UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – During the first few decades of Hollywood’s ascendancy to American legend, tourists who came from faraway places to view the town returned home disappointed. Where was the glamour?
The visitors had placed their shoes into the cement footprints in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater – Clark Gable’s were large, Mary Pickford’s tiny. But Hollywood Boulevard resembled Main Street back home, and the actual studios were as tightly guarded as Fort Knox.
That changed 40 years ago, on July 15, 1964, when Universal Studios began offering visits to what was then, and still is, the world’s largest movie studio. At the time, I decided to review the new attraction through the eyes of my daughters, Nancy, 16, and Janet, 12.
Most of the tour, which cost $2.50 for adults and $1.25 for children, was observed from seats on a tram, though we were able to get off and walk through Doris Day’s luxurious dressing room.
The tram lumbered through rows of hulking sound stages and past a shack used in the ’20s for “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and a suburban house from “Leave It to Beaver.
We also saw one-sided sets depicting New York, Paris and dusty Western towns, plus the spooky motel and original house from “Psycho.” We witnessed no real filmmaking, but Ernest Borgnine did wave to our tram from the “McHale’s Navy” set.
The tour paused at the visitors center where two stuntmen staged a gunfight on a Western street, one of them falling from a second floor into a pile of mattresses.
Fast-forward to 2004. It’s now Universal Studios Hollywood, has its own ZIP code and the admission price has risen to $49.75 for adults and $39.75 for children. It’s also been through four ownerships and is now held by General Electric.
No longer a mere tram tour, today’s Universal offers a wide range of attractions, more like an amusement park.
Also included within the Universal complex are the free-access City Walk, a cluster of 65 restaurants and shops, movie theaters and an amphitheater.
Universal had no plans to officially commemorate the anniversary, but it seemed like a good time for another family visit, this time with grandsons Ryan, 9, and Tristan McGowan, 7.
We begin by taking the tram tour. The original pink “GlamorTrams” are long gone, replaced by trolleys that resemble San Francisco cable cars.
The first stop: the editing department, where our guide explains production techniques. On the way out he asks Ryan, “Are you having fun?” Ryan replies with a child’s candor: “Not really.” The guide assures him there is plenty of fun ahead.
And there is. The trolley stops at a tranquil Mexican village. Suddenly there’s thunder and lightning and a tsunami pours down a rustic road. Spectators shriek as it heads for the trolley. But it swerves and rushes past us, leaving only minor splashes.
The trolley winds through outdoor sets that look much the same as 40 years ago. It passes the still-standing Bates Motel from “Psycho” and the adjacent 3/4-scale mansion, where Mama Bates waves to us from an upstairs window.
Soon we arrive in the quiet seaside town of Amity and the notorious shark from “Jaws” is threatening townspeople and trolley riders alike.
We enter a large barnlike building and view the scene of a subway station. Just then, a simulated earthquake strikes and the station begins to come apart.
A huge sheet of asphalt falls from the street above, and a giant fuel truck slides toward us. It halts in time, belching billows of flame. Two autos also threaten to crash into the trolley.
Just when the danger seems over, a water main bursts and a torrent rushes in our direction.
“That made me all shaky,” Ryan admitted when we re-emerged into the tranquil California sunshine.
“Me, too,” Tristan agreed.
Yet when we lunch at a Mexican cafeteria, both agree the earthquake is their favorite so far.
When the tour ended, we had seen no real filmmaking, just like 40 years ago. It had been more like a trip through Universal history, dating back to its founding in 1915.
In the afternoon, Ryan and Tristan took the park’s thrill rides.
“Waterworld,” strangely named for a movie flop, is a major show and the boys’ new favorite, even though they get soaked.
What is it with Universal and water?
As the day wears on, the tireless twosome sample further thrills: “Terminator 2: 3D,” in which an automated Arnold Schwarzenegger vanquishes automated villains; “Back to the Future,” where one can sail through time in a DeLorean; “Backdraft,” where you can witness the realistic burning of a large warehouse.
Time and a power failure prevent the boys from indulging in Universal’s other movie-themed attractions, including “Jurassic Park – The Ride,” “Shrek 4D,” “Van Helsing: Fortress Dracula” and the newly opened “Revenge of the Mummy.”
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