Hooray for Hollywood(a) | 星光云集好莱坞(a)

by Marcus Maurice

Sometimes known as Tinseltown and Hollyweird, Hollywood is one of the most famous places in the world.

不论是被当作星光闪闪的花花世界，还是充斥着光怪陆离的地方，好莱坞堪称是世界上最知名的地点之一。

In 1923, a new housing development was being constructed in the hills above Los Angeles, California. A friend of the developers suggested that they make a big sign displaying the name of the new community, HOLLYWOODLAND. Soon, a sign with 30- by 50-foot letters and 4,000 light bulbs was erected on the hillside. Originally scheduled to be up for only a year and a half, the Hollywood sign has been present in some shape or form for more than 85 years now.

The sign is the perfect personification of the over-the-top lifestyle that many people have in Hollywood. Celebrities are constantly being chased by paparazzi, sports stars are treated like royalty, and million-dollar deals seem to be made everywhere. However, Hollywood wasn't always this way.

At the turn of the 20th century, New York City was home to most motion picture productions. It wasn't until 1915 that Hollywood was actually producing the majority of the films in the United States. The four major film companies as well as other smaller ones turned Hollywood from a suburb into a movie-making capital. In 1947, the first television station started operating in Hollywood. Soon, record companies and sports teams were relocating to southern California to get a piece of the action. The Capitol Records Building, opened in 1956, was the first ever round office building. This 13-story building was constructed to look like a bunch of vinyl records stacked on top of each other. Other notable buildings in Hollywood include Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which has held countless movie premieres, and the Laugh Factory, where many of today's top comedians perfected their stand-up routines.

1923 年，加州洛杉矶的山坡上正在兴建一座新住宅区。开发商的一名友人建议他们做一个大型的招牌展示该小区的名称――HOLLYWOODLAND。不久，一面有着宽 30 呎、高 50 呎的字母和 4 千颗灯泡的广告牌在山腰竖立起来。原本，这块招牌只打算放一年半，但直到现在，这代表好莱坞的招牌已经以某种形式存在超过了 85年。

这块招牌是许多好莱坞居民过的奢华生活的最佳代表。狗仔队经常尾随在名人后面，运动明星受到的礼遇彷佛皇室，而且似乎到处都在进行百万美元的交易。不过，好莱坞并非一向如此。

在 20 世纪初，纽约市是大部分电影的出产地。一直要到 1915 年，美国大多数的电影才真正从好莱坞出品。4 家主流电影公司和其他的小公司让好莱坞从郊区变成了电影制片中心。1947 年，第一家电视台开始在好莱坞营运。不久，唱片公司和体育队伍为了想分一杯羹纷纷迁移到南加州。1956 年开张的首都唱片大楼是第一座圆形的办公大楼。这座 13 层楼的建筑外观如同一张张堆栈起来的黑胶唱片。好莱坞其他著名的大楼包括举办过无数次电影首映的中国戏院，以及今日许多顶尖喜剧演员磨练单人脱口秀的欢乐工厂。