing that Davis had achieved four box office successes during the year, one paper wrote, Hollywood will stick by its favourite home-town girl, Bette Davis. Capra was the incumbent President of the Academy, and in a first for Academy Awards ceremonies, sold the rights for the event to be filmed. Warner Bros. obtained the rights, for $30,000 to film the banquet and the presentation of the awards, to use as a short, among these were Clark Gable and Bette Davis. Following the banquet, Capra opened proceedings at 11pm with a speech before introducing Bob Hope who made his first appearance as host of the awards. Looking at a table laden with awards awaiting presentation, he quipped, mickey Rooney presented an Academy Juvenile Award to Judy Garland, who then performed Over the Rainbow, a Best Song nominee from The Wizard of Oz. As the evening progressed, Gone with the Wind won the majority of awards, making a speech, Selznick paused to extend praise and gratitude to Olivia de Havilland, a Best Supporting Actress nominee, and made it clear in his speech he knew she had not won. Hattie McDaniel became the first black performer to win an Academy Award, de Havilland was among those to make their way to McDaniels table to offer congratulations, though it was reported de Havilland then fled to the kitchen, where she burst into tears. The press reported an irritated Irene Mayer Selznick followed her, and told her to return to their table, robert Donat, the winner for Best Actor, was one of three nominated actors not present. Accepting the award for Donat, Spencer Tracy said he was sure Donats win was welcomed by the entire motion-picture industry before presenting the Best Actress award to Vivien Leigh, the press noted Bette Davis was among those waiting to congratulate Leigh as she returned to her table
6.
Harry Cohn
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Harry Cohn was the American president and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City and his mother, Bella Joseph, was from Russia, and his father, Joseph Cohen, was a tailor from Germany. After working for a time as a conductor, and then as a promoter for a sheet music printer, he got a job with Universal Pictures. In 1919, Cohn joined his brother and Joe Brandt to found CBC Film Sales Corporation, the initials officially stood for Cohn, Brandt, and Cohn, but Hollywood wags noted the companys low-budget, low-class efforts and nicknamed CBC Corned Beef and Cabbage. Harry Cohn managed the film production in Hollywood, while his brother managed its finances from New York. Most of Columbias early work was action fare starring rock-jawed leading man Jack Holt, Columbia was unable to shake off its stigma as a Poverty Row studio until 1934, when director Frank Capras Columbia comedy It Happened One Night swept the Academy Awards. Exhibitors who formerly wouldnt touch Columbia product became steady customers, as a horizontally integrated company that only controlled production and distribution, Columbia had previously been at the mercy of theater owners. Columbia expanded its scope to offer moviegoers a regular program of economically made features, short subjects, serials, travelogues, sports reels, Columbia would release a few class productions each year, but depended on its popular budget productions to keep the company solvent. During Cohns tenure, the studio always turned a profit, Cohn did not build a stable of movie stars like other studios. Instead, he generally signed actors who worked for more expensive studios to attract a pre-sold audience. Columbias own stars generally rose from the ranks of small-part actors, some of Columbias producers and directors also graduated from lesser positions as actors, writers, musicians, and assistant directors. Cohn was known for his autocratic and intimidating management style, when he took over as Columbias president, he remained production chief as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He respected talent above any personal attribute, but he made sure his employees knew who was boss, writer Ben Hecht referred to him as White Fang. An employee of Columbia called him as absolute a monarch as Hollywood ever knew and it was said he had listening devices on all sound stages and could tune in any conversation on the set, then boom in over a loudspeaker if he heard anything that displeased him. Throughout his tenure, his most popular moniker was King Cohn, moe Howard of the Three Stooges recalled that Cohn was a real Jekyll-and-Hyde-type guy. Socially, he could be very charming, Cohn was known to scream and curse at actors and directors in his office all afternoon, and greet them cordially at a dinner party that evening. There is some suggestion that Cohn deliberately cultivated his reputation as a tyrant, Cohn is said to have kept a signed photograph of Benito Mussolini, whom he met in Italy in 1933, on his desk until the beginning of World War II. Cohn also had a number of ties to organized crime and he had a long-standing friendship with Chicago mobster John Roselli, and New Jersey mob boss Abner Zwillman was the source of the loan that allowed Cohn to buy out his partner Brandt
7.
Frank Capra
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Frank Russell Capra was an Italian-American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, during World War II, Capra served in the U. S. Army Signal Corps and produced propaganda films, such as the Why We Fight series. After World War II, Capras career declined as his films such as Its a Wonderful Life. In succeeding decades, however, these films have been favorably reassessed, outside of directing, Capra was active in the film industry, engaging in various political and social issues. He served as President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, worked alongside the Screenwriters Guild, Capra was born Francesco Rosario Capra in Bisacquino, Sicily, a village near Palermo. He was the youngest of seven children of Salvatore Capra, a grower. The name Capra, notes Capras biographer Joseph McBride, represents his familys closeness to the land, and means goat. For Capra, the journey, which took 13 days, remained in his mind for the rest of his life as one of his worst experiences, very few people have trunks or anything that takes up space. They have just what they can carry in their hands or in a bag, theres no ventilation, and it stinks like hell. Its the most degrading place you could ever be, Capra remembers the ships arrival in New York Harbor, where he saw a statue of a great lady, taller than a church steeple, holding a torch above the land we were about to enter. He recalls his fathers exclamation at the sight, Ciccio, look, thats the greatest light since the star of Bethlehem. The family settled in Los Angeless East Side which Capra described in his autobiography as an Italian ghetto, Capras father worked as a fruit picker and young Capra sold newspapers after school for 10 years, until he graduated from high school. Instead of working after graduating, as his parents wanted, he enrolled in college and he studied chemical engineering and graduated in the spring of 1918. Capra later wrote that his education had changed his whole viewpoint on life from the viewpoint of an alley rat to the viewpoint of a cultured person. Soon after graduating college, Capra was commissioned in the US Army as a second lieutenant, in the Army, he taught mathematics to artillerymen at Fort Point, San Francisco. His father died during the war in an accident, in the Army, Capra contracted Spanish flu and was medically discharged to return home to live with his mother. He became a naturalized U. S. citizen in 1920, living at home with his siblings and mother, Capra was the only family member with a college education, yet he was the only one who remained chronically unemployed. After recovering at home, Capra moved out and spent the few years living in flophouses in San Francisco and hopping freight trains
8.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
