Monthly Archives: December 2019

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 18, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. In February, I ran a series of posts by James Curtis about producer David Lewis. This isn’t a new book but I found it remarkably insightful. “The Creative Producer” can be found … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 17, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. “The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

“Angel’s Flight” by Leo Politi. Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Another of my favorite books about Los Angeles is Leo Politi’s “Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Reminiscences of Bygone Days,” published in 1964. Copies are listed on Bookfinder … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Bonus Photo

Posted on December 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

Tucson Barbara sends along this mystery photo, part of gallery of unidentified people at the Library of Congress. You may recall a post about another woman on the list that appeared in 2018. Any ideas? Barbara says: It’s not Barbara … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Mystery Photo | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1940 film “Beyond Tomorrow” with Charles Winninger, Richard Carlson, Maria Ouspenskaya, Jean Parker, Helen Vinson, C. Aubrey Smith, Harry Carey, Alex Melesh, Rod La Rocque, J. Anthony Hughes, Robert Homans, Virginia McMullen, James Bush … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Since Ma Is Playing Mah Jongg’ 1920s Game Craze

Posted on December 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

“Since Ma Is Playing Mah Jongg,” sung by Eddie Cantor, sheet music courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2015. In the 1920s, life changed fast and furiously as people celebrated the Jazz Age. Dance mad, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1922, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 13, 2019 by lmharnisch

This is an encore post from 2018. Note: “Little Shoes,” about the murders of three little girls, may not be everybody’s idea of an appropriate holiday gift, but it is more than a “true crime” book. In “Little Shoes” Pamela … Continue reading →

Posted in 1937, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Paul Bryan Gray was recently mentioned in the Los Angeles Times as the author of “A Clamor for Equality,” the biography of Francisco Ramirez, who published Los Angeles’ first entirely Spanish-language newspaper, … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 11, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2013. You might have to hunt a bit for Don Normark’s 1999 book “Chavez Ravine, 1949,” but your search will be rewarded. The photos are terrific and the residents’ recollections make the book even … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 10, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2013. Glen Creason’s book on maps of Los Angeles shows the many ways people have viewed the city over the years. I interviewed him for The Times in 2012 and fortunately for all concerned, … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 9, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1961 Warner Bros. film “Susan Slade,” with Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Lloyd Nolan, Dorothy McGuire, Brian Aherne, Grant Williams, Natalie Schafer, Kent Smith, Bert Convy and Guy Wilkerson. Color by Technicolor. This was Williams’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

L.A. Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 9, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Mary Mallory’s posts are one of the L.A. Daily Mirror’s most popular features, so we are happy to recommend “Hollywoodland”; “Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays,” written with Karie Bible; “Hollywood at Play,” written … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 8, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2013. Whenever I’m asked about my favorite books on Los Angeles, my first recommendation is “Nuestro Pueblo,” a selection of features by Times artist Charles Owens and writer Joseph Seewerker that appeared in The … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2013. True style never goes out of date, after all. We are being bombarded by stories about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with videos of long lines at stores and the attendant consumer frenzy. … Continue reading →

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A Firsthand History Lesson on Pearl Harbor

Posted on December 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2011. In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular curriculum to give his young pupils … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Education, History, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Huntington Japanese Garden Gives Rest and Refinement

Posted on December 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

A c. 1937 image of the Japanese garden at the Huntington, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. In 1919, Henry E. and Arabella Huntington signed trust papers that would turn their estate into a public institution. Once opened to … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Museums | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1956 Warner Bros. film “A Cry in the Night,” with Edmond O’Brien, Brian Donlevy, Natalie Wood, Raymond Burr, Richard Anderson, Irene Hervey, Carol Vezzie, Mary Lawrence, Anthony Caruso, George J. Lewis, Peter Hanson, Tina … Continue reading →

Posted in 1956, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments