JimCook

Palm Springs Movie Magic on Display

Vintage movie posters illuminate the love affair between Hollywood and Palm Springs at a special event hosted by ACME House Company at The Five Hundred building

Lawrence Karol History

JimCook

Earlier this year, we celebrated the enduring connection between Palm Springs and Hollywood as seen through the amazing vintage movie poster collection of Jim Cook.

• See related post: Movie Posters Celebrate Ties Between Hollywood, Palm Springs

Many of those posters are on view at The Five Hundred building in Palm Springs (the corner of Ramon and South Palm Canyon) through the end of April. And the home rental firm ACME House Company (ACME) recently hosted an event there that was inspired by the posters and brought together 50 interior designers, realtors, and other local professionals to join ACME in celebrating Hollywood and its impact on real estate and design.

Movie posters hang in the hallways of The Five Hundred building in Palm Springs.

ACME manages a number of vacation home rentals with Hollywood pedigrees and they love to embrace and celebrate that legacy. “The connection to old Hollywood is part of the fabric of Palm Springs,” says John-Patrick Flynn, Branding Specialist for ACME. “Visitors and locals alike love learning about the celebrities who have lived, worked, and played here. Jim Cook's vintage movie poster collection connects the dots between the midcentury houses in our city and the movie stars who have stayed in or owned them.”

According to Flynn, John Monahan, the owner of The Five Hundred, is a strong supporter of the arts and a fan of midcentury art. This past February, Monahan asked Cook to hang a few of his vintage posters in the building in a nod to Modernism Week.

Realtor John White of Windermere Palm Springs and designer Travis Smith of H3K Design with Jim Cook.

"The display was an instant hit with everyone in the building," says Monahan. "First it was the building tenants and the regulars at Ristretto, our coffee bistro, who were commenting on the posters. But then word started to spread and we noticed people were coming into The Five Hundred just to see the posters. So we invited [Cook’s company] Nostalgia Palm Springs to expand the number of posters on display.”

“Old Hollywood has not lost its allure in Palm Springs,” says Jim Webb, who attended the event and is President of the Palm Springs Regional Association of REALTORS®. “Every new buyer almost without exception asks where the stars lived. [It’s] just part of the charm of the Palm Springs we all love.”

(From left) Debra Comer, marketing director for Acme House Company with Jim Cook and PSRAR President Jim Webb (right) at the Kirk Douglas House.

The ACME event started off with Cook taking guests on a guided tour of the building where he provided them with a detailed history of the posters and their connection between midcentury Hollywood and Palm Springs.

“I have a number of clients who are looking for homes here in Palm Springs to turn into vacation rentals. The event was such a treat and many of these prints would fit perfectly into a vacation getaway property,” says John R. White of Windermere Real Estate/Leaskou Partners.

photo by eric lynch

Palm Springs Weekend poster featured in Midcentury Deluxe, a Palm Springs vacation home rental available through Acme House Company.

“Jim Cook's vintage movie posters are a fabulous addition to my eclectic, updated midcentury designs,” adds interior designer Christopher Kennedy. “I love incorporating them with photography, mirrors, and paintings for a curated approach to a home's artwork collection. The posters instantly add history and soul to any space, and the fact that they all have a connection to Palm Springs lends a wonderful hometown familiarity.”

Later, the party moved to The Kirk Douglas House, an ACME rental property, for sunset cocktails. A number of Cook’s posters have been incorporated into the design there so guests were able to learn more about their connections with the stars while also seeing how the posters could be worked into a design plan to enhance the aesthetic.

photo by dre naylor

John-Patrick Flynn, Branding Specialist for Acme House Company, and Jim Cook at the Kirk Douglas House.

“At the Kirk Douglas house, I wanted to feature some of the largest moments in Kirk’s career,” says Cook. “From his support for the blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo in Spartacus to the blockbuster Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I was also looking to choose some of the finest graphic art that fit seamlessly into the design, colors, and style of the home.”

“When visitors come here to stay in our vacation homes, they want to immerse themselves in everything Palm Springs,” says Flynn. “They want to experience the magic. The ties to old Hollywood are a part of that. Then when you look at these vintage movie posters, you have to just step back and appreciate them as classic examples of midcentury art. They capture the times, the lifestyle, the fashion.”