GOOD magazine's Alissa Walker uncovers the story behind those trance-inducing 1960s videos of the Sunset Strip. They were discovered by Alison Martino, a producer and DIY LA historian, who developed an appreciation for mid-century LA when cavorting around the city with her father, "Godfather" actor Al Martino. Martino's chronicle of vintage LA videos and pictures started when she was digging through footage for a production job: "Everyone saw the shots of Marilyn putting her handprints in Grauman's, but I'd want to know what the parking meters looked like." Martino started a blog about LA mid-century architecture and then, last month, a Facebook page called "Vintage Los Angeles." That's where the Sunset videos went viral (she found them in a producers' library and were likely shot for "The Mod Squad"). A popular subject on the site is the gaudy palace known as the "Sheik's House," which burned down in the '80s under mysterious circumstances. Martino also wants her history lessons to become preservation stories, e.g. the mostly-abandoned modernist space on Sunset that once housed the Scandia restaurant (pictured).
· Razed LA Landmarks Rise Again on Vintage Los Angeles [GOOD]
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