Category Archives: Mary Mallory

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Vice to Nice – Cigarette Cards

A cigarette card of Boots Mallory, courtesy of Mary Mallory. From the beginning of time, people have collected things, be it books, coins or people, in order to feel important, to be connected, to grow and to learn. Through the … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – The Hollywood American Legion: The House That Boxing Built

Hollywood American Legion Post 43, courtesy of Mary Mallory. World War I was a bruising, mentally jarring affair for returning American soldiers. Dazed, hardened, in pain, the men looked for an opportunity to gather together with like-minded individuals for camaraderie, … Continue reading

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Coming Attractions: ‘Cinerama Holiday’

“Cinerama Holiday” is being presented this weekend during TCM’s Classic Film Festival. The film will be shown Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Cinerama Dome. Here’s Mary Mallory’s post on Philippe de Lacy and ‘Cinerama Holiday’ from last October

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Mack Sennett and Studio City’s Central Motion Picture District

  Eighty-five years ago, the Mack Sennett Studio opened at 4024 N. Radford in Studio City. The studio functioned as a magnet in hopes of drawing other film production companies and studios to the surrounding land owned by Central Motion … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Film Noir Fest Kapows Gangsters

“City Across the River” with a young Tony Curtis, left. Shady dames and slick gunsels are now on screen during the 15th Annual Film Noir Festival spooling at American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Usual suspects like “Sunset Boulevard” and … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Nell Brinkley, Queen of Early American Comics

When Americans think of classic illustrators from the early 20th century, names such as Charles Dana Gibson, Harrison Fisher, Haskell Coffin, James Montgomery Flagg, and John Held Jr. spring to mind. Forgotten by almost everyone, but in every way these … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, Comics, Fashions, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywoodland Opens

By the early 1920s, real estate development was booming all around Los Angeles. For decades, the city had boldly advertised itself as a mecca in which average citizens could earn their share of the American dream under glorious sunshine and … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Flapper Speaks to American Women

The Flapper – via Wikipedia. Life changed quickly in the United States post-World War I. Nowhere was this more evident than in the role and actions of young women emancipating themselves from the corseted way of life to more boldly … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Earl Carroll’s Swanky Sunset Boulevard Theater

Photo: Earl Carroll at the groundbreaking for his nightclub, with Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and W.C. Fields. Courtesy of James Curtis. In the late 1930s, Earl Carroll reigned as Broadway’s exotic showman, producing splashy musical revues featuring statuesque, sultry showgirls. … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Donald Biddle Keyes, Cameraman

Most motion picture still photographers picked up cameras at young ages, intrigued at how they could paint with light. Many yearned to do more than just snap shots in a portrait studio or for a newspaper. They hankered for excitement, … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Celebrity Politicians, Hollywood’s Honorary Mayors 2

Oct. 25, 1954: Betty White becomes honorary mayor of Hollywood. During the 1930s and 1940s, neighborhoods and cities surrounding Los Angeles named celebrities as honorary mayors to help gain their areas vital city services like flood control, better roads, and … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Studio City’s La Fonda Wayside Inn

The bread-and-butter businesses of most municipalities are those providing goods and services, with restaurants near the top of the list. Running a restaurant is extremely difficult, because costs are high, profit margins are low and public tastes can often be … Continue reading

Posted in 1927, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Douglas Fairbanks, Author

Douglas Fairbanks: “Teaching his dog to smile.” Douglas Fairbanks exploded onto the filmmaking scene in 1915 after a successful career on Broadway as a dashing leading man. His jaunty joie de vivre and flashy acrobatics wowed audiences on stage and … Continue reading

Posted in 1918, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Hollywoodland’s Kanst Art Gallery

  The Hollywoodland housing development possessed many unique features when it opened in 1923. The neighborhood was the first themed housing development built on hillsides, the first to include a shopping center in its environs, and the first to house … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Charles Butterworth, Professional Silly Ass

Comedy in films has evolved in over a century of production. Beginning with rather crude and slapstick humor, easily understood by immigrants, the film industry developed increasingly sophisticated styles of comedy as it matured. Drawing-room comedies of the mid- to … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Pressbooks to Sell Movies

From the beginning of the motion picture industry, film companies devised all types of advertising to entice consumers to buy movie tickets. Posters, lobby cards and window displays, glass slides, sheet music and photographs could be employed by exhibitors to … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Charlie Chaplin Comes to Hollywood

Oct. 16, 1917: An architect’s rendering of Chaplin’s studios in The Times Ninety-five years ago, comedian Charlie Chaplin constructed the first beautiful studio lot in Hollywood, the first to offer style to filmmaking. What had been merely an industry housed … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday, Mack Sennett!

Mary Mallory notes that today is Mack Sennett’s birthday. Read Mary’s post on Sennett here.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Jerry Giesler, Miracle Man

Photo: Walter Wanger, left, and Jerry Giesler. Courtesy of Mary Mallory. Long before Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., Richard “Racehorse” Haynes, or F. Lee Bailey hit the scene, soft-spoken, circumspect Jerry Giesler iced his competition as Los Angeles’ top criminal defense … Continue reading

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: There Is a Lake in Toluca Lake

Photo: Janet Blair sits on the little platform off the banks of the Lakeside Golf Club. Courtesy of Mary Mallory Surrounded by homes and the Lakeside Golf Club, Toluca Lake is all but obscured from view by the public. Like … Continue reading

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