Category Archives: 1931

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 25, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 Chesterfield Motion Picture film The Devil Plays, with Jameson Thomas, Florence Britton, Thomas Jackson, Richard Tucker, Robert Ellis, Lillian Rich, Edmund Burns, Dorothy Christy, Lew Kelly, Carmelita Geraghty, Jack Trent and Murdock McQuarrie.

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 21, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 Universal picture Waterloo Bridge, with Mae Clarke, Kent Douglass, Doris Lloyd, Frederick Kerr, Enid Bennett, Bette Davis, Ethel Griffies, Rita Carlisle and Ruth Handforth.

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 23, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 Columbia picture Ten Cents a Dance, with Barbara Stanwyck, Ricardo Cortez, Monroe Owsley, Sally Blane, Blanche Friderici, Martha Sleeper, David Newell, Victor Potel and Sidney Bracey.

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The First Motion Picture Electrical Parade

Posted on October 17, 2022 by lmharnisch

Harold Lloyd’s float in the electrical parade, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Long before the Walt Disney Co. began presenting an electrical parade at its parks, Los Angeles offered electrical parades as part … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 17, 2022 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 RKO picture Smart Woman, with Mary Astor, Robert Ames, John Halliday, Edward Everett Horton, Noel Francis, Ruth Weston, Gladys Gale, Alfred Cross and Lillian Harmer.

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 29, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 MGM film “Five and Ten,” with Marion Davies, Leslie Howard, Richard Bennett, Irene Rich, Kent Douglass and Mary Duncan. From the book by Fannie Hurst. Dialogue continuity by Edith Fitzgerald. Adaptation by A.P. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 36 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 MGM picture “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” with Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt, Marie Prevost, Robert Young,  Karen Morley, Charles Wininger, Alan Hale, Halliwell Hobbes, Lennox Pawle and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on July 6, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 Warner Bros. picture “Other Men’s Women,” with Grant Withers, Mary Astor, Regis Toomey, James Cagney, Fred Kohler, J. Farrell MacDonald, Joan Blondell, Lillian Worth and Walter Long. By Maude Fulton, dialogue by William … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, City Hall, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 46 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The Gibbons-Del Rio House: Like Stepping Into a Dream

Posted on January 2, 2017 by lmharnisch

The Cedric Gibbons home, via Google Street View. Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Celebrity has often been the cachet for creating style, fashion and cultural trends, especially with the advent of films. Stars wearing a particular designer’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Biltmore Hotel Appears in 1931 Film

Posted on November 12, 2015 by lmharnisch

TCM recently aired several Wheeler and Woolsey films and we were happily surprised to see this establishing shot at the opening of the 1931 RKO picture “Cracked Nuts.” It is our old friend the Biltmore Hotel. Let us also recall … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Wiltern Theatre Jazzes Up Movie Theater Construction

Posted on May 5, 2014 by lmharnisch

The grand opening of what was then the Warner Western Theater, courtesy of Mary Mallory.     The history of one street corner can often show the growing pains of a burgeoning city. What started out as a rural location … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The Gibbons-Del Rio House: Like Stepping Into a Dream

Posted on January 27, 2014 by lmharnisch

The Cedric Gibbons home, via Google Street View. Celebrity has often been the cachet for creating style, fashion and cultural trends, especially with the advent of films. Stars wearing a particular designer’s couture, driving a certain car, or a female … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The First Motion Picture Electrical Parade

Posted on August 5, 2013 by lmharnisch

Harold Lloyd’s float in the electrical parade, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Long before the Walt Disney Co. began presenting an electrical parade at its parks, Los Angeles offered electrical parades as part of the city’s grand La Fiesta de las … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Coming Attractions: This Week on the L.A. Daily Mirror

Posted on October 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

On Monday, Eve Golden has a roundup of unusual obituaries in Queen of the Dead, and in Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory takes a look at the Clover Club, a 1930s casino on Sunset Boulevard. On Tuesday, there’s another installment of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, 1942, Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, LAPD, Latinos, Libraries, Mary Mallory, Queen of the Dead, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Found on EBay – Rube Wolf

Posted on June 24, 2011 by lmharnisch

This poster for “Secrets of a Secretary” – with an appearance by Edna Fisher and Rube Wolf, above right, has been listed on EBay. Rube Wolf isn’t terribly well-known today, except around the Daily Mirror HQ. He was a prominent … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Music, Photography, Theaters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Maltese Falcon, 1931

Posted on June 2, 2011 by lmharnisch

        June 1931: Warner Bros. releases “The Maltese Falcon,” starring Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. Although the film is little more than an obscure curiosity today, it made a deep impression at the time.  Reviewing the now-famous … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, boxing, Film, Hollywood | 2 Comments

Voices: Jackie Cooper, 1922 – 2011

Posted on May 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

           June 14, 1931: "Naw, I ain't gonna be no actor when I grow up," Jackie Cooper tells The Times. "Ya know, last season I thought I'd like to be a football player, but baseball players … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | 2 Comments

Straw Hat Day in Los Angeles

Posted on May 1, 2011 by lmharnisch

       May 1, 1931: Cartoonist Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale reminds Times readers of the arrival of Straw Hat Day, when men threw out their old felt hats and bought a new sailor. Straw Hat season began in Los … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, art and artists, Fashion | Leave a comment

Private Investigator Held in Extortion

Posted on March 31, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Private investigator Charles R. Chase decided to make a little extra money by squeezing an extra $900 out of a teenager who stole $100 from the  drugstore where he worked. The police set a trap and … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1931, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Transportation | Leave a comment

The Funny Papers, 1931

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

      “Gasoline Alley” by Frank King   March 19, 1931: After wandering through the comics pages of 1941, I thought it would be interesting to roll the clock back to 1931. There are a few familiar faces, like … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, art and artists, Comics | 1 Comment