The Cocoanut Grove

Earlier today my sister and I were talking of a movie short that is on the "The Gay Divorcee" DVD. It is a wonderful short called "Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove". There are many different stars is this film. I love things like this!

This got me thinking about the Cocoanut Grove. That used to be the place for old Hollywood to go. Looking through old movie magazines, you'll see many photos of the stars dining and dancing there. A while back I read up a little bit about the Cocoanut Grove.

The Cocoanut Grove was built with The Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood in 1921. As I said it was quite the hot spot for the big names in Hollywood. That would have been such a wonderful sight to see! The Cocoanut Grove along with The Ambassador Hotel continued to host the stars for decades, until in 1988 when it closed its doors for good. There were many movies filmed in the Ambassador Hotel and the Cocoanut Grove after its closing. You can see The Cocoanut Grove in "The Mask" with Jim Carey, it is the Coco Bongo nightclub.

In 2001, the Los Angeles School district bought the property holding the Hotel and the Grove. In 2006 the Ambassador Hotel was torn down to make room for three schools. They were planning to keep The Cocoanut Grove and use it for part of the school, but then in 2007 it was torn down because they didn't think that it would hold up in an earthquake.

It makes me so furious to know that so many old Hollywood landmarks have been torn down. I've been to Hollywood a few times and I love to visit all of the classic spots. I would love to have seen The Cocoanut Grove, especially in its heyday! I'm glad that there are some short films out there that capture it the way it needs to be remembered.