Commentary: How Hollywood helped build the air travel industry

"Shirley Temple's signature tune has become a cultural touchstone, showing up in the history of the Chicago mob (it was the nickname of the Cicero crew) and, of course, "The Simpsons." But if you haven't seen the 1934 film "Bright Eyes," you might not know that the ship in question is an airplane or that this hymn to air travel was originally sung as Temple's character taxied around one of Los Angeles' first commercial airports, Glendale's Grand Central Air Terminal."

"Here Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh began their record-breaking first regular L.A. to New York airline flight (a mere 50 hours!) and aviator Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly solo from the East Coast to the West. Here countless celebrities and industry titans alighted as they came, or returned, to L.A. The airport was also the site of scenes from many other early films, including 1930's "Hell's Angels," produced by Howard Hughes, and 1933's "Lady Killer," starring James Cagney."

"It was not, however, the setting for the famous airport scene in "Casablanca" - by best accounts, that was Van Nuys Airport. That the Grand Central Air Terminal now houses Disney offices and event spaces (and is open for the occasional L.A. Conservancy or Art Deco Society tour) marks a full-circle moment. From the brief, hazy films of the Wright brothers' early flights to complaints about celebrities' private-jet emissions, Hollywood has had a deep, complicated, mutually beneficial (and occasionally tragic) relationship with aviation."

Shirley Temple's "On the Good Ship Lollipop" was filmed as her character taxied around Glendale's Grand Central Air Terminal, one of Los Angeles' earliest commercial airports. The terminal, completed in 1929 and restored by Disney in 2014, is a surviving Spanish Revival and Art Deco structure on Grand Central Avenue. Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh began a regular L.A.–New York airline flight there, and aviator Laura Ingalls flew solo from the East Coast to the West. The terminal hosted celebrities and early film scenes, including Hell's Angels and Lady Killer. The site now houses Disney offices and event spaces and opens for tours, reflecting Hollywood's long, complex connection to aviation.

Read at Los Angeles Times