Hollywood glossary

The backlot	Натурная съемочная площадка
The Hollywood Walk of Fame	Голливудская Аллея Звезд
The area’s bedrock industry	Основная (основополагающая, коренная) индустрия региона
A shoot	Съемки
History buffs	Любители (фанаты) истории
Whimsical skyline of the city	Причудливые очертания города на фоне неба, горизонта
Escapist productions	Развлекательная продукция
To make a splash	Произвести фурор, громко заявить о себе, вызвать сенсацию
Beacon of hope	Луч надежды
Psychodrama	Психологическая драма
Film Noir	Черный детектив, мрачный фильм, фильм-нуар
Extravaganza	Буффонада, феерия, преувеличение в описании событий и чувств
Close-knit community	Сплоченное сообщество
Go bust	Прогореть, обанкротиться
Mass exodus	Массовый исход
Flight	Побег, поспешное отступление
Obscenity law	Закон об ответственности за непристойное поведение
Against a backdrop	На фоне
It doesn’t take a weatherman to know	И к бабке не ходи, и так понятно
Portent	Знамение, предзнаменование, дурной знак
Silent film star	Звезда немого кино (а не молчаливая кинозвезда)
Fundraiser	Благотворительная акция (здесь: благотворительный аукцион)
Erstwhile	Некогда, прежний, бывший

Capitol Records

.. 1750 Vine Street, Hollywood, ca. / (323) 462-6252

Capitol Records was the first record company based on the West Coast, and has promoted such acts as The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, Bob Seger, Duran Duran, Bonnie Raitt, Robbie Robertson, Steve Miller and Tina Turner.

Since 1954, the company has been located in the world's first circular office building. There is a lack of consensus about whether or not this unique, 13-story high-rise was purposely designed to resemble a stack of records topped by a stylus, but few would deny that it certainly does.

At the base of the building's southern face (overlooking a parking lot) is a large, colorful mural by artist Richard Wyatt, t itled "Hollywood Jazz." The mural features large portraits of Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, and other jazz greats. Alas, this fine mural has been allowed to fade badly.

J ohn Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is right outside the Capitol Records building, and is often the site of candlelight vigils on the anniversary of his death (December 8).

C ountry superstar Garth Brooks also has a star on the Walk of Fame outside the front door.

After dark, you might notice that the spire high atop the Capitol Records building is topped by a red light which continually blinks on and off. Some people think it looks like it's sending out a message in Morse Code. It is. The red light blinks out the word "Hollywood" in code, every few seconds. In 1956, the granddaughter of Samuel Morse (inventor of the Morse code) threw the switch that turned on the tower light. This single-word message was changed only once, in June of 1992, to celebrate Capitol Records' 50th anniversary. For that one year, it blinked: "Capitol 50."  In 1993, it returned to sending the original message: "Hollywood."

Capitol Records was founded by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Glenn Wallichs shortly after the United States entered World War II. Mercer was a songwriter from New York City who came to Hollywood in 1935 to write songs for RKO Studios. DeSylva was a successful songwriter and an executive producer at Paramount Pictures. Wallichs was the founder and owner of Music City, a popular record outlet located at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, where customers could buy radios, records, and sheet music for their favorite songs, after sampling records in private listening booths. With $25,000 in start-up capital, provided by DeSylva, Mercer set about signing talent while Wallichs ran the business.

Key Dates 1942: Capitol Records is founded by Johnny Mercer, Glenn Wallichs, and Buddy DeSylva. 1946: The company has sold over 40 million records. 1950: A recording studio on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood is opened. 1955: Capitol Records is acquired by EMI. 1956: The record-shaped landmark Capitol Tower is built on Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard. 1962: The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do," and the Beach Boys' first album, Surfin' Safari, launch a decade of rapid growth for the company. 1967: Capitol Records celebrates 25 years, recording annual sales of more than $100 million and 16 Grammy awards. 1975: The Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, Natalie Cole, Linda Ronstadt and others achieve gold album status for Capitol. 1991: Billboard magazine ranks Capitol Records as the No. 2 label for pop album activity. 1997: Capitol Records begins selling downloadable singles. 2006: Parent company EMI Group announces the sale of the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood. 2007: EMI North America merges Capitol Records and Virgin Records into the Capitol Music Group, headquartered in New York.

The Academy Building The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences 8949 Wilshire Blvd.,

and.

The Academy Center for Motion Picture Study 333 S. La Cienega Blvd. (at Olympic), Beverly Hills, CA.

T he Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is the organization that (among other things) gives out the annual Academy Awards - otherwise known as the Oscars. Created in 1927, the Academy is dedicated to supporting research and education in film-making, and to honoring outstanding achievement in motion pictures. They now have over 3,400 active members (membership is by invitation only), and their two headquarter buildings are both located in Beverly Hills.

The Academy used to have only one main building, the one on Wilshire. But in 1991, the Academy moved part of their operations (and treasures) into a second building on La Cienega - the Academy Center for Motion Picture Study. The Center is housed in a wonderful old structure resembling a Spanish Mission, which they found in disrepair and restored to its former glory.

The original Wilshire Boulevard office is also the place where the Oscar nominations are announced each February, at a news conference which always draws international media coverage. This is also the place where the stars pick up their actual Oscar awards (after the statuettes have been engraved).

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & S ciences

The original Wilshire headquarters no longer has a giant Oscar statue outside (the gold figure now stands inside, near the elevator). There's usually not much for the general public to see or do in the building's lobby, which on most days is empty of exhibits (except for a few posters). And most of the building's six floors are now dedicated strictly to business.

H owever, on the 4th floor, you will find a small gallery which is open to the public, filled with exhibits related to the movie industry.

But the public should be interested in one other notable part of this Wilshire branch of the Academy - a fabulous movie theatre! The Samuel Goldwyn Theater seats close to 1,000, and is a gorgeous auditorium with state-of-the-art facilities; the screen is flanked by twin, giant Oscar statues. This theater hosts frequent screenings of exceptional films, and these screenings are open to the public.

T he other Academy site (at La Cienega and Olympic) is the Douglas Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study - named in the honor of the Academy's first president.

A key attraction for some visitors will be the 1928 Mission-style building itself, with its tile roof and ornate, picturesque tower. This was formerly the old Beverly Hills Waterworks; take a look at the vintage photos in the lobby to see what the place used to look like when it was just a dilapidated water-treatment plant, and you'll have to admire the recent restoration effort. Situated in a small park, there's even a putting green and a soccer field on the south side of the building.

T he large research library on the second floor contains an extraordinary collection of reference books concerning the history of motion pictures, but little else to attract members of the general public. Yes, there is some minor Hollywood memorabilia displayed under glass in the library's south wing, but that's all.

The Academy Film Archive is the finest and most complete film archives in the world. They have also attempted to collect every English language book on the subject of motion pictures. Included are more than 20,000 books, 60,000 screenplays, 12,000 films, 15,000 posters, 1,400 periodicals, 200,000 clippings, plus six million movie stills and photographs on file, all of which are available to researchers and students.

T he Cecil B. DeMille Reading Room contains biographical files on more than 73,000 filmmakers and 82,000 movies, as well as tens of thousands of Hollywood books and production files. The library also has special collections donated by the estates of such legends as Alfred Hitchcock, Sam Peckinpah, John Huston, Mary Pickford,George Stevens, John Huston, George Cukor, George Roy Hill, Paul Mazursky, William Friedkin, Arthur Hiller, Cary Grant, Steve McQueen, Gregory Peck, Jackie Coogan, James Wong Howe, Sammy Cahn, Edith Head, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. The library does not lend its materials; all research must be done at the library.

In late 1996, Clark Gable's Oscar (which he won for his performance in the 1934 classic "It Happened One Night"), was auctioned off to the highest bidder, despite attempts by the Academy to prevent the sale. Fortunately, the highest bidder was Steven Spielberg, who paid $607,500 for the statuette, then graciously donated it to the Academy. It is now on permanent public display at the Center for Motion Picture Study on La Cienega.

Конец формы

The Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland center 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA.

The most important annual celebrity event in Show Biz takes place late each winter (usually in late February or early March), right here in Los Angeles. It's Oscar Night, that dazzling evening when the prestigious Academy Awards are presented for the year's best achievements in motion pictures.

The 82nd annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre, at Hollywood & Highland.

The show will be hosted by Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin. L ast year, the 81st annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday, February 22, 2009. The host was actor Hugh Jackman.

Presenters in 2009 included Will Smith, Jennifer Aniston, Robert De Niro, Reese Witherspoon, Anthony Hopkins, Halle Berry, Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Alicia Keys, Liam Neeson, Sophia Loren, Adrian Brody, Eddie Murphy, Michael Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Zac Efron, Jack Black, Whoopie Goldberg, Steve Martin, Anjelica Houston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Patterson, Natalie Portman, Ben Stiller, Jessica Biel, Kevin Kline, Cuba Gooding Jr, Ben Kingsley, Joel Grey, Queen Latifah, Shirley MacLaine and Anne Hathaway,

The event has been televised live since 1953, and while the Superbowl draws larger numbers here in the States, the Academy believes the Oscar show to be "the most-watched television show in the world annually," as people all over the world tune in to watch the ceremony on TV from the comfort of their homes.

Of course, you've got to be willing to pay the price... and we're not talking about money here. It's unlikely that any amount of cash could get you into the Academy Awards show. But if you enter your name and are lucky enough to win a drawing, and if you're willing to wait long enough before the show, you can be among those lucky few in the bleachers outside the Kodak Theatre who get to watch the celebrities as they arrive in their limousines and walk up the red carpet into the auditorium.

Large grandstands are set up nearby to allow spectators a view of the stars, as they exit their limousines curbside and walk to the auditorium. The stars make their way up the red carpet, running the gauntlet of photographers, and stopping to give interviews to the horde of TV news crews and entertainment reporters, before entering the Kodak. It's a great opportunity to see (and take photos of) your favorite superstars, since virtually everyone who is anyone in Hollywood comes to the Academy Awards show.

T he past hosts (Masters of Ceremony) alone represent a virtual "Who's Who" of Hollywood, including Lionel Barrymore, Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Jimmy Stewart, Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye, Jack Lemmon, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Frank Sinatra, Helen Hayes, Sammy Davis Jr., Carol Burnett, Charlton Heston, Rock Hudson, Diana Ross, Gene Kelly, Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Richard Pryor, Johnny Carson -and more recently, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, Ellen DeGeneres and D avid Letterman. U nless you're an Academy member, your chances of actually getting inside to actually see the awards show are virtually zero. (In 1996, two people spent big bucks on scalped tickets, and made the headlines - when they were thrown out of the ceremony. Tickets are non-transferable.)

Fortunately, the bleachers outside, with a view of the red carpet, are free to the public.

In previous years, fans had to camp out on the streets for days in advance, in order to secure a spot in the bleachers - which were first come-first serve. However, two things happened to change things in 2002: one was Oscar's move from the Shrine Auditorium to the Kodak Theatre. The other was the reaction to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

It would be a lot more difficult for fans to camp out on the busy city streets near Hollywood & Highland, and with new security concerns, the organizers wanted to pre-screen every fan who came into the bleachers. So, for 2002, they came up with an entirely new system. For the first time, they gave away reserved seat tickets, guaranteeing a seat in the bleachers, with no need to wait in line.

But the down side is that there are only 700 seats available. So they now have a random drawing of all the applications received (so long as they are postmarked by the correct date). Everyone now has an equal chance of getting bleacher seat tickets. Mind you, those chances aren't very good (about one out of 12, if last year is any indication), but at least you now have the same shot as everyone else.

As for the show itself, the first movie stars start usually arriving at around 4 PM, a few as early as 3:30 PM (when the sun is still shining) for this black tie affair, but most of the celebs show up after 4:30 PM. By 5:30 PM, the stars are all inside and the show begins. The police block off the surrounding streets, and the stars say that just traveling the few blocks from the freeway to the auditorium can take an hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

T he very first Oscars were handed out at a dinner held in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

For the next 14 years (1929-1943), the ceremonies alternated between the Biltmore Hotel and the Ambassador Hotel's Coconut Grove, where the awards ceremonies included a banquet for the stars. The banquet part was dropped after 1944, when the awards ceremony moved to Grauman's Chinese Theatre (1944-1946). Then for two years the show was held at the Shrine Auditorium (1947-1948). In the 1950's, the Oscar ceremonies settled down to the Pantages Theatre, where they remained until 1960. Then, from 1961 to 1968, the ceremony moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Finally, in 1969, the Oscars found what appeared to be a semi-permanent home downtown at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Los Angeles Music Center, where the ceremonies were held for most of the following years. In the mid-90's they began to alternate between the Music Center and the far larger S hrine Auditorium.

Finally, in 2002, a new, permanent home for the Oscars was built, and it returned the Oscars to downtown Hollywood where they started.

TrizecHahn Corp. built a massive $600 million project called 'Hollywood & Highland' on Hollywood Blvd., next to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, an outdoor mall filled with restaurants, boutiques and movie theatres. The center includes a 3,300-seat state-of-the-art Kodak theatre which has now become the permanent home for the annual Academy Award ceremonies. Included in the project is a 30,000-square foot ballroom for the annual Governor's Ball (which follows the ceremony).

Custom designed to meet the Academy's needs, with camera positions built-in, the new venue was created to be the perfect location for the annual awards show. (The building is also used for Broadway theatre, concerts, and other events during the rest of the year.)

2002 marked the first year of the Oscars' return to Hollywood. Fittingly, the Oscars' new home is right across the street from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the site where the very first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929.