Category Archives: Film

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 22, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1953 MGM picture “Confidentially Connie,” with Van Johnson, Janet Leigh, Louis Calhern, Walter Slezak, Gene Lockhart, Hayden Rorke, Robert Burton, Barbara Ruick and Marilyn Erskine. Screenplay by Max Shulman, from a story by Max … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 15, 2021 by lmharnisch

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 →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Noble Johnson Emancipates African Americans With Lincoln Film Co.

Posted on February 15, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2019. Recognized for playing Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and Latinos in “King Kong,” “The Mummy,” “The Ten Commandments” and many others throughout his long film career, African American Noble Johnson achieved greater renown … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 8, 2021 by lmharnisch

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 →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Convention City’

Posted on February 8, 2021 by lmharnisch

Jan. 11, 1934: “Convention City” opens at the Warner Bros. Hollywood and Downtown. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. The early days of the talkie film industry saw plenty of life situations covered realistically and explicitly on celluloid, … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 1, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1945 Universal film “The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry,” with George Sanders, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ella Raines, Sara Allgood, Moyna MacGill, Samuel S. Hinds, Harry Von Zell, Judy Clark, Coulter F. Irwin and Craig Reynolds. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 49 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Valentino Statue Aspires to Greatness

Posted on February 1, 2021 by lmharnisch

Silent film lover and superstar Rudolph Valentino commanded the screen with his intense magnetism and sensuality. His untimely, tragic death in 1926 at the age of 31 gave him instant immortality, with thousands descending on the funeral home, church, procession, … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

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

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Story of Dr. Jenner’ Promotes Vaccination

Posted on January 18, 2021 by lmharnisch

Matthew Boulton as the physician who develops a cure for smallpox in MGM’s 1939 “The Story of Dr. Jenner.” For centuries, smallpox infestations caused massive deaths and disfigurings to civilizations. First appearing in agricultural communities around 10,000 BC, the disease … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 18, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 film “The Enforcer,” with Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane, Roy Roberts, Lawrence Tolan, King Donovan, Robert Steele, Adelaide Klein, Don Beddoe, Tito Vuolo, John Kellogg and Jack Lambert. Written … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 37 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights — ‘Barbara Frietchie’

Posted on January 11, 2021 by lmharnisch

Photo: Filming “Barbara Frietchie.” Courtesy of Mary Mallory/Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Thomas Ince, sadly more recognized today for his tragic, early death than for the fine films he created, was … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 11, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1941 film “Cheers for Miss Bishop,” with Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edwin Gwenn, Sidney Blackmer, Dorothy Peterson, Sterling Holloway, Donald Douglas, Marsha Hunt, Lois Ranson and Mary Anderson. From the novel “Miss Bishop” by … Continue reading →

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Mystery Movies 2020 in Review

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

Roy D’Arcy in “The Temptress,” one of 2020’s mystery movies. I used a different method in selecting last year’s mystery movies, relying on the trade papers available on Lantern in a systematic fashion. The films might seem iffy now, but … Continue reading →

Posted in 2019, 2020, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Paris Inn Sings for Its Supper

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

From its beginnings, Los Angeles attracted dreamers and schemers looking to devise new, more successful lives. Early leaders practiced hucksterism and hyperbole to draw Midwesterners and others to the golden, promised land of sunny Southern California and its budding metropolis … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 MGM picture “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” with Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt, Marie Prevost, Robert Young,  Karen Morley, Charles Wininger, Alan Hale, Halliwell Hobbes, Lennox Pawle and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Mary Astor’s Lost Film ‘New Year’s Eve’

Posted on December 31, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore from January 2020. Since TCM is featuring Mary Astor, here’s a brief post on her lost movie “New Year’s Eve.” (A tip of the hat to Lou Lumenick, who tweeted about the movie on — … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 28, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1935 Warner Bros. film “The Florentine Dagger,” with Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, C. Aubrey Smith, Henry O’Neill, Robert Barrat, Florence Fair, Frank Reicher, Charles Judels, Rafaela Ottiano, Paul Porcasi, Eily Malyon, Egon Brecher, Herman … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Mack Sennett’s Rose Parade Gag

Posted on December 28, 2020 by lmharnisch

Photo: “The Sleuths at the Floral Parade.” Credit: Mary Mallory, the Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. The Tournament of Roses Parade is going on its 122th year, and grows more elaborate … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 21, 2020 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie was the 1934 Warner Bros. film “I Am a Thief,” with Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez, Dudley Digges, Robert Barrat, Irving Pichel, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Arthur Aylesworth, Florence Fair, Frank Reicher, John Wray and Oscar Apfel. … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Christmas House Offers Simple Family Joys of Holiday Season

Posted on December 21, 2020 by lmharnisch

The Christmas House in Boyle Heights, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. Note: This is an encore post from 2019. Long before the inauguration of Instagram and trying to win social media by posting the most elaborate or flashy … Continue reading →

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