Monthly Archives: January 2021

Black Dahlia: Jean Spangler and the Dr. George Hodel Non-Connection

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Executive summary: A story in Entertainment Weekly looks at the 1949 disappearance of bit actress Jean Spangler. The author lists purported suspects, including Dr. George Hodel, whom Steve Hodel has accused of countless unsolved killings, including the Black Dahlia, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 1949, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights — ‘Julius Caesar’

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Beachwood Canyon in a panorama from the Library of Congress. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Throughout history, people have come together to communally celebrate.  From groups worshipping at Stonehenge, rejoicing in Times Square at the end … Continue reading →

Posted in 1916, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Stage | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s movie was the 1951 Twentieth Century-Fox film “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain,” with Susan Hayward, William Lundigan, Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, Gene Lockhart, Lynn Bari, Ruth Donnelly, Kathleen Lockhart and Alexander Knox. Screenplay by Lamar Trotti from a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Black Dahlia: Norton Avenue and a Lesson in L.A. Geography Via EBay

Posted on January 22, 2021 by lmharnisch

An EBay vendor has listed a sign from South Norton Avenue with an asking price of $500, stating that: Elizabeth Short, the infamous Black Dahlia was found brutally murdered, severed in two, just down the street from where this sign … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Dahlia, Found on EBay | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Story of Dr. Jenner’ Promotes Vaccination

Posted on January 18, 2021 by lmharnisch

Matthew Boulton as the physician who develops a cure for smallpox in MGM’s 1939 “The Story of Dr. Jenner.” For centuries, smallpox infestations caused massive deaths and disfigurings to civilizations. First appearing in agricultural communities around 10,000 BC, the disease … Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 18, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 film “The Enforcer,” with Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane, Roy Roberts, Lawrence Tolan, King Donovan, Robert Steele, Adelaide Klein, Don Beddoe, Tito Vuolo, John Kellogg and Jack Lambert. Written … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 37 Comments

Black Dahlia: Purported Movie of Elizabeth Short on V-J Day in Hollywood – FALSE!

Posted on January 16, 2021 by lmharnisch

Every so often, this clip shows up on social media, purporting to be Elizabeth Short on Hollywood Boulevard during V-J Day celebrations in August 1945. False. Elizabeth Short was in Medford, Mass., on V-J Day and didn’t arrive in Los … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Cold Cases, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia: Trim Your Roses on Jan. 15 to Remember Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 15, 2021 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death. As is the custom, the Daily Mirror will be dark. Trim your roses in her memory.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: On the Anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s Murder, a Guide for the Hasty Reporter

Posted on January 12, 2021 by lmharnisch

My Page 1 story on the Black Dahlia case. Now behind the Los Angeles Times pay wall. The full version of the story (expanded by two-thirds) is available on my old, old website. The anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s murder, coming … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights — ‘Barbara Frietchie’

Posted on January 11, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Filming “Barbara Frietchie.” Courtesy of Mary Mallory/Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Thomas Ince, sadly more recognized today for his tragic, early death than for the fine films he created, was … Continue reading →

Posted in 1924, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 11, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1941 film “Cheers for Miss Bishop,” with Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edwin Gwenn, Sidney Blackmer, Dorothy Peterson, Sterling Holloway, Donald Douglas, Marsha Hunt, Lois Ranson and Mary Anderson. From the novel “Miss Bishop” by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 53 Comments

Black Dahlia: My Annual Donation in Memory of Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 5, 2021 by lmharnisch

As longtime readers know, I always begin a new year with an annual donation in memory of Elizabeth Short to Heading Home, which works with the homeless in the Boston area. Partly because of my research on Elizabeth Short, I … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Mystery Movies 2020 in Review

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

Roy D’Arcy in “The Temptress,” one of 2020’s mystery movies. I used a different method in selecting last year’s mystery movies, relying on the trade papers available on Lantern in a systematic fashion. The films might seem iffy now, but … Continue reading →

Posted in 2019, 2020, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Paris Inn Sings for Its Supper

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

From its beginnings, Los Angeles attracted dreamers and schemers looking to devise new, more successful lives. Early leaders practiced hucksterism and hyperbole to draw Midwesterners and others to the golden, promised land of sunny Southern California and its budding metropolis … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 MGM picture “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” with Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt, Marie Prevost, Robert Young,  Karen Morley, Charles Wininger, Alan Hale, Halliwell Hobbes, Lennox Pawle and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 58 Comments