Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 9, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Virtually everyone who writes about Raymond Chandler cites this book by Philip Durham, but very few people seem to have read it. Writing in 1963, four years after Chandler’s death, Durham produced … Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 8, 2021 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 7, 2021 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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A Firsthand History Lesson on Pearl Harbor

Posted on December 7, 2021 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 →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 6, 2021 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 →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Lighting the Way on Santa Claus Lane

Posted on December 6, 2021 by lmharnisch

Hollywood Boulevard decorated for Christmas in the 1950s. Starting in the late 1920s, Hollywood Boulevard’s Christmas decorations dazzled shoppers and tourists with their thousands of twinkling lights, a spectacular backdrop for holiday shopping. While Col. H.M. Baine conceived the concept … Continue reading →

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

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 6, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1962 Warner Bros. picture A Majority of One, with Rosalind Russell, Alec Guinness, Ray Danton, Madlyn Rhue, Mae Questal, Marc Marno, Gary Vinson, Sharon Hugueny, Frank Wilcox, Francis De Sales, Harriet MacGibbon, Yuki Shimoda … Continue reading →

Posted in 1962, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 5, 2021 by lmharnisch

I generally dislike “true” crime books, but Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five is an exception. Rubenhold explores the lives of five victims of Jack the Ripper, chronicling their lives up to the moments before they are killed. Rubenhold was criticized by … Continue reading →

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

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

I generally don’t recommend books I haven’t read, but the Brain Trust has weighed in on two new books that you might consider: The Boys, by Ron Howard and Clint Howard, comes highly recommended, as does Hayley Mills’ Forever Young: … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 3, 2021 by lmharnisch

I’m happy to recommend Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Essence of Sunshine and Noir, by my Crime Buddy Nathan Marsak, published in 2020 by Angel City Press. The book is full of historic photos and vintage ephemera, and the text is … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 2, 2021 by lmharnisch

This is an unusual suggestion (especially a “retro” suggestion) for the holidays: Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life by James Curtis won’t be available until February. But you can pre-order it, which is what I’ve done. Yes, there is another Keaton … Continue reading →

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Coming Events: Hollywood Heritage Afternoon With the Authors

Posted on December 1, 2021 by lmharnisch

On Saturday (Dec. 4), from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hollywood Heritage will host its annual Afternoon With the Authors. Writers scheduled to attend include Leonard Maltin, James Curtis, Allen Ellenberger, Cari Beauchamp, Marc Wanamaker and Mary Mallory. Hollywood Heritage … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Charles Ray

Posted on November 29, 2021 by lmharnisch

A Witzel photo of Charles Ray, listed on EBay at $9.95. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Boyish actor Charles Ray ranked as one of the most popular juvenile stars of the mid 1910s, playing rural teens, schoolboys, … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 29, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1933 Warner Bros. picture The Mind Reader, with Warren William, Constance Cummings, Allen Jenkins, Natalie Moorhead, Mayo Methot, Clarence Muse and Earle Foxe.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 39 Comments

L.A. Celebrates a Wartime Thanksgiving, 1943

Posted on November 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. A wartime Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, with many service personnel welcomed into people’s homes for a holiday meal. The Times published cooking tips for war workers, advising cooks who were otherwise engaged … Continue reading →

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An 1890s Thanksgiving in the Kitchen

Posted on November 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Here’s a traditional roast turkey recipe from the “Every-Day Cook-Book and Family Compendium,” written about 1890 by Miss E. Neill. Be sure your fire is bright and clear and watch out for … Continue reading →

Posted in 1890, Food and Drink, From the Stacks | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Lillian St. Cyr, ‘Indian Princess’ of Early Films

Posted on November 23, 2021 by lmharnisch

Lillian St. Cyr, who took the name Princess Red Wing (frequently rendered as Redwing), Moving Picture World, 1912. Throughout much of her life, Lillian Margaret St. Cyr felt caught between two worlds as she tried to bridge Native American and … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 22, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1936 Warner Bros. picture Brides Are Like That, with Ross Alexander, Anita Louise, Joseph Cawthorn, Kathleen Lockhart, Gene Lockhart, Richard Purcell, Mary Treen, Joseph Crehan, Frank Darien, Robert Emmett Keane and Kay Hughes.

Posted in 1936, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 15, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1947 MGM picture The Arnelo Affair, with John Hodiak, George Murphy, Frances Gifford, Dean Stockwell, Eve Arden, Warner Anderson, Lowell Gilmore, Michael Branden, Ruth Brady, Ruby Dandridge and Joan Woodbury. Screenplay by Arch Oboler, … Continue reading →

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

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Filming in Studio City

Posted on November 15, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Mack Sennett and John A. Waldron with plans for new project. Credit: Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1927 Note: This is an encore post from 2011. North Hollywood really began growing in the mid-1920s, when farmers and ranchers began … Continue reading →

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