“The greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling.” Cecil B. DeMille
Paramount has been in the news a lot lately for its takeover of Warner Bros. Now that the takeover has been finalized, I hope we can get back to what really matters. Making movies.
My love of movies and seeing where they’re made is what inspired me to visit Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
Tour on Sunday when less is off-limits
I went on a Sunday when street parking was easy. And free. And fewer areas in the studio are restricted by active shoots. When I checked in, I was given a pass with a hologram that you wear on a lanyard during the tour. Inside the waiting area for the tours is a history of Paramount and a display of some of the most famous Oscars the studio won: The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Braveheart, and Wings. There are also wardrobes from famous franchises such as Star Trek, a helmet from Top Gun: Maverick, and a prosthetic head of an aged Brad Pitt from the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. So that’s what the ageless Brad Pitt is supposed to look like at 60!
That’s a real Oscar they give for the photo op!
Just before the tour, the guide handed my wife and me an Oscar to carry while he took a photo of us. It was heavy! After the guide took the photo, I pretended to accidentally drop it and caught it before it hit the ground.
The guide said, “Sir, I just saw my career flash before my eyes.”
“Why?” I asked. “It’s a reproduction, right?”
“No, Sir,” he said. “That’s a real Oscar.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised.
Turns out it was! From the 1953 “War of the Worlds” movie.
No more than 7 people on any tour
For the Paramount Studio tours, there are no more than seven people on any tour. Our tour had five. No big, crowded buses. It was intimate, and you were able to get really close to the magic of making movies.
The Bronson Gate, which the actor named himself after
The iconic Bronson Gate is the spiritual heart of Paramount Studios. In the 1920s and 30s, it was where extras gathered to hopefully get chosen for a movie. It’s also where an unknown actor named Charles Buchinski decided to change his last name to Bronson so he wouldn’t sound so Eastern European.
Nearby, I sat on the bench Tom Hanks sat on as Forrest Gump. I even tried to have a Forrest Gump-type expression and failed miserably.
I saw the Men’s Room in the main screening hall that doubled as a set where many a Hollywood fight scene was filmed.
The tour took us through the New York backlot where facades of buildings stood in for Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. No New York skyscrapers, unfortunately. Famous movies filmed here were The Godfather I and II, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Forrest Gump.
Legendary Soundstages
For me, it was the legendary sound stages and surrounding offices that captured my attention and imagination. A huge fan of the movie Sunset Boulevard, I saw the outside of the office where screenwriter Joe Gillis, played by William Holden, fell in love with script reader Betty Schaefer, sealing his fate with screen icon Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson.
I saw Soundstage 18, where Rear Window was filmed in its entirety, a long way from its New York setting. And another where scenes from Vertigo were shot. I also saw Soundstage 19, where Citizen Kane was filmed and Soundstages 27 and 30, where The Godfather was filmed.
But these are just some of the many iconic films made here. During the tour, we visited the inside of a vast and empty sound stage and the set of a popular TV show. (But we were asked not to say which one.)
Mind-blowing props
We stopped at the props department, where I saw the massive props from the Transformers as well as props from the Star Trek, Mission Impossible and Terminator movies.
Movie miracles really are made here
Back near the Bronson Gate, we saw the blue-painted parking lot that could be filled with water for scenes that called for oceans or lakes. The most famous scene filmed here was Charlton Heston as Moses parting the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments before there was even CGI. The wall behind it was painted as a stormy sky for the scene.
How does the Paramount tour compare with other studio tours?
While I haven’t been on the Sony Pictures Studio tour, I have been on the Universal and Warner Bros. ones. Both of those tours struck me as mass tourism on the LA tourist trail. The crowds and buses were big. You glimpsed and glanced at movie magic while moving at speed.
“I’m ready for my close-up”
At the Paramount Studios tour, you really feel like you’re getting a close-up look at the studio and the business of movie making.
At the end of the film Sunset Boulevard, former movie star Norma Desmond, now delusional, mistakes the flashing lights of police cruisers for the klieg lights of a film set. She approaches a camera and speaks to a non-existent Cecil B. DeMille. She says, “I’m ready for my close-up.”
If you’re ready for your close-up of Hollywood’s magic machine, then a tour of Paramount Studios is for you.
Price:
The tour costs $71 for two hours. (There are more expensive VIP tours available.)
Address:
5515 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, Calif. 90038
Parking:
You can park at the Paramount lot across the street for $20. Street parking is available too. I parked on the street.
When are the tours available?
Every day except major holidays.
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