Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on June 12, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1960 Allied Artists film Pay or Die with Ernest Borgnine, Zohra Lampert, Alan Austin, Renata Vanni, Bruno Della Santina, Franco Corsaro, Robert F. Simon, Robert Ellenstein, Howard Caine, John Duke, Vito Scotti, John Marley, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1960, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 33 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Jerry Giesler, Miracle Man

Posted on June 12, 2023 by lmharnisch

Photo: Walter Wanger, left, and Jerry Giesler. Courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Long before Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, or F. Lee Bailey hit the scene, soft-spoken, circumspect Jerry Giesler iced … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything for June 2023

Posted on June 6, 2023 by lmharnisch

Here’s the Ask Me Anything for June 2023. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Anyone seen Steve Hodel lately?

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on June 5, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1935 film Mystery of Edwin Drood, with Claude Rains, Douglass Montgomery, Heather Angel, Valerie Hobson, David Manners, Francis L. Sullivan, Zeffie Tillbury, Ethel Griffies, E.E. Clive, Walter Kingsford, Forrester Harvey, Vera Buckland, Elsa Buchanan, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Nation’s First Legally Permitted Gay Pride Parade

Posted on June 5, 2023 by lmharnisch

Crowd gathering to march in the Los Angeles Christopher Street West pride parade. June 28, 1970. On June 28, 1970, Hollywood hosted the nation’s first legally permitted LGBT Parade, helping spark gay pride and the right for equality in California. … Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Reminder – My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is June 6

Posted on June 3, 2023 by lmharnisch

Reminder: I’ll be doing an “Ask Me Anything” on the Black Dahlia case Tuesday, June 6, at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Can’t make the live session? Email me your questions and I’ll answer them! The video will be posted once … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ben Model’s Undercrank Productions Bring Silent Films to Life

Posted on June 2, 2023 by lmharnisch

For more than 40 years, Ben Model has been accompanying silent films and finding new ways to bring them to audiences all over the world. Besides being a resident film accompanist at the Museum of Modern Art in New York … Continue reading →

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

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 29, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1955 picture The Desperate Hours, with Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March, Arthur Kennedy, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Gig Young, Mary Murphy, Richard Eyer, Robert Middleton, Alan Reed, Bert Freed, Ray Collins, Whit Bissel and Ray … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 22, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1953 MGM picture The Clown, with Red Skelton, Tim Considine, Jane Greer, Loring Smith, Philip Ober, Lou Lubin, Fay Roope, Walter Reed, Edward Marr, Jonathan Cott, Don Beddoe and Steve Forrest.  

Posted in 1953, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 43 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Patience Abbe

Posted on May 22, 2023 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Patience Abbe and her brothers John and Richard parlayed their adventures globetrotting with their famous photographer father James Abbe and mother Polly, a former Ziegfeld dancer, into three books in the 1930s. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Patience Abbe

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Fine Chinese Dining and Asian American Celebrities’ Restaurants

Posted on May 17, 2023 by lmharnisch

Willie Fung opened the New Moon cafe. Americans fell in love with Chinese food over the decades, drawn to it originally by cheap prices and chop suey, before growing to love more exotic and elegant dishes. At the same time, … Continue reading →

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

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 15, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1946 MGM picture No Leave, No Love, with Van Johnson, Keenan Wynn, Pat Kirkwood, Guy Lombardo and his Orchestra, Edward Arnold, Marie Wilson, Leon Ames, Marina Koshetz, Selena Royle, Wilson Wood, Vince Barnett and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Remembering Newsman Tony Valdez | 1945-2023

Posted on May 11, 2023 by lmharnisch

We’re remembering veteran Fox 11 newsman Tony Valdez, who died last week at 78. Tony loved Los Angeles and he loved Los Angeles history; for Tony, the city was a profession and an avocation. When he wasn’t reporting on Los … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Obituaries, Photography, Television | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 8, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1939 Universal picture First Love, with Deanna Durbin, Robert Stack, Eugene Pallette, Helen Parrish, Lewis Howard, Leatrice Joy, June Storey, Frank Jenks, Charles Coleman, Mary Treen and Kathleen Howard.

Posted in 1939, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Two Chinese Restaurants in Studio City

Posted on May 8, 2023 by lmharnisch

A matchbook cover for Rickshaw Boy, Courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2016. Graphics, films, advertisements, music – all demonstrate values and cultures of the time and place in which they were created. Words, phrases, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Two Chinese Restaurants in Studio City

Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything – May 2023

Posted on May 2, 2023 by lmharnisch

Here’s my latest Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case.

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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.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything – May 2, 2023

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