SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE
By Gerrye Wong April 17, 2022
With Spring weather approaching, and the state’s covid numbers down, my travel instincts started pounding, so a trip to southern California was in order to satisfy the itch to travel somewhere. Long on my list was a visit to the Formosa Café when my friend, Arthur Dong, an Oscar nominated filmmaker and award-winning author, told me that he had shared his collection of Hollywood Chinese memorabilia in the remodeling of this vintage renowned café a year or so ago. With my love of Hollywood history, mixed with my star-struck memories of movie stars long gone but never forgotten, I was excited to be able to visit the old Formosa Café in West Hollywood to relive some of that glamorous movie past. I was not disappointed.
Formosa Cafe Historian Maxim Shapovalov showed us the famed Bar restored from Los Angeles Chinatown bar.
Resident historian Maxim Shapovalov was the perfect host to tell us about the history of this iconic place which played a big part in Hollywood’s past. It seems the Formosa first opened its doors in Los Angeles in 1939, and made its renewed debut 80 years later with a new face. As we sat in the glossy red vinyl booths lining the main bar area, Max noted that each booth is named after celebrities like Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, John Wayne and Elvis Presley, who had once claimed those seats when dining regularly here. He told us the Formosa is among the country’s oldest Far East themed bars and served as a well known institution visited by the brightest stars of the 1940-50s era.
A rickshaw welcomed our tourist visit to the Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood
The hallmark of the reopening of the remodeled café was the Yee Mee Loo Bar with its Kwan Yin Temple rescued from Los Angeles Chinatown. A Pagoda roof came directly from Warner Bros Scenic Department where the dramatic illuminated green tiles create the overhang of the bar surrounded by red lanterns. With this ornate addition of the Chinese themed bar, the owner felt this room should be devoted to tell the storied history of Chinese Americans in old Hollywood.
In the room dedicated to Chinese Hollywood movie stars, I found a poster of my friend, Ducky Louie child star in China’s Little Devils
What better person than Arthur Dong to showcase the Chinese American influence on early Hollywood, and what better place to tell this story than the beloved Formosa.
It was fun for me to see the collection of ephemera and photos, movie posters and headshots which showcased dozens of Chinese actors during Hollywood’s Golden Age. I even found a poster showing my friend, San Leandro dentist Dr. Larry Louie, when he appeared as a young refugee child, Ducky Louie, fighting the Japanese in the movie “China’s Little Devils”. Anna May Wong was the only Chinese American actress to hold starring movie roles during that period , but many might remember the old Charlie Chan movies, and of course, Flower Drum Song, the first musical with an Asian cast and story line. Such a thrill to see the line up of black and white photos lining the walls of Asian movie actors and actresses, a few still active on the movie screens even today.
Photos of old movies and stars lined all the walls of the Formosa Cafe
As Max continued to revel us with memories of old Hollywood, he said they consulted archivists who helped make the new menu a retrospective of Formosa’s culinary evolution since the 1920’s. The new Formosa not only transports guests back in time to the glory days of Hollywood, with with its new menu, it was recently named the best Chinese restaurant in West Hollywood. Other features reminiscent of the Hollywood heyday is gangster Bugsy Siegel’s locked safe, in its original location positioned under his favorite table, and an original red trolley car, dating back to 1904 and the last of its kind to exist in America, where one can dine among walls lined with celebrity photographs while seated in leather banquettes. With a gleam in his eye, Max revealed that adjoining the rear entrance is a back room where gangster Mickey Cohen used to run his bookie operations while dining at the Formosa.
A vintage 1906 red trolley car is part of the Formosa Cafe ‘s interior where diners can actually sit inside to eat.
Although the Formosa is a swinging place now for local diners and bar hoppers alike, I found it most interesting for its Hollywood history, and especially the room where Asian movie stars and their films were spotlighted. So if you’re a history buff like me, be sure to make a stop to visit the historic Formosa Café to relive and reminisce being in the spot where your favorite old time stars once called their exclusive Chinese restaurant hide out. Check out theformosacafe.com for hours and location for a special visit Hollywood experience.
ON TO PALM SPRINGS ….MORE HOLLYWOOD STAR GAZING
Still with movie star dust in our eyes, a visit to Palm Springs took us to where the old time stars went to escape the spotlight and clamor of Hollywood life.
As Nancy Cohee of Tallgrass tours Company told us, movie stars of that heyday were owned by their studios and as such, could never venture too far from being at its beck and call, so the sleepy town of Palm Springs was the perfect two hour away place to come to for escape. A special area seemed to be the chosen neighborhood they all had homes in, so her tour of homes of Hollywood celebrities was especially interesting to us following the visit to Hollywood’s Formosa Café of former movie star fame.
In her air=conditioned van facing Palm Spring’s 90 degree early April weather, we joined many bus tourists ogling at Elvis Presley’s honeymoon home where he supposedly was to marry there until hordes of fans discovered the site, so Frank Sinatra helped them escape on his private plane to Las Vegas instead. One beautiful home belonged to George Hamilton, who was said to hold lavish parties there. More modest homes on the tour once belonged to Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin, which like so many in this once active movie star neighborhood, now are in the throes of being remodeled and modernized.
Originally this was the home where Marilyn Monroe lived.
Lily Tomlin’s home was identified with a brass plate on her front wall titled “Lily’s Pad”. Many tourists with a book of Hollywood star homes were walking the residential streets in search of the homes listed. The neighborhood with so much history written into it is still very well kept with new owners who might relish in knowing they live where once famous celebrities once resided.
The home of Liberace was palatial-like white, and it was amusing to see his mailbox was in the shape of his famous piano. Nancy Cohee, who has led tours around the Palm Springs valley for over two decades, can tell stories about each movie star residence as she led us through the residential narrow streets of this once famous neighborhood. Our hour tour took through other former homes of Jack Benny, Debbie Reynolds and Barbra Streisand also.
Seeing the brass plate signifying where Alan Ladd once lived
Many of the homes of the once famous are behind tall hedges so unseen from the street, but adorning one tall wall hiding the home held the brass plate saying, “Residence of Alan Ladd”. This was particularly fascinating to me because at one time as a star struck teenager I was the Alan Ladd National Fan Club President, and got to meet him in person at his Hidden Valley Ranch. In spite of his star power of that time, he was a very unassuming friendly fellow, seemingly so very appreciative of his fan following, he was willing to host me and my family.
Palm Springs downtown has its own Walk of Stars on the main street sidewalk , and many remembrances of its once popular destination for Hollywood’s most famous stars. We even got to join fellow tourists seeing the famed huge statue of Marilyn Monroe in her famous flying dress pose, which following traveling to other cities, will now be a permanent fixture to see in Palm Springs. TallTreesTours can personalize any destination according to one’s interest, whether it be hiking or riding. Nancy can take small groups in her personal van, or can do large groups in large busses. I heartily recommend her for a wonderful way to be introduced to this area beyond the many shops, casinos and golf courses. www.tallgrasshikingandtours <http://www.tallgrasshikingandtours>
