Hollywood in Flames: Film Icons at Risk Due to Fire

The iconic sign with the word Hollywood that crowns the hill of Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills district, known as the Hollywood Sign, is one of the symbols of American cinema in danger due to the fires that broke out last Wednesday in different parts of the Los Angeles area. Built in 1923 –originally named Hollywoodland– as part of an advertising campaign for a housing development that used the film mecca as a lure, it has been restored on several occasions, the last in 1978. Each of the nine letters that make up the word is just over 44 feet high, and the total length is 350 feet.

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On the sign, as large as the industry it represents, movie scenes have been filmed and all kinds of events have occurred. Perhaps the most famous and tragic is the suicide of a young actress, Peg Entwistle, who jumped to her death from the top of the H letter. These days, there is talk of fatalities and the completely burnt homes of celebrities, but mythology carries its weight, and the idea of seeing the sign that has symbolized the most powerful artistic industry in the world for a century burning was equally devastating.

The Sunset fire, in Hollywood Hills threatening the sign and the Walk of Fame, has finally been controlled, although there were those who posted fake videos on social networks with the sign surrounded by flames. The Walk of Fame is the most popular stretch of Hollywood Boulevard, the Los Angeles avenue that starts at Sunset Boulevard and extends in two directions, towards another mythical place, Laurel Canyon, and towards Vermont Avenue.

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Although in the 80s the area underwent a considerable process of degradation, turning into a neighborhood of crime, drugs, and prostitution, today it is once again a tourist center of considerable attraction and a must-visit for tourists with more or less cinematic knowledge: the ritual of stepping on the sidewalk tiles adorned with a pink star bordered in gold with the names of all kinds of stars. This two-kilometer stretch, which runs from Grover Street to La Brea, was inaugurated in 1958 and has stars dedicated to all sorts of celebrities, from Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, or Maria Callas to the crew of Apollo XI; there is even one for the Los Angeles Police Department.

One of the most famous places on Hollywood Boulevard is the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Opened in May 1927, it is the symbol of the great movie theaters of yesteryear. In 2013, it partnered with the IMAX corporation and now boasts one of the largest screens in the country and a capacity for more than 900 spectators. Just 24 hours ago, it was another of the places threatened by fire. It was evacuated immediately, but everything seems to indicate that it dodged the flames like the other emblems of a Hollywood that, for now, mourns the material losses of some of its stars.