Nowhere else in the world is everything possible – except in Hollywood, where women are more beautiful, men are stronger, everyone is smarter and more talented anyway and everything is easier or at least more dramatic and therefore more worth living. Hollywood is a cesspool of sin, a murderer of souls, a realm of illusion and a fairytale all rolled into one. In fact, no other pavement has produced so many stories, both dark and fantastic, most of which are almost unbelievable. Here are the facts about the place that everyone returns to sooner or later.
How Hollywood came about
In 1853 there was still only one mud brick hut in the whole of Hollywood. 57 years later, D. W. Griffith shot the first film in Hollywood with “In Old California”, and shortly afterwards the first film studio opened, which was joined by several New York studios in order to escape the monopoly of the Motion Picture Patents Company that prevailed in Manhattan. By the 1920s, Hollywood had already become the movie capital of the world.
Babylon of sin
Millions and millions were made in Hollywood during the film boom of the 1920s. Drugs passed from one hand to the next, corpses piled up. In order to save Hollywood’s reputation, the studios began to include morality clauses in their contracts. However, without achieving the desired results.
Olive Thomas
One of Hollywood’s first screen goddesses was Olive Thomas. She died at the age of 25 on her honeymoon after accidentally drinking her husband’s syphilis medication.
2ʹ782ʹ275ʹ172
With worldwide box office takings of 2ʹ782ʹ275ʹ172 dollars, James Cameron’s “Avatar” is the most successful film at the box office to date. It’s astonishing when you consider that Cameron had to postpone filming for eight years because no studio was prepared to dig into their pockets for the project for a long time.
Ranking list
The structure on the film set consists of: Production, direction, camera, sound, editing, make-up, costume design, production design, music, special and audiovisual effects. The absolute alpha dog is the director, followed by the producer, who manages the administrative side of the film production.
600 gallons
The biggest explosion ever filmed for a movie with actors can be seen in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, in one scene 600 gallons of petrol are blown up.
2ʹ900
Most of the takes for a movie were – oh wonder – not shot with Marilyn Monroe, but with Jackie Chan. It took 2,900 takes for a 10-minute fight scene in “Dragon Lord”.
Free Work
Gandhi” (1982) brought the largest number of extras to the set, namely 300,000, most of them unpaid. With a 22ʹ000ʹ000 dollar budget, you just can’t throw bills around.
Record holder
The Bond makers have a weakness for records. “Casino Royal” holds the record for the most car rolls: seven. ” Goldeneye” holds the record for the highest bungee jump: 231 meters. “Live and Let Die” for the longest speedboat jump: 36.5 meters. And “The Spy Who Loved Me” for the highest ski jump: 609 meters.
193ʹ355ʹ800
Filmmaking is not always as lucrative as in the case of “Paranormal Activity” (2007). The horror film was shot for a ridiculous 15,000 dollars with a cast of five in ten days and grossed 193,355,800 dollars.
T.E. Lawrence
The epic “Lawrence of Arabia” lasts 227 minutes and not a single minute is disturbed by the voice of a woman. The lead role is played by Peter O’Toole, whose performance as T.E. Lawrence is considered the best ever.
Hollywood Sign
The Hollywood Sign in the Hollywood Hills is 15 meters high, 137 meters long and weighs 220 tons. Originally there was a Hollywoodland poster in the same place, but it soon rotted away. In 1978, Hugh Hefner hosted a fundraising party at his Playboy Mansion to raise the quarter of a million dollars needed to replace the panels.
Midnight Cowboy
“Midnight Cowboy” is the only Oscar-winning film that is not PG-rated.
Chances of winning
Directors who win an Oscar are usually around 40, have straight white hair and have made an English-language film. As an actor, you would do well to have taken part in a William Wyler film, under his direction 36 actors were nominated, under Martin Scorsese 20.
Oscar the golden boy
The Academy has been awarding the Oscar in 25 categories since 1929. The naked man measures 34 cm, weighs 34 kg and is made of 24-carat gold.