Category Archives: Hollywood

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on March 9, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week, I am running five mystery movies, one per day with multiple images. And today, we have a mystery samurai movie! Update: This is indeed a toughie. Benito has identified the mystery gent in images No. 4 and 8. … Continue reading →

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

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on March 8, 2016 by lmharnisch

As I noted yesterday, I’m doing the mystery movie posts a bit differently this week. For reasons that will become clear at a future date, I’m posting multiple images from a mystery movie each day, rather than stringing them out … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Little Brown Church in the Valley

Posted on March 7, 2016 by lmharnisch

Photo: Republic Studios President Herbert Yates marries Vera Hruba Ralston in 1952. Courtesy of Mary Mallory. Note: The death of former First Lady Nancy Reagan has renewed interest in the Little Brown Church, where she and Ronald Reagan were married … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Religion, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated)

Posted on March 7, 2016 by lmharnisch

I’m going to try something different this week. Instead of posting one image per day and identifying the mystery movie at the end of the week, I am going to post several images per day from the same mystery movie, … Continue reading →

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

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Take Your Girlie to the Movies’ Promotes Film and Romance

Posted on March 7, 2016 by lmharnisch

   “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” as recorded by Billy Murray, 1919. Popular songs often speak to issues of the period in which they are written, providing commentary on political, social, and cultural issues. Most of the songs in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1919, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 29, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1938 Twentieth Century-Fox picture “The Baroness and the Butler,” with William Powell, Annabella (in her American screen debut), Helen Westley, Henry Stephenson, Joseph Schildkraut, J. Edward Bromberg, Nigel Bruce and Lynn Bari.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 45 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Maurine Watkins — Chicago Murder Reporter to Screenwriter

Posted on February 29, 2016 by lmharnisch

Maurine Watkins, in an ad promoting Fox studios’ writers in the Motion Picture Herald.  Journalism and screenwriting have one thing in common: telling a good story in order to get the audience hooked. Both depend on excellent observation, character development, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 22, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1945 MGM picture “Yolanda and the Thief,” starring Fred Astaire, Lucille Bremer, Frank Morgan, Mildred Natwick, Mary Nash, Leon Ames and Ludwig Stossel. The screenplay was by Irvin Brecher based on a story … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 65 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Picture City – Florida’s Proposed Answer to Hollywood

Posted on February 22, 2016 by lmharnisch

Picture City, as shown in Exhibitors Trade Review. The madcap Jazz Age bubbled with possibility, exploding mores and conventions as it raced to the next new thing, the next adventure. After the harrowing days of the Great War and the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1925, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 15, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1932 First National Pictures film “Frisco Jenny,” directed by William A. Wellman, from a screenplay by Wilson Mizner and Robert Lord, based on a story by Gerald Beaumont, Lillie Hayward and John Francis … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 50 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Building Promotes Great Architecture

Posted on February 15, 2016 by lmharnisch

  The Hollywood Chamber of commerce in an undated pamphlet. I n 1925, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce recognized the need for a stylish permanent home in which to promote the business and life of their fair city. Said headquarters … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 8, 2016 by lmharnisch

  This week’s mystery movie has been the 1945 RKO picture “The Enchanted Cottage,” starring Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Herbert Marshall, Mildred Natwick, Spring Byington, Hillary Brooke, Richard Gaines, Alec Englander, Robert Clarke and Eden Nicholas. The screenplay was by … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 69 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Jack Freulich, Universal Still Man

Posted on February 8, 2016 by lmharnisch

Laura La Plante in a photograph by Jack Freulich, Motion Picture Classic.  History is written by survivors, so those who die young often seem to recede into memory, forgotten or ignored as time passed them by. While often great artists, … Continue reading →

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Mystery Movie Plot

Posted on February 1, 2016 by lmharnisch

Here’s a question for the Brain Trust: Many years ago, as a young kid watching movies on TV, I saw a film set in the Depression. In one scene in a hobo camp, one of the main characters takes his … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on February 1, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1921 picture “Seven Years Bad Luck,” starring Max Linder, sometimes called “the Charlie Chaplin of France,” who died in a double suicide with his wife on Oct. 31, 1925.  The movie was his … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Republic Pictures Honors ‘The Little Girl With the Golden Heart’

Posted on February 1, 2016 by lmharnisch

Mabel Normand in a Hartsook portrait, courtesy of Mary Mallory.     Hollywood’s public acts of charity often come with an ulterior motive. Such is the case with Republic Picture’s magnanimous naming of its gigantic new sound stage in December … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Laura’ — The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 53

Posted on January 26, 2016 by lmharnisch

Note: This is the last of the “Laura” posts I had in reserve from last year, when I went on sabbatical. It was a fun project, but my focus on the Dahlia project prevents me from doing any more. Reading … Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 25, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1961 MGM picture “Ada,” starring Susan Hayward, Dean Martin, Wilfrid Hyde White, Ralph Meeker, Martin Balsam, Frank Maxwell, Connie Sawyer, Ford Rainey, Charles Watts, Larry Gates, Robert S. Simon and William Zuckert. Music … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 54 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Let’s Talk Turkey Cooks Up Promotions

Posted on January 25, 2016 by lmharnisch

  “Let’s Talk Turkey,” 1939.   Motion picture studios and exhibitors dreamed up great exploitation campaigns in the early decades of cinema in order to build interest in a title, increase word of mouth, and hopefully draw larger audiences to … Continue reading →

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‘Laura’ — The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 52

Posted on January 22, 2016 by lmharnisch

One important aspect about the script for “Laura,” beyond the filming of the movie, is the complicated agreement that Twentieth Century-Fox had with David O. Selznick in sharing the contract of Jennifer Jones, who was originally cast in the lead … Continue reading →

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