Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 16, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1944 Twentieth Century-Fox film Four Jills in a Jeep, with Kay Francis, Carole Landis, Martha Raye, Mitzi Mayfair, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, John Harvey and Phil Silvers. “Introducing Dick Haymes in his first … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Norvell, Astrologer to the Stars

Posted on August 16, 2021 by lmharnisch

Norvell and Hedy Lamarr in Screenland. Note: This is an encore post from 2015.   Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines astrology as “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 9, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1952 MGM comedy Young Man With Ideas, with Glenn Ford, Ruth Roman, Denise Darcel, Nina Foch, Donna Corcoran, Ray Collins, Mary Wickes, Bobby Diamond, Sheldon Leonard, Dick Wessel, Carl Milletaire, Curtis Cooksey, Karl Davis, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1952, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 68 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: How the Walk of Fame Was Born

Posted on August 9, 2021 by lmharnisch

Gigi Perreau and Linda Darnell, center, at the groundbreaking for the Walk of Fame, with Francis X. Bushman and Charles Coburn, right, in an L.A. Times photo. “Everyone needs a gimmick” goes a lyric in the musical “Gypsy,” and the … Continue reading →

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

‘Breakfast in Hollywood’ – Behind the Scenes

Posted on August 2, 2021 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory sends along a promotional brochure from last week’s mystery movie Breakfast in Hollywood. Thanks, Mary!!

Posted in 1946, Film, Hollywood, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 2, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1955 film The Big Knife, with Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Ilka Chase, Everett Sloane, Wesley Addy, Paul Langton, Nick Dennis, Bill Walker and Mike Winkelman. And Miss Shelley … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 55 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Brazil Touches Off Riot at 1932 L.A. Olympics

Posted on August 2, 2021 by lmharnisch

The Xth Olympiad hosted by Los Angeles from July 31 through August 14, 1932, overflowed with drama and intrigue in everything from finances to competition. None was as striking as the Brazilian team’s adventure in making it to California, using … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 26, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1946 film Breakfast in Hollywood, with Tom Breneman, Bonita Granville, Ray Walburn, Beulah Bondi, Billie Burke, Edward Ryan, Zasu Pitts, Hedda Hopper, Andy Russell,  Spike Jones and His City Slickers and the King Cole … Continue reading →

Posted in 1945, 1946, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 53 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Hollywood Country Club

Posted on July 26, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. With the name Hollywood Country Club, one would assume that a golfing club so named would be located in the actual city or hills of Hollywood, California. While a club by that … Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Parks, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Saluting Marilyn Thomas — Miss Muscle Beach 1953

Posted on July 19, 2021 by lmharnisch

Marilyn Thomas in an undated photo on Muscle Beach. In 2005, I did a blog post for the 1947project on Miss Muscle Beach of 1947. Back then, only the Los Angeles Times was online, so when I listed the winners, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1953, Sports | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 19, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1943 RKO Picture Gildersleeve’s Bad Day, with Harold Peary, Jane Darwell, Nancy Gates, Charles Arnt, Freddie Mercer, Russell Wade, Lillian Randolph, Frank Jenks, Douglas Fowley, Alan Carney, Grant Withers and Richard LeGrand.

Posted in 1943, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 65 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Sweets for the Jazz Age at Paulais

Posted on July 19, 2021 by lmharnisch

The exterior of Paulais at Hollywood Boulevard and Las Palmas, c. 1925. Courtesy of the University of Southern California Libraries and the California Historical Society. The 1920s Jazz Age brought high-spirited verve, flamboyance and progressivism in reaction to the haunting … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 12, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1943 RKO picture The Leopard Man, with Dennis O’Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, James Bell, Margaret Landry, Abner Biberman, Tula Parma and Ben Bard. Music by Roy Webb. Musical direction by C. Bakaleinikoff. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 47 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Saving a Historic Hollywood Home, Thanks to Alice Harrod

Posted on July 12, 2021 by lmharnisch

The home at 6831 De Longpre Ave., via Google Street View, as shown in 2014. Historic buildings tell as much about people and their eras as they do about architecture and usage. Preserving the actual structure celebrates the past and … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 5, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1943 MGM short “Inflation,” with Edward Arnold, Horace (Stephen) McNally, Esther Williams and Vicky Lane. Original story by E. Maurice Adler and Julian Harmon. Screenplay by Gene Piller and Michael Simmons. Photography by Henry … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Emma Lazarus’ ‘The New Colossus’ Calls to All Immigrants

Posted on July 5, 2021 by lmharnisch

Construction of the Statue of Liberty, artwork by John Durkin, Harper’s Weekly, Jan. 19, 1884. Note: This is an encore post from 2018. Written in 1883 to help raise money for building the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: ‘Bosch’ Author Michael Connelly Says Dahlia Case Is Unsolved

Posted on July 1, 2021 by lmharnisch

Former L.A. Times reporter and Valley Edition colleague Michael Connelly, author of the “Bosch” novels and TV series, among many other achievements, talks to Tai Freligh of the Wonderland Murders podcast. Mike ends with the kicker that he considers the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2021, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: ‘Bosch’ Author Michael Connelly Says Dahlia Case Is Unsolved

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: John George, Small but Powerful Character Actor

Posted on June 28, 2021 by lmharnisch

A publicity photo of John George in the Miami Herald, Sept. 28, 1922. Unknown by most classic film fans, character actor John George achieved minor success in moving pictures through sheer determination. Immigrating to the United States in 1912, George … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on June 28, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1940 Warner Bros. film “ ’Til We Meet Again,” with Merle Oberon, George Brent, Pat O’Brien, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Binnie Barnes and Frank McHugh. Screenplay by Warren Duff, from an original story by Robert Lord.

Posted in 1940, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 59 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: How Hollywood’s Streets Got Their Names

Posted on June 22, 2021 by lmharnisch

H.H. Wilcox’s 1887 map of Hollywood courtesy of USC digital collections. Street names provide a telling story of an area’s development, growth, and history. Real estate promoters and developers give tract streets aspirational titles, monikers that salute subjects or places, … Continue reading →

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