January 15, 2020 Annual Meeting and Installation of Officers

The Historical Society’s Winter General Membership Meeting will be an Installation of Officers for 2020-2022, including dinner catered by Holy Cow, on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, from 7:00 to 8:30pm in the Rotunda Room of Veterans Memorial Building at 4117 Overland Avenue, Culver City. This will be the installation of Hope Parrish’s second term as President as well as a thank-you to the outgoing Board and Committee chairs. The board slate is as follows:

Hope M. Parrish, President
Michelle Bernardin, Immediate Past President
Emelie Gerard, VP Development
TBD, VP Programs
Tami Eskridge, VP Museum/Archives
Caroline Wispe-Burns, Treasurer
TBD, Secretary

The Installing Officer will be City of Culver City Vice Mayor, Goran Eriksson.

Seating is limited and reservations must be made in advance. The price is $30 per person. Tickets can be purchased online through our web store.

For additional information, email info@CulverCityHistoricalSociety.org.

The MGM Cartoon Department brought the world Tom & Jerry, Droopy, Barney Bear and many more characters loved the world over.

Legends of hand-drawn animation including Hanna and Barbara, Tex Avery, and Chuck Jones were responsible for hours of animated shorts, some of which were filmed in 3-strip Technicolor, some produced in CinemaScope, and some won the Academy Award for Best Animated Shorts.

Jerry Beck

On Wednesday, October 16 at 7 p.m. animation historian Jerry Beck will give a talk and video presentation on the animation history of MGM, including a tribute to beloved painter, inker, and Society member Martha Sigall.

Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer, college professor, and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio executive with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoon home video compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of special feature documentaries and audio commentaries. Beck is currently on the faculty of Cal Arts, teaching animation history.

Historical Society members and the general public are invited to enjoy this FREE program in the Multipurpose in Veterans Memorial Building, located at 4117 Overland Avenue. The entrance to the ARC and Multipurpose Room is from the back parking lot.

The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop: A Presentation that Literally Goes Behind the Scenes

The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, a book by Richard M. Isackes and Karen L. Maness, is a large format book that includes sumptuous photos of movie backdrops, and the stories of the scenic artists that produced them.

As revered film historian Leonard Maltin wrote, the book “reveals a facet of moviemaking that even savvy film buffs may not know about … You will be amazed, as I was, at the number of familiar scenes from films as varied as The Wizard of Oz, North by Northwest, and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events that make use of these canvases … This is truly an eye-opening book and a valuable contribution to our understanding of how movies are created.”

On Wednesday, July 17, at 7 p.m. Karen Maness will give a talk and presentation all about the subject matter of The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop.

Ms. Maness collaborated in the 2017 Art Directors Guild Archives Backdrop Recovery Project, which recovered over 200 MGM backdrops from Hollywood’s golden age of film for display and study. She is a professor of scenic art, figurative painting, and practical special effects for UT Live Design at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre & Dance and Scenic Art Supervisor at Texas Performing Arts. A limited number of books will be available for purchase, and Ms. Maness will be available for a book signing after the program.

Historical Society members and the general public are invited to enjoy this FREE program in the Rotunda Room in Veterans Memorial Building, located at 4117 Overland Avenue. (Please note the change in room–because we have surprises to display!) The entrance to the Rotunda Room is at the front of Vets, on the corner of ARC and Multipurpose Room is through the back of the building and open to the public.

From Barney Fife to Beats: Culver City’s 40 Acres Backlot

From 1927-1976, the backlot known as 40 Acres played host to Tarzan, Superman, Rhett Butler, King Kong, Captain Kirk, Batman, and Gomer Pyle. It was roughly bordered by Higuera to the north, Lucerne to the west, and Ballona Creek and Jefferson to the south and east, and though it may have been as large as 42 acres at first, it eventually became more like 29 acres due to the construction of Jefferson Boulevard, and flooding from Ballona Creek before it was paved over.

At various times, the 40 Acres Backlot was owned by Cecil B. DeMille, David O. Selznick, Howard Hughes, Desi Arnaz, and Lucille Ball. It had areas known as the African Jungle Set, Mayberry, the Arab Village, Stalag 13, and Tara, and buildings known as “Ship Deck,” “Submarine Enclosure,” “Adobe Indian Hut,” and “Meat House.”

Today, the area that included and surrounds what was 40 Acres has become known for architectural marvels by Eric Owen Moss, offices that are home to companies like Apple’s Beats by Dre and restaurant Vespertine.

Authors and historians Marc Wanamaker and Steven Bingen will give a presentation based on their book Hollywood’s Lost Backlot: 40 Acres of Glamour and Mystery. There will be copies of the book for sale, and the authors will hold a book signing after the program.

The public is invited to this free program at 7pm on Wednesday, April 17. The entrance to the ARC is from the back parking lot.