Monthly Archives: March 2015

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 30, 2015 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been “Always a Bride,” a 1940 Warner Bros. movie. I picked it because I had never seen George Reeves as a leading man.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 39 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Norvell, Astrologer to the Stars

Posted on March 30, 2015 by lmharnisch

  Novell and Hedy Lamarr in Screenland. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines astrology as “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects.” For thousands of years, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 23, 2015 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1936 Twentieth Century-Fox film “Champagne Charlie,” with Paul Cavanagh (not shown), Helen Wood (Monday’s mystery woman), Thomas Beck and Minna Gombell (Friday’s mystery couple) and Herbert Mundin (Thursday’s mystery chap). It was directed … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 41 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Houdini’s ‘The Grim Game’ Scares Up Thrills

Posted on March 23, 2015 by lmharnisch

Harry Houdini in “The Grim Game.”   Long considered mostly lost, Harry Houdini’s second film, “The Grim Game,” re-premieres in its entirety Sunday, March 29, 2015, at the TCM Classic Film Festival, 96 years after it was released. A suspense … Continue reading →

Posted in 1919, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Black Dahlia: There Are Some Very Sick People in This World

Posted on March 22, 2015 by lmharnisch

This purported “tribute” to the Black Dahlia has been listed on EBay. Who makes this junk? Apparently it’s an outfit appropriately called Dreadful Dolls. Who buys it? For $325? There are some very sick people out there. Oh. It’s from … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Found on EBay | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 16, 2015 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1931 First National picture “I Like Your Nerve” with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Thursday’s mystery guest), Loretta Young (Friday’s mystery guest), Henry Kolker (Wednesday’s mystery guest), Claude Allister (Tuesday’s mystery guest), Edmund Breon (Monday’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 57 Comments

‘Singin in the Rain’: The Mystery of the Aspect Ratio

Posted on March 16, 2015 by lmharnisch

  Here is the opening of “Singing’ in the Rain” as it was broadcast on TCM in 2012. For Pi Day, I pulled my copy of “Singin’ in the Rain” for a screen grab of Debbie Reynolds hitting Jean Hagen … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Second Universal City Celebrates Its Centennial

Posted on March 16, 2015 by lmharnisch

Universal City in the Washington Times, Feb. 10, 1915. In an age where businesses come and go, bought up by larger competitors or going under due to bad financial decisions, finding one in business for decades and at the same … Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Happy Pi (Cake) Day From Debbie Reynolds

Posted on March 14, 2015 by lmharnisch

“Here’s one thing I’ve learned from the movies.” Update: Debbie Reynolds tells us (via Twitter) that it was actually a cake, adding “I like them both!”

Posted in Film, Hollywood | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Happy Pi Day From the Daily Mirror

Posted on March 14, 2015 by lmharnisch

Happy Pi Day from the L.A. Daily Mirror. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

Posted in Film, Hollywood | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Fox Retro Never Got the Memo on Colorizing Films

Posted on March 10, 2015 by lmharnisch

Dear Fox Retro: I thought we had straightened out this whole question of colorizing movies long, long ago and decided it was a very bad idea. So imagine how terribly cross it made us to find that you aired “Rebecca … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Documentary: Glen Creason and the ‘Map House’

Posted on March 9, 2015 by lmharnisch

Alec Ernest has made a short documentary for the Los Angeles Review of Books about our friend Glen Creason, the map specialist at the Los Angeles Public Library, and the incredible “map house” of John Feathers. I played a very … Continue reading →

Posted in Libraries, Television | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 9, 2015 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1939 MGM picture “The Ice Follies of 1939,” starring Joan Crawford (Friday’s mystery woman), James Stewart (not shown), Lew Ayres (not shown) and Lewis Stone (not shown), directed by Reinhold Schunzel, with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 40 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Japanese Gardens Bring Serenity to Los Angeles

Posted on March 9, 2015 by lmharnisch

A postcard showing a Japanese garden at the Huntington Hotel, courtesy of Mary Mallory.   Throughout its history, Los Angeles has been blessed with an abundance of beautiful parks and gardens in which to relax. In the early twentieth century, … Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Parks | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Daylight Saving Time: A Reminder From Pier Angeli and the Daily Mirror

Posted on March 8, 2015 by lmharnisch

Pier Angeli and her little friend remind Daily Mirror readers that Daylight Saving Time begins today and to set your clocks forward one hour.

Posted in Animals, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Coming Attractions: Marc Wanamaker at the L.A. Breakfast Club

Posted on March 2, 2015 by lmharnisch

I like mine fried upside down. Ham ‘n’ eggs. Flip ’em, flop ’em, flap ’em. Ham ‘n’ eggs. –Los Angeles Breakfast Club’s anthem Noted film historian and photo collector Marc Wanamaker will be speaking about the history of the Los … Continue reading →

Posted in 1925, Coming Attractions, Photography | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 2, 2015 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1966 camp fest known as “Billy the Kid versus Dracula,” starring John Carradine (Friday’s mystery gent),  Chuck Courtney (Thursday’s mystery gent), Melinda Plowman (Wednesday’s mystery woman), Virginia Christine and Walter Janowitz (Thursday’s mystery … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 39 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: George E. Stone, Hollywood’s Two-Bit Hood

Posted on March 2, 2015 by lmharnisch

George E. Stone in a photo courtesy of Mary Mallory. Velvet Smith, Sparrow, Slinky, Dippy, Johnnie the Shark, Spats, Tough Tony, Ropes, McGonigle, Toothpick Charlie: just a few of the wise guy characters that made diminutive character actor George E. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments