1926 (1970) Harold Grieve Signed Pictorial View of Hollywood, California

A whimsical pictorial view of Hollywood at the end of the silent era by Harold Grieve, one of the great set designers of the era. Originally produced c. 1926, this example was issued c. 1970 and signed by Grieve in 1980.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the northwest, this view takes artistic license with the geography of the west side of Los Angeles, 'squishing' and warping the lands between Hollywood and Santa Monica to include the shoreline of the latter, along with Culver City and Santa Catalina Island. Hollywood Boulevard dominates the view, with theaters, studios, real estate offices, cafes, and other well-known institutions labeled throughout. The Hollywoodland Development, Lake Hollywood, and the Hollywood Bowl appear in the upper-right. At the same time, nearby the San Fernando Valley is recorded as 'big open spaces.'

Most of the major studios of the day, including Paramount, Universal, and Metro Goldwyn Mayer, are noted. Throughout are depictions of the homes of contemporary stars like King Vidal, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan (one of the first child film stars), Harold Llyod, 'Pickford-Fairbanks' (husband and wife duo Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, film stars who also co-founded a studio), and Rudolph Valentino (who died in 1926 at the age of 31). The name of Jetta Goudal, who married Grieve in 1930, is hand-written at the bottom-left next to the Ambassador Hotel. Local landmarks such as Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Beverly Hills Hotel are prominently illustrated.

Humorous comments appear both on the view itself and in the margin, relating to the film industry's heady and sometimes seedy nature. In the margins are portrayals of film strips, the Old West, and contemporary Los Angeles. A pair of scissors marked 'censors' appears at the bottom-left, likely an allusion to the early efforts to clean up the image of the film industry, which was facing a range of local and state censorship initiatives. The studios determined that coordinated self-censorship was a better option, an effort spearheaded by Will H. Hays, who later helped develop the code that bears his name.

Publication History and Census

This view was originally drawn by Harold Grieve and published by the Unity Pegues Book Shop (labeled here near center) in Hollywood c. 1926. Years later, in the late 1960s or 1970s (it is unclear when), the view was reprinted on a limited run. The two printings are distinguishable by their coloration, with the original printing including shades of blue along with orange and green. Often, the second printing contains Grieve's signature in the title cartouche, as here, with various dates. Both printings are rare, with only the California Historical Society and the University of California Los Angeles holding the original c. 1926 printing.