Swept Away By Restaurant's Hollywood Glitz And Excess

Trying heroically to be unimpressed by show-biz glamour, I put on my Mackinaw, rubber boots and laid-back Puget Sound demeanor and went down to 1500 Sixth Ave. last night.

Big deal on Sixth Avenue.

Band, lights, noise, hand prints of celebrities all over the place. I gawked around looking for movie stars. Now you know, don't you?

Seattle has been anointed by the 33rd Planet Hollywood, which is supposed to be a restaurant. No restaurant has such glitz and glamour.

Trot out Bruce Willis! Bring on Charlie Sheen! Make way for Don Johnson. Hi, Whoopi Goldberg!

My quarry was not so exalted as that. But he was pretty good. His name is Paul Hemus, a charming Briton from London. He is the head curator of Planet Hollywood.

Hemus works with 30 people gathering memorabilia. He is just as much a curator as Trevor Fairbrother, who digs up paintings and art objects for the Seattle Art Museum.

Every time Planet Hollywood opens a new joint, Hemus comes up with memorabilia. "We have a backlog of 14,000 items," he said.

He showed me around. There was a pair of boots worn by Spencer Tracy in the movie "Sea of Grass." Hanging on a wall was the black fighter's robe worn by Stallone in "Rocky II." On the back it says, "The Italian Stallion."

Another "item" was an earthenware prop used by Charlton Heston in a film "where Moses demonstrates the power of God turning water into blood." I was too overcome to remember the title.

There is also a camel's saddle used in "Lawrence of Arabia." There is a costume from "Waterworld," the expensive flopperoo produced by Kevin Costner.

"That Batman costume," Hemus said, pointing to a wall, "cost us $20,000."

I learned that Planet Hollywood got into a mild ruckus in Chicago when it displayed the underwear of the late actor John Candy.

Then I heard a cynical Seattle guest say, "I think I've got it. They can serve mediocre food and with this glitz, people think they are having a good time."

I don't know who designs Planet Hollywoods, but they are not inhibited by a lack of money or excessive good taste.

All of Planet Hollywood's bedazzling decor is aimed at Mr. & Mrs. Middle America. There is sheer genius in the concept. People come, bathe in the reflected glory of Hollywood's past, and look around for celebrities.

"We are suckers for everything Hollywood," my cynical Seattleite said. "There are 32 other Planet Hollywoods around the globe. Now Seattle has one. We are losing our obscurity. It's like losing our cloud cover."

The gross for combined Planet Hollywoods must be in the zillions. People keep coming back, hoping some glamour will rub off on them. By the end of this century they expect to have 100 Planet Hollywoods from Omsk, Russia, to Brisbane, Australia. They are already in such places as Hong Kong, Maui, Jakarta, Paris, Helsinki, Tel Aviv and Seoul.

I also learned that Arnold Schwarzenegger has a mother. Everybody has a mother, I know; but Arnold's mother's recipe for apple strudel is becoming a global taste treat. Now we have it in Seattle.

"We get our memorabilia from auctions, actors, actresses, studios and professional collectors," Hemus explained. On one staircase wall is a negligee worn by Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard."

"We had to pay $75,000 for that negligee," Hemus said. "But we think it is worth it."

I quite agree.

Emmett Watson's column regularly appears Tuesdays in the Local section of The Times.