Seeing Stars
By Julie Gilleand
Cover Design by Andy Gilleand
Copyright 2012 Julie Gilleand
Seeing Stars
I had always heard that Hollywood could be a most magical place, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined or been prepared for what I was about to experience!
*****
It was fun to fly again, having been a long time since we had, but it was good to be back on the ground again, too, and finally in California – Hollywood to be precise – the movie capital of the world!
Ready for the adventure of a lifetime, my two youngest sons and I grabbed our bags and headed off to the hotel – The Beverly Garland Holiday Inn, so named for the well-known actress. Although she’d been in many movies and television shows, I knew her best as the mom in My Three Sons, a show I’d grown up with. When my youngest son, David, was born, Dad told me he’d have to start calling me Fred MacMurray. I knew he had said that because now I had my own three sons! So, this being a high school graduation gift to David, the hotel was perfect for us.
Not to mention its proximity to Universal Studios, which was a big part of what we came for. We all love movies in our family. My mother was in high school plays and attended drama school in Chicago. She even met my Dad in a movie theater; I was in a few school plays and took a summer of acting lessons when I was young; my oldest son, Tim, was involved in music and drama in high school and later met his bride-to-be, Marcy, while they both worked in a community presentation of “A Christmas Carol”. Years later he proposed to her on the very stage where they had met! Andy, my middle son, is more interested in behind the scenes, doing film editing and special effects, but has also appeared in front of the camera in movies he and his brothers work on. David has been involved in theater at high school and also enjoys the production side of things. His interest in movies is what led us to choose Hollywood for his graduation trip.
And here we were! I had been to L.A. over twenty years ago, but this was the boys’ first experience there. Connecting flights at LAX on a previous trip to Monterey, California did not count. This time they were going to see and experience the exciting world of movieland!
*****
After unpacking and getting a good night’s sleep, we started our first full day with breakfast at Tula’s – the hotel restaurant. Fully rested and fed, we were all set to begin a fun-packed day.
Hopping aboard the hotel shuttle van with a few others, we sped off down the road toward Universal Studios. Within a short time we were stepping off the van and walking toward the entrance to the theme park. There was a big silver globe with the words Universal Studios written across it, in front of which tourists could pose as did Andy and David while I snapped their picture.
Today we would be taking the V.I.P. Experience, which was a six-hour guided tour throughout the theme park and also backlot. Showing our passes, we were given VIP Cards and lanyards to wear around our necks and then were led to a spacious and comfortable lounge where we could enjoy refreshments as we waited for our tour guide, Will.
Before long, we were following behind Will as he led the way through the theme park to the place where we could pose in front of a “fake” Hollywood sign for a fun photo, before boarding the trolley which would take us to what we wanted to see most – the backlot and soundstages, where the movies and TV shows are actually made!
From Alfred Hitchcock’s old office and a dressing room used by Lucille Ball – to Clock Tower Square in Back to the Future and the Bates Motel it was like walking into someone’s imagination!
We had a great day wandering throughout the theme park enjoying the rides and attractions and touring the backlot. The next day we decided to split up. The boys wanted to tour the movie studio again, while I was anxious to find Hollywood Blvd. and the famous Walk of Fame. So next morning after breakfast, we all boarded the hotel shuttle, but I stepped off at the Metro Station while the boys continued on toward Universal. We planned to meet back up for supper later.
*****
Stepping out onto the sidewalk at Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard after a mere five-minute ride on the subway, I looked around at the familiar sights I’d remembered from twenty years before. First thing I noticed was the Walk of Fame – stars in the sidewalk featuring names of celebrities. Blocks and blocks of them. Only a few short steps to my right was Graumann’s Chinese Theater with all its handprints and signatures in the cement. There was the Kodak. Down the other way was the Pantages. Across the street was the Egytian Theater and the El Capitan. In the distance, Capitol Records and if you stand in just the right place you can see the Hollywood sign in the mountains! Yes, this was surely Hollywood. I was back!
*****
Andy and David walked under the Universal Studios archway and entered the theme park. Since yesterday they were quite confident that they knew every inch of the park. Before heading for the backlot tour boarding area, they decided to revisit the rides and attractions within the park they had liked best, beginning with Mummy, The Ride – a thrilling indoor roller coaster.
Next it was T2:3D, a part live, part 3D movie reenacting scenes from the 2nd Terminator movie. Then Back to the Future, the Ride and finally Waterworld. Loads of fun and by then they were starving and stopped at Mel’s Diner to have lunch. Afterwards, it would be tour time!
*****
I walked for blocks just seeing the sights and breathing in the spirit of Tinseltown. What was it like, I wondered, back in the early days of film, before television, even? Was it the tourist attraction it is today? Or was it just a town where movies were made, only exciting to the public on movie premier nights? I guessed I’d never know.
In front of the Chinese Theater were all sorts of characters – actors maybe – dressed up as famous people or familiar characters with whom you could pose for a picture. My heart leaped when I saw Charlie Chaplin, complete with bowler hat, mustache and cane! Uncharacteristically, I shouted out “Charlie!” He, of course, turned when he heard “his” name and I gingerly marched right up to him and asked if I could get a picture with him. He gladly obliged and I handed my camera to a fellow tourist nearby asking her to do the honors. Charlie offered me his arm and I hooked my arm in his as we smiled for the camera! I don’t know what it is about Charlie that melts my heart, but it never fails.
*****
Waiting for the tram to come so they could hop on board and start their tour, Andy and David looked around, wondering when it would ever come! After waiting a full half hour and seeing nothing and no one, David got an idea.
“Hey, why don’t we just walk into the studio area?”
Andy laughed, thinking he was joking, but David was dead serious. The idea had actually come from their tour guide yesterday when he told just them about how Steven Spielberg, before he was a successful director, would take the tour and sneak off the tram and just walk around the studio. He did it so frequently that everyone thought he worked there. This was how he got the chance to shop his movies to producers within the studio and the rest is, as they say, history!
“Come on!” David half yelled, half whispered.
Andy rolled his eyes, looked every which way to see if anyone was watching them, then nervously followed after David. Before long they were far enough away from the park area that they could relax. They put on their VIP cards and lanyards from the day before, so as to look as if they were wearing employee ID cards.
“We did it!” David yelled and they both laughed at having gotten away with sneaking into the backlot.
“Okay, so we’re in. What now?” asked Andy.
“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I know. How about we try to find that soundstage where Evan Almighty is
being filmed that we saw yesterday?”
“Sounds good” answered Andy and off they went in search of it.
*****
I thanked Charlie for the picture and started to walk on when he stopped me. “Just one moment, please” he said.
“Yes?” I said as I turned back, curious as to what he wanted to say.
“Uh, may I ask if this is your first trip to Hollywood, Miss?”
“Well, no” I replied, “but it’s been more than twenty years since the last time and that was just a very short trip.
“I see, well not to hold you up any further, but just to tell you this one thing ….”
I looked at him oddly, wondering what in the world he was trying to say.
“There’s magic in Hollywood, you know. Unusual things are always around the corner. One never knows what one might find or whom one might encounter on these streets. So keep your eyes open. You won’t want to miss anything”
“O-o-k-kay” I answered, thanking him and turning to walk the other way.
“Don’t forget”! he hollered out.
“Uh, I won’t” I assured him and kept walking.
“Poor soul must have something wrong with him”! I said beneath my breath as I walked faster to get away!
*****
Andy and David found the soundstage, recognizing it because of the half-built ark they saw the day before, which is to be used in the movie. As they walked up, there were many people congregating near the entrance getting ready to walk into a scene. With ease, they just blended right into the crowd and ended up walking into the scene with them. They were extras!! Never could they have planned this any better.
After an hour’s worth of shooting, the extras were dismissed for the day. Andy and David wandered back outside with the rest of them, putting their “ID” tags back on, since they’d stuck them in their pockets during the shoot.
“Whoa, ho!, that was awesome!” Andy exclaimed. “Ah Mayaan!” David yelled. They both were just beside themselves over what had just happened and couldn’t wait to one day see “their” scene when the movie came out and point it out to their friends and to Tim!
Onward they went, heading toward Anytown, USA, wondering what could ever top this!.
*****
As I strolled along the Walk of Fame, I snapped pictures of stars bearing the names of some of my favorites – Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Freddie Prinze, and so many others. Growing tired in the heat of the day, I decided it was time for a little break. Buying a frozen lemonade from a street vendor, I spied a park bench where I could sit and rest awhile and headed straight for it. I fanned myself to cool off with one of the many tour brochures handed to me on the boulevard. It was certainly a very hot day!
It was not until I had downed most of the lemonade that I noticed the star nearest my park bench. Cary Grant! Funny it took so long to notice it when he is one of my very favorite actors! I’ve always loved old, corny and romantic movies and all the better if they were funny, such as Arsenic and Old Lace or I Was a Male War Bride, two classic Cary Grant comedies!
I got up from the bench and walked over to his star and took a picture to add to my growing collection. Afterwards, I had trouble adjusting my eyes. Everything was blurry. I tried blinking and rubbing my eyes, but it was no use. I started to get scared. Was I having a heat stroke? I thought I’d better sit down again, but before I could turn around, I noticed something awfully strange. Everything was still blurry to me, but oddly, Cary Grant’s name slowly was coming into focus. But just that, nothing else. I stepped closer until I was actually standing on the star, trying to see more closely, when suddenly the star gave way beneath me and I was falling --- down, down, down.
*****
“Well, here we are, back on the street where parts of Bruce Almighty were filmed” David said, remembering what Will had explained the day before. They both went over to what had been the front stoop in front of Jim Carrey’s house in the movie and sat on the steps. It was one of David’s favorite movies and Jim Carrey was his absolute hero!
Suddenly the door opened behind them. Startled, they jumped to their feet and turned around. Why had the door opened – and all by itself, they wondered.
“This is creepy” said Andy.
“Yeah” agreed David.
“Come on!” Andy said and up the steps they tip-toed toward the open door.
Stepping inside, what a shock it was to find it looked like a real house inside! All the other buildings were fake. Only the outside looked real. But this one appeared to really BE real! Standing in the living room, they were silent as they took it all in.
Just then the door slammed shut! They both ran for the door to try and get out, but it was locked!
“What do we do now?!” yelled Andy.
Before David could answer, they heard another voice.
“Who’s down there?” the voice hollered. It sounded as if it were coming from upstairs.
David and Andy both looked at each other stunned, having recognized the voice. In an instant, Jim Carrey appeared at the top of the stairs holding a baseball bat and not looking too friendly!
*****
It was dark and frightening at first, but then gradually things became brighter. I must have died from that heat stroke and this is the light I’m supposed to go toward that everyone talks about.
I wasn’t falling fast, but rather floating downward as a feather. Soon I saw the ground below me getting closer and closer until I gently landed. Where was I? Looking around it appeared I was in some town, some old town that is. The cars I saw parked in front of houses looked to be from the 1940’s. The houses on the street were like quaint little bungalows, many with the classic picket fences in front, not at all like something you’d see much of these days. It really was the cutest little town I’d ever seen.
The streets were empty. I wanted desperately to find someone and ask where I was, but there was no one. So, I just started walking. After several blocks it seemed I had found the downtown area. There were several little shops, a diner, a gas station, a library and church, but everything looked all closed up, as if the whole town had packed and left. It seemed a little eerie, actually.
In a flash, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. Turning around to see what I saw, I felt my knees about to give out. Leaning against a lamp post was none other than Charlie Chaplin! The same one I’d posed with for a picture. He motioned for me to come closer and I shakily approached him.
“I told you, didn’t I?” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
“W-where am I?” I stammered.
“Well … that’s hard to say” he said.
“How did I get here?”
“You fell through a star, don’t you remember?”
“Yes, I remember, but things like that don’t just happen everyday, you know!”
“Oh, but they do! You just never knew it until now”
“Well … WHAT am I doing here and how will I get back?” My heart was racing.
“One thing at a time, my dear” he replied.
“I will get back, won’t I?”
“There, there … you have nothing to worry about. You’ve been chosen for a very great adventure, that’s all”
“An adventure?”
“Yes, yes!” he answered enthusiastically. “You’ll understand more as time goes on, but trust me when I say there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Why, you may even find yourself having a little fun!”
“Can I ask just one more thing?”
“Of course” he answered pleasantly.
“Why are YOU here?”
“Well, my dear, I guess you could say I’ll sort of be your guide through this little adventure. You know … like in your favorite movie – It’s a Wonderful Life – George Bailey had a Clarence. You have a Charlie.”
“How did you know my favorite movie was It’s a Wonderful Life?” I asked, eyeing Charlie
suspiciously.
He looked around thoughtfully and then answered, “I don’t know how I knew it … I just did! And now, it’s time to begin. You won’t always see me, but I will show up from time to time. And if you ever need me, just call out my name – Charlie”.
“But Charlie isn’t your REAL name, is it? I mean you are just an actor who likes to dress up like Charlie Chaplin, right?”
“O my dear – my name really is Charlie – and didn’t you know? I am really Charlie Chaplin”! And then he disappeared.
*****
“Hey, look, it’s Jim Carrey!” David hollered excitedly. Andy just stared in unbelief.
Rolling his eyes at the absurd announcement, the man with the bat yelled back, “I’M NOT JIM CARREY!”
Deciding to play along with the joke, and trying to stifle a laugh, Andy said, “Oh, I, um, suppose your name is Bruce, then?
The man’s eyes got wide with terror. “How did you know?”
Both Andy and David laughed out loud.
“This is hilarious” roared David.