L.A.’s List of Great Things Gets Shorter by the Minute

A large display ad on “One Hundred Great Things About Living in L.A.” sponsored by the First Federal Bank of California has been recently popping up in various periodicals.

Evidently meant to dispel the gloom over the riots, it lists 100 Southern California places or institutions that are, indeed, great, among them the County Museum of Art, the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dodgers, the Mark Taper Forum, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Hollywood Bowl and the Wiltern Theater (the last two being miraculous survivors).

Of course, not even a list of 100 could include all the wonders of this place. Whenever I compose a list of entities, good or bad, some readers are either outraged or at least disappointed that I did not include something else.

Though the bank’s list is a feast, I’m sure some readers will complain that it has left out important things. Indeed, I can think of several institutions or places that might have been included.

What about the Ostrich Farm, out on Mission Road? It was started in 1906 to provide feathers for women’s hats and survived the passing of that vogue.

And the Alligator Farm, just down the road. It has 1,000 gators in 20 pools. They range in size from 4-inch babies to a 13-foot monster, which is said to be more than 300 years old.

Surely the Carthay Circle Theater deserved to be on the list. This museum- theater on San Vicente Boulevard is the home of numerous big Hollywood premieres. It is a monolithic white concrete building with blue trim and a tower with a searchlight.

Perhaps it is of interest only to journalists who worked there, like me, but the Herald-Express Building on Trenton near Pico is architecturally interesting, a modified Spanish Renaissance design with much limestone decoration in a profusely churrigueresque style.

Let’s not forget Clifton’s Cafeteria on Olive Street. This romantic establishment is decorated like a South Sea island, with palm trees, grottoes, stuffed monkeys, tropical birds and biblical murals. Diners may pay whatever they like or nothing at all.

How about the Tropical Ice Gardens near UCLA? Here we have a year-round outdoor ice skating rink surrounded by an Alpine village, with seating for 8,000.

Few places offer more bucolic pleasure than Busch Gardens, on a slope of the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena. Waterfalls cascade down into a lake graced by swans. Terra-cotta figures of fairy-tale characters (Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella) abound. Wonderful place to take the kids.

Certainly one of the world’s most glamorous hotels is the Ambassador, on Wilshire Boulevard west of Vermont. This hotel, with its extensive grounds and cottages, is not only a favorite with many Hollywood celebrities, but its famous nightclub, the Cocoanut Grove, has been a showcase for almost every entertainment star, including Bing Crosby, Tony Martin and Frank Sinatra.

Nearby is the Brown Derby Cafe No. 1, an architectural fantasy typical of the Southern California landscape. It invites its customers to “eat in the hat.” Even more popular with celebrities is the Brown Derby on Vine Street in Hollywood, which is famous for its walls of photographs autographed by the stars.

Many other restaurants also deserve mention. There’s Lindy’s on Wilshire, Carpenter’s Drive-In on Sunset, Scandia on the Sunset Strip and the Seven Seas on Hollywood Boulevard, where rain falls every 15 minutes on the roof over the bar. (One of my favorites.)

How could we forget the glamorous fun ship S. S. Catalina, which sails between Wilmington and Avalon, on Catalina Island, with 2,000 passengers. It has a cocktail lounge, dancing in the ballroom and a moonlight cruise twice a week. Surely the Catalina is the prototype for the love boats.

First Federal Bank is really remiss, however, in overlooking Marineland of the Pacific, certainly one of our main attractions. It is idyllically located on the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula overlooking the Pacific. Here, educated whales perform, sea lions clap and honk, dolphins perform acrobatic routines and play baseball and thousands of improbable aquatic species are displayed in enormous tanks. Surely this is a showplace that is likely to become ever more popular, year after year.

And of course we have the world’s most charming railroad--Angels Flight.

What’s that you say? All those places are gone? Obliterated? Kaput?

Well, yes, of course. That’s the point. Los Angeles is the temporary city. Its landmarks are here today, gone tomorrow.

It’s true that we have 100 great things that make living here worthwhile.

But how many of them will still be around tomorrow? Or 10 years from now? Some of our great old motion-picture palaces are hanging on by a thread.

Angels Flight has been missing for years. I keep hearing that it is coming back. It will soon reappear on what is left of Bunker Hill.

I’ll believe it when I see it.