Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Found on EBay — Oviatt’s Overcoat

Posted on November 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

This overcoat, size 46, from Oviatt’s has been listed on EBay with bids starting at $4.99. There appears to be some moth damage and some less than expert repairs. Oviatt’s was among the leading men’s stores in Los Angeles its … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1935 Fox film “Black Sheep,” starring Edmund Lowe and Claire Trevor (Friday’s mystery guests), Tom Brown (Wednesday’s mystery guest), Eugene Pallette (not shown), Adrienne Ames (Monday’s mystery guest), Herbert Mundin (Thursday’s mystery guest) … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 33 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Bryson Apartments ‘The Finest Apartment Building West of New York City’

Posted on November 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

The Bryson Apartments, via Google Street View. Considered by many to be one of the most attractive apartment buildings in Los Angeles, the regal Bryson Apartment Building at 2701 Wilshire Blvd. stands as a lovely example of 1910s high end … Continue reading →

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Just in Time for Christmas — Amazon Price Checker

Posted on November 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

Here’s a fun toy I just discovered. CamelCamelCamel.com tracks price fluctuations on Amazon (in case you haven’t noticed – and I hadn’t —  the hardcover price of James Ellroy’s “Perfidia” has been dropping slightly every day). Handy for the holidays, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

L.A. Becomes New York: ‘Three on a Match’ (1932)

Posted on November 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

After I posted a photo of Ann Dvorak’s Duesenberg in the 1932 film “Three on a Match,” John Bengtson noted that the school scenes were filmed at Los Angeles High School on Fort Moore Hill. “Three on a Match” is, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1932, Architecture, Downtown, Education, Film, Hollywood, Location Sleuth, New York | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 23

Posted on November 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

A photo (possibly hand-tinted)  of Georgette Bauerdorf, National Police Gazette, August 1946, courtesy of Steven Bibb.  And now we enter the realm of speculation in the Georgette Bauerdorf case. We have looked at all the evidence as it was reported … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 36 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 22

Posted on November 12, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf in a photograph courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. So far in our examination of the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, we have looked at almost every aspect except the way the investigation was conducted. Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 21

Posted on November 11, 2014 by lmharnisch

Henry James Lynch, a plumber who was found in the basement of El Palacio Apartments, explained that he could do a better job than the police in investigating the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. As … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 10, 2014 by lmharnisch

I thought it would be fun to do a British film for a change. This is the 1937 movie “Fire Over England,” with Sir Laurence Olivier, Flora Robson, Leslie Banks, Vivien Leigh, Raymond Massey, Tamara Desni and Morton Selten. Based … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 70 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ravenswood Apartments Attract the Stylish

Posted on November 10, 2014 by lmharnisch

Mae West in her boudoir at the Ravenswood, Life magazine, Feb. 19, 1940. Built during the early years of the Great Depression, the luxurious Ravenswood Apartment building at 570 N. Rossmore Ave. stands as one of the best examples of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Museum of the San Fernando Valley Grand Opening

Posted on November 8, 2014 by lmharnisch

Sorry for the short notice, but the Museum of the San Fernando Valley says that it’s having a grand opening today from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 18860 Nordhoff St. in Northridge. More information is available here.

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Black Dahlia: Ronald Reagan and the Dead Milkmen

Posted on November 7, 2014 by lmharnisch

Wow. Just when I thought I had seen everything — and I mean everything — about the Black Dahlia case.

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

On Location in Downtown Los Angeles — 1930

Posted on November 7, 2014 by lmharnisch

“For the Defense” is one of the old Paramount films now controlled by Universal. As part of its pre-code marathon, TCM recently aired “For the Defense,” a 1930 Paramount film starring William Powell and Kay Francis.

Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 20

Posted on November 6, 2014 by lmharnisch

An unidentified woman demonstrates how someone disabled the light fixture in the entryway to the Bauerdorf apartment, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. I wondered whether this was Aggie Underwood because it is a Herald-Express picture and Herald reporters … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

1944 on the Radio — NBC Symphony Orchestra, November 5, 1944

Posted on November 5, 2014 by lmharnisch

November 5, 1944: Arturo Toscanini conducts the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, followed by Glinka’s “Caprice Brillant Jota Aragonesa.”  Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 19

Posted on November 5, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 20, 1944: Capt. Garner Brown examines the fabric used to strangle Georgette Bauerdorf, Daily News. One of the more unusual aspects of the Georgette Bauerdorf killing was the fabric the killer shoved about four inches down her throat. Georgette … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 18

Posted on November 4, 2014 by lmharnisch

    This Google map shows several possible routes from Georgette Bauerdorf’s apartment to the location where the car was found. Whoever took the car had any number of options on where to dump it. Recall that the car, a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope production of “Garden of Evil,” with Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward and Richard Widmark. The 1954 film was written by Frank Fenton, based on a story by Fred Freiberger and William … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 35 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Sennett Stills Photographers Display Wide Talents

Posted on November 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

Derelys Perdue, photo by Albert J. Kopec. While some motion picture stills photographers are renowned for their work, such as George Hurrell, Clarence Sinclair Bull, Ernest Bachrach, and Ruth Harriet Louise, others are largely forgotten today, seeming to disappear into … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Shadowing Marlowe: Another Good Story Ruined

Posted on November 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

Someone asked me what I thought of this article in our hometown paper and when I got done laughing I pulled out Frank MacShane’s “Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler” and “The Life of Raymond Chandler.” You guessed it.

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | 29 Comments