Category Archives: Hollywood

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Our Story So Far

Posted on February 8, 2007 by lmharnisch

Larry Harnisch (described by James Ellroy as a Dahlia scholar/Dahlia freak, take your pick) is blogging in real time as he reads Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Film, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged #crime and courts, 1947, black dahlia, Books and Authors, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, lapd | 1 Comment

Why Doesn’t L.A. Do Something About Traffic?

Posted on January 27, 2007 by lmharnisch

Jan. 27, 1907Los Angeles One thing you can say about Angelenos: We love to talk about traffic. The only thing we love more is to commission studies and draft plans to deal with the problem, and then ignore them. “With … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Downtown, Freeways, Hollywood, LAPD, Streetcars | Comments Off

Whats in That Embalming Fluid?

Posted on December 18, 2006 by lmharnisch

Dec. 18, 1907Los AngelesLos Angeles County Coroner Roy S. Lanterman was arrested on charges of being drunk and disorderly at the Navajo, a bordello run by Ida Hastings, 309 Ord St. Hastings called police, who arrested Lanterman.A Mills Seminary graduate … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, 1909, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Photography, Streetcars | Comments Off

Adios Judy!

Posted on December 16, 2006 by lmharnisch

Judith Regan, the publisher of Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files,” has found a way to make Page 1 of The Times: Get fired by HarperCollins. (The New York Times story is here.) I’m trying not to gloat. But … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged 1947, black dahlia, Books and Authors, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, lapd | Comments Off

L.A. Rising

Posted on December 15, 2006 by lmharnisch

Dec. 15, 1905Los AngelesAnybody who sets out to study the development of the city’s neighborhoods can expect to do lots of driving. My recent travels have taken me to an obscure area of South Los Angeles to look for 1907-era … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Education, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Pasadena, Streetcars | Comments Off

Nathan and I

Posted on November 30, 2006 by lmharnisch

Nov. 30, 2006Los AngelesI don’t think anyone who knows both of us will ever confuse me with Nathan Marask; certainly not when it comes to architectural photography. In fact, I don’t really do architectural photography. I take snapshots of buildings—and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Freeways, Hollywood, LAPD, Pasadena, Photography, Streetcars | Comments Off

Roving to Monrovia

Posted on November 25, 2006 by lmharnisch

Nov. 24, 1907Monrovia The Times real estate section takes a look at what was then the distant suburb of Monrovia, 22 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The writer notes the increasing use of concrete and stone, explaining that the cost … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1908, 1911, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Downtown, Education, Film, Freeways, Hollywood, LAPD, Real Estate, Streetcars | Comments Off

Religious Recycling

Posted on November 18, 2006 by lmharnisch

Nov. 18, 1907South PasadenaCalvary Presbyterian Church at Center (now El Centro) and Fremont was dedicated in a service featuring prominent local religious leaders, including Dr. John Willis Baer, president of Occidental College.The Times notes that the original church building was … Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Pasadena, Streetcars | Tagged crime and courts, lapd | Comments Off

1423 S. Van Ness

Posted on November 16, 2006 by lmharnisch

As promised, here are views of the home of Mrs. E.N. Eskey, featured in The Times in 1907. Note the damaged chimney, presumably the victim of seismic Darwinism. And as a bonus, here’s the home of Igor Stravinsky, which I … Continue reading →

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Curb Appeal

Posted on November 3, 2006 by lmharnisch

Nov. 3, 1907Los AngelesMrs. E.N. Eskey is building this 10-room house in Pico Heights, on Van Ness just south of Pico.According to The Times, the two-story house (with basement) has a first floor divided into a reception hall with an … Continue reading →

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Not a Pretty Moment

Posted on September 21, 2006 by lmharnisch

Sept. 21, 1907 Los Angeles It is one thing to know in the abstract about racial intolerance at the turn of the 20th century and quite another to have to read it in the daily paper. I will spare you … Continue reading →

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Fanning the Flames of Suspicion

Posted on July 17, 2006 by lmharnisch

July 17, 1907Los AngelesA serial arsonist has been at work in Hollywood, setting six fires in the last three weeks. The community’s small volunteer fire department has been overwhelmed by the crimes.“The entire neighborhood rushed to the scene,” The Times … Continue reading →

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Home From School

Posted on June 14, 2006 by lmharnisch

June 14, 1907Los AngelesLike many young men, Stuart, Sayre and Maynard decided to walk home from school—but it was a bit farther for these college friends because they were going to Berkeley.It was apparently an uneventful trip aside from the … Continue reading →

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Shout Out

Posted on June 7, 2006 by lmharnisch

General Motors (198.208.251.24) Windows 2000? Upgrade! The Netherlands (212.127.246.72) E! Entertainment (12.46.6.69) “E! Mysteries and Scandals,” my first TV interview, by the guy who did “Real Chases of the Highway Patrol.” Department of Veterans Affairs (152.130.6.194) My pal in Kerkira, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged black dahlia, donald wolfe | Comments Off

Paul Schrader’s 1971 Notes on Film Noir

Posted on May 11, 2006 by lmharnisch

Paul Schrader’s 1971 essay “Notes on Film Noir” in all its sappy, naive glory, with typos by me. In 1946, French critics, seeing the American films they had missed during the war, noticed the new mood of cynicism, pessimism and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Education, Film, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Music, Native Americans, Photography, Streetcars | Comments Off

Blogging the Wolfe Book, The Two-Minute Executive Summary

Posted on May 1, 2006 by lmharnisch

From Feb. 3, 2006, to April 28, 2006, I devoted a daily blog to Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” In dealing with the 1947 murder of Elizabeth … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged black dahlia, Books and Authors, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, lapd | 1 Comment

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Request Line XXII

Posted on April 28, 2006 by lmharnisch

I have ceased blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe uses the “Laura” format, in which the anonymous, butchered body is … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged black dahlia, cold cases, crime and courts, donald wolfe, homicide, lapd | 4 Comments