During the first few decades of Hollywood’s ascendancy to American legend, tourists who came from faraway places to view the town returned home disappointed. Where was the glamour?
The visitors had placed their shoes into the cement footprints in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater — Clark Gable’s were large, Mary Pickford’s tiny. But Hollywood Boulevard resembled Main Street back home, and the actual studios were as tightly guarded as Fort Knox.
That changed on July 15, 1964, when Universal Studios began offering visits to what was then — and still is — the world’s largest movie studio. At the time, I decided to review the new attraction through the eyes of my daughters, Nancy, 16, and Janet, 12.
Most of the tour, which cost $2.50 for adults and $1.25 for children, was observed from seats on a tram, though we were able to get off and walk through Doris Day’s luxurious dressing room.
The tram lumbered through rows of hulking sound stages and past a shack used in the ’20s for “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and a suburban house from “Leave It to Beaver.
We also saw one-sided sets depicting New York, Paris and dusty Western towns, plus the spooky motel and original house from “Psycho.” We witnessed no real filmmaking, but a very real Ernest Borgnine did wave to our tram from the “McHale’s Navy” set.
The tour paused at the visitors center atop a hill where two stunt men staged a gunfight on a Western street, one of them falling from a second floor into a pile of mattresses.
Fast-forward to 2004. It’s now called Universal Studios Hollywood, it has its own ZIP code and the admission price has risen to $49.75 for adults and $39.75 for children. Oh yes, it’s also been through four ownerships and is now held by General Electric.
A wide range of attractionsWhat a difference four decades can make. No longer a mere tram tour, today’s Universal offers a wide range of attractions, more like the Disney and Six Flags amusement parks.
Also included within the Universal complex are the free-access City Walk, a cluster of 65 restaurants and shops, movie theaters, and an amphitheater that features year-round concerts.
Universal had no plans to officially commemorate the anniversary, but it seemed like a good time for another family visit to the attraction, this time with grandsons Ryan and Tristan McGowan, aged 9 and 7.
We begin by taking the tram tour. The original pink “GlamorTrams” are long gone, replaced by trollies that resemble San Francisco’s cable cars.
The first stop: the editing department, where our tour guide explains production techniques. On the way out he asks Ryan, “Are you having fun?” Ryan replies with childlike candor: “Not really.” The guide assures him there is plenty of fun ahead.
And there is. The trolley stops at a tranquil Mexican village. Suddenly there’s thunder and lightning and a tsunami pours down a rustic road. Spectators shriek as it heads for the trolley. But it swerves and rushes past us, leaving only minor splashes.
The trolley winds through outdoor sets that look much the same as 40 years ago and it passes the still standing Bates Motel from “Psycho,” where Janet Leigh took that shower, and the adjacent 3/4-scale mansion, where Mama Bates waves to us from an upstairs window.
Soon we arrive in the quiet seaside town of Amity and the notorious shark from “Jaws” is threatening townspeople and trolley riders alike.
We enter a large barnlike building and view the scene of a subway station. Just at that moment, a simulated earthquake strikes and the station begins to come apart.
A huge sheet of asphalt falls from the street above, and a giant fuel truck slides toward us. It halts in time, belching billows of flame. Two autos also threaten to crash into the trolley.
Just when the danger seems over, a water main bursts and a torrent rushes in our direction.
“That made me all shaky,” Ryan admitted when we re-emerged into the tranquil California sunshine.
“Me, too,” Tristan agreed.
A shaky start to the tourYet when we lunch at a Mexican cafeteria, both agree that the earthquake ride is their favorite— so far.
When the tour ended, we had seen no real filmmaking, just like 40 years ago. It had been more like a trip through Universal history, dating back to its founding in 1915.
In the afternoon, Ryan and Tristan took the park’s thrill rides.
“Waterworld,” strangely named for a flop movie, is a major show these days at Universal and the boys’ new favorite, even though they get soaked.
What is it with Universal and water?
The attraction features an endless supply of stunts: gun fights, explosions, fires, high-tower dives, and a free-flying seaplane that seems aimed at the grandstand but lands in a lagoon.
“That was real cool,” Tristan said.
As the day wears on, the tireless twosome sample further thrills: “Terminator 2: 3D,” in which an automated Arnold Schwarzenegger vanquishes automated villains; “Back to the Future,” where one can sail through time in a DeLorean; “Backdraft,” where you can witnesses the realistic burning of a large warehouse.
Time and a power failure prevent the McGowan boys from indulging in Universal’s other movie-themed attractions, including “Jurassic Park — The Ride,” “Shrek 4D,” “Van Helsing: Fortress Dracula” and the newly opened “Revenge of the Mummy.”
But after a visit to the adjacent City Walk and its many diversions, the boys were ready to head for home. And like Nancy and Janet 40 years ago, they were eager to do it all again soon.