Category Archives: Hollywood Heights

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood Sign Built and Illuminated November-December 1923

Posted on December 8, 2023 by lmharnisch

The Hollywoodland Sign, in a photo published in the Los Angeles Evening Herald, Dec. 8, 1923. Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Originally constructed as a publicity gimmick and branding symbol to help generate sales for a real … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood and Poinsettias

Posted on December 4, 2023 by lmharnisch

A postcard c. 1908 of poinsettias, “California’s Christmas flower,” listed on EBay. Note: This is an encore post from 2020. Euphorba Pulcherrima, better known as the poinsettia plant, has been popular in Los Angeles since the late 1800s. Some call … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Agnes O’Malley Marx, Pioneering Film Publicist

Posted on November 27, 2023 by lmharnisch

Agnes O’Malley Marx in the Los Angeles Daily News, 1954. The early moving picture industry offered opportunity to diverse workers: immigrants, women, and people of color more easily found jobs and opportunities for growth and leadership in the new field. … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – ‘Napoleon’

Posted on November 20, 2023 by lmharnisch

Photo: The trailer for the restored version of Abel Gance’s “Napoleon.” Credit: San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Note: This is an encore post from 2012. In the mid-1920s, the world was looking for inspiration on how to live passionately, doggedly … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Fred Archer, Master of Artistic Photography

Posted on November 13, 2023 by lmharnisch

Joan Bennett photographed by Fred Archer, Modern Screen Magazine. Note: This is an encore post from 2015 As stillsmen Elmer Fryer and Fred Archer wrote in the 1928 article for “Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers,” “In the … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Mona Darkfeather – Native American Who Wasn’t

Posted on November 6, 2023 by lmharnisch

Long before Iron Eyes Cody was outed as non-Native American, silent film actress Josephine Workman claimed full Native American heritage, though only her maternal grandmother was actually Native American. Accentuating her dark, exotic looks and embroidered background, she took the … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Margaret Winkler, Animation Pioneer

Posted on October 31, 2023 by lmharnisch

Little known beyond animation circles, Margaret J. Winkler was one of the earliest distributors and producers of animated cartoons, the first woman in her field. Possessing savvy and a sharp eye, she signed two animators early in their career who … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: John Decker – Painter to the Stars

Posted on October 23, 2023 by lmharnisch

Chester Conklin by John Decker, courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: This is an encore post from 2013. “To sing, to laugh, to dream, to walk in my own way and be alone…” A recording of John Decker’s voice recited this … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Spooky, Ooky Witch’s House Haunts Beverly Hills

Posted on October 16, 2023 by lmharnisch

A sketch of the “The Witch’s House” by Charles Owens from “Nuestro Pueblo,” courtesy of Mary Mallory Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Once upon a time, home design and architecture saluted fantasy and make-believe, and not just … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Landmark Vista Theatre Turns 100

Posted on October 9, 2023 by lmharnisch

The Vista Theatre in 1951, via Water and Power Associates. The Vista Theatre opened October 9, 1923. Built as an upscale house for smaller studio releases, it remains viable even today, as director Quentin Tarantino restores it. One of the … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Casa La Golondrina Cafe, L.A.’s Oldest Brick Building

Posted on October 2, 2023 by lmharnisch

La Golondrina in Screenland magazine, 1930. News came this week that current owners of historic La Golondrina Cafe could soon be foreclosed on by the city of Los Angeles. La Golondrina is the oldest brick building in Los Angeles, possibly … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Myrtle Gonzalez – Early Latina Movie Star

Posted on September 25, 2023 by lmharnisch

An autographed photo of Myrtle Gonzalez by the Martel-Carruthers studio, inscribed to Jean Herscholt, listed on EBay at $250 Note: This is an encore post from 2021.  Mostly forgotten today because of her untimely death in the 1918 influenza epidemic, … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Two Pioneering Women Photographers

Posted on September 18, 2023 by lmharnisch

Just a few years after Susan B. Anthony and others organized the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848, women began working as photographers in the United States. While many took over their father’s or husband’s photography … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Cinecon 2023 Celebrates Classic Films

Posted on September 11, 2023 by lmharnisch

Nothing keeps a good film festival down, even a change of venue.The 59th Cinecon Classic Film Festival put on another entertaining festival at this year’s new location in El Segundo’s Old Town Music Hall, celebrating the power of entertainment. Presenting … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Lost Film ‘Hollywood’ Turns 100

Posted on September 6, 2023 by lmharnisch

One of the most sought after “lost” films, Paramount’s “Hollywood” debuted 100 years ago, telling a film industry behind-the-scenes story through scenes set all through the self-named community populated with a bevy of stars. Unlike several other movie-themed pictures released … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Clarence Brown Provides Quick Shave to King Gillette Ranch

Posted on August 28, 2023 by lmharnisch

King Camp Gillette dies at the age of 77 in 1932. He gave architect Wallace Neff free rein to built an expansive ranch in Calabasas, but only lived there for a few years before his death. Tennessean Clarence Brown reigned … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Noir City Celebrates the Dark Side

Posted on August 15, 2023 by lmharnisch

The Film Noir Foundation’s 24th presentation of Noir City Hollywood with the American Cinematheque recently concluded at Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre, saluting the 75th anniversary of 1948 films and demonstrating how relevant these films are today. While shot all in … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Nell Brinkley, Queen of Early American Comics

Posted on August 7, 2023 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. When Americans think of classic illustrators from the early 20th century, names such as Charles Dana Gibson, Harrison Fisher, Haskell Coffin, James Montgomery Flagg, and John Held Jr. spring to mind. Forgotten … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory/ Hollywood Heights: El Cholo Turns 100

Posted on August 1, 2023 by lmharnisch

100 years ago, Alexander Alejandro Borquez and his wife Rosa opened a tiny cafe on Moneta Avenue, serving tasty, homestyle Mexican food. Little did they realize that their modest enterprise would survive a century, becoming one of Los Angeles’ most … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 1960 Writers Strike Echoes Today

Posted on July 25, 2023 by lmharnisch

63 years ago, writers and actors were struggling. Looking for a small share of revenue to help fiscally survive, they asked simply for residuals from post-1948 films sold to television, while studios pled poverty. Both unions went out on strike, … Continue reading →

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