A Bum Comes Back to Hollywood

Late Saturday afternoon. I come up the escalator of the subway on Hollywood Boulevard, at the corner of Highland.

Last time here there was no station. It was under construction. Hollywood was mostly a dirty pit back then. Just souvenir shops and a few tourists around the must see places.

Now it is much more crowded, especially around the theater where they have the Oscars. Moreover there is a film festival going on. It feels like a block of the Vegas strip.

To get down the street now you have to negotiate around many famous costumed characters, who hawk photos for money.

Tour guides stand on the stars of the walk of fame handing out brochures for star tours. Many foreign accents are heard---Europeans and Japanese. The souvenir shops are more numerous, and are now interlaced with multiple marijuana-themed pipe shops.


The tourists pose with some of the famous stars on the Walk of Fame. They make a hazard to walk in the crowd. But most of the rolling list of stars on the sidewalk are trod under without a second thought, including the greatest film comedienne of all time. Behold the nature of earthly fame.

Across the street from the Chinese Theater, in front of the entrance to the Roosevelt Hotel, I pause and look at the star for Errol Flynn. They had just shown Adventures of Robin Hood the night before on TCM. They show it frequently.

Inside the old hotel, in the corridor leading to the lobby, are several men wearing dark slacks and blazers. I walk past up the carpet and nod.

The lobby is lit with bright lights and banners for the film festival. The festival uses images to evoke the theme of classic Hollywood. The large room, with a second story portico, is crowded with people standing and sitting on the leather sofas. At the far end of the room the small. bar is packed with people as well.

I approach one of the men in suits.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where reception is?" I ask him.

It's downstairs. Turns out that the cabs come to the back of the hotel. The Hollywood Boulevard entrance is too chaotic for them.

I check in at reception and get a key card. Then I use to access the elevator to get to the sixth floor.

Inside the room, the television is already on. It's on TCM, of course!