Scholarly Works… 68
California and the Hollywood Scene by Breanne E. A. Pancarik
Introduction In the mid 1800’s, when you heard the words ‘Los Angeles,’ your first thought was of a desert suburbia in the southern half of California. The city was just beginning. There were no sweeping streets and stars on sidewalks. There were no grand mansions and famous buildings. There was no correlation with the dream to become famous attached to this region. Actors were looked down on, “flickers” were a fad, and “movies” was a derogatory term. In fact, the subdivision known to all the world as ‘Hollywood’ did not yet exist. The image of Hollywood today is vastly different from the vision back then. “If you had told the film pioneers that this desert suburb of scattered mansions, small bungalows, and pepper trees would turn into a world-famous place, they would have thought it was a joke.” Today you walk down Sunset Boulevard, see the Chinese Theater, and know that history lives on these streets. Beverly Hills is the home of the rich and famous. Movie studios line the avenues. Film and entertainment giants call Los Angeles and Hollywood their home. The young and hopefuls go there with hopes of making it big. Hollywood has become the symbol of film entertainment and the center of that industry. A major theme in California history is the desire to make oneself by leaving everything behind and starting afresh in the Golden State. The Hollywood film industry has been a promulgator of this story for decades. How did this sleepy Spanish-American town go from a desert nothing to a metropolis of art? Why did the film industry find
