Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 1, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1939 Warner Bros. short Old Hickory, with Hugh Sothern, Nana Bryant, Victor Kilian, Frank Wilcox, Irving Pichel, Natalie Moorhead, George Renevant and John Hamilton.

Posted in 1939, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood’s First Studio Librarian, Elizabeth McGaffey

Posted on May 1, 2023 by lmharnisch

In a field that prides itself on accuracy in production, it took a woman to recognize the importance of organizing and conducting research to verify facts and figures. Forgotten today, Elizabeth McGaffey established the Lasky Feature Play Company’s library with … Continue reading →

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

Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything – May 2, 2023

Posted on April 25, 2023 by lmharnisch

Coming next week: Ask me anything about the Black Dahlia case, Tuesday, May 2, at 10 a.m. Can’t make the live session? Email me your questions and I’ll answer them! The video will be posted once the session ends.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 24, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1944 Twentieth Century-Fox picture Wilson, with Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Ruth Nelson, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, William Eythe, Mary Anderson, Ruth Ford, Sidney Blackmer, Madeleine Forbes, Stanley Ridges, Eddie Foy Jr., … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 43 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – The Quest for a Movie Museum

Posted on April 24, 2023 by lmharnisch

Image: Postcard showing a model of a proposed Hollywood museum, listed on EBay $3.99. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Oct. 6 … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Museums, Preservation | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – The Quest for a Movie Museum

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: TCM Classic Film Festival Salutes Warner Bros. Centennial

Posted on April 19, 2023 by lmharnisch

Highlighting classic film while saluting legendary Warner Bros. Studio’s Centennial, the recently concluded 14th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival offered an entertaining, thoughtful slice of life through its diverse slate of vintage movies and programming. While slimmed down from past … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 17, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1947 Republic picture The Flame, with John Carroll, Vera Ralston, Robert Paige, Broderick Crawford, Henry Travers, Blanche Yurka, Constance Dowling, Hattie McDaniel, Victor Sen Yung, Harry V. Cheshire, John Miljan, Garry Owen and Eddie … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Eve Golden: The Amazing Life of Allan Gould

Posted on April 14, 2023 by lmharnisch

Ruth Tester and Allan Gould perform Manhattan in the 1929 Paramount short Makers of Melody. Longtime readers may recall that way back in 2013, Larry and I pondered the career of Allan Gould, whom I had seen in a 1929 … Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood, Music, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + +)

Posted on April 10, 2023 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have a mysterious fellow. Back of the Head Guy has been cropped out due to insufficient mysteriousness and will appear later in the week. Update: For Friday, here’s Back of the Head Guy.

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

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights, ‘Hollywood’

Posted on April 10, 2023 by lmharnisch

Aug. 26, 1923: “Hollywood” plays at Grauman’s Rialto. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. More than a decade before the release of HOLLYWOOD BLVD., Paramount Pictures also released a film looking at the behind-the-scenes industry that was also … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything on YouTube for April 2023

Posted on April 4, 2023 by lmharnisch

Here’s my latest “ask me anything” on the Black Dahlia case. I talked about John Gilmore, Steve Hodel, Piu Eatwell, the crime scene and the LAPD investigation, among many other Dahlia-related subjects.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on April 3, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1985 TV movie The Hearst and Davies Affair, with Robert Mitchum, Virginia Madsen, Fritz Weaver, Doris Belack, Laura Henry, Francis Hyland, Caroline Yeager, Lorne Kennedy, George Touliatos, Wayne Best, Donna Goodhand, David Daldorisi and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1985, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights–TCM Classic Film Festival Marks 13 Years of Celebrating Movies

Posted on April 3, 2023 by lmharnisch

Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones, screening at the TCM Classic Film Festival. For the 13th year, the TCM Classic Film Festival celebrates the love of film by screening movies on the big screen the way they were meant to be … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything

Posted on March 28, 2023 by lmharnisch

Coming next week: Ask me anything about the Black Dahlia case, Tuesday, April 4, at 10 a.m. Can’t make the live session? Email me your questions and I’ll answer them!

Posted in Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 27, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1957 Twentieth Century-Fox picture China Gate, with Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson, Nat “King” Cole, Paul Dubov, Lee Van Cleef, Georg Givot, Gerald Milton, Neyle Morrow, Marcel Dalio, Maurice Marsac, Warren Hsieh, Paul Busch, Sasha … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywoodland Opens March 31, 1923

Posted on March 27, 2023 by lmharnisch

An ad for Hollywoodland, October 1923. Note: This is an encore post from 2022. On March 31, 1923, owners of a new hillside development in the Hollywood Hills called Hollywoodland announced the opening of their elaborate new tract in stories … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 20, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1946 International Pictures film Temptation, with Merle Oberon, George Brent, Charles Korvin, Paul Lukas, Leonore Ulric, Arnold Moss, Robert Capa, Aubrey Mather, Ludwig Stossel, Andre Charlot, Suzanne Cloutier and Gloria Lloyd.

Posted in 1946, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 2178 High Tower Drive, L.A.’s First Community Elevator

Posted on March 20, 2023 by lmharnisch

The Tower appeared in the March 24, 1939, installment of Nuestro Pueblo by Joseph Seewerker and Charles Owens of the Los Angeles Times. Note: This is an encore post from 2020. Both marketing gimmick and necessity, the elevator shaft that … Continue reading →

Posted in 1922, Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 2178 High Tower Drive, L.A.’s First Community Elevator

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 13, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1946 Twentieth Century-Fox movie Shock, with Vincent Price, Lynn Bari, Frank Latimore, Anabel Shaw, Michael Dunne, Reed Hadley, Renee Carson and Charles Trowbridge.

Posted in 1946, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Peggy Hamilton, Hollywood Fashion Influencer

Posted on March 13, 2023 by lmharnisch

Peggy Hamilton in an RKO publicity photo by Bachrach, 1931. Besotted with fashion from a young age, Peggy Hamilton turned her passion into a career in 1920s Los Angeles, becoming Hollywood’s first fashion influencer. The first to promote Hollywood and … Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Peggy Hamilton, Hollywood Fashion Influencer