Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

TCM: Fail

Posted on January 19, 2013 by lmharnisch

Hobart Bosworth’s previously unknown role as Bob the Tomato.

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

Millennial Moment: Ban on Blood Donations From Gay Men Urged

Posted on January 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 18, 1983: Gay men are “known to be at increased risk of acquiring a mysterious and often fatal new disease that suppresses the body’s immune system” so the National Hemophilia Foundation is seeking to bar them from donating blood, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1983, LAPD, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Medicine, Millennial Moments, Religion, Television | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Millennial Moment: Ban on Blood Donations From Gay Men Urged

Happy Birthday, Mack Sennett!

Posted on January 17, 2013 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory notes that today is Mack Sennett’s birthday. Read Mary’s post on Sennett here.

Posted in 1880, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on January 17, 2013 by lmharnisch

Here’s another mystery photo, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Thanks, Mary! This is Gloria Dickson, who burned to death in a fire in 1945.

Posted in 1945, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Deadly LAPD Beating: Officer Describes Arrest

Posted on January 17, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 17, 1943: District attorney’s investigators question Police Sgt. James F. Martin about the arrest of Stanley H. Beebe, who died after being beaten by LAPD officers. Martin said that he got a bloody nose and two broken ribs in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Columnists, Comics, Downtown, Film, Hill Street, LAPD, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on January 16, 2013 by lmharnisch

Here’s another mystery photo, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Thanks, Mary! Nobody guessed our fellow — let me see if I can find more photos of him before revealing the answer.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Ferdinand Earle – Found on EBay

Posted on January 16, 2013 by lmharnisch

A lot of material belonging to Ferdinand Earle (d. 1951) has been listed on EBay. Earle was an art director, writer and director in the silent era. The photo above is from “Womanhood,” on which he was art director. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Ferdinand Earle – Found on EBay

It’s Jan. 15. Trim your roses

Posted on January 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

Yes it’s Jan. 15. I remember it very quietly by trimming my roses.

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

U.S. Lifts Ban on L.A. Paper Accused of Treason, Jan. 17, 1863

Posted on January 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

Read the entire Los Angeles Star of Jan. 17, 1863, courtesy of USC and the Huntington Library. Jan. 17, 1863: The Star notes that after a year of being banned from the U.S. mails for publishing treasonous articles in support … Continue reading →

Posted in 1863, Civil War | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on U.S. Lifts Ban on L.A. Paper Accused of Treason, Jan. 17, 1863

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on January 14, 2013 by lmharnisch

Here’s a mystery chap courtesy of Mary Mallory. Thanks, Mary!! This is Felix Knight. Please congratulate Mike Hawks and Bob Hansen for identifying him!

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Jerry Giesler, Miracle Man

Posted on January 14, 2013 by lmharnisch

Photo: Walter Wanger, left, and Jerry Giesler. Courtesy of Mary Mallory. Long before Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, or F. Lee Bailey hit the scene, soft-spoken, circumspect Jerry Giesler iced his competition as Los Angeles’ top criminal defense … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

‘Gangster Squad’: Fail – Part 1

Posted on January 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

Uh-oh. Nobody should be surprised — least of all Warner Bros. — that  “Gangster Squad” is a terrible movie. Anyone who saw the trailers or heard the industry gossip knew that it was going to be dreadful. It was a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Fashion, Fashions, Film, History, Hollywood, LAPD, Mickey Cohen | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

How Not to Wear a Hat, Gangster Squad Edition

Posted on January 12, 2013 by lmharnisch

How to look like a hayseed just off the farm in really expensive clothes, as demonstrated by Sean Penn in “Gangster Squad,” costume design by Mary Zophres. Why does Hollywood have such a difficult time with men’s hats?

Posted in Fashion, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

‘Gangster Squad’ a Thumbnail Review

Posted on January 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

“Gangster Squad” is bad. It’s very bad. It’s even very, very bad. I laughed several times in fact, despite my best efforts not to. I’ll write more later but here’s a start: I should say something about a spoiler alert … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Pray for Me, I’m Going to See ‘Gangster Squad’

Posted on January 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

I am heading  off to see “Gangster Squad” this morning, not because I expect it to be good, but because I expect it to be very, very bad, as already reflected by the first reviews and the trailers. I have … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Black Dahlia, City Hall, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Punk Rock Riot on Sunset Boulevard!

Posted on January 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

  How about this retro artwork on the ad for “Nicholas Nickleby?” Sort of Peter Max via “Yellow Submarine.” Jan. 10, 1983: A riot breaks out among an estimated 2,000 punk rockers during a concert at Studio Instrument Rentals at … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Hollywood, Music, Spring Street, Television | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

LAPD the ‘Storm Troopers’ of L.A., Lawmaker Says of Police Brutality

Posted on January 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 1, 1943: This is the beginning of the Stanley H. Beebe case, in which LAPD officers were accused of beating a suspect who died of his injuries.  Beebe, an accountant, was arrested on a streetcar at 1st and Hill … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, 1943, Crime and Courts, Downtown, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , | Comments Off on LAPD the ‘Storm Troopers’ of L.A., Lawmaker Says of Police Brutality

The Black Dahlia: Another Good Story Ruined

Posted on January 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

Black Dahlia: 5 Songs for a Famous Murder Victim by “Jef With One F.” The anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s 1947 disappearance from the Biltmore has provoked the usual outpouring of mistakes and nonsense, much of it swiped from Wikipedia (see: … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | 6 Comments

Los Angeles Editor Was Ahead of His Time

Posted on January 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

My latest column is about Paul Bryan Gray and his new book “A Clamor for Equality,” the biography of Francisco P. Ramirez, the youthful editor of El Clamor Público, the first entirely Spanish-language newspaper published in Los Angeles. The entire … Continue reading →

Posted in 1855, Books and Authors, Downtown, History, Latinos | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Day’s News – Pestilence and Starvation, Jan. 9, 1913

Posted on January 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1913: We like to think that the past was a kinder, simpler time — when life moved at a slower pace. But no. The Times publishes a Page 1 news map “as an aid to the busy reader … Continue reading →

Posted in 1913, A Kinder, Simpler Time, Broadway, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Latinos | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment