Category Archives: Hollywood

More 1940s Kitsch From the Abbotwares Studio

Posted on January 26, 2012 by lmharnisch

I’m frustrated because I couldn’t find anything really useful about Abbotwares in the clips after yesterday’s post. Apparently The Times didn’t consider its oeuvre worthy of coverage. Tsk tsk. The company is so obscure that there isn’t even an entry … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Interior Design | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on January 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

Here’s a mystery photo from the incredible collection of Steven Bibb! [Update: This is Sam Wanamaker in “My Girl Tisa.” The man on the left is unidentified in the caption information, but Don Danard and Mike Hawks identify him as … Continue reading →

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

Molestation Suspect Questioned in Killing of Girl, 9

Posted on January 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 25, 1942: Detectives Harry Fremont and Jack Dwight are questioning Leo M. King, accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl, in the death of Dorothy Lee Gordon. The case of Dorothy Gordon, an African American child who was kidnapped and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Architecture, Art & Artists, Cold Cases, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Nuestro Pueblo, World War II | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

How to Wear a Hat – Rod Steiger Edition

Posted on January 24, 2012 by lmharnisch

We have explored how newsboy caps were worn by several men in “Monkey Business” and by Lee Marvin in “King of the North,” by Henry Fonda in “The Grapes of Wrath” and by Marc Chevalier in real life. Here’s Rod … Continue reading →

Posted in 1959, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Fashion, Fashions, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs, Photography | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated +]

Posted on January 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

And this movie would be?

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on January 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: An April 15, 1882, issue of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, with an etching of a coffin, is listed on EBay at $375. Queen of the Dead – dateline January 23, 2012 •  Lindsay Masters, the sales and marketing genius … Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Fashion, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Queen of the Dead, Religion, Television | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

L.A. Studebaker Plant Converts to War Production

Posted on January 22, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 22, 1942: Chika Takamoto and Ryohei Tanaka are in jail for violating the federal ban on Japanese Americans possessing cameras or radios. Studebaker Pacific manufactures its last passenger car and converts to defense work “for the duration.” The Times … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Transportation, World War II | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

L.A.’s Garbage Fed to Hogs … Nom Nom Nom!

Posted on January 21, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 21, 1942: Tom Treanor looks at tin recycling for the war effort and notes that garbage in Los Angeles is fed to hogs in Fontana – with a steam shovel. Hogs in the Los Angeles area had been fed … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Animals, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Theaters, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated ++]

Posted on January 20, 2012 by lmharnisch

And for Friday, we have a mystery mass-transportation photo! How long before the Daily Mirror brain trust identifies the type of streetcar?

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

Movieland Mystery Photo [Update]

Posted on January 19, 2012 by lmharnisch

[This truly is a mystery. She’s Rose Terrell, a dancer who curiously enough left very information. I always wonder about people like this. What sort of lives they had. Alas, more digging will have to wait for another day.] Here’s … Continue reading →

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

Lombard’s Body Recovered From Crash

Posted on January 19, 2012 by lmharnisch

Jan. 19, 1942: The Times’ Gene Sherman reports from the scene of the crash that killed Carole Lombard and 21 others: “The totally demolished luxurious Douglas DC-3 Skyclub presented a grim, sorrowful picture on its rocky resting place. Wreckage was … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Lombard a ‘Shining Mark’ in Hollywood

Posted on January 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

What do you know! Ernie Bushmiller could actually draw. Jan. 18, 1942: Times artist Charles Owens draws a terrific map of the crash that killed Carole Lombard. Edwin Schallert reflects on Lombard’s life, adding her to the tragic deaths of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Obituaries | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Carole Lombard Among 22 Dead in Crash; Gable Charters Plane for Las Vegas

Posted on January 17, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: Clark Gable and Carole Lombard at home with their pet Siamese cats. Jan. 17, 1942: Carole Lombard, who was returning from a campaign to sell defense bonds; her mother, Elizabeth K. Peters; and MGM publicist Otto Winkler are among … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Animals, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Transportation | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated +]

Posted on January 16, 2012 by lmharnisch

Look what I found! Why if it isn’t…. Uh-oh. New YORK? [Update 2: Yes, this is the Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles in “The Killer That Stalked New York.” I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw the shots of … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged | 22 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on January 16, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: 1937 Oldsmobile customized hearse listed on EBay at $7,550. Queen of the Dead – dateline January 16, 2012 •  Singer and actress Betty Jane Rhodes, 90, died on December 26. A radio and recording success as a child, she … Continue reading →

Posted in Cold Cases, Eve Golden, Film, Food and Drink, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Music, Queen of the Dead | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Black Dahlia at 65

Posted on January 15, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo: Lobby of the Biltmore Hotel, Jan. 9, 2012, 6:30 p.m. Credit: Larry Harnisch/L.A. Daily Mirror. I wandered over to the Biltmore on Monday night to keep my annual appointment. I’m not compulsive about being there, and I don’t bother … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Downtown, Film, History, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , | 24 Comments

The Bradbury Building and the Mystery of ‘China Girl’ [Updated +]

Posted on January 14, 2012 by lmharnisch

This is an establishing shot from the 1942 feature “China Girl,” which was obviously filmed in the Bradbury Building. Or was it? [Update: If this is a set, as it appears to be, where did Twentieth Century-Fox build it? People … Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography, Uncategorized | Tagged | 26 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on January 11, 2012 by lmharnisch

We have mystery chaps in a (not) mysterious location…..

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

The Black Dahlia: Biltmore Hotel

Posted on January 11, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo 1: Biltmore Hotel, Jan. 9, 2012, 6:30 p.m. Credit: Larry Harnisch Photo 2: Biltmore Hotel, 1940s The top photo shows the old lobby of the Biltmore on Monday as it was on the anniversary of the night Elizabeth Short … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Interior Design, LAPD | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated +]

Posted on January 10, 2012 by lmharnisch

Here’s a bit of fun trivia from a little documentary that aired on TCM the other day. It’s an early version of the directional signs used by movie crews. And “TWT” stands for? Photo: CSI:NY filming in downtown Los Angeles. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged | 12 Comments