Welcome To The Hollywood Hightower!
I love iconic Hollywood, and it is disappearing – but there is a website that is fighting back! Alison Martino’s terrific website http://alisonmartino.com houses her “Vintage Los Angeles” social media – it has a wide variety of stories about some of entertainment’s most fascinating haunts, including a great story about this cool building, which has also inspired some of Hollywood’s greatest Artists!
“Vintage Los Angeles” Rocks!
Here is what Alison posted once on her Facebook page for “Vintage Los Angeles:”
“The Hollywood Hightower” is located on High Tower Drive in the Hollywood Hills tucked behind Hollywood Bowl. It was designed in 1935 by Carl Kay – and can be seen in Robert Altman’s 1973 film ‘The Long Goodbye” as detective Philip Marlowe’s apartment played by Elliot Gould.
(note: more on this film in a moment)
Alison adds: “It was apparently the inspiration for Raymond Chandler’s book, “The High Window” in which Chandler describes the residence of Philip Marlowe as being on the cliffs above High Tower Drive in a building with a fancy elevator tower.”
She also added this nugget of trivia I never knew:
“Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love also lived here for a few years in the early 90s. Kurt wrote most of, “IN UTERO” in one of these apartments. See the awesome documentary, “Hit So Hard” for more insight.”
Oh yeah, IT HAS AN ELEVATOR!
First of all, thanks to “Curbed LA” for this great shot of the hightower, and make sure you go to Alison’s great “Vintage Los Angeles” website for all kinds of great Hollywood history – and of course, it’s time to look at a classic film from the greatest decade for cinema – the 70’s – where the “Hightower” co-stars in the film!
“The Long Goodbye!”
If you want an inside tour of the “Hollywood Hightower” and don’t happen to live in Hollywood, well as Alison pointed out, Robert Altman’s neglected masterpiece “The Long Goodbye” was filmed there!
First, check out the trailer:
Robert Altman directed this quirky, “L.A. Noir” starring Elliot Gould as detective Philip Marlowe…based on Raymond Chandler’s brilliant series of novels about the “tough as nails” detective…in such classics as “The Big Sleep” and “The High Window”…
Here is how the film’s plot is described by the website IMDB: “Chain-smoking, wisecracking private eye Philip Marlowe drives a buddy from LA to the Tijuana border and returns home to an apartment full of cops who arrest him for abetting the murder of his friend’s wife. After Marlowe’s release, following the reported suicide in Mexico of his friend, a beautiful woman hires him to locate her alcoholic and mercurial husband. Then, a hoodlum and his muscle visit to tell Marlowe that he owes $350,000, mob money the dead friend took to Mexico.”
This film was completely overlooked when it was released in 1973: Altman’s acerbic approach was radically different than previous films like “The Big Sleep” with Humphrey Bogart as Marlowe…but it is full of great moments and mood.
FYI, Elliott Gould improvised the scene in police custody in which he smears fingerprint ink all over his face.
Detective: “Listen – what are you here for, Marlowe?”
Philip Marlowe: [smearing fingerprint ink under his eyes] “Well I’m here ’cause I’m gettin’ ready for the big game Saturday. You know, we’re playing Notre Dame and I hope I catch a touchdown pass.”
“The Long Goodbye” is also one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s earliest movie roles!
Check out this classic Robert Altman film!
The “Ball Four” Connection!
Yes, baseball’s original “bad boy”, pitcher Jim Bouton, has a role in “The Long Goodbye”! If you don’t know Bouton, he wrote what is the greatest baseball memoir of all time, about his comeback effort on the Seattle Pilots expansion team:
When I read this as a youngster it changed my life – I never imagined I would get the real inside look at the world of baseball – and it is hilarious as well!
Read all about this classic baseball book by clicking onto my story here:
Such an iconic building, check it out the next time you are in LA!
There are so many great stories about this city – like this classic film noir:
“Chinatown” is a brilliant film, and now there is a great book all about the making of the film – it’s a terrific read – see more here:
One of the surprising aspects of the book is the role of Susanna Moore. You may know her as the Author of the novel “In The Cut”, but she worked in Hollywood in the 70’s and was part of this scene, and featured in the book!
Susanna wrote her autobiography of life in Hollywood in the 70’s.
Her memoir is a terrific look at that time as well, and you can see more about it by clicking on my story here:
If you enjoy these posts, why not subscribe and never miss out? It’s easy, and there are NO ads of any kind, just stuff I like…click on the main page and “follow” me on the upper right…
Thanks so much for reading and if you like this story, share on social media!
Categories: 70's Cinema, Action Films, Art, Books / Media, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Film Noir, Great Films, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
Hi John, this is a great tower. Just like Rapunzel’s tower in the story.
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That’s a great point Robbie!
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Fascinating information.
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Ball Four was a great read. I remember Jim Bouton as a hard-throwing pitcher for the Yankees. After he hurt his arm, he became a knuckleball pitcher with the Seattle Pilots, who later moved to Milwaukee to become the Milwaukee Brewers.
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I was a very young boy when he played for Seattle for that one year…and he captured their single year in existence beautifully! Thanks for commenting!
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What a fascinating building. Very cool, and I wonder if the area was remote when it was built in the 30’s.
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Great question Jennie…my guess is probably not too much as it is close to the Hollywood Bowl and the famous Chinese Theater in Hollywood…as opposed to the legendary Pickfair estate of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, which was 5 miles west in the very rural Beverly Hills…and I live a half a mile from it!
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Thanks for putting the land into perspective. I always think of the 20’s and 30’s as rural most everywhere there, but now I know that’s not so. Very cool that you lived lived 5 miles from the Fairbanks estate.
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Literally a mile away from it – and it sits down the block from Charlie Chaplin’s original estate! History all around!
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That is really something! Yes, history all around.
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Thanks John for this info. I have not watched ‘The Long Goodbye’, but would be more interested in the tower itself, lol.
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I like the the stark-looking tower a lot, but I am less fond of the film ”The Long Goodbye’. I could never take to Elliot Gould in any role, he always seemed smarmy and smug to me, for some reason I cannot explain.
Best wishes, Pete.
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