Hopefully opening later in 2019, Hollywood will finally have a museum celebrating the art and history of film.

Dawn Hudson, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said, “It’s been 90 years since the Academy founders proposed creating a museum of  film in Los Angeles.”

That says it all. You might well ask why it has taken 90 years.

If Debbie Reynolds was still with us, she would be asking the same question. She saw how appropriate it would be if Hollywood history was preserved for future generations. And it is sad that her priceless collection from the 1970 MGM sale could not be kept together.

 

The new museum on Wiltshire Blvd.was formerly the May Company building which was constructed in 1939. It has a new spherical addition which connects to the main building via glass bridges.

Drawing from the Academy’s own collection of objects, there will be six storeys of space. There will be a 1000 seat cinema and a smaller 300 seat space ( named for Ted Mann).

 

The Grand Lobby will open with an exhibition about the making of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Items like the doors from Rick’s Cafe Americain from CASABLANCA and Shirley Temple’s tap shoes from THE LITTLE COLONEL are just two examples of what might be on display.

There will be major film events, daily screenings, exhibitions and live performances.

For more information you  can visit http://www.academymuseum.org