Monthly Archives: July 2018

July 17, 1907: Hollywood Organizes to Catch Serial Arsonist

Posted on July 17, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 17, 1907 Los Angeles A serial arsonist has been at work in Hollywood, setting six fires in the last three weeks. The community’s small volunteer fire department has been overwhelmed by … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1958 British production “Fiend Without a Face” or the “The Flying Brains Movie,” made by Amalgamated and released by MGM. With Marshall Thompson, Kynaston Reeves, Kim Parker, Stanley Maxted, Terence Kilburn, James Dyrenforth, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

July 16, 1947: L.A. County Tired of Paying Welfare, Pays Brink Family to Go Back to Oklahoma

Posted on July 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Sojourn Over—James Brink and his wife and their nine children as they prepared to depart yesterday for their Oklahoma ranch after spending two and a half … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Enchanted Hill – Hollywood’s Ultimate Mansion

Posted on July 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Fred Thomson in an undated image. In the early days of the Hollywood film industry, moguls and movie stars lived simply, residing in comfortable but elegant homes. As the business evolved from small companies into large-scale moviemaking factories in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

July 16, 1907: New Restrictions on Boxing

Posted on July 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 16, 1907 Los Angeles Under continued lobbying from the Church Federation, the city attorney is preparing new restrictions on prizefighting that local promoters say will kill the sport. “The new ordinance … Continue reading →

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July 15, 1947: Orson Welles Films ‘Macbeth’ on Tight Deadline

Posted on July 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Over at Republic Studios, master showman Orson Welles is engaged in an enormous stunt: He has promised to film “Macbeth” in 24 days (later cut to … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 6

Posted on July 14, 2018 by lmharnisch

In the last post on historic Los Angeles in “Illegal,” here are a few nighttime shots of Main Street. At the far right you can see the sign for the Hotel Cecil. The 500 block of South Main Street via … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Architecture, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

July 14, 1907: L.A. Prepares to Celebrate 126th Anniversary

Posted on July 14, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 14, 1907 Los Angeles Led by the Rev. Juan Caballeria (or Cabelleria), the city is preparing to celebrate its 126th anniversary Aug. 2 with concerts, Mass in the Plaza church and … Continue reading →

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Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 5

Posted on July 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

In this portion of “Illegal,” we have a long chase sequence. I’m not able to identify all the locations so any help would be appreciated.

Posted in 1955, Architecture, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Architecture, Preservation and Noir

Posted on July 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Architecture, murder and hardboiled writing. Do you suppose McCoy had the 1947 Project in mind when he knocked off this forgotten little tale? (Note the first-person … Continue reading →

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Black L.A. 1947 ‘I Didn’t Think I Had a Friend in the World,’ Dora Jones Testifies in Slavery Case

Posted on July 13, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 10, 1947: The Sentinel devotes a significant part of its front page to the San Diego slavery trial with a story by Clinton M. Arnold. The Sentinel said it was the only black weekly in the U.S. devoting so … Continue reading →

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Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 4

Posted on July 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

I suppose you prop guys at Warner Bros. think this is very funny.

Posted in 1955, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The @NYTIMES Can’t Get L.A. Right

Posted on July 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

“California Today,” by Tim Arango and Charles McDermid, presents a strange bit of nonsense: The Mirror (the sister paper of the Los Angeles Times published in the afternoon) folded “partly because the old streetcars went away as the city embraced … Continue reading →

Posted in 1962, 2018, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, New York | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

July 12, 1907: Man at Gas Co. Scalded by Fall Into Vat of Boiling Water

Posted on July 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 12, 1907 Los Angeles Gas Co. employees found a man scalded over the lower half of his body wandering the yards at Center and Aliso after he fell into a vat … Continue reading →

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Historic L.A. in ‘Illegal’ | Part 3

Posted on July 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Here’s another shot of the California State Building lobby and the bank of elevators as Hugh Marlowe exits.

Posted in 1955, Architecture, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Postal Worker Finds Body of Rosenda Mondragon

Posted on July 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

July 10, 1947: The Sentinel publishes a picture of Newton Joshua, who discovered the body of Rosenda Mondragon. I don’t recall ever seeing his name in coverage of the killing.

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July 11, 1907: Arts Education Will Be Seen as Essential — Someday

Posted on July 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. July 11, 1907 Los Angeles Among the presentations at the current educators convention is a seminar on teaching the arts. If you have ever attended a colloquium on arts education or listened … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Education, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment

Black L.A.: Lynchings Increase for 1946

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel reports on the rise in lynchings in 1946 in data compiled by the Tuskegee Institute. The institute said six African Americans were lynched in 1946, contrasted with one in 1945. “The offenses charged were stealing … Continue reading →

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1947: Bookstore Owners Fined for Selling Obscene ‘Memoirs of Hecate County’

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. In the days when I lived in Hecate County, I had an uncomfortable neighbor, a man named Asa M. Stryker. He had at one time, he … Continue reading →

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June 14, 1947: U.S. Customs Bars Welcoming Committee From Greeting Mexican Official

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Finger-pointing gestures and assurances that the State Department and other higher echelons will hear protests were features of an “international incident” yesterday when Dr. Francisco Villagran, … Continue reading →

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