This is a wonderful book about the history of one of the iconic places in Beverly Hills, which was the home for many celebrities; some of whom used this as a second home for relaxation. The hotel's Polo lounge was known to be the best place to meet the some of the biggest names in movie and music industry. Built in 1912 by Burton Green with $500,000, many insiders wondered if Green's gamble would payoff. But Green was realistic and hired Margaret Anderson, the successful manager of nearby Hollywood hotel to mange the place. She mapped out the day of May 12, 1912 with the precision of General Norman Schwarzkopf's ground attack on Iraq to make this enterprise an instant success.
Moral sensibilities have changed since 1912, but in reality they have not in the lives of many people in movie business. Many residents of Beverly Hills considered the film industry to be shady with questionable morals. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford, as popular as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt of today, used this hotel to hide their affair. But the personality of Mary Pickford as a down-to-earth woman eventually won over people's heart. The hotel attracted many guests that included the king and queen of Siam, Charles Lindbergh, Albert Einstein, Babe Ruth and Prince George of England. The elite of movie industry like Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, and John Barrymore moved close to the hotel near Pickfair residence. The hotel became the site of most towns' social events often held in the lobby. Studio head Sam Goldwyn would often rent the hotels' Crystal Room for many parties. The villas tucked around an enormous pool where anything could happen. This was the place of countless parties and sexual escapades. Tallulah Bankhead, a woman who would make Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears look like a bunch of school girls missing out on classes now and then, lead a lifestyle with her outlandish and daring behavior. She was known to give interviews perched on hotel's grand piano so that the reporters could notice that she didn't wear underwear. In one incident she dove into the hotels' pool wearing a long dress in full evening regalia and peeled off her clothes shouting, "Everybody's been dying to see my body, now they can see it." Bankhead was well known bisexual since 1930s and known to have affairs with Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, Patsy Kelly and Hattie McDaniel. Bankhead lived in an age when prominent actresses were careful to never refer in print to their conquests, male or female, except few ladies like Patsy Kelly who was brave enough to reveal her experiences with Tallulah.
Great Garbo loved to stay in the hotel in 1930s for privacy and solitude. The movie stars didn't have paparazzi then, but fans and reporters who would snoop around the hotel to dig the dirt of their favorite movie stars. Clark Gable also used this to hide his affair with Carole Lombard. Lombard later admitted to Garson Kanin, the extraordinary measures Gable would take to protect their sex rendezvous; the whole story sounds bizarre and sometimes funny.
In early 1930s, the nation was singing the "Starvation Blues," and the financial conditions at the hotel were worsening and it closed its doors on April 19, 1933. Bank of America bought the hotel in Jan 1937 and Hernando Courtright became its chief operating officer. He promptly started entertaining Hollywood elite such as Irene Dunne, Loretta Young, Harry Warner, and big names in business and movie industry. The hotel was frequented by Danny Kaye, Dorothy Lamour, Katherine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Al Jolson, Edgar Bergen, Raymond Massey, Liz Taylor and Paulette Goddard. Later the hotel was purchased by Ben Silberstein in Jan 1954 for $5,500,000. Silberstein was autocratic who humiliated and insulted workers if he didn't like them. He was also a shrewd businessman who knew his customers. Putting a RCA set in Sarnoff's room; or removing Schick razors from King Gillette's room; or commander Whitehead find bottles of Schweppes and a bottle of Beefeater gin in his room; Robert Mitchum was served with his morning wake-me-up bourbon and breakfast; and pistachios in Liz Taylor's room. This is simple Marketing 101 strategy. Princess Grace Kelly and her husband throw an intimate party for close friends, Liz Taylor would check in and out as she changed her husbands. Marilyn Monroe lounged around the pool hoping for big break. She is known to have started her affair with her co-star of "Let's make love," Yves Montad in Beverly Hills Hotel. Vincent Minneli worked out many details in the Polo Lounge about his movies. Director Frank Capra and Studio President Arthur Krim discussed ways to sell his movie, "Pocketful of Miracles." Arthur Miller convinced Clark Gable to appear in the movie "Misfits." Actor Peter Finch was on his way to meet "Network" director Sydney Lumet when he collapsed and died in the hotel lobby. One of the most obsessive-compulsive personalities with a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control was director Howard Hughes who rented several bungalows. For 30 years he made this one of his homes. He went to great lengths to avoid being seen. He would reserve Crystal Ballroom known to accommodate 750 to 1,000 to hold a conference for just three people. Sometimes he would hire an orchestra to play all night in the Persian Room to combat insomnia. He was a rabid communist-baiter and played a significant role in Hollywood blacklisting. Some of the henchmen of President Richard Nixon were also in the hotel's Polo lounge when they learned of the bungled Watergate scandal. In Dec 1986, the hotel was sold by the daughters of Silberstein to businessman Marvin Davis who later sold it to the Sultan of Brunei. The Pink Palace of Beverly Hills is not just a hotel; it is an institution where history happened.
Moral sensibilities have changed since 1912, but in reality they have not in the lives of many people in movie business. Many residents of Beverly Hills considered the film industry to be shady with questionable morals. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford, as popular as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt of today, used this hotel to hide their affair. But the personality of Mary Pickford as a down-to-earth woman eventually won over people's heart. The hotel attracted many guests that included the king and queen of Siam, Charles Lindbergh, Albert Einstein, Babe Ruth and Prince George of England. The elite of movie industry like Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, and John Barrymore moved close to the hotel near Pickfair residence. The hotel became the site of most towns' social events often held in the lobby. Studio head Sam Goldwyn would often rent the hotels' Crystal Room for many parties. The villas tucked around an enormous pool where anything could happen. This was the place of countless parties and sexual escapades. Tallulah Bankhead, a woman who would make Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears look like a bunch of school girls missing out on classes now and then, lead a lifestyle with her outlandish and daring behavior. She was known to give interviews perched on hotel's grand piano so that the reporters could notice that she didn't wear underwear. In one incident she dove into the hotels' pool wearing a long dress in full evening regalia and peeled off her clothes shouting, "Everybody's been dying to see my body, now they can see it." Bankhead was well known bisexual since 1930s and known to have affairs with Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, Patsy Kelly and Hattie McDaniel. Bankhead lived in an age when prominent actresses were careful to never refer in print to their conquests, male or female, except few ladies like Patsy Kelly who was brave enough to reveal her experiences with Tallulah.
Great Garbo loved to stay in the hotel in 1930s for privacy and solitude. The movie stars didn't have paparazzi then, but fans and reporters who would snoop around the hotel to dig the dirt of their favorite movie stars. Clark Gable also used this to hide his affair with Carole Lombard. Lombard later admitted to Garson Kanin, the extraordinary measures Gable would take to protect their sex rendezvous; the whole story sounds bizarre and sometimes funny.
In early 1930s, the nation was singing the "Starvation Blues," and the financial conditions at the hotel were worsening and it closed its doors on April 19, 1933. Bank of America bought the hotel in Jan 1937 and Hernando Courtright became its chief operating officer. He promptly started entertaining Hollywood elite such as Irene Dunne, Loretta Young, Harry Warner, and big names in business and movie industry. The hotel was frequented by Danny Kaye, Dorothy Lamour, Katherine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Al Jolson, Edgar Bergen, Raymond Massey, Liz Taylor and Paulette Goddard. Later the hotel was purchased by Ben Silberstein in Jan 1954 for $5,500,000. Silberstein was autocratic who humiliated and insulted workers if he didn't like them. He was also a shrewd businessman who knew his customers. Putting a RCA set in Sarnoff's room; or removing Schick razors from King Gillette's room; or commander Whitehead find bottles of Schweppes and a bottle of Beefeater gin in his room; Robert Mitchum was served with his morning wake-me-up bourbon and breakfast; and pistachios in Liz Taylor's room. This is simple Marketing 101 strategy. Princess Grace Kelly and her husband throw an intimate party for close friends, Liz Taylor would check in and out as she changed her husbands. Marilyn Monroe lounged around the pool hoping for big break. She is known to have started her affair with her co-star of "Let's make love," Yves Montad in Beverly Hills Hotel. Vincent Minneli worked out many details in the Polo Lounge about his movies. Director Frank Capra and Studio President Arthur Krim discussed ways to sell his movie, "Pocketful of Miracles." Arthur Miller convinced Clark Gable to appear in the movie "Misfits." Actor Peter Finch was on his way to meet "Network" director Sydney Lumet when he collapsed and died in the hotel lobby. One of the most obsessive-compulsive personalities with a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control was director Howard Hughes who rented several bungalows. For 30 years he made this one of his homes. He went to great lengths to avoid being seen. He would reserve Crystal Ballroom known to accommodate 750 to 1,000 to hold a conference for just three people. Sometimes he would hire an orchestra to play all night in the Persian Room to combat insomnia. He was a rabid communist-baiter and played a significant role in Hollywood blacklisting. Some of the henchmen of President Richard Nixon were also in the hotel's Polo lounge when they learned of the bungled Watergate scandal. In Dec 1986, the hotel was sold by the daughters of Silberstein to businessman Marvin Davis who later sold it to the Sultan of Brunei. The Pink Palace of Beverly Hills is not just a hotel; it is an institution where history happened.
Reference: The Pink Palace Revisited: Behind Closed Doors at the Beverly Hills Hotel by Sandra Lee Stuart
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