One of Culver City’s most iconic landmarks will be celebrated today when the Culver City Downtown Business Association hosts a Centennial Celebration for the Culver Hotel from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The celebration — dubbed the Emerald City Block Party — will be a part of the organization’s Third Wednesday summer program, where businesses in the downtown area participate by creating and allowing patrons to sample unique, themed offerings.

This celebration will be inspired by the Culver Hotel’s connection to the production of “The Wizard of Oz,” which was filmed at the old MGM Studios also located in Culver City. The actors and actresses who played the Munchkins in the film stayed at the hotel for seven weeks from November 10, 1938, until December 30, 1938, generating salacious rumors during their stay that have remained alive to this day.

Originally called the Hunt Hotel, the Culver Hotel broke ground on November 24, 1923, and opened on September 4, 1924, with Harry Culver — the founder of Culver City — as the primary backer and owner.  While Culver was the eventual first owner of the hotel, articles from the time suggest that actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin was a silent partner in the hotel who later sold his interest to Culver, according to the Culver City Historical Society — a volunteer-run organization dedicated to preserving the history of the city.

Its flatiron shape and height of six stories prompted one news outlet to dub the building a “skyscraper” because it could be seen from Venice and Los Angeles on a clear day when it was constructed. Culver ended up losing the hotel when the Great Depression forced him into bankruptcy in 1933, and the hotel has since changed hands several times since.

One of the hotel’s previous owners was actor John Wayne, who according to rumors won the hotel from Chaplin or entertainer Red Skelton in a game of craps. However, research done by the Culver City Historical Society and presented in a program in June seems to disprove that theory.

“Neither Chaplin nor Skelton are ever listed on an ownership deed, but John Wayne is,” Historical Society intern Eve Mott said in the program presentation. “In the end, we have reason to believe that Wayne obtained the hotel in a less complicated manner by just buying it outright.”

But many rumors about the hotel are connected to the Munchkins and their stay there. Just like the gambling rumor, most of these Munchkin stories don’t hold up according to research done by Mott and fellow Historical Society intern Maren Brown.

These rumors range from the actors being rowdy drunks to the existence of a secret underground tunnel below the hotel that connected it to MGM Studios to the rumor that the 124 actors and actresses slept three to a bed. Mott and Brown debunked or called into question the validity of these rumblings through evidence like photos of the actors walking to the studio above ground and other accounts from the actors. 

While the rumors surrounding the Munchkins at the Culver Hotel are generally false, the impact of the Wizard of Oz on the city’s history is undeniable. To pay tribute to that impact and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of MGM Studios alongside the hotel, the Downtown Business Association has curated a Wizard of Oz-themed celebration, highlighted by a 25-foot tall inflatable ruby slipper inspired by the famed magical footwear worn by Dorothy in the film.

Businesses around the Downtown area will be adorned with doormats meant to look like the iconic Yellow Brick Road, with each of the participating businesses offering a taste of Wizard of Oz-themed drinks. There will also be a 14’ x 17’ Emerald City backdrop and costumed performers for photo opportunities, and the entrance to the Downtown corridor will be adorned with inflatable rainbow arches.

Downtown Business Association President Darrel Menthe said that the organization coordinated with the hotel, the Culver Theater, Amazon Studios, and the Historical Society to organize the celebration, meeting in a working group once per month starting in December. He said that the preparation was to make the event as spectacular as it could be to bring people into the 100-year history of the hotel.

“Without the Culver Hotel, this would be an ordinary neighborhood,” Menthe told Westside Voice. “The hotel and its 100-year legacy at the center of Downtown Culver City is what makes this a historic neighborhood and connects it to the studios next to it and the other movie history in Culver City.”

Participation in the event is free. For more on the history of the Culver Hotel, check out the Culver City Historical Society’s presentation here.

Photo courtesy of the Culver Hotel.