THE OVIATT BUILDING
Docs / Features
Docs / Features
They called it “the castle of our dreams", and to this day, visitors and passing onlookers gaze up at the Romanesque Art Deco marvel at 617 South Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles with wonder. The history of the James Oviatt Building spans a century, beginning when it’s creator arrived in Los Angeles as a window dresser, with an eccentric taste for male fashion and glamour. Virtually a second home to Clark Gable, Errol Flynn and other male stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the Oviatt Building housed L.A.’s finest haberdashery and catered to filmdom’s titans. In this feature length documentary, director Seth M. Shulman and writer/producer Marc Chevalier unearth misinformation that has been recorded and interview the many people that helped shaped the building’s past and future.
Before it’s premiere screening, The Cicada Club housed an 80th Anniversary celebration high atop the opulent penthouse of the Oviatt Building. There developer Wayne Ratkovich, architect Brenda Levin and team were honored for their restoration of the structure. It was also the first glimpse of the documentary, screened in the rooms of the penthouse as the celebration occurred. Later that year, the film had it’s premiere at the historic Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood to a large audience. The event, sponsored by the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, was a tremendous success. Featured in numerous television shows and films, including “American Horror Story", “Suicide Squad", and “The Artist", the building has seen yet another rebirth. The film left the public eye for several years, but is back for the streaming era.