Paramount Pictures Studio (Los Angeles, California)

 distributor, film/video production studio/facility, television studio, film/video production company

5555 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038
(323) 956-4488
www.paramount.com
www.paramountstudios.com/

Most of the major motion picture studios have fled Hollywood for spots like Burbank or Culver City. There is only one big name movie studio still actually located in Hollywood: the huge Paramount Studios. It also happens to be the longest continually operating studio in Hollywood. And Paramount is also one of the few studios that admit the public on regular guided tours of the studio's back lot.

Paramount Studios began in 1913 as Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company in a rented horse barn near Sunset & Vine, and Adolf Zukor's Famous Players in Famous Plays, 1912, (located across the street where today's Raleigh Studios is located) merging into Famous Players-Lasky in 1916. Later that year they bought and merged with W.W. Hodkinson's Paramount Pictures (which began in 1914. Hodkinson was ousted from the company). retaining the Famous Players-Lasky name. In 1927 the company changed its name to Paramount-Famous-Lasky and moved to its current location at Melrose and Gower. in 1927 buying the existing Brunton Studio which had been built in 1917 as United Studios). The merged company officially changed it name from Paramount-Famous-Lasky to Paramount Pictures Corp. in 1930. The company and its parts have bee in continuous operation since 1912.

Over the years, its sprawling back lot grew and absorbed what used to be the adjacent RKO Studios.

The list of landmark motion pictures filmed by Paramount Pictures itself reads like a virtual history of Hollywood, beginning with classic silent films such as "The Sheik" with Rudolph Valentino (1921), and including the first movie to ever win an Academy Award for Best Picture, 1927's "Wings."

Paramount was the home of such early superstars as Mae West, W.C. Fields, and Mary Pickford, as well as directors Cecil B. Demille.

In Hollywood's Golden Age, Paramount's stars included Clara Bow, Gary Cooper, William Powell, Claudette Colbert, Alan Ladd, and Marlene Dietrich.

The studio made "Going My Way" (1944) with Bing Crosby and "Sunset Blvd." (1950) with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Alfred Hitchcock shot some of his best films for Paramount: "Psycho" (1960), "Rear Window" (1954), & "Vertigo" (1958); and the Marx Brothers gave the studio some of their best comedies, including "Coconuts" (1929) & "Duck Soup" (1933).

Danny Kaye made "The Court Jester" here in 1956. "White Christmas" (1954) was shot at Paramount, as well as "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952), "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "True Grit" (1969), "Love Story" (1970), "The Godfather" (1972), "Chinatown" (1974), seventeen Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis comedies,and all of those Bob Hope & Bing Crosby "Road Pictures" with Dorothy Lamour (1940-1962). Elvis Presley made many of his movies here, including "Blue Hawaii" and "Girls, Girls, Girls."

RKO Studios was once located at the southwest corner of the Paramount lot (you can still see their giant globe there today), but it was eventually absorbed into the Paramount lot.

RKO was a major studio in its own right; it once owned the Culver Studios as well. Begun by Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Office (FBO), moving into the Robertson-Sole Studio. RKO studio produced countless hits, including the classic "It's a Wonderful Life," nine Fred Astaire/ Ginger Rogers musicals, the original "King Kong," "Bringing Up Baby" (with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn), Hitchcock's "Notorious," and what is perhaps the most acclaimed movie of all time, Orson Welles' masterpiece, "Citizen Kane."

But the decline of RKO began in 1948 when it was bought out by eccentric tycoon Howard Hughes, who ran it into the ground, eventually selling it to General Tire and Rubber. It was later purchased by Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz in 1957, who made it part of their "Desilu Studios." Eventually, the RKO/Desilu property was swallowed up by its massive neighbor, Paramount Studios, and the old lot is now included in the Paramount tour. In 1994, the entire studio was bought by Viacom for $10 billion. In 1999, Viacom bought the CBS television network, in the largest media merger in history. And in 2002, Viacom bought the nearby KCAL studios.

In later years, Paramount had major hits with "Saturday Night Fever" (1977), "Heaven Can Wait" (1978), "Grease" (1978), "Reds" (1981), "Flashdance" (1983), "Fatal Attraction" (1987), "The Untouchables" (1987), "Coming to America" and "The Accused" (1988). The studio has also had good luck with sequels, issuing the series of extremely popular "Star Trek" movies (starting in 1979), as well as the "Raiders of the Lost Ark / Indiana Jones" adventures, "The Bad News Bears" comedies, the satirical "Airplane!" flicks, plus the "Beverly Hills Cop," "Naked Gun," and "48 Hours" films, and the seemingly endless "Friday the 13th" horror series.

Paramount produced vintage TV series as well, such as the original "Star Trek" (with Kirk & Spock), "the original "The Untouchables" (with Robert Stack as Elliot Ness), "The Brady Bunch," "Mission: Impossible," "Taxi," "Happy Days," "Cheers," and "Mork & Mindy" (with Robin Williams).

Current Paramount TV shows include "Everybody Hates Chris," "Numb3rs", "Love Monkey," "Medium," "Dr. Phil," "Charmed," "Girlfriends," "One on One," "Reba," "The Parkers," (But not all of those WB shows are filmed on the Paramount lot.)

Other recent shows included "7th Heaven," "Frasier," "Star Trek: Enterprise" and "JAG".

Paramount, meanwhile, just keeps cranking out successful movies. Recent releases include "Mission: Impossible III," "Brokeback Mountain," "Last Holiday," "War of the Worlds," "Alfie," "The Longest Yard," "Your's, Mine & Ours" "The Manchurian Candidate," "The Italian Job," "School of Rock," "Vanilla Sky," "Star Trek: Nemesis," "Sum of All Fears," "Crossroads,""Tomb Raider," "Vanilla Sky," "We Were Soldiers," "Shaft," "Double Jeopardy," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Sleepy Hollow," "Angela's Ashes," "The General's Daughter," "The Truman Show," "Star Trek: Insurrection," "Snake Eyes," "The Rugrats Movie," "Payback," "Varsity Blues," "The Odd Couple II," the blockbuster "Titanic" (co-produced with Fox), "Face/Off," "Breakdown," "In & Out," "Kiss The Girls," "Star Trek: First Contact," "Mission: Impossible," "Forrest Gump," "Sabrina," "Clueless," "Braveheart," "Ghost," "The Brady Bunch" movies, "Indecent Proposal," "Clear and Present Danger," "The Firm," and "Hunt for Red October."

Paramount is a huge, sprawling studio, covering an area almost as big as Disneyland. At peak season, the studio employees over 5,000 people. Just driving around the outside of the studio walls will give you an indication of the studio's vast size. A tall water tower with the blue Paramount mountain logo still looms over the lot, a throwback to the days when the studio had its own fire department and hospital.

Paramount offers a two-hour walking tour of the historic studio, so you can see the inside as well.

Seen from the outside, the studio has one notable landmark: if you've seen "Sunset Blvd," you'll be familiar with Paramount Studio's ornate, wrought iron entry gate. Built in 1926, this renowned arched gateway is located at the north end of Bronson Avenue (and is hence called "The Bronson Gate"). It's almost as famous as Paramount's well known logo (of a snow capped mountain with a halo of stars), and it has a unique history. According to the tour guide, the extra iron filigree on top of the gate was added after crazed female fans of Rudolph Valentino overwhelmed security and climbed over the original unfortified gate.

Ironically, Charles Bronson (whose name was originally Charles Buchinski) took his new name from this gate.

To find this historic archway, from Melrose Avenue, just look north up Bronson Avenue. You'll note that the old gate just east of the new double arch Paramount gates (which were built to resemble the original Bronson arch).

Incidentally, Paramount Studios can be rented for private parties and group events of up to 3,000 people. The studio offers event planning, food & beverage facilities, service staff, even use of the New York Street set or their sound stages (based on availability).