In better days -1964. Tour Promo-Actually 3 car trams in pink and white days, you could never maneuver 25 cars around turns nor pull all that weight, especially up hills. You would need multiple Power units. Only the lead car “power unit” has an engine. Like a long freight train, you would need several engines…
The Phantom lurking around Universal City…
The highest natural vantage point in the mainly faces outwards over the San Fernando Valley.
The sign no longer shines here welcoming guests…
Future Roller Coaster Ride-Fast and Furious
A train trolley took you to Victoria Station located just below the wonderful sign.
The mountain that would bare fruit of Universal City sign for decades above North Hollywood. The next closet big sign on a hilltop is two mountains south of here called Hollywood
3 car Pink and White Glamour Trams…Group about to board after visiting with the Robert Wagner and Lucille Ball video tapes. Our Old Property Department has the Movie Billboards attached. This tram will embark through there next…All Aboard-Watch your arms and legs as the gates slam shut.
Night Gallery pictures our the next thing guests will see.
My favorite Writer, Producer ever… Rod Serling. My friends and I would watch Twilight Zone reruns at the sets they were filmed at. The actual real color sets would be framed by the Black and White images off my battered old T.V. That dynamic was eerily cool.
Nostalgia at it’s Best…K-Mart and a new Monster attraction at Universal. The Saving Place meets the Haunted Place!
Your welcome inside…
A King and a Knight headed to…Castle Dracula
Michael Jackson fits right in…Universal was a favorite place for him, for it’;s haunted private tours and a facility for two videos, including his very last ever.
The Universal Amphitheater…One of the absolute best concert venues ever in Los Angeles. Right up there with The Greek, The Ford, and the Hollywood Bowl. Picture left, the original roofless Amphitheater, Picture right, the curtain is closed! I have witnessed everyone from David Bowie, Elton John- to Pope John Paul II. The 67 year old Pontiff was greeted by 6,000 admiring fans, a welcome worthy of –A Rockstar
Mr Tony Melendez is the most moving of all performances ever performed in this venue…A side bar to this visit included the Pontiff inside a Glamour Tram. It was taken off lot and was driven through Hollywood, by his security detail. Just one car, the power unit. Things we will never see again…
“Keep your hands off“- A monument that on a clear day can be seen from the famous Hollywood roadways to beaches off in the distance
The studios and the populace in the valley only could see the Universal City sign, this sign projects the opposite direction, over Hollywood and to the movie studios on the west end of town. The Universal City sign and this Grand Master fit together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. Welcome to Hollywood -Ladies and Gentlemen!
Turn the channel -Please
A Bad Hollywood rerun at Universal Studios continues…as NBC Universal cuts out more of its heart and soul that was built by MCA Universal to transform what was glorious studio into a children’s theme park. New Soundstages and Roller Coasters are replacing all things iconic on this 467 acre lot. Everyone who has time spent at this studio is still adjusting to The Mario Brothers Ride replacing Stage 28, the iconic Phantom of the Opera Stage and the opulent Opera House inside.
Carl Laemmle is rolling in his grave once again, along side Lew Wasserman, Boris Karloff, Bella Lugosi. also. I can picture these owners and their monsters running amok like a curse of the has been unleashed, Dracula’s castle has also been removed to fit in this Fast and Furious Roller Coaster project.
Even Animal spirits from the Animal Actor Stage, which was located just behind this iconic sign, have their dander up. I have some great stories involving escaped animals on the backlot, stay tuned for those…From a famous Orangutan on the lose (twice), to famous show dogs that escaped from the upper lot to wonder through the backlot on a busy Friday night. Three well groomed K-9’s showing up on a New York film set as if looking for a part.
Animal Actors are part of the history here, but no longer. That too has been removed. I sure have stories involving stars who can’t sign autographs, but prefer to lick you.
Things we all loved that have been removed for this theme park redesign. Included, the World Famous Universal Amphitheater, Stage 28-better known as the Phantom of the Opera stage, and now this iconic sign that identified this hilltop and the wonders sitting below it.
North Hollywood and the 101 Freeway all looked at this simple gem, inviting you inside from beyond the backdoor. The next biggest sign from here is the Hollywood Sign, which formerly said Hollywoodland. That one’s safe since- NBC can’t touch it.
Rather than being the bearer of bad news– I wish to be the spirit liaison of what is and what use to be. No expansion was bigger here than City Walk and i’s theaters, restaurants, and shops, that sprung up in what was a huge parking lot for tours, before structures were utilized. The barn in the center of 6 Points is the top of seniority set and that’s because it is real and existed even prior to Carl Laemmle.
That wonderful structure is it’s own history lesson in both film and practicality. Horses can be stored inside and were often. Westerns are rarely made anymore, especially in town. Universal still has the most original acreage and still standing sets, thanks largely to A Most Popular Tram Ride. We all owe these super long people movers our respect for keeping this lot strapped with cash, or it would be condo city as GE was eyeing to do.
Written and lived by…Donnie Norden
Phantom of the Backlots 