Jan. 6, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Law Is Upheld’

Posted on January 6, 2019 by lmharnisch

matt_weinstock A very upsetting ruling came down recently from Appellate Justice Paul Vallee.

Shocked by the discovery that three men were held in jail for five days before being arraigned, he stated in an opinion, “It appears the police are permitted to flout, defy and violate the law they are sworn to uphold.”

Asked for a ruling on Justice Vallee’s opinion, City Atty. Arnebergh advised Chief Parker that prisoners must be arraigned within two days after being arrested, to be taken before a magistrate without delay. It also raises the question whether it’s legal to arrest a person on “suspicion.”

That hollow laughter you hear is from those who weren’t so lucky.

Weinstock also writes about the death of Victor Angel, who was fatally injured by the falling body of Louise Albina Stark after she jumped off the seventh-floor ledge of a building at Broadway and 4th St.

This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009.

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Jan. 6, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – My Responsibilities as Your Reporter

Posted on January 6, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Mirror, 1959, L.A. Times, 2009

Jan. 6, 1959: Paul Coates writes about protecting his sources, citing the case of New York Herald Tribune writer Marie Torre, who was sentenced to 10 days in jail for refusing to reveal her source for a story about Judy Garland.

Coates’ column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009.

Posted in 1959, Columnists, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Jan. 6, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – My Responsibilities as Your Reporter

Jan. 6, 1959: Errol Flynn Wounded in Cuba!

Posted on January 6, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1959
Jan. 6, 1959: Here’s a busy news day in 1959. Errol Flynn is wounded in the leg while “campaigning” with Fidel Castro. On the jump, Keith Thursby takes a look at The Times’ interview by Jeane Hoffman with Eleanor Gehrig.

The post originally appeared in 2009 when the Daily Mirror was hosted by latimes.com.

Continue reading →

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Jan. 5, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Men of Good Will’

Posted on January 5, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 2009

Matt Weinstock was a master of stringing little vignettes into a column. He didn’t do major reporting, like Paul Coates, but had a nice, light touch and occasionally stirred the heartstrings of Los Angeles. He also delved into L.A. history and some of its many, many quirks..

The entire piece is here, via Archive.org.

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Jan. 5, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – Desmond Slattery Is Home

Posted on January 5, 2019 by lmharnisch

Paul Coates, 1959

Along with Parkey Sharkey, Desmond Slattery was one of the colorful characters in Paul Coates columns..

The entire piece is here, via Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, 2009, Columnists, Paul Coates | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Jan. 5, 1959: Paul Coates Confidential File – Desmond Slattery Is Home

January 1959: Studio Exec Says They Would Have to Kill Him to Get Wallet – So They Did

Posted on January 5, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1959

Kenneth Savoy told holdup men “If you want my wallet, you’re going to have to kill me to get it.” So they did. The story of George Albert Scott and Curtis C. Lichtenwalter, who were robbing bars across Los Angeles.

The original post from 2009, via Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Video: David Blight on ‘Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom’

Posted on January 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

C-SPAN

I’m late to the party on this book, but I was pleased to run across a Q and A with historian David Blight of Yale on his new biography, “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.” The session, with Princeton professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr., is worth your time.

Continue reading →

Posted in 2018, African Americans, Books and Authors, History | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 4, 1959: Grocermat – The Supermarket of Tomorrow!

Posted on January 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

1959_0104_grocermat

I love “futurism” stories like this one, featuring a 7-Eleven for the Jetsons.  In sports, football coach Earl “Curly” Lambeau says the split-T offense is dead. He also thinks college ball should put the goal posts back on the goal line!.

The entire post from 2009 is here via Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, 2009, Futurism, Sports | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Victor Segno: ‘How to Live 100 Years’

Posted on January 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

image

A. Victor Segno is my favorite Los Angeles charlatan. I wrote a feature about him for The Times in 2012..

The entire Daily Mirror post appears on Archive.org.

Posted in 1903, 2009, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Victor Segno: ‘How to Live 100 Years’

Jan. 2, 1945: The Making of ‘The Blue Dahlia’

Posted on January 3, 2019 by lmharnisch

Two Years Before the Mast

Jan. 2, 1945: Paramount promotes “Two Years Before the Mast,” with Alan Ladd, Howard Da Silva and William Bendix, all appearing in “The Blue Dahlia.”  “Two Years Before the Mast” was finished in 1944, but not released until November 1946, disproving John Houseman’s claim that

Alan Ladd – the studio’s top star and the highest-rated male performer in the U.S. — would be entering the Army in three months’ time, leaving behind him not one foot of film for the company to release in his absence.

To be continued.

Posted in 1945, Blue Dahlia, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Jan. 1, 1945: The Making of ‘The Blue Dahlia’

Posted on January 3, 2019 by lmharnisch

image

Jan. 1, 1945: Raymond Chandler writes to Charles Morton, mentioning his original idea for a film. “The Blue Dahlia” would become Chandler’s first original screenplay.

To be continued.

Posted in 1945, Blue Dahlia, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 3, 1959: Russia Winning Space Race! Bulla Leads L.A. Open!

Posted on January 3, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1959

The Soviets are winning the space race! Moral Re-Armament stages “Turning of the Tide” and “The New American!” French Foreign Legion rifles, only $9.88!  Johnny Bulla leads the L.A. Open!

The entire post from the 2009 Daily Mirror via Archive.org.

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Jan. 3, 1949: Tom Harmon on the Future of Televised Sports

Posted on January 3, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 2009

Here’s a nice piece from Keith Thursby, now of ESPN. The complete post from the Daily Mirror, Jan. 3, 2009, is at Archive.org..

Story, Part 1 | Story, Part 2

Posted in 1949, Baseball, Sports, Television | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Jan. 3, 1949: Tom Harmon on the Future of Televised Sports

Jan. 2, 1959: Paul Coates ‘Repeal the Mann Act?’

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 2009

Jan. 2, 1959: Long before Nate Silver launched 538, Paul Coates was skeptical of polls and to prove his point formed his own polling concern: the Los Angeles Survey Institute. His question: “Do you think the Mann Act deters or helps the cause of organized labor — and if you feel it deters, would you vote for its repeal?”

The Mann Act, of course, banned taking a woman across state lines for immoral purposes. Coates found that 12% of respondents realized the Mann Act involved “white slavery.” The rest? Oh dear.

Coates entire column is at Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, 2009, Columnists, Paul Coates | 3 Comments

Jan. 2, 1959: Matt Weinstock ‘Reader’s Choice’

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 2009

The old-school newspaper columnists were tough, writing six pieces a week. Six-day-a-week columnists like Matt Weinstock and Paul Coates took it easy by making their Saturday columns a roundup of readers’ letters. In those days, apparently, newspaper columnists received interesting letters. What a concept.  (Jim Murray did the same thing in his first years at The Times)..

Weinstock’s complete column is here at Archive.org.

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Jan. 2, 1969: College Student Home on Vacation Killed, Dumped Off Mulholland

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1969

This is another story that I don’t remember at all. The original post is here at Archive.org. The killing of Marina Elizabeth Habe remains unsolved (I see that I garbled her name in the original post).

See also Keith Thursby’s story on the bidding war for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor

Posted in 1969, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Keith Thursby | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another Fine Mess? Stan Laurel Accused of Planning to Bury Wife in Backyard

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 2009

I have written more than 10,000 posts about L.A. history over the years and I don’t remember many of them. Like this one, which was turned into a “Then and Now” a feature that continued briefly after Cecilia Rasmussen left the paper.

The complete post from Jan. 2, 2009, is at Archive.org.

Posted in 1940, 2009, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Another Fine Mess? Stan Laurel Accused of Planning to Bury Wife in Backyard

Black Dahlia: My Annual Donation in Memory of Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

Heading Home

As longtime readers know, I always begin a new year with an annual donation in memory of Elizabeth Short to Heading Home, which works with the homeless in the Boston area.

Partly because of my research on Elizabeth Short, I try to make the issue of homelessness a continuing theme of the Daily Mirror. I donate to an agency in the Boston area because of Elizabeth Short’s connections there, but Los Angeles also has a severe, chronic problem with homelessness and there are many local agencies that welcome donations.  I believe people will find this more meaningful in the long term than, for example, leaving a bottle of liquor and some cigarettes at her grave, especially since Elizabeth Short didn’t smoke and rarely drank.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 2, 1958: Photographer Edward Weston Dies

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 2008
1958_0102_weston Here’s a blog post I wrote for the Daily Mirror blog in 2008, when it was hosted by the Los Angeles Times. Edward Weston, one of the great photographers of the 20th century, received a one-paragraph obituary in the Los Angeles Times.

Posted in 1958, Obituaries, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

LAPD Crime Statistics for 1957 | Looking Back at ‘Our Lawless City’

Posted on January 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 2008

If you are a longtime reader, you may remember when the Daily Mirror was hosted by the Los Angeles Times. The Times holds the copyright on these items, even though the blog was killed in 2011 (thank you, Jimmy Orr), but I see no problem in linking to the archival versions of the posts.

From Jan. 2, 2008, looking back at the crime statistics for 1957, in “Our Lawless City.”
Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, 2008, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on LAPD Crime Statistics for 1957 | Looking Back at ‘Our Lawless City’