A SPECIAL REPORT: MCA

VALLEY ELDER: MCA, the entertainment giant expected to be acquired by the Seagram Co. (A1, D1), has 80-year roots in the Valley. . . . In 1914, Universal Pictures founder Carl Laemmle paid $165,000 for 240 acres of ranchland northeast of the Cahuenga Pass. Twenty thousand people turned out on March 15, 1915, for the opening of Laemmle’s state-of-the-art motion picture studio, now part of MCA. Its first feature was “Damon and Pythias” (1914).

PUBLIC WELCOME: Laemmle built viewing stands at his Universal City studio so the public could observe the magic of movie-making firsthand. “Uncle Carl” figured every visitor helped sell Hollywood to a hundred non-visitors. Admission was 25 cents, including a box lunch. . . . Today visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood pay $33 (lunch is extra).

TOURS TODAY: But Laemmle, above, had to end the studio tours in the 1920s when talkies came along. Suddenly, quiet on the set was required. . . . Modern tours of the Universal lot debuted in 1964. According to Vice President of Public Relations Michael Gray, the most popular single attraction is “Back to the Future--the Ride,” involving simulated time travel in DeLorean automobiles. “That has been the mind-blower,” Gray said.

STARTING SMALL: Be nice to your tour guides at Universal Studios Hollywood. Someday they may be famous. Long before Michael Ovitz was head of Creative Artists Agency, he did a stint behind the tram microphone. One of the rules tour guides live by: Never, never say Disneyland. . . . Smog is also said to be taboo.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO: Universal’s library of 3,000 films is part of the Seagram deal, which may be officially announced as soon as Sunday (D1). . . . The cache includes classic horror films and six winners of best picture Oscars: “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930), “Hamlet” (1948), “The Sting” (1973), “The Deer Hunter” (1978), “Out of Africa” (1985) and “Schindler’s List” (1993).