Guest Commentary: Documentary captures Jewel City’s gleam

Have you ever wondered about all of the vintage buildings and homes in Glendale and how it is that amid the progressive growth of the city, there still remain so many beautiful structures, businesses and people?

A documentary entitled “Vintage Glorious Glendale” is in movie theaters and encompasses the history, the buildings, the businesses and the people of this fair city.

My production company, Velvet Rhodes Productions, has created this entertaining and exhaustive look at Glendale. It’s an enthusiastic view of the vintage buildings, businesses, homes and people of Glendale with beautiful cinematography, stirring music and informative interviews.

Interviews and on-site visits show how Glendale started and how it progressed . From the Alex Theatre to the YWCA, Metzler Violin Store, Sons of the Revolution Library, YMCA, Glendale Community College, Central Library and Foxy’s Restaurant, I believe you will be astounded at the amount of information contained in “Vintage Glorious Glendale.”

The inspiration came from my foray into the Facebook group “Vintage Glendale – the Jewel City” when I was in the middle of producing the Glendale International Film Festival last year.

I thought it would be great to have a documentary all about the history of Glendale and was given great support from the group, whose many vintage photos and stories started the filming. A companion book, “Vintage Glorious Glendale,” was also created with 149 pages of photos and text.

It was amazing how supportive everyone who participated was and the great amount of stories they shared could be made into a series of individual hourlong documentaries about each individual business, building and home.

There is such a wealth of unknown elements in Glendale, and everyone has a great story to be told. I intend to tell those stories. Also, a series of historical documentaries about La Crescenta, Montrose and La Cañada is in the works.

“Vintage Glorious Glendale” is screening at the MGN Five Star Cinema, 128 N. Maryland Ave., through this Sunday.Tickets are available at www.mgnfivestarcinema.com. If you can’t make the screening, the DVD and book are available online at www.velvetrhodesproductions.com.

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VELVET RHODES wrote, directed, produced and narrates “Vintage Glorious Glendale.” She can be reached via email at velvet@velvetrhodesproductions.com.