Category Archives: Hollywood

Kennedy Kills Project to Build Atomic Airplane

Posted on April 1, 2011 by lmharnisch

           April 1, 1961: You may not recall the idea of nuclear-powered aircraft, but there was once such an idea.  General Electric, one of the companies involved in the experiment, "challenged President Kennedy's statements that achievement … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 31, 1941

Posted on March 31, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 31, 1941: Everybody has ideas about making movies – even the window washers, Lee Shippey says. EVER SINCE RETURNING from Europe I have been pestered by one question to which I could give no satisfactory … Continue reading →

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Private Investigator Held in Extortion

Posted on March 31, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Private investigator Charles R. Chase decided to make a little extra money by squeezing an extra $900 out of a teenager who stole $100 from the  drugstore where he worked. The police set a trap and … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1931, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Transportation | Comments Off on Private Investigator Held in Extortion

Matt Weinstock, March 29, 1961

Posted on March 29, 2011 by lmharnisch

      March 29, 1961: Brendan Behan’s play “The Hostage” is opening in Los Angeles and Matt Weinstock has a few lines about the playwright …  The gagged-up menu at the Writers Guild awards dinner included "Great Impasta," "Aspartacus … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 29, 1941

Posted on March 29, 2011 by lmharnisch

           March 29, 1941: Jan Valtin (Richard Krebs), the author of the controversial book “Out of the Night,” is arrested on charges of being an illegal immigrant. I’m almost 100 pages into “Out of the Night” … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on March 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

      Los Angeles Times file photo   [Update: Yes, this is Portland Hoffa, the wife of radio comedian Fred Allen. I discovered Allen’s radio shows after his death in 1956 and always wondered about the women named Portland … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography, Stage | 32 Comments

Paul Coates, March 27, 1961

Posted on March 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

    March 27, 1961: Paul Coates has the story of two students who went on vacation to Mexico and came back with a 12-year-old orphan.   And Mirror reader Jerry Feldner sends a letter about the artistry of bullfighting.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 27, 1941

Posted on March 27, 2011 by lmharnisch

        March 27, 1941: I'm delighted to see that four speakers at a Japanese meeting here declared the Japanese people to be loyal to America. The Rev. Kengo Tajina declared that his son, though born in Japan, … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 26, 1941

Posted on March 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

           March 26, 1941: Tom Treanor wonders why women in defense plants are only being given office jobs, and he expects that to change before the year is out. Titles of Robert Montgomery's next two pictures … Continue reading →

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 25, 1941

Posted on March 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

           March 25, 1941: Tom Treanor has another column on Jan Valtin’s “Out of the Night,” which I have begun reading, thanks to the Los Angeles Public Library, and I must say that so far the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, art and artists, books, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor, Zombie Reading List | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 25, 1941

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on March 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

      Los Angeles Times file photo   Here’s this week’s mystery lady! Nobody identified our weekend mystery guest so I’m going to have to figure out how to proceed. Maybe I can find some more photos of her … Continue reading →

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

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, March 24, 1941

Posted on March 24, 2011 by lmharnisch

          March 24, 1941: Tom Treanor has an item about a man on crutches leading a blind fellow across the street at 3rd and Grand. Ingrid Bergman is still dazed from the startling discovery, while enjoying … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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