Category Archives: 1951

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 Twentieth Century-Fox picture Take Care of My Little Girl, with Jeanne Crain, Dale Robertson, Mitzi Gaynor, Jean Peters, Jeffrey Hunter, Betty Lynn, Helen Westcott, Lenka Peterson, Carol Brannon, Natalie Schafer, Beverly Dennis, Kathleen … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 47 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger production of Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, with Moira Shearer, by permission of the Covent Garden Opera Trust, Ludmilla Tcherina, Ann Ayars, Pamela Brown, Leonide Massine, Robert Helpmann, Frederick … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 25 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Carmel Myers Pioneers TV Talk Shows

Carmel Myers in a show from 1951 that featured Jeanette MacDonald. Long before Barbara Walters, Oprah Winfrey, or Ellen DeGeneres came on the scene, former silent film star Carmel Myers premiered the celebrity talk show with her self-titled “The Carmel … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Television | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 MGM movie “Grounds for Marriage” with Van Johnson, Kathryn Grayson, Paula Raymond, Barry Sullivan, Lewis Stone, Reginald Owen, Richard Hageman and the Firehouse Five Plus Two. Screenplay by Allen Rivkin and Laura Kerr. … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 78 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 Paramount picture “The Mating Season,” a Mitchell Leisen production, with Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins, Thelma Ritter, Jan Sterling, Larry Keating, James Lorimer, Gladys Hurlbut, Cora Witherspoon, Malcolm Keen, Ellen Corby, Billie … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 51 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s movie was the 1951 Twentieth Century-Fox film “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain,” with Susan Hayward, William Lundigan, Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, Gene Lockhart, Lynn Bari, Ruth Donnelly, Kathleen Lockhart and Alexander Knox. Screenplay by Lamar Trotti from a … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 Argentine film “Native Son,” with Richard Wright, Jean Wallace, Nicholas Joy, Charles Cane, George Rigaud, George Green, Gloria Madison, Willa Pearl Curtiss, Gene Michael, Don Dean, Ned Campbell, Ruth Roberts, George Nathanson, George … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 MGM picture “The Law and the Lady,” with Greer Garson, Michael Wilding, Fernando Lamas, Marjorie Main, Hayden Rorke, Margalo Gillmore, Ralph Dumke, Rhys Williams and Natalie Schafer. Screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass and Karl … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Long Beach: Cyclone Racer in ‘Half Angel,’ Part 3

In this sequence, our romantic leads dash out of the Cyclone Racer.

Posted in 1951, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Location Sleuth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Long Beach: Cyclone Racer in ‘Half Angel,’ Part 2

Cut to Cyclone Racer, which closed in 1968. Our romantic leads go for a ride on a roller coaster, being 1950s symbolism at its best. The bored operator is Edwin Max. The sign in the background appears to say: “Hold … Continue reading

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Long Beach: Cyclone Racer in ‘Half Angel,’ Part 1

Here’s the Cyclone Racer sequence in “Half Angel,” last week’s mystery movie, that begins about the 32-minute mark. Joseph Cotten and Loretta Young are promenading along what is probably a Twentieth Century-Fox set, judging by the lighting. Editing by Robert … Continue reading

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 Ealing Studios film “The Man in the White Suit,” with Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Michael Gough, Ernest Thesiger, Vida Hope, Howard Marion Crawford, Miles Malleson, Henry Mollison, Patric Doonan and Duncan … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 34 Comments

A Walk in L.A., 1951

Note: This is a video I made in 2005 using clips from a police training film.

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Larry Gelbart’s Rare ‘My L.A.’ Revue – Found on EBay

I rarely brag about a find on EBay, but this is something special. This is sheet music from the ultra-obscure 1951 musical revue that took its title from Matt Weinstock’s “My L.A.” The production  — note the name of Larry … Continue reading

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Harvey Glatman: The Early Years — Part 4

Aug. 26, 1946: Harvey Glatman is arraigned, published in the Knickerbocker News of Albany, N.Y. In case you just tuned in, I did quite a bit of research on the early years of serial killer Harvey M. Glatman for an … Continue reading

Posted in 1946, 1951, 1956, 1957, Homicide | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

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

Farewell to Old Los Angeles

The old Plaza area as drawn by Times artist Charles Owens. Along with the demolition to make way for Union Station, historic buildings between the Plaza and Union Station were torn down in February 1951. Oct. 22, 1933: I came … Continue reading

Posted in 1933, 1951, Downtown, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Searching for Baseball History – and USC’s Bovard Field

Photo:  Tom Phelps scores for USC in a 1946 game against UCLA at Bovard Field. Credit: El Rodeo, 1946 Jane Leavy of the New York Times examines the search for historic baseball diamonds, including USC’s Bovard Field, where Mickey Mantle … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Baseball, Preservation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Funny Pages, 1951

    Looks like someone has painted a big arrow on the pavement! Are we really supposed to believe that anybody could fit in a slot machine? Even in “Dick Tracy?” March 24, 1951:  Here’s what was on The Times’ … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, art and artists, Comics | 3 Comments

Second Takes — Billy Wilder

June 15, 1951: "Ace in the Hole" opens in Los Angeles. April 7, 1950: Billy Wilder is casting a film with the working title "Human Interest Story" and renames it "Ace in the Hole."   April 13, 1950: Jan Sterling … Continue reading

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