Commentary

Every year, millions of tourists flock to Los Angeles in search of one thing: Hollywood glamour. They may be disappointed, though, since it’s scarcely to be found among the modern high rises, huge electronic billboards, and graffiti-decorated overpasses. Even on Hollywood Boulevard, the Walk of Fame’s stars may be obscured by homeless encampments and debris. However, just around the corner, there’s a hidden gem of Hollywood history, glamour, and beauty.

Well, perhaps it’s an exaggeration to call it hidden, but the Hollywood Museum is a surprisingly unknown destination to many people. Although it was voted the No. 1 tourist destination in Hollywood by LA Weekly in 2013, a lot of people have never heard of it. Located in the Max Factor Building at 1660 N. Highland Avenue, the Hollywood Museum houses the world’s biggest collection of movie memorabilia. It’s a must-see destination for any film fan, especially someone who appreciates the Golden Era of Hollywood.

This museum was founded by Donelle Dadigan in 2003. She and her mother started it as a love letter to the community, a means of celebrating Hollywood’s storied past while also educating people. I had the pleasure of touring the museum for the first time last month and interviewed Ms. Dadigan about the museum’s Hollywood history that only she could tell.

The Max Factor Building

A building can be a museum for two reasons: either because it houses noteworthy artifacts or because it is a noteworthy destination or example of architecture. The Hollywood Museum is all of the above, since it displays memorabilia from beloved movies from the past century in a historic building, the Max Factor Building.

I asked Ms. Dadigan how she and her mother chose this Art Deco jewel as the location of the museum, and she explained, “When we were looking to find a place for the Hollywood Museum, we went up and down Hollywood Boulevard, and in the early 90s, pretty much, I think every building was for sale. I then stumbled on this building. At that time, Max Factor Cosmetics Company was operating the Max Factor Makeup Museum.”

Describing her reasoning behind choosing the Makeup Museum as the Hollywood Museum’s home, she explained, “I think to myself, ‘This is the perfect place to start the museum because this is where all the stars came and got their looks.’ In those days, you didn’t snap your fingers and have liposuction or plastic surgery. You had to rely on the makeup genius of Max Factor and the lighting. So where better to tell the story about Hollywood and the motion picture industry and then television and how both industries got their start, what made Hollywood famous, than here, in the very building where all the movie stars came to get their looks? How appropriate.”

The building needed a lot of renovation when Ms. Dadigan and her mother purchased it from Proctor & Gamble in 1994. Since it is a nationally registered landmark building, all restoration work had to be approved by the State Historic Preservation Office in Sacramento and the Undersecretary of the Interior at the federal level, as well as the local building and safety department.

Today, Mel’s Drive-In is connected to the Hollywood Museum, but it wasn’t there when they bought the building. Where Mel’s Drive-In is today was where Procter & Gamble sold closeout products at discounted prices. Ms. Dadigan was looking for a restaurant tenant to provide refreshments for museum visitors while fitting the retro theme. Several famous high-end restaurants with connections to Hollywood’s Golden Era wanted to rent the space, but Ms. Dadigan decided, “Let’s do something that’s easier for tourists and visitors to come and have a quick meal. And that would be Mel’s Drive-In. It is a perfect combination.”

A Colorful History

The Hollywood Museum loves to showcase individual movies, shows, and artists through special exhibits, but the regular features are impressive enough. The museum always has more than 10,000 items on display, showcasing over 100 years of Hollywood history. Those exhibits include gowns worn by actresses like Marylin Monroe, Judy Garland, and Lana Turner onscreen as well as in real life, a pair of the ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz,” and Hannibal Lecter’s jail cell. The building’s basement is now dedicated to the horror genre, but during Prohibition, it was a speakeasy disguised as a bowling alley, which was run by Max Factor’s brother. Huge sections of the museum are dedicated to beloved entertainment from the last few decades, but I was mainly interested in the Golden Era mementos.

I loved exploring the main floor, where the walls are lined with photographs and lobby cards from classic films, as well as ads with vintage movie stars, which I learned the actors themselves never approved or even saw in most cases! The ground level is where the Max Factor legacy is honored.

“All the movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Era that were in these very makeup rooms, if you can imagine it. For example, the ‘Blondes Only Room,’ where Marilyn Monroe became a blonde,” said Ms. Dadigan. “Every one of these makeup rooms, as our visitors learn when they come here, was not named by the color of women’s complexions but the color of their hair. The Blondes Only Room, Marilyn Monroe. The Redheads Only Room, where Lucille Ball got her signature red hair.” The dark-haired Ms. Dadigan chose the Brunettes Only Room for our interview, because we two brown-haired ladies “look the best” with those colors and that lighting. “And then there’s the Brownettes Only Room, which is anyone who has lighter brown hair than us,” she explained.

Elaborating on Monroe’s transformation into a blonde, Ms. Dadigan explained, “People say Marilyn was born a blonde. She was, but like many natural blondes, by the time she became a teenager, her hair had turned to light brown then to medium brown. It was Max Factor that gave her that fabulous hair color that we recognize. That in fact was an updated version of the original hair color he gave Marilyn Monroe’s idol, Jean Harlow. Jean Harlow was born a blonde also and remained a blonde, but it was Max Factor that gave Jean Harlow that fabulous hair color, platinum blonde.”

One feature of the Brunettes Only Room you can’t help noticing is the Beauty Calibrator. This bizarre-looking contraption is a metal apparatus in the shape of a human head which was used to measure the symmetry of actress’s faces. Factor used the calibrator, which he designed himself, to determine what hairstyle and makeup techniques would best complement and enhance a potential star’s beauty. Ms. Dadigan said, “It’s kind of fun when I hear these stories because there’s no other building in Hollywood that has the stories.”

Visiting the Museum

The Hollywood Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance online or at the door. At $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, and $5 for children ages 5 and under, it’s a surprisingly affordable activity for tourists and California locals alike. Mel’s Drive-In is open every day, offering old-fashioned American food in a fun diner atmosphere.