Monthly Archives: April 2014

Oklahoma’s Executioner: Rich Owens

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oklahoma City Feb. 27, 1948 Note: This 2006 post is worth revisiting after last night’s botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma. Ray Parr’s story about Rich Owens, the longtime executioner at McAlester State Penitentiary, has been knocking around my … Continue reading →

Posted in 1948, Crime and Courts | 1 Comment

From the Vaults: ‘While the City Sleeps’ — Part I

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lmharnisch

It’s worth spending a bit more time on our recent mystery movie “While the City Sleeps” for several reasons. It’s not widely available and most copies seem to be missing large chunks of the film, making the complex narrative even … Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, City Hall, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Salute to Forgotten Heroism, April 30, 1944

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 30, 1944 Here’s a story of forgotten heroism. I stumbled across it in the Miami News while digging out a Sidney Skolsky column. Lt. Newell Putnam Wyman waves off rescuers trying to save him and the crew of his … Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, April 30, 1944

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lmharnisch

Note: This is the last of the Sidney Skolsky columns for a while. There are no online issues of the Miami News for May 1944, so that’s it until June. What do you think of Skolsky? Is he a keeper? … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, April 30, 1944

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 30, 1944 The U.S. loses 63 bombers and 14 fighters in a daylight raid on Berlin. The Nazis lost 88 aircraft. Meanwhile, the RAF made its 16th consecutive nighttime raid on Germany. Louella Parsons interviews Irving Cummings, who received … Continue reading →

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LAPD Parker Center Cop Shop Files: The Freeway Rapist

Posted on April 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

I was given a box of material that was cleaned out of the old press room at the LAPD’s Parker Center headquarters, sometimes called “the cop shop.” The box was a jumble of press releases, photographs, artists’ sketches and other … Continue reading →

Posted in 1962, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Parker Center Cop Shop Files | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

1944 in Print — Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, April 29, 1944

Posted on April 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 29, 1944 HOLLYWOOD, April 29 — Irene Dunne is the latest actress to be offered the lead in “Olympia,” but she is waiting until she can read the script … Brenda Marshall doesn’t want to do “Something for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, April 29, 1944

Posted on April 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 29, 1944 We have a deeply embedded notion that the “Greatest Generation” dutifully paid their taxes because it was the patriotic thing to do. This editorial cartoon, by Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale of the Los Angeles Examiner, illustrates the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Art & Artists, Columnists, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo ( Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 28, 2014 by lmharnisch

Our mystery movie is the 1941 MGM film “Unholy Partners,” which curiously enough has apparently never been released on DVD or even VHS.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 47 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Alberto Vargas Glorifies 1940s Young American Woman

Posted on April 28, 2014 by lmharnisch

  Vargas poses with Kay Aldridge in a photo published in Cine-Mundial. “One day I will paint a Vargas girl so beautiful, so perfect, so typical of the American Girl, that I shall be able to show it to people … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The L.A. Daily Mirror Is Dropping Its Ads

Posted on April 27, 2014 by lmharnisch

I have been using a wonderful plug-in for Firefox called Adblock Plus, which I recommend for everyone. It does a terrific job of block annoying ads. (There are also versions for Google Chrome and for Internet Explorer, for those of … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged | 12 Comments

Imagining the Future

Posted on April 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006. The subject came up today when I was having lunch with Ed Fuentes, so I thought I would repost it. Notice that in this plan, Union Station was to have been … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, Downtown, LAPD, Pasadena, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia: Fixing a Small Error Before It Becomes a Big One

Posted on April 26, 2014 by lmharnisch

KPCC recently did a story about the LAPD’s archive of crime photos. And whoever wrote the caption took a logical – but incorrect – guess about the people in this photo of the Black Dahlia crime scene. Let’s do a … Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, LAPD, Photography | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

City of Chester Sinks After Collision With Oceanic, Aug. 22, 1888

Posted on April 25, 2014 by lmharnisch

A photo of the City of Chester, courtesy of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Headlines in the Sacramento Daily Record-Union, left, and the Daily Alta California, above.   The rediscovery of the City of Chester, which sank in 1888 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1888, Photography, San Francisco | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

1944 in Print — Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, April 25, 1944

Posted on April 25, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 25, 1944 HOLLYWOOD, Calif. April 25 — Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon have just finished doing a scene for “Mrs. Parkington,” and watching them on the set with me is Robert Thoeren, who co-authored the screenplay with Polly James. … Continue reading →

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Filming in Downtown Los Angeles

Posted on April 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

The film crews were back on New York Street, my nickname for South Spring around Fourth and Fifth in downtown Los Angeles. This time it’s standing in for San Vicente.

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1944 in Print — Life Magazine, April 24, 1944

Posted on April 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 24, 1944 The 18th birthday of England’s Princess Elizabeth is the cover story in this week’s Life magazine. An early member of Bob Dobbs’ Church of the Subgenius! There’s an editorial on “Negro rights” and a feature on California … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Photography, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

1944 in Print — Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, April 24, 1944

Posted on April 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 24, 1944 HOLLYWOOD, April 24 — A funny play could be written about the Hungarian scenario writers in Hollywood. Every time I pick up a trade paper I read where a Ladislaus has sold a story to a studio. … Continue reading →

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1944 on the Radio — ‘The Lone Ranger’

Posted on April 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 24, 1944: Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear! “The Lone Ranger.” Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, April 24, 1944

Posted on April 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 24, 1944 AT DINNER THE OTHER EVENING Sid Grauman started talking about “Turn in the Road,” which he bought about 12 years ago after it had taken in $400,000. Sid said he had had several offers for his play, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment