Miceli's: Hollywood's Oldest Italian Restaurant

The great thing about Los Angeles is that there is always something new to see or do. Even if that something new is actually really old. I don't know how many times I've passed Miceli's, the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood, without ever stopping in. I would always think to myself, "next time,"  but next time never came - until this past Mother's Day weekend.  

My wife's favorite food is Italian and I wanted to take her to an Italian restaurant we had never tried before. This seemed like the perfect time to try Miceli's. And once I learned that Miceli's had a Lucille Ball connection (my wife's favorite actress) I knew this place was a winner. Besides, being the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood, an area where restaurants change every few months, I figured Miceli's must be doing something right?

Miceli's opened in 1949 when Carmen and Silvia Miceli, with the help of their brothers and sisters, put their funds together to start a restaurant. Carmen, a Chicago native, came to Los Angeles shortly after fighting in World War II. When he started his Hollywood restaurant using family recipes brought from Sicily by way of Chicago, he opened what would be Hollywood's first pizzeria. Being in Hollywood, Miceli's attracted the stars and regular folks alike.

According to Joe Miceli, Carmen's son and one of the current co-owners, it was at Miceli's that Lucille Ball learned to toss a pizza for an episode of I Love Lucy. Watch a clip of that episode here. Other classic celebrities who have come to Miceli's throughout the years include Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sal Mineo, the Lloyd Bridges family, The Beatles, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and probably every classic Hollywood star with a taste for Italian.

This photo from Glass of Win.

The place feels like a step back in time and what you would expect from an old Hollywood restaurant. In fact, an interesting bit of trivia, the wooden booths inside of Miceli's come from another old Hollywood restaurant, the famous Pig 'n Whistle restaurant located next door to the Egyptian Theatre. When the Pig 'n Whistle closed in 1949 (the restaurant sat unoccupied for 50 years before reopening) Miceli's bought up all the booths. Many of those booths can still be found inside Miceli's and my wife and I happened to be seated in one. In the picture below you can see carved into the booth is an image of a pig with a whistle.

Pig 'n Whistle carved into the booth.

Of course, we also happened to be seated under a Chianti bottle signed by someone from Green Bay, Wisconsin. This was fitting because I always tease my wife that everything can be tied back to Wisconsin, a kind of "six degrees of Wisco." Whether it be the long list of actors including Spencer Tracy, Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Fredric March, or directors Orson Welles, Nicholas Ray, Howard Hawks or Eddie Cline, or studio moguls like Carl Laemmle Sr. There are just too many connections to name but I will stop before I annoy you as much as my wife.

Chianti bottles hang from the ceiling.

Inside Miceli's in Hollywood.

Above is a photo we had taken inside of Miceli's. I had already devoured our appetizer, a round of drinks and started in on our pizza before I figured we better get a snapshot.

Joe Miceli discusses the history of the Miceli's restaurant.

One last old Hollywood connection. In one of my favorite noirs, Gun Crazy (1950), There is a scene where the two lead characters Annie and Bart pull their car over near a newsstand on Las Palmas. Although we don't really get a good view of the Miceli's restaurant, the spot where the two pull over is directly across the street from the Hollywood Miceli's. You can see this location in my full post on the Gun Crazy filming locations here.

Have you ever visited Miceli's? What's your favorite dish? We figured for our first time we better try the pizza. It tasted great and all the toppings were nice and fresh.

Who's Got the Action? (1962) - Film Locations

Dean Martin and Lana Turner headline this story about a man with a gambling addiction (Martin) and his wife (Turner) who does what she can to make sure her husband doesn't lose all of their money. The setup is quite a stretch. Turner has Martin's law partner (Eddie Albert) lead Martin to believe that Albert has found the best bookie in town, that bookie, being Martin's wife. The idea is if Martin loses then the money will stay in the household, but unfortunately, Martin goes on a winning streak, forcing Turner to sell their possessions to cover the winnings. Meanwhile, a real bookie in town (Walter Matthau ) is wondering who it is that is getting all the action? 

Despite the tagline claiming to be "the most riotous bedtime story ever!" Who's Got the Action? (1962), really isn't that riotous at all. Even at an hour and a half the movie feels long. Most of the gags just are not that funny and the plot struggles to unfold. I think a more appropriate tagline would be "a mildly amusing bedtime story,"because the film does have some merits.

My favorite part of Who's Got the Action? is seeing Matthau in one of his early film roles. He's the most fun to watch and steals every scene he is in. I also liked the 1960s set designs, particularly the interior of the apartment where Martin and Turner live.

The apartment building where Martin and Turner live is the Talmadge apartments located at 3278 Wilshire Boulevard. This building was built by Joseph M. Schenck in 1922 for his wife, the silent screen actress, Norma Talmadge. 

The Talmadge apartments as seen in the film.

The Talmadge building as it appears today.

The screenshot below shows Martin and Turner leaving the Talmadge apartments and driving down Wilshire Boulevard. They're in the red car, passing Immanuel Presbyterian Church.

Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd

Immanuel Presbyterian Church as it appears now.

Below is a side view of Immanuel Presbyterian Church looking across South Berendo Street from the Talmadge apartment building.

Martin about to enter the Talmadge building. Immanuel 

Presbyterian Church is in the background.

Side view of the church looking across S. Berendo St.

Each day Turner walks to the newsstand outside of the Thrifty drug store to read the paper and see the results of the horse races. The Thrifty drug store was located at 3333 Wilshire Boulevard, just a couple blocks down from the Talmadge apartment building. The Thrifty drug store is gone and now a modern office building, completed in 1983, stands in its place.

Turner visits the Thrifty Drug Store at

3333 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles

A glass and steel skyscraper now stands at

3333 Wilshire Boulevard.

Turner fainted when she saw the results of the races. Eddie Albert helps Turner back to her apartment. In the screenshot below we can see the Talmadage apartment building a couple blocks up in the background. The building in the foreground is a bank and that building is still being used as a bank today.

Eddie Albert helps Turner back to the Talmadge apartment.

Looking up Wilshire at the corner of S. Catalina Street.

A year later, in 1963, Dean Martin made another "bedtime story" comedy called Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? That film isn't a knee jerker either, but it is closer to the "riotous" tagline that this film claims. You can see some of the film locations from Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? here.

Who's Got the Action? is currently available as a Watch Instantly title on Netflix and will be released on DVD on March  27, 2012.

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) - Film Locations

Dean Martin at grand opening for Market Basket

Originally, I was going to post part two of The Big Fix (1978) film locations, but I decided to push that back to next week to make way for the swingin', crooning, Italoamericano, Dean Martin. 

In the film Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) Martin plays a doctor on a popular television show, particularly popular with female audiences. He is engaged to cute art teacher, Melissa Morris (Elizabeth Montgomery) who wants to get married but who is upset with Martin for delaying their wedding plans. Things get worse when all of the wives of Martin's poker playing friends, confusing Martin for his television persona, start coming to him for advice on their marital doldrums. Each encounter with his friends' wives makes Martin even more disenchanted with the idea of marriage and he decides to break his engagement with Melissa. With the help of her friend Stella (Carole Burnett), Melissa comes up with a plan to get Martin to propose to her again.

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) may not be one of Dean Martin's best films, but it does have some funny moments, especially a couple with a scene stealing Carole Burnett appearing in her film debut. Other notable stars supporting Martin include Jill St. John and Richard Conte. The film also features a few interesting film locations, including scenes at Paramount Studios, a Market Basket supermarket, and the Beverly Hills Hotel swimming pool.

The film starts with Dean Martin appearing as the celebrity TV doctor at the grand opening of a Market Basket supermarket. This was a grocery chain and the location used in the film was one that was once located at 11315 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, California. Interesting to note is that this Studio City location had its grand opening in 1963, the same year as this film. The Market Basket supermarket is now gone and today the building is used as a Bally Total Fitness.

A crowd gathers at the Market Basket for the grand opening.

11315 Ventura Blvd, Studio City

11315 Ventura Blvd, Studio City

The Market Basket is now Bally Total Fitness

A view of the Market Basket parking lot.

The parking lot as it appears today.

Another view of the parking lot as seen in the film.

After Martin makes his appearance at the Market Basket grand opening we see Martin take off in his car. While driving, Martin leaves Studio City behind and gets on the 405 freeway heading south. In the next comparison below, Martin is on the 405 freeway with a view of Sherman Oaks in the background.

Martin driving on the 405 Freeway. Sherman Oaks in background.

A present day view looking down the 405 towards Sherman Oaks.

The 405 freeway looking towards Sherman Oaks.

The 405 freeway looking towards Sherman Oaks.

Stella arranges a phony wedding for Melissa, hoping it will make Martin jealous. The scene takes place at the pool of the Beverly Hills Hotel, located at 9461 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California. The pool area looks much different today. The hotel has expanded since the 1960s.

The Beverly Hills Hotel Pool as seen in the film.

An old photograph of the pool maybe from the 1960s.

The pool as it appears today.

Photo from BeverlyHillsHotel.com

Burnett & Martin at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool.

There are a few scenes that take place on the Paramount Studios lot. It's at this studio where Martin's character films his television medical drama. All of the scenes were shot on what is known as "Avenue P" of the Paramount lot.

Dean  Martin exits Stage 18 on Avenue P.

Stage 18 on the Paramount Studios lot.

It's this same area of the Paramount Studios lot that was so famously used in the classic film Sunset Boulevard (1950). Stage 18 is the same stage where in Sunset Boulevard Gloria Swanson goes to visit Cecil B. Demille. 

In the next comparison below, Martin's studio co-workers and poker buddies are seen standing on Avenue P of the Paramount Studios lot. The palm trees in the background are sticking up from Hollywood Forever Cemetery which borders the backside of the Paramount lot. The two story building seen of the left is the "Dreier" building, the same building used by William Holden in Sunset Boulevard  as the writers building.

Martin's studio co-workers and poker buddies.

Looking down Avenue P as it appears today.

The next comparison is still of Avenue P but looking the other direction, away from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery border. On the left is the Medical Services building and straight ahead is the Lubitsch building.

The Paramount Studios Medical Services building as

seen in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963)

Paramount's Medical Service building and Lubitsch 

building as they appear today.

Dean Martin signs autographs outside Stages 5 & 6.

Stage 5 & 6 as they appear today.

This last comparison shows the beginning of Paramount's Avenue P, just past the historic Bronson Gate. Stage 4 can be seen straight ahead and Stage 2 and the Edith Head building can be seen on the right.

Looking towards Paramount's Stage 4 as seen in the film.

Looking towards stage 4 as it appears today.

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) is another Swinging Sixties sex comedy, similar to a couple other films I've covered here on Dear Old Hollywood: Sex and the Single Girl (1964) starring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, Lauran Bacall, and Mel Ferrer and Bachelor in Paradise (1961) starring Bob Hope and Lana Turner.

Thanks to my friend Chris Cottle for the photos at Paramount.

All StreetView images (c) 2011 Google.

Why Palm Springs is Hollywood of the Desert

Palm Springs Postcard

As early as the 1920s, Palm Springs has been a getaway spot for Hollywood stars. Garbo, Clark Gable, Alice Faye, Phil Harris, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bob Hope, Liberace, Walt Disney, Loretta Young, Marilyn Monroe, Kirk Douglas, and many other classic Hollywood stars have stayed and played in Palm Springs. This YouTube video, "Why Palm Springs is Hollywood of the Desert," highlights some of Palm Springs Hollywood connections, including the site of Ginger Rogers' wedding and the room where Frank Capra polished the screenplay for It's a Wonderful Life.