Video URL


90012_25434_Los_Angeles_1950s_02

1950s
Color

Footage of Los Angeles, California, during the 1950s. 

Begins with a wide shot of Wilshire Boulevard and the sign “MIRACLE MILE,” a popular and important shopping center in LA.

The Brown Derby restaurant, whose roof looks like a bowler hat, is shown. The voiceover says the Derby is a popular place or rendezvous for motion picture stars.

The Ambassador Hotel, where Robert F. Kennedy would be assassinated, stands tall beside a wide green lawn. The hotel’s swimming pool is crowded with swimmers and guests enjoying the clear Southern California skies and warm sun. Women leap from a diving board and into the pool.

The clip ends with a doubles game played at the Los Angeles Tennis Club. The audience, looking preppy and middle to upper class, appears alert and fixated on the tennis players' every move.