Category Archives: Hollywood

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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‘Laura’ — The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 51

Posted on January 21, 2016 by lmharnisch

The final shooting script for “Laura,” dated April 18, 1944, with additions as late as July 1944. On Monday, Nov. 1, 1943, Twentieth Century-Fox head of production Darryl F. Zanuck issued his stinging critique of Jay Dratler’s draft of “Laura.” … Continue reading →

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‘Hail Caesar’ and E.J. Fleming’s ‘The Fixers’

Posted on January 20, 2016 by lmharnisch

Josh Brolin as Eddie Mannix in “Hail, Caesar!” the Coen brothers’ fanciful tale about MGM’s purported “fixer.” We’re reluctant to write too much about the upcoming film “Hail, Caesar!” the Coen brothers’ comedy scheduled for release Feb. 4. It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Laura’ — The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 50

Posted on January 20, 2016 by lmharnisch

“Memo From Darryl F. Zanuck,” edited by Rudy Behlmer. On Nov. 1, 1943, Darryl F. Zanuck, the Twentieth Century-Fox head of production, issued a stinging critique of Jay Dratler’s first draft of “Laura.” In this post, we will look at … Continue reading →

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‘Laura’ — The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 49

Posted on January 19, 2016 by lmharnisch

“Memo From Darryl F. Zanuck,” selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer.   Jan. 19, 2016, update: When I began my “sabbatical” last year, I had a backlog of a few unpublished posts on the making of “Laura.” At the time, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 18, 2016 by lmharnisch

This week’s mystery movie has been the 1946 picture “Cloak and Dagger,” starring Gary Cooper, Robert Alda, Vladimir Sokoloff, J. Edward Bromberg, Marjorie Hoshelle and Ludwig Stossel, and introducing Lilli Palmer.  The screenplay was by Albert Maltz and Ring Lardner … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 30 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Priscilla Dean Tam – Fashion Statement and Marketing Ploy

Posted on January 18, 2016 by lmharnisch

Priscilla Dean and her tam, Photoplay, January 1921   The entertainment industry mastered the use of publicity and cross promotion from its very beginnings, creating elaborate ballyhoo campaigns to build word of mouth and huge box office receipts. It quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments