Category Archives: Hollywood

Elizabeth Taylor’s Obituary — Outtakes From a Work in Progress

Posted on March 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

         Photograph by George R. Fry Jr./Los Angeles Times   Nov. 27, 1957: Michael Todd and Elizabeth Taylor. Elaine Woo has a nice post about writing the obituary on Elizabeth Taylor, including some items cut from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Photography | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock, March 23, 1961

Posted on March 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

    March 23, 1961: Matt Weinstock has an item on an animated billboard for Dristan showing a man’s sinus cavities. Is it TV movie villain Skip Homeier? CONFIDENTIAL TO MARCIE: Some folks, who can't add and subtract, quit school … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 23, 1941

Posted on March 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 23, 1941: The Times’ editorial page opposes raising taxes to fund the library. It’s the war, you know, and if we go around handing out money to the library, next in line will be the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, City Hall, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Politics, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 23, 1941

Remembering Elizabeth Taylor: 1932 – 2011

Posted on March 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

    Feb. 6, 1945: “National Velvet” opens in Los Angeles.       Photograph by John Malmin/Los Angeles Times   March 27, 1957: Michael Todd poses with Elizabeth Taylor after “Around the World in 80 Days” won the Academy … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 22, 1941

Posted on March 22, 2011 by lmharnisch

              Los Angeles Times file photo   March 22, 1941: Lee Shippey writes about photographer Charles Chester “C.C.” Pierce (d. 1946), who has spent 55 years documenting Los Angeles. As Shippey notes, many of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Obituaries, Photography, Tom Treanor | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 21, 1941

Posted on March 21, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 21, 1941: Tom Treanor says that the war has created a narcotics shortage in Los Angeles, so that many addicts are getting clean and sober or switching to liquor.  The evidence is mostly anecdotal, however, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1889, 1919, 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 21, 1941

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 20, 1941

Posted on March 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 20, 1941: A girl who works in the Main Street Follies celebrated her day off by going to a high-priced Hollywood nightspot, but the show was so vulgar she couldn't stay through it, Lee Shippey … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 19, 1941

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 19, 1941: A couple of years ago Louis Bromfield told me he believed the country was waiting for a novel by someone who knew Hollywood and would play it straight. Authors who couldn't fit into … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor, Zombie Reading List | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 19, 1941

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on March 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

      Los Angeles Times file photo   Dec. 12, 1941: Crowds in Pershing Square joined in singing "America" and other patriotic songs during the entire period of the blackout last night. The sirens sounded for the lights out … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 43 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 18, 1941

Posted on March 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 18, 1941: Lee Shippey has a letter from author Harlan Ware about attempts to deport Jan Valtin, who wrote “Out of the Night.”  This is the book that Tom Treanor mentioned recently. I never heard … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Zombie Reading List | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 18, 1941

From the Vaults — ’13 Rue Madeleine’

Posted on March 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Robert “Bob” Sharkey (James Cagney) and Charles Gibson (Walter Abel) discuss the incoming class of American secret agents in “13 Rue Madeleine.”  One of their students is a Nazi spy! After a longwinded exposition, the 1947 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 17, 1941

Posted on March 17, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 17, 1941: Turn back the Hollywood clock about two years to the time when an ex-vaudevillian was struggling for radio recognition. After two or three broadcasts he found himself on the proverbial horns of a … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 16, 1941

Posted on March 16, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 16, 1941: In one of the famous tragedies of Hollywood lore, Christopher Quinn, the son of Anthony and Katherine De Mille Quinn, drowns in a fish pond on the estate of W.C. Fields, 2015 De … Continue reading →

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Austrians Plan Worldwide War Against Judaism, March 16, 1921

Posted on March 16, 2011 by lmharnisch

          March 16, 1921: Edna Wallace Hopper, who about two wives ago was the wife of De Wolf Hopper, is in the city. She is reported as forming her own picture company and said yesterday that … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 15, 1941

Posted on March 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

             March 15, 1941: Tom Treanor writes about two articles on Los Angeles, one in Fortune magazine and the other in Western Advertising, by Ramsey Oppenheim. Treanor says: “In trying to interpret Los Angeles, Mr. … Continue reading →

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Another Good Story Ruined — The Black Dahlia

Posted on March 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

I received a news alert the other day about an upcoming play titled “The Chanteuse and the Devil’s Muse” in which Daniele Watts will portray Mady Comfort, at left, purportedly “Elizabeth Short's best friend.” I honestly don’t know how such … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, books, Coming Attractions, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Stage | 6 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 14, 1941

Posted on March 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

           March 14, 1941: Some time ago, this column told of the work of Ruby Berkley Goodwin, the Fullerton Negro poetess whose work has attracted national attention. Wendell Malliet & Co., New York, have just announced … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, 1961, art and artists, books, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Obituaries, Tom Treanor | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on March 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

      Los Angeles Times file photo   [Update: This is Sally Marr, Lenny Bruce's mother. She is conferring with Frankie Ray ("Dracula's Dog") Perelli on the set of the film "Cinderella." Please congratulate RJ, Dewey Webb and Mary … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 5 Comments

Found on EBay — Rube Wolf

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

This poster from the 1935 showing of “The President Vanishes” at the Paramount Theatre has been listed on EBay. Fans of vintage typography (you know who you are) this is for you! Bidding starts at $400, which is too rich … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Downtown, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Music | Comments Off on Found on EBay — Rube Wolf

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 12, 1941

Posted on March 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

           March 12, 1941: The first 100 pages of James Hilton’s “Random Harvest” are disappointing but the rest of the novel more than makes up for it, Lee Shippey says. Tom Treanor talks to some watchmakers … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, books, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | 2 Comments