Category Archives: Film

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on November 20, 2013 by lmharnisch

Here’s another mystery photo courtesy of Christopher McPherson. This is from the Waxman studio, a name I don’t recall encountering before. The annoying black box is where our mystery guest inscribed his photo. Please congratulate Bob Hansen for identifying Monday’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on November 19, 2013 by lmharnisch

Here’s our second mystery guest, courtesy of Christopher McPherson. The annoying black box is where our mystery woman left her autograph.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

Rediscovering Los Angeles – The Photo Studio

Posted on November 19, 2013 by lmharnisch

Jan. 6, 1936: In this installment of Rediscovering Los Angeles, Times artist Charles Owens and columnist Timothy Turner visit Borgia Studio, on Sunset Boulevard near the Plaza. This is a particularly nice post by Turner about the way photo studio … Continue reading →

Posted in 1936, Downtown, Film, Nuestro Pueblo, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Rediscovering Los Angeles – The Photo Studio

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on November 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

Several weeks ago, the Daily Mirror asked for suggestions about mystery photos. Writer and novelist Christopher McPherson responded with a large number of photographs, which he shared with us. Here’s the first one.  The annoying black box to the left … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The Fall of the Romanoffs Documents Russian Revolution

Posted on November 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

Before CNN, the worldwide web, and the 24-hour news cycle, most persons received their only news of outside world and national events through newspapers. Most cities possessed multiple newspapers pitched to different audiences, some focusing strictly on hard news, some … Continue reading →

Posted in 1917, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Blogging the Wolfe Book — Seven Years Later

Posted on November 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

Note: In 2006, I devoted a daily blog to  fact-checking Donald Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files” on a molecular level. The project was so time-consuming – and “Dahlia Files” is such junk – that I stopped about Page 96 and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 2006, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + +)

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

And for Monday, a mystery chap.

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

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Greenacres Is the Place to Be

Posted on November 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

Harold Lloyd and Greenacres in New Movie Magazine. At the beginning of the fledgling motion picture industry, actors and other creative types earned adequate salaries, in line with middle-class jobs. They lived in modest bungalows, residential hotels, apartments or rented … Continue reading →

Posted in 1927, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photos — Suggestions, Please

Posted on November 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

Another once-famous  face, now forgotten. Gary Martin recently wrote: I am amused by the reader’s comment that this week’s mystery is “too easy” and I guess it is as all the usual suspects have written in with the correct cast … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

‘Love Child’ Abandoned in Movie Theater as Parents Die in Suicide Pact

Posted on November 8, 2013 by lmharnisch

Nov. 8, 1933: Los Angeles history is so rich that all you need to strike gold is to poke a stick in the ground, and today is a perfect example. We have the story of Jack Bodin Sr., 41, who … Continue reading →

Posted in 1933, 1936, Art & Artists, Broadway, Comics, Crime and Courts, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Suicide, Theaters | 4 Comments

Hartsook Photographs Jack Pickford

Posted on November 7, 2013 by lmharnisch

This Fred Hartsook portrait of Jack Pickford, the brother of actress Mary Pickford, has been listed on EBay. Hartsook (d. 1930) was one of the leading photographers in the silent era. There is more about him in Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Photography | Comments Off on Hartsook Photographs Jack Pickford

The ‘Masked Marvel Murder’ – Part 12

Posted on November 7, 2013 by lmharnisch

The 1942 marriage of Greta Keller and David G.G. Bacon, Albany Times-Union, Sept. 14, 1943, courtesy of Steven Bibb.  I have spent far more time than I intended on the “Masked Marvel Murder” and not just because it’s an intriguing, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

L.A. Becomes N.Y.

Posted on November 6, 2013 by lmharnisch

Dear New Yorkers: You love to make fun of us, but here we are at Spring and 5th last night, watering down the street for yet another production set in your fair city but filmed in downtown Los Angeles. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Location Sleuth, New York, Spring Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The ‘Masked Marvel Murder’ — Part 11

Posted on November 6, 2013 by lmharnisch

David G.G. Bacon, far right, in “The Masked Marvel,” courtesy of Steven Bibb. So far, the David G.G. Bacon killing is relatively pristine, at least compared to the Black Dahlia case; the killing doesn’t appear in “Hollywood Babylon” or any … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Lou Costello’s Son Drowns in Swimming Pool

Posted on November 5, 2013 by lmharnisch

Nov. 5, 1943: Lou Costello Jr. drowns in the swimming pool of the family home at 4124 Longridge Ave., Van Nuys. Here’s a post I wrote about the tragedy in 2007.

Posted in 1943, Film, Hollywood, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + +)

Posted on November 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

And for Monday, a mystery lad.

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

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — A. L. “Whitey” Schafer Simplifies Portraits

Posted on November 4, 2013 by lmharnisch

“Thou Shalt Not,” “Whitey” Schafer’s most famous image. In the very early days of the motion picture industry, stills photographers meant nothing to the moving picture companies. They asked their feature cameramen to work double duty, shooting scene stills after … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Time to Turn the Clocks Back

Posted on November 2, 2013 by lmharnisch

On behalf of the L.A. Daily Mirror, Pier Angeli and friend remind you that Daylight Saving Time is o-ver. Or as William Safire used to say: “Fall is the time of year that conservatives like best because they get to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Photography | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The ‘Masked Marvel Murder’ — Part 10

Posted on November 1, 2013 by lmharnisch

David Bacon, center, in a still from “The Masked Marvel,” photo courtesy of Steven Bibb. In case you just tuned in, we are looking at the “Masked Marvel Murder” of actor David G.G. Bacon, who was stabbed to death Sept. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The ‘Masked Marvel Murder’ – Part 9

Posted on October 31, 2013 by lmharnisch

Note: This post has been corrected. See details below. In case you just tuned in, we have been going through the case of actor David G.G. Bacon, who was stabbed to death Sept. 12, 1943, in a case that remains … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Cold Cases, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments