Category Archives: Uncategorized

December 10,1958: White mothers bar black child from Cub Scouts

Posted on December 10, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 10, 1958: The white den mothers of Cub Scout Pack 298 refuse to admit Lewis “Butch” Harris because he’s Black — and Paul Coates has the story. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2025

Posted on November 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory takes a look at the offerings from the recently concluded San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Continue reading →

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November 7, 1957: Saucers Over Air Base!

Posted on November 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 7, 1957: Flying saucers menace Edwards Air Force Base! Continue reading →

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October 27, 1957: The rules of the game

Posted on October 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 27, 1957: The game called Five-Card Nancy. Continue reading →

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October 22, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 22, 1957: Paul Coates follows up on a series of articles he wrote about the “mordida” suffered by American tourists in Mexico. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Elsa Lopez, Silent Film Art Director

Posted on October 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

In the silent era, art director Elsa Lopez provided creative elements to industry superstars at a time when few women of color offered important input, becoming one of the first Latino women to gain status in Hollywood. Continue reading →

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October 11, 1957: Matt Weinstock

Posted on October 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 11, 1957: Just imagine if a few thousand people around L.A. decided all at once that they’d had it, that they wanted out of the rat race. And suppose they went down to the beach in a body and meditated upon the beautiful sunset or the elusive grunion and decided they just weren’t going to pay attention to anything that commanded their attention. Continue reading →

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October 11, 1957: Paul V. Coates–Confidential File

Posted on October 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 11, 1957: Paul Coates profiles Bert Whitson, a clown who used to perform at Pershing Square before it was uprooted for a parking structure and taken over at night by “hoodlums.” Continue reading →

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October 4, 1957: A second take

Posted on October 4, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 4, 1957: University professor Page Smith says students are fed up with American history. “The hall of history through which they have been led often resembles a taxidermist’s shop full of respectfully stuffed figures which give off an odor of dust and decay.” Continue reading →

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October 3, 1907: The Mystery of Felt Lake

Posted on October 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 3, 1907: Chester Silent, one of the most promising students at Stanford, disappears…. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Open Secret’ a Timely Tale of Tolerance

Posted on August 25, 2025 by lmharnisch

In an encore post from 2019, Mary Mallory looks at “Open Secret,” (1948), promoting religious and racial tolerance to a country fighting to accept the very principles upon which it was created. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Fiesta de las Flores

Posted on October 7, 2024 by lmharnisch

President William McKinley and First Lady Ida McKinley at La Fiesta de las Flores, 1901. Though founded September 4, 1781 the tiny pueblo of Los Angeles featured little assets to lure large numbers of migrants westward looking to call it … Continue reading →

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Southbound 110: Traffic Collision 9/8/2023

Posted on September 8, 2023 by lmharnisch

Public Service Announcement: I saw this accident on the southbound 110 between a Honda and a Toyota, and got footage on my dash cam, but I wasn’t able to stop (it wasn’t safe) so I couldn’t contact the drivers, especially … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: San Francisco Silent Film Festival Shows the Power of Silents

Posted on July 20, 2023 by lmharnisch

Douglas Fairbanks and Marguerite de la Motte in “The Iron Mask.” Returning for the 26th time, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival offered a fascinating and powerful diversity of programming and music at its recently concluded Festival. Full of dramatic … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Women Played Key Roles in Early Film Sales

Posted on November 14, 2022 by lmharnisch

At a time when men dominated the sales profession, two women facilitated moving pictures sales in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s, an incredible rarity in the selling profession. Pioneers in their field, these unsung women demonstrated that … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Elsa Lopez, Silent Film Art Director

Posted on March 22, 2022 by lmharnisch

Scenes of Paris, 1922, art direction by Elsa Lopez. Virtually unknown today, women like Elsa Lopez played an integral part in the early silent film industry. Not just actresses or in administrative behind-the-scenes jobs, females made active contributions in creating … Continue reading →

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

Posted on August 30, 2021 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. 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 … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: Donald H. Wolfe; ‘Black Dahlia Files’ Fraudster | 1931 – 2015

Posted on March 6, 2020 by lmharnisch

I’m five years late on this item, but for the record: Donald H. Wolfe, the fraudster who wrote “The Black Dahlia Files,” died in February 2015.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Open Secret’ a Timely Tale of Tolerance

Posted on April 1, 2019 by lmharnisch

TCM tackles a vital subject with its screening of the motion picture “Open Secret” during the upcoming TCM Classic Film Festival April 11-14. 2019. As timely now as when it was first released in 1948,“Open Secret” promotes religious and racial … Continue reading →

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Black Dahlia: EBay Avenger

Posted on September 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006. OK, I’ve had my fun with Ellroy’s copies of the “Avenger” books. The hardback stands at $38 and the paperback at $29. Despite my minimum bids, there is always the risk that … Continue reading →

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