Category Archives: Books and Authors

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 9, 2020 by lmharnisch

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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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 8, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2014. In February, I ran a series of posts by James Curtis about producer David Lewis. This isn’t a new book but I found it remarkably insightful. “The Creative Producer” can be found … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 7, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Paul Bryan Gray was recently mentioned in the Los Angeles Times as the author of “A Clamor for Equality,” the biography of Francisco Ramirez, who published Los Angeles’ first entirely Spanish-language newspaper, … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 4, 2020 by lmharnisch

Gladwin Hill’s “Dancing Bear: An Inside Look at California Politics,” published in 1968, is a new addition to my annual holiday gift suggestions. I’m generally cool toward books on California politics (the result of reading a zillion stories out of … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 3, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Virtually everyone who writes about Raymond Chandler cites this book by Philip Durham, but very few people seem to have read it. Writing in 1963, four years after Chandler’s death, Durham produced … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 2, 2020 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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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 1, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2013. Glen Creason’s book on maps of Los Angeles shows the many ways people have viewed the city over the years. I interviewed him for The Times in 2012 and fortunately for all concerned, … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on November 30, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is a repost from 2013. Whenever I’m asked about my favorite books on Los Angeles, my first recommendation is “Nuestro Pueblo,” a selection of features by Times artist Charles Owens and writer Joseph Seewerker that appeared in The … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 30, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1959 Walt Disney picture “Darby O’Gill and the Little People,” with Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery, Jimmy O’Dea, Kieron Moore, Estelle Winwood, Walter Fitzgerald, Denis O’Dea, J.G. Devlin, Jack MacGowran, Farrell Delly and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 48 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide: ‘Bunker Hill Los Angeles’

Posted on November 27, 2020 by lmharnisch

Time to start the Daily Mirror’s holiday gift suggestions and there’s no better way to begin than with “Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Essence of Sunshine and Noir” by my Crime Buddy Nathan Marsak, published by Angel City Press ($40). The … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Downtown, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

James Ellroy: Handwritten Copy of ‘White Jazz’ Listed in Auction

Posted on October 14, 2020 by lmharnisch

James Ellroy’s 1992 handwritten draft of “White Jazz” will be auctioned Thursday in a sale of rare books from the collection of Otto Penzler. Current bid (as of Wednesday night) is $975. Penzler is the proprietor of New York’s Mysterious … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 10, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1926 MGM film of Vicente Blasco Ibanez’s “The Temptress,” with Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Marc MacDermott/McDermott, Lionel Barrymore, Armand Kaliz, Roy D’Arcy, Robert Andersen, Francis McDonald, Hector V. Sarno and Virginia Brown Faire. Scenario … Continue reading →

Posted in 1926, 1928, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on August 3, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1948 Twentieth Century-Fox film “The Snake Pit,” with Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Glenn Langan, Helen Craig, Leif Erickson, Beulah Bondi, Lee Patrick, Howard Freeman, Natalie Schafer, Ruth Donnelly, Katherine … Continue reading →

Posted in 1948, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

A Note to Scotty Bowers’ Fans

Posted on August 1, 2020 by lmharnisch

The announcement that an untitled Scotty Bowers project is in the works at Fox Searchlight has generated new interest in a series of posts I did on Bowers’ “Full Service” in 2012.

Posted in 2012, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + + +)

Posted on June 8, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1947 United Artists release of Benedict Bogeaus’ “The Macomber Affair,” with Gregory Peck, Joan Bennett, Robert Preston, Reginald Denny, Jean Gillie, Carl Harbord, Earl Smith, Frederic Worlock and Vernon Downing. Screenplay by Casey Robinson … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Memorial Day in Los Angeles — 1907

Posted on May 25, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. May 31, 1907 Los Angeles In one Memorial Day observance, Col. James H. Davidson of Pasadena addresses the crowd at Memorial Hall. He says, in part: “Another decade or two and taps … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Larry Edmunds Bookshop Provides Film Education for More Than 75 Years

Posted on March 30, 2020 by lmharnisch

  Jeanne Moreau shoots a scene for the 1970 film “Alex in Wonderland,” starring Donald Sutherland, right, at Larry Edmunds Bookshop, from a catalog listed on EBay  Note: This is an encore post from 2016. The Larry Edmunds Bookshop has … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Donald H. Wolfe; ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Fraudster | 1931 – 2015

Posted on March 6, 2020 by lmharnisch

I’m five years late on this item, but for the record: Donald H. Wolfe, the fraudster who wrote “The Black Dahlia Files,” died in February 2015.

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: A Brief History of the Tom and Jerry

Posted on December 26, 2019 by lmharnisch

A recipe for the Tom and Jerry from the San Francisco Call, June 30, 1912. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Over on Facebook, Christopher McPherson asked whether the Tom and Jerry was named for the MGM cartoon … Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 25, 2019 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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