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Thursday, September 16, 2010 – Marilyn and John

Here she is – Marilyn Monroe – a few steps from the former Wilshire Theater, 8440 Wilshire Boulevard – known as the "Fox Wilshire" when it opened on September 19, 1930. The last big movie event there was on November 4, 1953 – Marilyn Monroe arriving on the red carpet for the premiere of "How to Marry a Millionaire." Perhaps she should have married a millionaire.

As you come up La Cienega on your way to Hollywood you pass the "Flynt Tower" at Wilshire and La Cienega. Recently it was the headquarters of Great Western Savings, but Great Western was purchased by Washington Mutual in 1997, and in 2009 Washington Mutual went under – the largest bank failure in American history. Now all that's here are some minor offices Larry Flynt Enterprises - you know, Hustler magazine and all that – and John Wayne – six tons, twenty-one feet high, bronze. There's a reason for that – Wayne was Great Western's spokesman in their television ads, so when Wayne died in 1979 Great Western installed a statue of him riding a horse, on the Hamilton Drive side of the building. The statue is by famous Wild West artist Harry "Andrew" Jackson. His real name is Harry Shapiro – born in 1924 on the South Side of Chicago, and who was fast friends with Jackson Pollock. Go figure.

And of course they're filming here today –

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All text and photos unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik 

[September 2010] [Old Friends] [The Strangeness] [Light Old Lights] [Unexplained Walls] [Late Summer Light] [This Odd Town] [Wrapped Tight] [Interpreting Nature] [The Weird Stuff] [Dissatisfaction] [Not Technicolor] [Dark Avalon] [The Two Murals] [The Old New] [Odd Fame] [Cool California] [Serious Messages] [Window Dressing] [An Alternative] [Concerning 1928] [A La Playa] [Beach Dreams] [Not For Tourists] [Lens Flare] [Rather Abstract] [Local Grid Work] [A Little Spooky] [Folly] [Some Women] [In Your Face] [Pure Hype] [Dystopian Days] [Making It] [Musical Notes] [Eighty Years Ago] [Marilyn and John] [The Forever Summer] [Wave Riders] [North Laurel] [Babel Babble] [Hieroglyphics] [Ultimate Guitars] [I See You] [Noir Beach] [Breeze Avenue] [Enlightenment] [Nice Try] [Pretentiousness] [The Body Electric] [Life and Such] [On Olive Hill] [Hot Faces] [Sun Strokes] [Fall Heat Wave] [Hibiscus Twists] [Demanding Attention] [Selling Something] [The Shabby Side] [Hollywood Glass] [Still There] [Guardian Angel] [Holy Wood] [Another Color] [Secretariat] [Any Fantasy] [Tony Curtis] [Old Sycamore]