Nov. 30, 1941:President Roosevelt says the U.S. may be at war in a year – actually, it was a week later.
Bartender Eddie Watton was closing up at the Theatre Cafe, 324 S. Main St., and wanted the man at the end of the bar to leave. But Arthur McNamee refused to go until he finished his beer. McNamee became abusive, then walked around the end of the bar and put his hand in his hip pocket, Watton said.
“I hit him on the jaw with my right fist,” Watton said.
McNamee fell backward and his head his head. He was found in the street, dying of a skull fracture.
The Times never followed up on this story, so we don’t know whether Watton was prosecuted in the death. But in July 1942, the state suspended the liquor licenses of bars that the military had declared out of bounds, including the Theatre Cafe, “for the duration.”
Edward Everett Horton is appearing at the El Capitan in the play “Springtime for Henry.”
Jimmie Fidler says: “I’m unable to understand why Don Ameche hasn’t reached a higher run on the Hollywood ladder.
The 300 block of South Main Street via Google’s Street View.
ladailymirror.com 
I think the Follies theatre was close by at the time, just north of the Van Nuys, wasn’t it? Strippers and booze…no wonder it was declared off limits.
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@Cat: Main Street was a tough area in the 1940s and despite urban renewal that leveled blocks of old buildings, it’s been funky for years. It is, after all, the beginning of skid row. However, with the downtown renaissance, a lot (but not all) of the drug dealing and homeless have been pushed out by hipsters.
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Ofcr. William Shurley, who arrested the bartender for murder, was called the “Mayor Of Main Street”. Shurley worked the Main St. beat for years and kept the street safe for all.
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@Sam: Thanks for adding that!
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Sam, Bill Shurley was a co-worker with my Dad, who walked the beat adjacent to his. If someone even sneezed on Main Street, Bill knew who it was. Darn fine policeman.
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Jimmie Fidler sighting on TCM! He played himself in Garden of the Moon (1938), directed by Busby Berkeley.
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@Benito: I just hope Rudy Vallee’s megaphone wasn’t damaged!
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