Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District consists of twelve blocks between the 6200 and 7000 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. This strip of commercial and retail businesses is recognized for its historical significance and was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Home to the sites of some of Hollywood's earliest movie theaters and lavish movie palaces (many of which are still standing and date back to the early 1900s), the district's boundaries encompass over 100 buildings serving commercial, retail, and entertainment related businesses that sit between Argyle Avenue and El Centro Boulevard along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. With its array of theaters which catered to the local film industry along with its close proximity to major film production studios, the region is generally known for its significant role in the history of cinema.

Hollywood Boulevard Commercial & Entertainment District

<p>Mann's Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's Chinese Theatre, now TCL Chinese Theatre) is a movie theater on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame.</p><p>The original Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, which opened in 1922. Both are in Exotic Revival style architecture. Built by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman over 18 months beginning in January 1926, the theater opened May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings. It has since been home to many premieres, including the 1977 launch of George Lucas' Star Wars, as well as birthday parties, corporate junkets, and three Academy Awards ceremonies. Among the theatre's features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day.</p>

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

 The Capitol Records Building is one of the most iconic buildings in Los Angeles. It was built in 1956, and designed by Louis Naidorf of the firm Welton Becket &amp; Associates. The building resembles a stack of records, although Naidorf denies that records were the inspiration for the look of the building. The spire on top of the building blinks "Hollywood" in morse code at night. The iconic building is an LA landmark, and an example of Googie architectural style.

Capitol Records Building

 The 1st Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 1927 and 1928. Tickets cost $5 (which would be $75 in 2020, considering inflation), 270 people attended the event and the presentation ceremony lasted 15 minutes. Awards were created by Louis B. Mayer, founder of Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation, now MGM.  

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony

 The Dolby Theatre is the first permanent home for the Academy Awards ceremonies (the Oscars). It has hosted these annual awards ceremonies since its opening on November 9, 2001. 

Dolby Theatre

 The sign was first erected in 1923 and originally read "HOLLYWOODLAND". Its purpose was to advertise the name of a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Chinatown. H.J. Whitley had already used a sign to advertise his development Whitley Heights, which was located between Highland Avenue and Vine Avenue. He suggested to his friend Harry Chandler, the owner of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, that the land syndicate in which he was involved make a similar sign to advertise their land. Real estate developers Woodruff and Shoults called their development "Hollywoodland" and advertised it as a "superb environment without excessive cost on the Hollywood side of the hills". 

'Hollywood' Sign

 The Hollywood &amp; Western Building, also known as The Mayer Building, and formerly known as the "Hollywood Western Building", is a four-story Art Deco office building located at 5504 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #336 on January 1, 1988. 

  Online Archive of California; UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library 

Hollywood & Western Building

 The sign was erected in 1923 and originally read "HOLLYWOODLAND" to promote the name of a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Real estate developers Woodruff and Shoults called their development "Hollywoodland" and advertised it as a "superb environment without excessive cost on the Hollywood side of the hills." They contracted the Crescent Sign Company to erect thirteen south-facing letters on the hillside. Crescent owner Thomas Fisk Goff designed the wooden sign in 30 ft wide and 50 ft high white block letters. Studded with around 4,000 light bulbs, the completed sign alternated between flashing in successive segments "HOLLY," "WOOD," and "LAND" and as a whole. Below the sign was a searchlight to attract more attention. The poles that supported the sign were hauled to the site by mules. The project cost $21,000, equivalent to $320,000 in 2020. The sign was officially dedicated in 1923, intended to last only a year and a half. The rise of American cinema in Los Angeles during the Golden Age of Hollywood gave it widespread visibility, causing it to be left beyond that, for over a quarter century still spelling "Hollywoodland". 

Installation of the 'Hollywood' sign

In 1877, the developer Harvey Henderson Wilcox decided to subdivide more than 20 acres of orchards and vineyards along Sunset Boulevard, including what is today Hollywood and Vine. 

In 1921 a westward expansion of Sunset began, extending the road from the then-current terminus at Sullivan Canyon toward the coast.  

The Sunset Strip portion of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood has been famous for its active nightlife since at least the 1950s. Radio Row was understood in the 1940s-1950s as the area where the broadcasting facilities of all four major radio networks were located.

The 22-mile-long road stretches from Hollywood to Malibu Beach, connecting two of the highlights of Los Angeles while winding past Beverly Hills, Bel Air, UCLA and Brentwood.  

Sunset Boulevard

The 1950 American black comedy is a celebrated example of film noir, directed and co-written by Billy Wilder,  produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. It was named after the iconic street that runs through Hollywood. The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her demented fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen.  

Sunset Boulevard (film)

Hollywood is an American neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many of its studios such as Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures were founded there; Paramount still has its studios there. 

Hollywood

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