Like the silent film star portrayed in the movie Sunset Boulevard, a very special Public Storage building got a second chance at its movie “close-up” this week.

Norma Desmond in that black-and-white classic only dreamed of her return to the silver screen, but our facility, an early movie studio near that iconic boulevard, really is slated for its comeback, this time on cable television. A film crew was on hand to capture its best side and narrate the history of the locale for a segment about early film industry landmarks. The project is still “in development” as they say in the biz, but stay tuned for more information on air dates and the name of the show. We will share more details as soon as we can.

After all, no story of early Hollywood, or in this case, the now-trendy Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, would be complete without mention of the first enclosed film studio ever. Mack Sennett's first studio was built in 1912 on the site of our Public Storage 1712 Glendale Blvd in Los Angeles in an era of silent capers and slapstick. The building in the historic photo with "Mack Sennett" painted on the roof is shown above as a storage facility. It is also the white building just above the bus in the photo below.

Greats like Charlie Chaplin and the Keystone Cops made their home on the site that now houses our customers’ storage treasures, perhaps even some movie memorabilia!

As it was when it was a studio, the building is a sturdy shell. Instead of set backdrops hanging from numbered tracks in the ceiling, storage units have been added within its steel and concrete walls.

People who drive by may never know its secret. But now when you are in the area, you can give a nod to the location that helped spark the beginning of an industry and of Chaplin’s transition from the stage to screen. And you can recite some of the character Norma Desmond’s lines from Sunset Boulevard, a movie about the silent film era.

“Without me, there wouldn't be any Paramount studio!”

Do you have a favorite historic move or film location? Please share! Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter!

Historic photo courtesy of Wikipedia

by Ann Griffith