Hollywood & Palm Springs: Two of my Favorite Things!

We are big fans of the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory. We receive programming eblasts often. Today's made us drop everything and head to the desert.

"Don't miss this special multimedia experience created specifically for fans of the Silver Screen who want to learn more about the connection between Hollywood and Palm Springs. Join showbiz aficionado Jim Cook and history enthusiast Vinny Stoppia as they take you through the timeline of how Palm Springs became the Playground of the Stars."
What engaging presenters Jim and Vinny were. They were so knowledgeable and it's no wonder why. Both men are Palm Springs Historical Society docents. Jim is an entertainment industry expert, with 50 years of show business experience in radio and television. Vinny is a retired United Nations International civil servant and a community volunteer in Palm Springs since 1993. These guys know some stuff! WOW.
For an hour and a half, I was mesmerized by the history they shared. I couldn't take notes quick enough. The knowledge that struck me as the most fascinating is how Hollywood, California came to be. It was all Edison's fault. In 1897, famed inventor and innovator Thomas Edison received a patent for the kinetographic camera. By creating a device that made it possible for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a viewer, Edison created what would later become the motion picture camera. It was a huge success in New Jersey and as time went on, the competition became a problem. Edison stopped it all by literally destroying the competition's equipment. Those who were more dedicated headed west, out the reach of the destructive force that was Edison.
And why Palm Springs? The resort region’s exotic locales unfolded within driving distance of Hollywood backlots, enabling it to double for locations ranging from Judaea in the silent film Salomé (1918) and the North African desert in The Sheik (1921) to Asia’s Kunlun Mountains, the site of Shangri-La in Lost Horizon (1937). Couple that with a reputation as a safe haven for even the most ill-behaved celebrities; people, including Hollywood’s notorious gossip columnists, just seemed to leave them alone in Palm Springs. Decades later, the California Film Commission offered filmmakers another incentive: up to 30 percent in tax credits for qualified productions shot in the state.
We learned that many people came to town for a movie, fell in love with it, and ended up checking out real estate afterward. After heartthrob Rudolph Valentino filmed scenes here for The Sheik he became a popular fixture. Hollywood’s famed It Girl, Clara Bow, and her husband, Rex Bell, were early village residents.
Many began to purchase second homes here, in this remote yet easily accessible desert community, where they could play, relax, and frolic in relative isolation away from the public eye. The initial influx of stars to Palm Springs started with a trickle. However, by the mid-1950s, an increasing number of Western movies were being filmed in the area, and there needed to be more hotels and homes to accommodate the stars and studio personnel. As time progressed, more Hollywood and music stars flocked to the desert to purchase their hideaway homes. Those stars included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Liberace, Zsa Zsa Gabor, George Hamilton, Bob Hope, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, and Jack Benny. Over time, the Hollywood—Palm Springs connection grew.
I did an entire blogpost about Walt Disney and his love of Palm Springs (link). He even sold his first home there to help finance Disneyland. WOW.
No discussion about Hollywood and Palm Springs can occur without mentioning the "House of Tomorrow" where Elvis and Priscilla honeymooned.
In 1967, Elvis’s Manager, Colonel Tom Parker, made the arrangements to lease the home designed by the well-known architect William Krisel and built by the Alexander Construction Company. It boasted floor-to-ceiling windows, an open floor plan, and stunning views of the surrounding desert and mountains. The house featured four circular rooms on the main level, symbolizing a break from traditional architectural styles and mirroring Elvis’s innovative spirit. The midcentury marvel drew acclaim and attention from the architectural world. The lease cost him a whopping $21,000, but the legacy of love he was building would be priceless. Crazy stuff.
At times, it was the home that was one of the biggest stars in a movie. James Bond spent time in Palm Springs, too. In Diamonds Are Forever (1971), he entangles not one, but two bikini-clad vixens — Bambi and Thumper — in a swimming pool overlooking what is supposed to be the lights of Las Vegas. However, the house where the frisky threesome enjoys more than just a dip in the pool is actually the legendary Elrod House located on Southridge Drive in Palm Springs. Designed in 1968 by John Lautner, it has been characterization as “one of the most architecturally significant homes in the world”. Playboy’s apt description, calling it “the ultimate bachelor pad,” is what attracted Bond’s set designer, Ken Adam who said, “It was as though I designed it. I didn’t have to do anything to it.”
I was a big fan of Sonny & Cher who dwelled in Palm Springs as a married couple with Sonny remaining after their divorce. He really became a fixture in town, opening a successful restaurant and also becoming the Mayor (1988-1992).
Probably my favorite Palm Springs couple consists of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Lucy and Desi eloped in 1940, and during the early years of their marriage, they frequented Palm Springs, usually staying at the Racquet Club. In 1954, they commissioned architect Paul R. Williams to create a home for their family in the newly established Thunderbird Country Club. Also in 1954, they made the feature film, The Long, Long Trailer. The film is a road comedy about a couple who buy a new travel trailer and spend a year traveling across the United States. The hijinks of the ridiculously long, bright-yellow trailer trying to negotiate the impossibly steep, winding mountain road were filmed on Highway 74 above Palm Desert. No work commute there. Fun stuff.
There was so much we learned today. It was truly with the 'dropping of everything' to be in Rancho Mirage for this exceptional presentation. Libraries really do have so much to offer... even those that aren't right in one's own town. We'll be back!

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