Skirball Cultural Center
November 2, 2014
Sepulveda Pass
We took Margaret to see the “Light and Noir” exhibit at the Skirball. For more information about that museum generally, see our post from July 2014. This exhibit was about émigrés and exiles who came from Europe to Hollywood, and about their role in making movies in the 1930s and 40s. It dovetailed nicely with our prior visit to LACMA, with its “Haunted Screens” exhibit about German expressionist filmmakers in the 1920s. (See the immediately preceding post.)
We followed a red carpeted walkway from the main Skirball museum over to its special exhibition space. The hallway was lined with movie posters from Academy award winning movies associated with émigrés and exiles, including for instance The Lost Weekend written by Billy Wilder. The first part of the exhibit had photos from the building of Universal City in 1915. Carl Laemmle, who founded Universal Studios, is a leading example of one of those who emigrated to the United States for better opportunities. The exhibit then shifted from émigrés to those who were exiled from Europe, that is who had to flee Nazi persecution. One display case had immigration papers for a number of well-known Hollywood personalities, including Marlene Dietrich, Peter Lorre, and S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall. There was a whole room given over to Casablanca, a movie whose cast was made up largely of exiles. We knew this from having read the book Round Up The Usual Suspects by Aljean Harmetz some years ago, but we love the movie, so it was fun to watch the film clips and see the rest of the items in that room.
In the main exhibition space there was a clever division, with one side given over to displays about comedy movies made by exiles and émigrés, and the other side given over to noir movies. The comedies included, among others, Harvey and It Started with Eve. The noir side included Mildred Pierce and Sunset Boulevard, another one of our favorites. Looking at the Mildred Pierce display, Margaret commented that she had never liked Joan Crawford. Meredith replied that was probably a common sentiment. Bob, the contrarian, suspects that was not a common sentiment until the biographical movie Mommy Dearest came out, based on the book by Christina Crawford.
The last part of the main exhibition had a section with displays about the Hollywood 10 and the House Committee on Un-American Activities and another section about the émigré salons and social life in Los Angeles.
We then returned to the main part of the museum and toured a related special exhibition about the “noir effect.” That exhibit featured contemporary art, such as paintings and graphic novels, which draw on the noir film genre. One wall had a large photo of a street scene, in front of which the visitor was invited to take photos. We did.
We ate in the museum restaurant, which we have always enjoyed. Lately Margaret has seemed to want quesadillas whenever we go someplace that offers them. Zeidler’s does not. We had joked before we picked her up that maybe she would want a cheese blintz, which is the closest thing to a quesadilla on this menu. Without prompting from us, she did in fact ask for cheese blintzes when she saw them on the menu. She enjoyed them, as did Meredith. The blintzes were served with a large side portion of fresh melon and pineapple slices. Bob had a salmon pastrami sandwich, which he also enjoyed.
The museum was quite busy. In addition to many regular visitors like us, there was also a conference going on and a wedding party on the central terrace. Usually we visit on Saturdays, and we did not recall the museum being this crowded before. This time we went on a Sunday, and perhaps the facility is busier then, since it is not the Sabbath.
Parking is free, and there is a large parking garage. Wheelchair access is easy. The museum participates in the Bank of America Museums on Us program.