The Hotel Del Coronado — Victorian Elegance

Article publié le 18/05/2011
en ligne sur looplane.com

The Hotel del Coronado is a luxury hotel with a glamorous history.  Set on the beach sands of Coronado Island, across the San Diego Bay in California, it has become an icon. It is sometimes called The Del and boasts one of the earliest Victorian wooden buildings of early California. The history of this hotel goes deep and it has been named a National Historic Landmark since 1977.

Built in 1888, the Hotel del Coronado has been named one of the top ten hotels in the world by USA Today. It was the backdrop of the movie, “Some Like it Hot,” with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon.

Marilyn and Tony Curtis, 1958.

  
 Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe on the steps of the Del, 1958.

 
Marilyn Monroe during the filming of Some Like It Hot at the Hotel del Coronado. With make-up man Whitey Snyder and security guard – 1958

  
 Marilyn Monroe and Joe E. Brown on the deck at the Del, 1958.

In the mid-1880′s grand hotels were being built to lure visitors to new areas of California. Coronado Island and North island were  purchased for $110,000 with the intent to build a grand hotel that would draw attention to an otherwise stark landscape. With construction beginning in 1887, they had to tackle the problem of bringing in lumber from Oregon and labor from Chinese Immigrants in San Francisco.

This was one of the first hotels with electric lighting and the wiring was inspected by Thomas Edison. As they neared the completion of the hotel they ran out of money and investors. They turned to John Spreckles, the sugar manufacturer, who loaned them $100,000 to finish the hotel. He later bought the original owners out and owned the hotel until 1948.

During World War II, the hotel was used to house Navy pilots being trained and families of officers going off to war.

After the war the hotel was sold and by 1960 it had fallen into disrepair. It was then purchased by John Alessio who began renovating it for $2 million. He then sold it in 1963 to a man named Lawrence. More money was poured into the hotel refurbishing it and adding rooms totaling $150 million dollars. In 1996, the hotel was sold to the Travelers Group. They upgraded the hotel again, keeping the original Victorian architecture and decor. In 2005 they added additional cottages and villas to the grounds to be used for more guest rooms. The hotel has been sold and currently is owned by Blackstone Group and KSL Resorts and Strategic Hotels.

Many notable travelers have been guests of the hotel. Presidents, British Royalty, movie stars and other famed guests have spent many a night on the shores of the Coronado. L. Frank Baum, the author of the book and movie, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, stayed at The Del while  working on his book.  Stories abound that he based the Emerald City after the Hotel.  

Top 10 Beach Icons, USA Today
#1 Best Beach in the Southern California, Travel Channel
#2 Best Beach in the United States, Travel Channel
America’s Best Beaches, Wall Street Journal
America’s Top 10 Beaches,”Dr. Beach,” 2008 & 2009

The Hotel del Coronado has been rated:

Top 10 Resorts In The World, USA Today
Top 20 Hotel Spas in the World, Travel + Leisure
Reader’s Choice for the Best Place To Get Married, Ranch & Coast
Top 50 Resorts For Parents & Kids, Travel +Leisure Family Magazine
500 Greatest Hotels in the World, Travel + Leisure Magazine
Top 100 U.S. Resorts, Travel + Leisure Magazine Readers Poll
#2 Best Place in the World to Get Married, Travel Channel
Best Resort Getaway, Los Angeles Magazine
Best Resort in San Diego, Orange County Register Readers Poll
Best San Diego Resort, Travel + Leisure en Espanol
Top 15 Family Resorts, Travel + Leisure Family Magazine

Marilyn Monroe and The Hotel del Coronado
The Del Beach Village
The Hotel Del Coronado

Suite de la chronique de Daniel, canadien et fan de Marilyn. (lire son premier article: Conseils de Daniel si vous allez à Los Angeles )

50 ans d'amour pour la légende Marilyn (2)

Le Del Coronado Hotel se trouve à San Diego en Californie. C'est à cet endroit qu'a eu lieu le tournage du film Some Like it Hot (Certains l'aiment chaud) en 1958.

Photographies: copyright Daniel.

lot n°712: Marilyn Monroe original camera negatives from Some Like It Hot
(UA, 1959) Two (2) original 8 x 10 in. and (9) 2 ¼ in. camera negatives on safety film of Marilyn Monroe with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon from Some Like It Hot. 2 ¼ in. negatives feature some candid shots taken on set. Very good to Fine.
Estimate: $200 - $300
 
 

 lot n°736: Marilyn Monroe portrait by Romeo Catozella
after a Modern Screen magazine cover
From her personal property - Acrylic on canvas, 28 in. x 22 in. (incorrectly catalogued by Christie’s as oil) executed by artist and Marilyn Monroe fan Romeo Catozella of New York, and gifted to her. Based on a 1955 Modern Screen magazine cover photo portrait of Marilyn, and kept by her until her death in 1962. Includes an issue of the 1955 Modern Screen magazine. Provenance: Christie’s 1999 Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe, Lot 346, $23,000.
Estimate: $10 000 - $15 000
  

   lot n°738: Nude oil painting of Marilyn Monroe by Earl Moran
Original colorful painting by Earl Moran of a young and nude Marilyn Monroe in a prone pose painted from life circa 1948-1949. Accomplished in oil on board measuring 23 ½ in. x 35 ½ in. Signed “Earl Moran” at the lower right. Matted and framed.
Earl Moran (1893-1984) was the most important pin-up artist of the period. He studied with the legendary anatomist George Bridgman at the Art Students League in Manhattan, and after moving to Chicago in 1931, opened a small photograph and illustration studio. He submitted some paintings of models in bikinis to two calendar companies, Brown and Bigelow and Thomas D. Murphy Company, both of which purchased his work and launched his career. One year later he signed an exclusive contract with Brown and Bigelow and sold millions of calendars for the company over the next few years.
He moved to Hollywood in 1946 when a young starlet named Norma Jeane Dougherty was sent to his Sunset Boulevard studio by the Blue Book Agency. Over the next four years, Marilyn came by once a month for a two-hour modeling session. After Moran chose a costume, the models would assume dozens of poses while he peered through his camera’s 20-pound lens. He generally worked in pastels traced in charcoal from his print, but this is one of only a few oils he did and without a doubt his very best subject.
The photograph he worked from for this sitting was taken by Moran’s wife, and shows Marilyn lying prone and topless on cushions while wearing bikini briefs. As she became more comfortable during the session she removed the briefs and allowed Moran to complete the painting of her completely nude and adding a stylized colorful pillow-like base. Marilyn’s beaming smile is a testament to her comfort and natural demeanor while posing for Moran.
Of all the models he worked with he thought Monroe was the sexiest, “better than anyone else…She expressed just what I wanted.” They met for the last time on the set of There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954). Marilyn embraced Moran telling him she loved the way he made her legs look wonderful. Certainly no better endorsement for this fine painting.
The consignor was a Moran pin-up model and a close friend of Earl Moran who gifted her the painting in the 1960s.  
Estimate: $70 000 - $90 000
   

lot n°1186: Original painting of Jack Lemmon as “Jerry” from Some Like it Hot
Original portrait of Jack Lemmon as “Jerry” from Some Like It Hot accomplished in oil on canvas. Stands 69 ¼ in. tall x 19 in. wide. Exhibits some cracking and moisture damage at the top edge. Includes a candid framed color print of Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe on the set of the film. Special shipping arrangements will apply.
Estimate: $300 - $500
 

lot n°775: BILLY WILDER SOME LIKE IT HOT BY ALISON CASTLE AND DAN AUILER
A copy of the Taschen published book Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot by Alison Castle and Dan Auiler (Italy, 2001). Hardcover book housed in custom box. The book contains interviews, set, publicity and press photographs. 11 by 18 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches
Estimate: $100 - $ 200 
  

lot n°777: SOME LIKE IT HOT BEHIND-THE-SCENES MOVIE REEL WITH COPYRIGHT
A behind-the-scenes amateur reel filmed on the set of Some Like It Hot (United Artists, 1959) sold with copyright. The color reel, with no audio, shows the cast of the film, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis, on the beach outside the Hotel Coronado in San Diego, California. Monroe can be seen in a black and white swimsuit and wearing two different robes. Curtis is shown in his swim trunks and wearing a suit coat. Lemmon appears in full makeup as his female character Daphne. The four-minute, 32-second film has been converted to a DVD.
Estimate: $4 000 - $ 6 000 
 
 
  
 

> de l'album andrea

Dispositif national, Lycéens au cinéma est mis en œuvre en Languedoc-Roussillon dans le cadre de la convention de développement cinématographique et audiovisuel conclue entre l’État (CNC, DRAC) et la Région Languedoc-Roussillon. Lycéens au cinéma concerne les lycées d’enseignement général, professionnel publics et privés, les lycées agricoles et les CFA. Dans la programmation 2011/2012 des films étudiés, figure notamment Certains l'aiment chaud. Les élèves disposent d'une fiche pédagogique ( fichepeda_certains ) et les professeurs d'un livret du maître ( livretmaitre_certains ), consacrés au film.

Du 12 mars au 31 octobre 2011, une exposition  "Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon" entièrement consacré à Marilyn Monroe se tient à Bath, une ville d'Angleterre à l'American Museum (lieu: Claverton Manor).

> Le catalogue
 

Contenu de l'expo:
Des costumes de films:
· La robe rose de Niagara (1952)
. La nuisette transparente de Niagara
· La robe rouge à strass de Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
· Le costume vert de Bus Stop (1956)
. La robe blanche de The Prince and the Showgirl (1956)
· La robe cocktail noire de Some Like It Hot (1959)
· Le bikini de The Misfits (1961). 

Des effets personnels: Une bague argentée que lui avait donné sa mère Gladys.

Des photographies, des bijoux, des peintures ... 

L'ensemble de la collection est la propriété du "David Gainsborough Roberts Collection", un collectionneur invétéré depuis plus de 20 ans.

Les costumes exposés:

> Nuisette de Niagara
   

> Robe de There's no business...
 

> Costume séance photo Marilyn en Lilian Russell
 

> Robe cocktail (par le couturier Cecil Chapman)
 

> Robe de Some Like it Hot
  

> Bikini de The Misfits
 

Le catalogue:
 
 

>> Sur le web:
article et photos sur irenebrination.typepad.co
point de vue sur l'expo sur missmagpiemusings.blogspot.com

Le magazine américain Life du 20 avril 1959 consacrait sa couverture à Marilyn Monroe "A comic Marilyn sets movie aglow" et un article intérieur de 4 pages, consacré à la sortie du film "Some like it Hot" (Certains l'aiment chaud).