Hollywood superstar Rudolph Valentino (center) talks to Atlanta Georgian reporter Bert Collier (left) and Atlanta Journal reporter Peggy Mitchell (right) on the roof of the Georgian Terrace Hotel, 1923.
Accessing the roof meant ducking through a low window with a four foot drop on the other side. When Mitchell had problems getting back inside, Valentino gently picked her up and carried her back into the hotel, which Mitchell called “the thrill of a lifetime”. She would later write a hugely popular novel under her given name, Margaret Mitchell.
Speaking of Gone with the Wind… contrary to popular belief, the world premiere of the film wasn’t at the Fox Theatre. It was at the nearby Loew’s Grand, where 300,000 people showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. A special, temporary “Tara” façade was even built on the front of the cinema:
Loew’s was built as “DeGive’s Grand Opera House” in 1893, and burned down in a “mysterious” fire in 1978 (wink-wink). The Georgia-Pacific Tower now stands on the site.
Some of the bricks from the Loew’s were salvaged to build the Houston’s restaurant at 2166 Peachtree Rd.;
The lobby chandelier from the Loew’s now hangs in The Tabernacle, a music venue inside a former Baptist church:
The Fox Theater was the site of the world premiere of Disney’s Song of the South. Walt Disney himself attended the event. But poor Walt just couldn’t bear the thought of criticism, so he quietly left just before the movie started, walking across Peachtree Street to his room at the Georgian Terrace… where he chain-smoked and paced for the next two hours.