Category Archives: 1950

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. “The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is … Continue reading

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1950 Paramount film “The File on Thelma Jordon,” with Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Paul Kelly, Joan Tetzel, Stanley Ridges, Richard Rober, Minor Watson, Barry Kelley and Laura Elliot. Screenplay by Ketti Frings from a … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 52 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. “The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Books and Authors | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1950 Warner Bros. film “Stage Fright,” with Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, Sybil Thorndike, Kay Walsh, Miles Malleson, Hector McGregor, Joyce Grenfell, Andre Morell, Patricia Hitchcock and Ballard Berkeley. With Alistair … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1950 MGM picture “Black Hand,” with Gene Kelly, J. Carrol Naish, Teresa Celli, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Frank Puglia and Mario Siletti. Screenplay by Luther Davis from a story by Leo Townsend. Photography by … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Immigration, Mystery Photo, New York | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. “The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Books and Authors | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Remembering Herbert Berghof

Gary writes of Herbert Berghof, as seen in “5 Fingers.” In the mid late 1970’s I took some acting classes at HB Studios near my apartment in the West Village. For the most part we studied the Uta Hagen text … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Downtown Los Angeles, 1950: ‘The Underworld Story’ Part 2

Here’s another frame from the opening of “The Underworld Story,” last week’s mystery movie. This appears to be one of the Hill Street tunnels, which were demolished in 1955.

Posted in 1950, Architecture, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Downtown Los Angeles, 1950: ‘The Underworld Story’

“The Underworld Story,” last week’s mystery movie, had quite a few interesting shots of downtown Los Angeles from about 1950. Here’s one from the opening titles. It shows the Fashion League Building, which was at Hill and 2nd streets. Notice … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Architecture, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s particularly fun (for me, anyway) mystery movie was the 1950 United Artists release “The Underworld Story,” with Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Gale Storm, Howard Da Silva, Michael O’Shea, Mary Anderson, Gar Moore, Melville Cooper, Frieda Inescort, Art Baker, … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 47 Comments

Black Dahlia: Steve Hodel’s Lies on ‘Dr. Phil’; A Case Study

Would you like to see how Steve Hodel lies about things that can be easily checked? Of course you would. This is a graphic that appeared during Steve Hodel’s appearance on “Dr. Phil.” It’s helpful, at least for me, for … Continue reading

Posted in 1950, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Black Dahlia: 6 Reasons Dr. George Hodel Didn’t Kill Elizabeth Short — No. 2 Not Guilty of Morals Charges

Here are six reasons Dr. George Hodel did not kill Elizabeth Short that you will need to know before watching the TNT mini-series “I Am the Night” or listening to the eight-part podcast accompanying the production. Reason No. 2: George … Continue reading

Posted in 1947, 1949, 1950, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: 6 Reasons Dr. George Hodel Didn’t Kill Elizabeth Short — No. 1 Not a Prime Suspect

Here are six reasons Dr. George Hodel did not kill Elizabeth Short that you will need to know before watching the TNT mini-series “I Am the Night” or listening to the eight-part podcast accompanying the production. Reason No. 1: Dr. … Continue reading

Posted in 1947, 1949, 1950, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sept. 20, 1907: Suicide Note — ‘Everything Is Boiling’

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. Sept. 20, 1907 Los Angeles For weeks, Colorado mining investor John Geisel, 57, had confided in his diary as he felt his mind and his life coming unraveled “Good God,” he wrote, … Continue reading

Posted in 1883, 1907, 1950, Architecture, Downtown, Suicide | 2 Comments

Black L.A., 1947: Onyx Club Opens in Pasadena; Cafe Was Site of Sensational 1950 Killing

March 6, 1947: The Onyx Club opens at 109 S. Fair Oaks in Pasadena. The former site of what was variously called the Onyx Club, Onyx Cafe or Onyx Bar on South Fair Oaks in Pasadena, via Google Street View. … Continue reading

Posted in 1947, 1950, African Americans, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, Music, Nightclubs, Pasadena | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. “The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is … Continue reading

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Dalton Trumbo Praised by Hedda Hopper!

When I was doing the Daily Mirror at latimes.com, I wrote several posts on Dalton Trumbo, the subject of the new movie starring Bryan Cranston as the blacklisted screenwriter. Here are some links: Hedda Hopper praises Dalton Trumbo for “Kitty … Continue reading

Posted in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1950, 1959, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Shopping Guide

“The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is forgettable and, in fact, Yavno said he paid … Continue reading

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Shirley Temple’s Tempest — Celebs Tee Off on Golf Course Over Star

Jan. 27, 1950: It’s difficult to figure out exactly what happened at the Riviera Country Club between actor/golfer Joe Kirkwood Jr. and singer Johnny Johnston. At one time the men and their wives were very chummy, apparently. Then Shirley Temple … Continue reading

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Christmas on the Radio — Dragnet ‘.22 Rifle for Christmas’

From the radio version of “Dragnet,” Joe Friday (Jack Webb) and Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough) on the case of a missing 9-year-old boy in “.22 Rifle for Christmas.” From 1949 | From 1950 | From 1951 | From 1952 (with … Continue reading

Posted in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, LAPD, Radio | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments