Culver City and the
History of Movie Making

Thomas Ince was a famous filmmaker when Harry Culver convinced him to move his Inceville Studios from the beach to Washington Boulevard in 1915. Ince/Triangle Studios was the first in Culver City. Samuel Goldwyn took over the lot in 1918 and it became Goldwyn Studios. Ince opened a new 14 acre studio just to the east; reminiscent of Mount Vernon, a December 1, 1918 Los Angeles newspaper called it a "motion picture plant that looks like a beautiful Southern estate."

The merger which formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer took place in 1924. MGM rapidly grew to six working studio lots covering more than 180 acres by the end of the 1930s. The main lot was like a city within a city; it had its own police and fire departments, telegraph and post office, water tower and well. Adoring locals waited for autographs at the East Gate of the studio, which boasted it had "more stars than there are in the heavens."

Meanwhile, in 1924, Thomas Ince had fallen ill on William Randolph Hearst's yacht. He died of a heart attack within the week. His wife Elinor, once a talent agent, took the reins of his studio until the next year, when it became De Mille Studios. Backlot acreage was added just to the south in 1931. Some of the stars who worked there in those early years were Bette Davis, Robert Mitchum, Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. King Kong was released in 1933; its sets were later torched to make movie magic as "the burning of Atlanta" for Gone with the Wind.

The Desilu name appeared on the studio lawn about 1956, and for the next 15 years, television was its most important product. Series such as The Untouchables, Hogan's Heroes, The Real McCoys, and Lassie were filmed there. The facility became Culver City Studios in 1970. Later, renamed the Culver Studios, it became a rental facility; Steven Spielberg filmed E.T. - The Extraterrestrial there.

MGM transitioned into MGM/UA in the 1980s, and Turner Broadcasting bought UA and its film library in 1986. MGM moved across the street to the Filmland building, where they remained until 1992. The Sony Corporation purchased the studio facilities in 1990, making a major commitment to the community and to the renovation of the Culver City property. The studio went through a three-year approval process for their Comprehensive Plan and transitioned into the 45-acre state-of-the-art Sony Pictures Studios and the global headquarters of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Sony purchased the Culver Studios lot in 1991 and entered into a long-term lease for the Filmland Building (now Sony Pictures Plaza) when MGM left.

Culver City was also home to the Hal Roach Studios from 1919 until 1963. The "Laugh Factory to the World" produced 50 comedies a year in addition to feature films. Roach often filmed "on location" in Culver City. Putting Pants on Philip was the first teaming of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. When you see it, note the Culver Hotel and Main Street in the background. In addition to the Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang comedies, Roach Studios produced television series including Topper, Amos and Andy, The Life of Riley, Trouble with Father, and My Little Margie.

Known as "the real Hollywood" and "the heart of screenland," Culver City has perhaps the most central role of any city in the world in the history of film. When you visit Downtown Culver City, you are standing in the midst of that history.