Honoring Beverly Hills Independence and the Celluloid Monument

Before celebrities were flocking to Rodeo Drive for luxury designer goods, and tourists were snapping selfies at the Beverly Gardens Park Lily Pond, Beverly Hills was a nondescript ranch in Los Angeles.

The city we have come to know and love with the world’s most famously recognizable zip code, 90210, started out as an indigenous piece of land with a bean field owned by Vincente Valdez. Little did anyone know at that time, the natural resource of running water that flowed from Coldwater Canyon, would one day prove to be more prosperous than oil.

Beverly Hills gained independence on April 24, 1923 (even prohibition was suspended for the night) and that historic milestone is celebrated every year on this date. If you’d like to take a deeper dive,“The Stars Who Saved Beverly Hills” is a short film released by the Beverly Hills Historical Society which reveals how the world’s most famous small town became its own city independent from Los Angeles, thanks to some old-Hollywood hustle and tenacity.

The world’s first movie stars of the 1920s, including Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, might have helped to save the now glamorous enclave, but this plight also gave birth to celebrity politics.

Historically, the area was the homeland of the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe of Native Americans, who relied on the streams that flowed down toward what is now Beverly Drive and Sunset Boulevard. They referred to the site as “Gathering of the Waters,” or “El Rodeo de las Aguas,” in Spanish.

An oil company eventually bought the city, but the clean water supply turned out to be the real value of the land. As an oasis in the middle of the desert, in the early 1900s, the now famous landmark pond was used as a selling point to lure people to buy homes in the area. Again, water was at the helm of the pending success. Oilman and real estate developer Burton Green, who co-founded the Rodeo Land and Water Company in 1906, and promised residents an unlimited water supply, named the city Beverly Hills in 1914 (after Beverly Farms in Massachusetts) – but the heart and soul of the town was originally built around The Beverly Hills Hotel which was a hub for the local community.

During the silent film era, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the most famous stars in the 1920s and when they moved into Pickfair Mansion, this helped put Beverly Hills on the map. Soon after, The Movie Colony was formed which included other famous residents such as Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith who also helped to form the first studio, United Artists, along with Fairbanks and Pickford.

Another massively popular silent screen star of the day, Harrold Lloyd, built the second largest home in the area, Greenacres, next to Greystone Mansion and living in Beverly Hills became a true status symbol, and it was far enough removed from the prying eyes of the press and the corruption in Los Angeles during that era.

Legendary actors Rudolph Valentino, Will Rogers (who was the honorary mayor of the city in 1926), and Tom Nix (the most famous Western film star at the time), went door to door protesting annexation to Los Angeles. Continuing to maintain a separate and plentiful water supply from LA was the crux of the issue for independence. Imagine today, major stars such as Brad Pitt or George Clooney standing on your front porch asking for your support. It would certainly grab your attention.

In 1956, the towering 22-foot bronze monument was resurrected at the convergence of Olympic Boulevard, South Beverly Drive and Beverwil Drive to honor the pioneers who fought for the independence of Beverly Hills. Designed by sculptor Robert Merrell Gage (Oscar winner for “The Face of Lincoln,” and architect of Beverly Hills City Hall) and constructed of marble and bronze, the piece resembles a spiraling ribbon of celluloid film and is encircled by a plot of flowers.

The original “Beverly Hills Eight,” comprising Will Rogers, Mary Pickford, Fred Niblo, Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Conrad Nagle, Rudolph Valentino, and Tom Mix, are all honored on the monument and immortalized wearing costumes from their most famous roles. If you look closely at the base of the statue, there is an inscription that reads “In tribute to those celebrities of the motion picture industry who worked so valiantly for the preservation of Beverly Hills as a separate municipality.”

And, coming full circle, the old landmark Waterworks Building in Beverly Hills is now home to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library.

Download the app from the Beverly Hills Historical Society for more information and an augmented reality tour of the Celluloid Monument.

We also recommend reading: Beverly Hills, The First 100 Years, by Robbie W. Anderson from the Beverly Hills Historical Society and The Battle for Beverly Hills: A City's Independence and the Birth of Celebrity Politics by Nancie Clare.

Carole Dixon’s international career in film, television and publishing has spanned over several continents but holds a long history in Beverly Hills. Dixon worked for the late, legendary talk-show host Merv Griffin’s production company based in the city for over a decade when he owned The Beverly Hilton Hotel. Since then, her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Travel & Leisure, Robb Report, Modern Luxury, AFAR, PureWow, The Hollywood Reporter, Wallpaper and the Beverly Hills Courier, among many others. As a luxury lifestyle expert, she frequently reviews Michelin starred restaurants and chefs, 5-star resorts, wine country regions, spas, interior designers and architects. Favorite projects have included producing “Food for Thought” for Bloomberg in London with legendary A.A. Gill, co-launching “The Feast” for NBC LA and penning the Wallpaper City Guide Books for many years.