Category Archives: 1949

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

Today’s retro holiday shopping suggestion in Don Normark’s excellent book “Chavez Ravine, 1949.” Continue reading →

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October 6, 1949: LAPD Gangster Squad Abolished

Posted on October 6, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 6, 1949: The LAPD’s Gangster Squad is abolished under Police Chief William Worton. Continue reading →

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Al Martinez, a Dying Boy and Some Peaches — A (Non) Christmas Story

Posted on December 25, 2024 by lmharnisch

The history of a Al Martinez’s (non) Christmas story about a dying boy who wanted some peaches. Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 5, 2024 by lmharnisch

Today’s retro holiday shopping suggestion in Don Normark’s excellent book “Chavez Ravine, 1949.” Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 21, 2024 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 film Lost Boundaries, with Beatrice Pearson, Mel Ferrer, Susan Douglas, the Rev Robert H. Dunn, Richard Hylton, Grace Coppin, Carleton Carpenter, Seth Arnold, Wendell Holmes, Parker Fennelly, Ralph Riggs, William Greaves, Rai Saunders, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, African Americans, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 16, 2024 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 Warner Bros. film It’s a Great Feeling, with Dennis Morgan, Doris Day, Jack Carson, Bill Goodwin, Irving Bacon, Claire Carleton and the Mazzone-Abbott Dancers.

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 12, 2024 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 picture Champion, with Kirk Douglas, Marilyn Maxwell, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Luis Van Rooten, Harry Shannon, John Day, Ruth Roman and Lola Albright.

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 5, 2024 by lmharnisch

The timekeeper is Weegee, btw. This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 RKO picture The Set-Up, with Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Fieberling, Darryl Hickman, Kenny O’Morrison, James Edwards, David Clarke, Phillip … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 29, 2024 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 Paramount film The Great Gatsby, with Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey, Barry Sullivan, Howard Da Silva, Shelley Winters, Henry Hull, Carole Mathews, Ed Begley, Elisha Cook Jr., Nicholas Joy, Walter … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 51 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 27, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 Twentieth Century-Fox film Come to the Stable, with Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Elsa Lanchester, Thomas Gomez, Dorothy Patrick, Basil Ruysdael, Dooley Wilson, Regis Toomey and Mike Mazurki.

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 35 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 28, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 Twentieth Century-Fox picture Down to the Sea in Ships, with Richard Widmark, Lionel Barrymore, Dean Stockwell, Cecil Kellaway, Gene Lockhart, Berry Kroeger, John McIntire, Henry Morgan, Harry Davenport, Paul Harvey and Jay C. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 66 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 7, 2023 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 Allied Artists film Bad Boy, with Lloyd Nolan, Jane Wyatt, James Gleason, Stanley Clements, Martha Vickers, and in his first starring role, Audie Murphy. With Rhys Williams, Selena Royle, James Lydon, Dickie Moore, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 17, 2022 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 film The Queen of Spades, with Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, Ronald Howard, Mary Jerrold, Yvonne Mitchell, Anthony Dawson, Pauline Tennant, Miles Malleson, Athene Seyler, Michael Medwin, Maroussia Dimitrevitch, Ivor Barnard and Violetta Elvin.

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 29, 2022 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 film Black Magic, with Orson Welles, Nancy Guild, Akim Tamiroff, Frank Latimore, Valentina Cortese, Margot Grahame, Stephen Bekassy, Berry Kroeger, Gregory Gay (later Gaye) and Raymond Burr.

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 40 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Update + + + +)

Posted on July 11, 2022 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 Universal picture Ma and Pa Kettle, with Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Richard Long, Meg Randall, Patricia Alphin, Esther Dale, Barry Kelley, Harry Antrim, Ida Moore and Emory Parnell.

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 48 Comments

Al Martinez, a Dying Boy and Some Peaches — A (Non) Christmas Story

Posted on December 20, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2015. Jim Romenesko, for those who aren’t in the news business, runs an essential blog that serves as a clearing house for information, gossip, bad headlines and assorted gaffes. A Jan. 6 post … Continue reading →

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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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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 3, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 film “Cover Up,” with William Bendix, Dennis O’Keefe, Barbara Britton, Art Baker, Ann E. Todd, Doro Merande, Virginia Christine, Helen Spring, Ruth Lee and Henry Hall. Original screenplay by Jerome Odlum and Jonathan … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 47 Comments

Black Dahlia: Jean Spangler and the Dr. George Hodel Non-Connection

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Executive summary: A story in Entertainment Weekly looks at the 1949 disappearance of bit actress Jean Spangler. The author lists purported suspects, including Dr. George Hodel, whom Steve Hodel has accused of countless unsolved killings, including the Black Dahlia, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 1949, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Black Dahlia: Dec. 23, 1949 — Jury Finds Dr. George Hodel Not Guilty of Molesting Tamar Hodel

Posted on December 23, 2020 by lmharnisch

The Los Angeles Mirror-News, Dec. 23, 1949. Today is the anniversary of a jury of eight women and four men finding Dr. George Hodel not guilty on two counts of molesting his daughter Tamar. I’ll have more to say about … Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment