Scotty Bowers’ mountain of lies is not the hill I care to die on. But be assured that he has told a mountain of lies. Have you seen even one photograph of him with one of his alleged amours? Scotty and Spencer Tracy? Scotty and Katharine Hepburn? Scotty and, well, any A-list celebrity, really? Rin-Tin-Tin? Trigger? Flipper? Nellybelle?
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1949 film “Lost Boundaries, with Beatrice Pearson, Mel Ferrer, Susan Douglas, the Rev. Robert H. Dunn, Richard Hylton, Grace Coppin, Seth Arnold, Parker Fennelly, William Greaves, Leigh Whipper, Maurice Ellis, Edwin Cooper, Carleton Carpenter, Wendell Holmes, Ralph Riggs, Rai Saunders, Morton Stevens, Alexander Campbell, Royal Beal and Canada Lee.
Based on William L. White’s “Document of a New Hampshire Family” from Reader’s Digest, screen adaptation by Charles Palmer, screenplay by Virginia Shaler and Eugene Ling, additional dialogue by Maxime Furlaud and Ormonde de Kay. Art direction by Herbert Andrews, makeup by Fred Ryle, props by Fred Ballmeyer, music by Louis Applebaum, musical direction by Jack Shaindlin, additional songs by Albert Johnston Jr., Herbert E. Taylor and Carleton Carpenter. Photographed by William J. Miller and directed by Alfred L. Werker. Presented by Mantle Pictures, a Louis de Rochemont production.
“Lost Boundaries” is available on DVD from Warner Archive.
The 21st Annual Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival gallops into action Aug. 10 through 12 at the marvelous little Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, Calif., featuring a look at rare silent films, most in 35 millimeter, screening in an actual nickelodeon theatre. This year’s fest includes newly discovered and restored Chicago Essanay films and hard to see 28 millimeter films projected on actual vintage projectors, along with a walking tour and opportunity to take a relaxing train ride through Niles Canyon.
Friday night’s festivities kick off with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by a delightful 7:30 p.m. Edison Theatre screening of short films from 1908 through 1924 featuring virtually forgotten French comedian Max Linder. Linder, one of Charlie Chaplin’s idols, played a dapper character getting into all sorts of mischief, helping pioneer slapstick comedy onscreen as we know it today. Films to be screened include “Max Juggler Par Amour” (1908), “Max – Victime Due Quinquina” (1911), “Max and the Statue” (1912), and “Au Secours!” (1924). David Drazin accompanies the films.
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
Petitions were filed in the Supreme Court of California here yesterday seeking to restrain the Superior Court from hearing injunction suits against two American-Orientals to restrain them from continuing to occupy their present homes.
The petitioners are Tom D. Amer, Chinese-American citizen and war veteran, who lives with his family at 127 W. 56th St., and Yin Kim, also a veteran, who is of Korean descent and who lives at 1201 S. Gramercy Place.
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
“Last Wednesday, I killed a man.”
Joseph stood tall for the news photographers, with his wife, Lois, by his side, a shock of hair swept down over his forehead, but otherwise neat and trim. They look like somebody’s parents in an old photo at your childhood friend’s house.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. It reflects the research resources that were available 13 years ago.
Fourteen-year-old Patsy Pfeifer has two ambitions in life. One is to see a rodeo. Like many teenage girls, she is crazy about horses. When she’s not reading about them in stories by Will James, the straight-A student paints pictures of them.
Her other ambition is to walk. Patsy has been bedridden since she got polio around Christmas 1942. One day, after she had been in the hospital for a few months, she was surprised to see actress Shirley Temple at her bedside, giving her an award for her essay on “What Florence Nightingale’s Life Means to Children.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Aug. 4, 1907
Galveston, Texas
The Times reports on the Jewish Territorial Organization headed by author and playwright Israel Zangwill and banker Jacob Schiff to help Jews fleeing persecution in Russia.
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
“Kingsblood Royal,” like “Gentleman’s Agreement,” deals with prejudice, in this case, discrimination against blacks. Lewis’ novel was criticized in some reviews for superficial characters and a didactic, melodramatic plot and praised in others for focusing on racism. It received an award from Ebony magazine because it “did the most to promote racial understanding in 1947.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Aug. 3, 1907
Los Angeles
An enormous explosion shattered the night in the Dayton Heights neighborhood near what is now Virgil Avenue and Middlebury Street.
“The shock of the explosion awakened people for blocks around, many of them rushing out of doors in their nightclothes, fearing that an earthquake had occurred,” The Times said. “Several men were on the scene in a few minutes.”
July 31, 1947: The Sentinel’s front page is full of news: Elizabeth Ingalls is sentenced in the San Diego slavery case to a fine of $2,500, three years probation and a $6,000 payment to Dora Jones.
The Sentinel also reports that police haven’t made any progress in investigating the killing of Vesta Belle Sapenter.
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
Her name was Andrea and she was 24. His name was Sylvester and he was 26, a World War II veteran working at Lockheed. And they were in love. So like many young couples, they wanted to get married.
But unlike every other couple, they were refused a marriage license at the Los Angeles County clerk’s office because Andrea Perez was white and Sylvester S. Davis Jr. was black. And Section 60 of the California Civil Code stated: “All marriages of white persons with Negroes, Mongolians, members of the Malay race, or Mulattoes are illegal and void” while Section 69 forbid issuing licenses for such marriages.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006 and reflects the minimal online resources that were available 12 years ago.
Aug. 2, 1907
Los Angeles
The Times reports the death of Dr. Lucy Hall-Brown, a prominent woman physician who was active in the Red Cross. Although we know where she lived (Vermont and 30th Street), we have no idea where she went to school, her age or whether she had any survivors. Nor are we told why she was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y., rather than Los Angeles.
A Google search reveals that Hall-Brown was a frequent correspondent with Clara Barton, but not much more.
This is a story that involves a $1 lottery ticket, a new Cadillac and an incredible amount of stupidity by members of an ostensibly charitable organization who were determined to uphold racist attitudes. And it really happened.
The story, as told by the Associated Negro Press, begins with Harvey Jones, a black Navy veteran who was a tenant farmer near Ahoskie, N.C. Jones paid $1 (current value $11.72) for a ticket in a lottery held by the Ahoskie Kiwanis Club with the first prize of a new Cadillac, worth about $3,200 (current value $37,000.)
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
ARRESTS FOR INTOXICATION
by calendar year
1937……….44,176
1938……….41,388
1939……….41,878
1940……….48,014
1941……….53,294
1942……….61,865
1943……….45,354
1944……….62,510
1945……….72,465
1946……….92,108
1947……….98,149 (a 222% increase over 1937)
Felony Drunk Driving, 1947……………..365
Misdemeanor Drunk Driving, 1947…..2,677
Source: Los Angeles Police Department Annual Report for 1947
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Aug. 1, 1907
Los Angeles
A mass of bees “wandering in from the country” swirled along Broadway, forcing dainty young women and the toughest police officer to seek cover in a vain attempt to avoid being stung.
“Whether attracted to the neighborhood by the bevy of pretty girls who happened to be there or by the flowered hats on display in the show windows is not known,” The Times said.
Eight black athletes are trying out for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference.
July 31, 1947: “The Owl,” the Sentinel’s nightlife columnist, visited the clubs, noting that the high prices of food and rent were taking a toll on going out.
During World War II, California imposed a midnight curfew on bars and made liquor stores close at 8 p.m. Effective July 1, 1947, bars and liquor stores were once again permitted to stay open until 2 a.m. The Sentinel praised the later hours as a boost for club owners and live entertainment, but “The Owl” noted that some clubs were cutting prices and dropping cover charges to attract more business.
What we know in hindsight is that the big-band days were over and the era of jazz trios, quartets and quintets was beginning.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
July 31, 1907
Los Angeles
After a delay due to illness, newsboy Charles “Winnipeg” Wilson took the stand to testify against Evelyn Ferguson, who is accused of shooting him because he was attacking her friend Grace Ryan.
Although “she was not in a condition at the time of the shooting to remember much about how it happened,” Ryan testified that she and Ferguson had returned from a day at the beach when they began fighting with Wilson and a group of companions.
Jessica and Robert Ryan, photo courtesy of Mary Mallory.
Known as much for his intense, brooding performances onscreen as his passionate defense of causes off it, actor Robert Ryan cared deeply about whatever he focused his attention on. While he appeared menacing on the big screen, in real life Ryan displayed concern and empathy for others, giving his time, attention, and money to causes protecting the lives and welfare of others. When he and his wife, Jessica, grew concerned about large class sizes at potential schools for their young son, the couple took action, organizing their own school, one still operating today.
The Ryans possessed a love of learning, spending much of their free time reading and discussing current issues with others. Ryan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth. The couple wanted their children to discover this same curiosity and passion for knowledge, something to be nourished at small schools where kids could form close connections with caring teachers. After World War II, however, America experienced a baby boom when GIs returned from the front. In turn, this created overcrowded schools with huge classes, allowing little time for one-on-one attention or mentoring possibilities.
Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.
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