By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Like the older movie stars who must make way for fresher faces,
another small piece of Hollywood history is succumbing to the
desire for something newer and better.
This latest victim is the Cinegrill in the Hollywood Roosevelt
Hotel, the old haunt of movie stars like Marilyn Monroe and Clark
Gable. Over the years the small club has absorbed the flavor of the
old city ““ a little worn, but undeniably full of the charm of
any place that’s seen so many famous faces.
Last Friday, the Cinegrill saw the last of its major cabaret
shows, with a long list of performers, who had graced its stage in
the past, returning for a farewell show.
“Bittersweet” is often the kind of word used in
these situations. Many of those present expressed sadness at
knowing that the Cinegrill as it was will be converted into a
restaurant, but also excitement knowing that the new room would be
more comfortable and soundproof.
“I hate to see the room go because of my connection to
it,” said the club’s manager J.D. Kessler, adding that
the new room should be far better for holding performances.
While there was a sense of nostalgia during the performances,
the opinion was repeatedly expressed that it was the music and the
people, not the room, that made the Cinegrill what it was.
“It’s not the plaster on the walls that makes the
Cinegrill, it’s all of you,” said Kessler to the
audience and other performers before singing a tribute to the
room’s imposing and view-blocking columns.
The club’s planned reopening, in another location in the
hotel, will coincide with the opening of the Kodak Theater across
the street, which will hold the next Academy Awards show.
“Hollywood is back in production. They’re once again
producing glamour and they’ll be producing excitement and
they’ll be producing all kinds of things here,” said
Johnny Grant, the honorary mayor of Hollywood.
According to Grant, Hollywood was built with money from movie
stars like Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, who both helped
develop the area.
“In the old days this was the center of Hollywood
activity,” said Clifford Bell, the director of the cabaret
show “Cinegrill Spotlight Series” when asked about the
club.
Eventually the stars moved away and the area was no longer the
hotspot of star activity. Establishments like the famous and
once-star-studded Brown Derby restaurant closed down. Although the
Hollywood name was still internationally known as the center of the
entertainment industry, it didn’t look that way anymore.
After decades of being ignored by the film elite, Hollywood is
experiencing a rebirth of sorts ““ new construction along
Hollywood Boulevard, including that in the Hollywood Roosevelt
Hotel, the opening of the Kodak Theater and a new Radisson
Hotel.
“There are more stars living in the Hollywood Hills now
than have been here in 10 or 15, maybe 20 years. It’s
beginning to be the hip thing to do, to come back to Hollywood and
praise it, whereas for so long the Hollywood put-down was the gag
of the day,” said Grant. “I don’t think that
people feel that way anymore; they certainly
shouldn’t.”