20 FORGOTTEN Foods Movie Stars Ate in Old Hollywood Before the Studios Fell

In 1941, at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, you could order imported caviar for under a dollar. Not at a fancy restaurant — at the company cafeteria, between takes. For thirty years Hollywood was a company town. The studios owned the stars, the theaters and the lunch — and what a movie star ate, where, and who saw her eating it was never really about food. This episode counts down twenty forgotten foods from the studio commissaries and the legendary restaurants of Old Hollywood: Louis B. Mayer's chicken soup, the Dorothy Lamour Salad, Kim Novak's purple salad, the Cobb salad born at midnight at the Brown Derby, Louella Parsons' grapefruit cake, the Shirley Temple she never liked, the Chasen's chili Elizabeth Taylor had shipped to Rome, the chocolate soufflé served by a fake Russian prince, a stool at Schwab's, and six million pieces of cake at the Hollywood Canteen. Then, on May 3, 1948, the Supreme Court broke up the studios — and the tables started closing. Only one room is still open. Every image in this video is real archival material: studio publicity stills, newsreels and archive photographs. No AI-generated imagery is used on this channel. Ever. If you could walk into one of these places for one night — the Derby, Chasen's, a studio commissary — which would it be, and who are you hoping is at the next table? We read every comment. CHAPTERS 00:00 Caviar in the company cafeteria 01:15 1. Louis B. Mayer's chicken soup 02:13 2. Lionel Barrymore's bacon and eggs 02:48 3. Crackers and coffee 03:40 4. Caviar for under a dollar 04:22 5. The Dorothy Lamour Salad 04:54 6. Kim Novak's purple salad 05:37 7. William Holden's hamburger steak 06:13 8. The Cobb salad 07:07 9. Grapefruit cake 07:36 10. The Shirley Temple 08:21 11. Chasen's chili 09:08 12. The chocolate soufflé at Romanoff's 09:55 13. The pu pu platter 10:39 14. A stool at Schwab's 11:33 15. Cake and coffee at the Hollywood Canteen 13:05 16. Three hundred gallons of pudding 13:31 17. Lucy's Jell-O 14:16 18. Noodles Romanoff 14:46 19. The last bowl of chili 15:12 20. The back room at Musso & Frank 16:05 When the studios fell ARCHIVAL SOURCES Library of Congress · National Archives (NARA) · Prelinger Archives · Duke University Ad*Access · Public-domain studio publicity stills RESEARCH SOURCES The Hollywood Reporter (Pauline Kessinger memoir) · Variety · National WWII Museum · Of or Involving Motion Pictures · Eat Drink Films · Tasting Table WATCH NEXT 20 FORGOTTEN Saloon Free Lunch Foods Americans Ate Before Prohibition Killed Them 20 FORGOTTEN Dining Car Meals Americans Ate on the Rails Before Airplanes Killed Them 15 FORGOTTEN Department Store Lunch Dishes That Vanished When Downtown Died OldHollywood #FoodHistory #ClassicHollywood