Category Archives: Hollywood

‘Citizen Kane’ — April 10, 1941

    April 10, 1941: "Citizen Kane" does occasionally sink to dullness because of its reiterations, notwithstanding it can be classified as, in a number of aspects, one of the most arresting pictures ever produced, Edwin Schallert says.

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

      Los Angeles Times file photo   [Update: This is Dorothy Mackaill (d. 1990) in an undated photo! ] We’re off to a late start on this week’s mystery photo. It turns out that our mystery guest was … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 25 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 10, 1941

           April 10, 1941: Lee Shippey writes about the wildflower fields of Kern County. “Now I have seen them and I know that until one has seen them one cannot comprehend what California's spring wildflower show … Continue reading

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 9, 1941

           April 9, 1941: Whom do you think of as the Lone Ranger? Clayton Moore? Brace Beemer? Meet Earl Graser, who played the Lone Ranger on the radio until he was killed in a car accident … Continue reading

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

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 8, 1941

           April 8, 1941: Lee Shippey shares a letter from England and Tom Treanor has a roundup of items about the fighting in Europe. Those "changes" in Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" dwindled to one minor alteration, … Continue reading

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Paul Coates, April 7, 1961

               April 7, 1961: I came across a letter to the editor (on the jump) about Gov. Pat Brown’s grant of clemency for William Erwin “Machine Gun” Walker, which I overlooked (so many stories, … Continue reading

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Jimmie Fidler, April 7, 1941

        April 7, 1941: Reporter Leland Stowe certainly drew attention on his sweep through Los Angeles. Lee Shippey has another column about him! Tom Treanor, who was killed covering World War II for The Times, says: A … Continue reading

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Daily Mirror Readers — ‘The Brain Trust’

Photo courtesy of Howard Decker Most Daily Mirror readers know him as Fibber. His real name is Howard Decker, and here’s a picture of him covering the Spade Cooley trial. He’s the fellow in the background on the right. Howard … Continue reading

Posted in #courts, 1961, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, Photography | 3 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 6, 1941

The country is virtually at war. Its defense efforts are being hamstrung by unjustified strikes, uncooperative industrialists and blathermouthed, spotlight-hunting politicians. The average man in America has, with excellent reason, such a deep distrust of inefficient nincompoops in public office that his patriotism is in danger of being poisoned by his distrust.
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From the Stacks — ‘City of Angels’

      Rupert Hughes’ “City of Angels,” 1941.   How much of a book must one read before deciding that it’s going to be a dog? Does an author deserve a running start of the first chapter? Can one … Continue reading

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 5, 1941

           April 5, 1941: A well-paid reporter was thinking of quitting journalism to write fiction. He sought advice from a reader for a publishing house, who told him to stick to reporting and write fiction on … Continue reading

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

      Los Angeles Times file photo   This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details [Update 3: This is Madeleine Carroll and her husband Philip/Phillip Astley in a photo published Nov. 7, 1936]. … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 53 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

      Los Angeles Times file photo   [Update two: This is Mabel Todd (sometimes spelled Mable in The Times).] [Update: Please congratulate Dewey Webb, Mike Hawks, David Thompson and Eve Golden for identifying our mystery gal! NOTE: If … Continue reading

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

Daily Mirror Readers — The ‘Brain Trust’

      Los Angeles Times file photos         The back of yesterday’s photo. Notice that there’s no publication date. Very annoying!   Here’s why I call the Daily Mirror’s readers “the brain trust.” You may recall … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 2 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 4, 1941

        April 4, 1941: Lee Shippey has an item on Leland Stowe, the reporter who was the subject of a Tom Treanor column. Treanor, meanwhile, writes about Arthur Ernest Morgan, the former president of Antioch College and … Continue reading

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From the Vaults: ‘Fantasia’

    For the last few days, the DVD player has been glowering at me. Over two nights, I worked my way through most of “Fantasia” and whenever I went near, it would scold me as if to say “Don’t … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 3 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 3, 1941

        April 3, 1941: Tom Treanor, who died covering World War II for The Times, writes about Leland Stowe, a reporter for the Chicago Daily News who was visiting Los Angeles. Stowe and Treanor had crossed paths … Continue reading

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 2, 1941

        April 2, 1941: Tom Treanor talks to Richard Neutra about a 300-unit housing development he designed for a community outside Dallas.  Betty Grable tells Jimmie Fidler: “Any girl in the Hollywood spotlight is handicapped in the … Continue reading

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

Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, April 1, 1961

           April 1, 1961: Barbara Mills, a dancer who performed as April Adams and Chondelli, dies after being found in a coma at the Coronet Motel, 5410 Hollywood Blvd. We don’t know much more about her … Continue reading

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 1, 1941

           April 1, 1941: Leroy Keane lives in a 7 by 10 room at 415 Crocker, but has a library of several hundred books, many of them first editions. He acquires them from the drivers of … Continue reading

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