Monthly Archives: July 2007

Pepe Arciga

Posted on July 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957 Superlatives, to be frank, don’t come easy to anyone about to comment on the true merits of most bullfight filming efforts. In months past, Hollywood movie makers have pulled pretty hefty boo-boos when confronted with the challenge … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on July 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957 You know how some newspapermen are–gay and carefree. Well, a reporter–let’s call him Mac–was driving home the other day after suitably observing the decline of common sense with a few literate friends. Two blocks from his home, … Continue reading →

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Police shakeup

Posted on July 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957Los Angeles As surprising as it seems now, there was a time when the Los Angeles newspapers actively covered top-ranking personnel at the LAPD. Most readers would be hard-pressed to name the current head of Robbery-Homicide (Capt. Kyle … Continue reading →

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Brawl at Gilmore Field

Posted on July 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957 The Angels vs. the Hollywood Stars Page 1

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Countdown to Watts

Posted on July 25, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957Los Angeles To The Times, a class-action suit accusing the Los Angeles Police Department of brutality simply wasn’t newsworthy. The Mirror did a bit better: a few paragraphs on Page 12. And these were juicy stories: A Baptist … Continue reading →

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Champagne flight

Posted on July 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 25, 1957Las Vegas There was no room for retired jeweler Saul F. Binstock, 62, on the chartered flight to Las Vegas, so he boarded a Western Air Lines plane at Burbank. As always, he bought insurance naming his wife, … Continue reading →

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Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on July 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 22, 1957 SUBJECT’S NAME–Dr. George Ripley Fuller. SUBJECT’S DESCRIPTION–Age, 28. Height 5 feet, 10 inches. Weight, 150 pounds. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Slight horizontal scar upper lip on right. Any person with information as to subject’s whereabouts is requested … Continue reading →

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CSI–2007

Posted on July 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

I had the good fortune to attend the first day of the International Assn. for Identification convention in San Diego yesterday and although most of the sessions are focused on new technologies, I was there to talk about the past, … Continue reading →

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KFWB–980

Posted on July 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 24, 1957 Los Angeles You mean there was a time when KFWB didn’t have an all-news format? Yes, indeed. Read about Larry Finley here. More (much, much more) about Boss radio here.  Vintage air checks from KFWB (and many, … Continue reading →

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Matt Weinstock

Posted on July 24, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 22, 1957 This is to report that a distressing situation has arisen in MacWestlake Park. Certain pigeons–just a few of the hundreds in the park, mind you–have adopted a decidedly unmilitary attitude toward the recently dedicated statue of the … Continue reading →

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Pepe Arciga

Posted on July 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 22, 1957 Usually, advance press releases dealing with anyone’s mammoth or secretly puny celluloid projects begin this way: So-and-so Productions take pleasure in announcing the filming of another 12-reeler to star so-and-so…. It might be pointed out that our … Continue reading →

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Lil’ Pedro update

Posted on July 23, 2007 by lmharnisch

While cruising Beverly Boulevard the other day, I saw this mural on the side of Cactus Mexican Food No. 2 at Beverly and Harvard Boulevard. (For an explanation, see my earlier post on the “Gordo” and “Lil’ Pedro” comic strips). … Continue reading →

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El Segundo revisited

Posted on July 22, 2007 by lmharnisch

Over lunch today, King C. Brown and I discussed the El Segundo case and I worked out this scenario for what might have happened that night. I apologize for the extremely low-tech simulation but this is all I could find … Continue reading →

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Death in El Segundo

Posted on July 22, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 22, 1957Los Angeles We’re heading west on Rosecrans Avenue. It’s early Monday morning, a few moments after 1:30 a.m., and the streets are dark. There’s nobody out but a few drunks and some people heading home from the swing … Continue reading →

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Literary diversions

Posted on July 21, 2007 by lmharnisch

The late Art Seidenbaum on animation (and publicity) genius Jay Ward. Statehood for Moosylvania? As the 52nd state? As the story appeared, Dec. 25, 1962:

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A question of leadership

Posted on July 21, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 18-Aug. 1, 1957Los Angeles In the summer of 1957, eight years before the Watts riots, the Los Angeles Sentinel, a weekly newspaper serving the black community, published a three-part series by Stanley Robertson titled: “Does Los Angeles Have a … Continue reading →

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Victor Mature TV

Posted on July 20, 2007 by lmharnisch

Question: Didn’t Victor Mature own an appliance store? Answer: Yes, Victor Mature TV: 10739 W. Pico Blvd. The store later moved to 10916 W. Pico.  

Posted in Film, Homicide, Television | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

What happened on Dunsmuir

Posted on July 20, 2007 by lmharnisch

These appear to be four rather ordinary West Adams district homes from the late 1920s and early ’30s and in many ways they are. Photographs by Larry Harnisch Los Angeles Times This is 2435 S. Dunsmuir Ave. This is 2308 … Continue reading →

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Insane

Posted on July 20, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 20, 1957Riverside A maid at a Riverside hotel found the battered, nude body of 5-year-old Hiedrun “Heidi” Nicholson bent over double and stuffed into a closet. It looked “as if someone had been pounding her with a hammer,” The … Continue reading →

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He’s here!

Posted on July 19, 2007 by lmharnisch

July 19, 1957Los Angeles Minda Lee Birnbaum, 15, and her mother, Blanche Lewie, 46, had spent most of the day with the divorce lawyer, Murray Chotiner. In the late afternoon, as Blanche made some phone calls from the law offices’ … Continue reading →

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