Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Singing loud praises to Allah that strike a curious note in 2006, the special train of Shriners is flying across the Nevada desert brimming with Freemasons and their families pondering the ancient mystery: “What Makes the Wildcat Wild?”
The official communique from the Imperial Potentate reads:
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
In grappling with a novel about life in prison, writer Ernest Filer of Chicago decided that he should experience imprisonment for himself , thus he hatched the idea of breaking a window so he would be sent to jail.
He selected a small pane of glass at a cigar store and heaved a rock through it, assuming that he would be let off with a reprimand, a day or so in jail and an order to pay the cost of replacement.
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And here’s where we go down the research rabbit hole from the L.A. Sentinel, 1947: The California Venereal Disease Control Act of 1937.
Which brings us to “California and Western Medicine,” July to December 1937.
Wow. Sorry, Uproxx, this is totally wrong. Elizabeth Short was last seen alive at — before you say the Hotel Cecil — she was last seen alive at the Biltmore.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
On the witness stand, accused “Barefoot Bandit” James G. Fleenor complains that police got him drunk to gain a confession. Fleenor, who was black, had been part of an attempted jailbreak several weeks earlier.
“They took me down to Capt. Flammer’s office,” Fleenor said, “and asked me for a description of the two men I had got the box of jewelry from. Then they took me to my office in a hack. Before we started, the captain said to [Detective] Jones, ‘Here is $5 for the expenses of your trip with Fleenor.’
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Preparations are nearly complete for the Shriners Convention, which begins May 7 with the city’s Al Malaikah Temple hosting the gathering.
Among the events planned is a parade of Imperial Potentate Alvah P. Clayton from the Alexandria Hotel to the Scottish Rite Cathedral on Hill Street near 5th Street. The hosts also plan automobile rides to Glendale, where convention-goers will receive boxes of Tropico strawberries, and a table a quarter-mile long at the new development on Redondo Beach that promises to be “the biggest clam chowder party on record.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Nicholas “Nick” Schwegel (sometimes misspelled Schwegal), the city’s new restaurant inspector, issued a report to the Board of Health that left officials sick to their stomachs—so ill, in fact, that one board member asked that the report be tabled until they were feeling better. However, Mayor Harper insisted in pursuing the matter, having recently returned to work from a bout of food poisoning.
Schwegel said he inspected 424 restaurants in April and imposed $200 in fines, ordered 62 restaurants to clean up their kitchens, and seized and destroyed 70 pounds of meat, six chickens, 30 pounds of sausage, 9 pounds of cheese, a half-box of lemons and canned fruit.
May 1, 1947: The Sentinel publishes an ad for Alden Bland’s “Behold a Cry.” (Available on 14-day loan from Archive.org).
The New York Times said:
ALDEN BLAND, the Negro author of this short novel, has none of the power of a Richard Wright. His style is jerky, sometimes making it as difficult to follow his story as it is to discern what he is getting at. There is bitterness from the Negro viewpoint, and there is wisdom, too, when at the end one of the characters says, “Maybe it just happened.”
Juanita Washington Goodman explores the “estate of James Crow.”
At every public gathering place such as railroad stations, bus stations, etc., there are huge signs which say “White Waiting Room” and “Colored Waiting Room.” Such places are better kept than we had expected, and in some instances accommodations for colored people are better than we have seen for the general public in some small southern communities. Nevertheless, one does not forget one’s racial identity here.
Martin Scorsese is presented with the first Robert Osborne Award for film preservation.
In its ninth year of celebrating classic film, the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival highlighted the written word and how film speaks to audiences through a wide variety of programs offering a little something for everyone. While some come looking for rarities, others search out socializing and dressing up, others look for celebrity appearances, and some seek another viewing of a favorite film. For those of us looking for diverse and rare presentations, the TCM Classic Film Festival goes beyond just screening films to offer unique programming not available anywhere else. It’s not just a film festival, but a rich symposium of ideas into the history and development of motion pictures.
I’m always looking to view something I’ve never seen before, so I normally attend Club TCM or other special events offering something that is often unique even for Los Angeles filmgoers. The Club TCM programs primarily offer informative, in-depth looks at subjects through PowerPoint presentations or lectures, while some screenings feature unique technological instruments like Fotoplayers, hand-cranked projectors, and the like, items that are very rare anywhere in the world.
Motorcycle Hits Her
Miss Gertrude Young, who lives at No. 525 Wall St., was knocked down by a motorcycle yesterday as she stepped from a streetcar at 7th and Hope streets. The rider of the machine hastened away. Miss Young was taken to the Clara Barton Hospital.
No Milk Spilled
The horses attached to a Eureka Dairy wagon became frightened on South Main Street yesterday by an approaching streetcar and ran. A passenger on the streetcar leaped to the street, seized the bridles of the animals and stopped them. Not a drop of milk was spilled.
Paid for Collision
J. Hall of No. 655 S. Hill St., was hurled from a bicycle in a collision with an automobile driven by D. G. McMasters of 1010 W. 38th St. yesterday. The accident happened on Broadway between 3rd and 4th streets. Hall sustained slight bruises and his wheel [bicycle] was demolished. McMasters paid the lad for his wheel.
May Be Insane
Seizing James Harper by the throat and hurling him to the floor of the office of a lodging house at 127 Wilmington St., George May struck him violently several times last night, it is said. May was arrested on a charge of insanity. He is a miner who has been in an insane asylum, his friends say. He will be examined today by police surgeons.
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1932 MGM picture “Polly of the Circus,” with Marion Davies, Clark Gable, C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Hatton, David Landau, Ruth Selwyn, Maude Eburne, Little Billy, Guinn Williams, Clark Marshall and Lillian Elliott. From a play by Margaret Mayo with a score by Dr. William Axt, adapted by Carey Wilson, dialogue by Laurence E. Johnson, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, gowns by Adrian, photography by George Barnes. Directed by Alfred Santell.
“Polly of the Circus” is available on DVD from Warner Archive.
Image: May 18, 1932, “Letty Lynton” is opening in Los Angeles. Credit: Los Angeles Times
Note: This is an encore post from 2011.
In the novel “Letty Lynton” and the play “Dishonored Lady,” the heroine gets away with murder, thanks to lies of friends. In the cinema world, however, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer earned major punishment for plagiarizing the play. It was assessed huge monetary damages and saw its film “Letty Lynton” forever removed from circulation. It didn’t have to end that way.
Playwrights Edward Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes wrote the play “Dishonored Lady,” based on the 1857 murder trial of Scottish Madeleine Smith, who murdered her lover. It opened 1930 in New York to tremendous success. MGM negotiated twice to acquire the play’s screen rights, but both times the Will Hays Production Code Office nixed production because of immorality. The studio instead bought the rights to novelist Marie Belloc Lowndes’ book “Letty Lynton,” also based on the same story as the play. Studio Creative Chief Irving Thalberg desired the story for Joan Crawford, who played coarser, tougher roles than most of the MGM starlets.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
From Feb. 3, 2006, to April 28, 2006, I devoted a daily blog to Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” In dealing with the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, Wolfe uses the “Laura” format, as in the Vera Caspary novel and Gene Tierney movie, in which the anonymous, butchered body is found and the narrative proceeds in flashbacks.
In checking Wolfe’s book against its sources and against the historic record, we have found lies, errors, fraud and plagiarism. We have found a heavy reliance on other books, notably Will Fowler’s “Reporters” and John Gilmore’s “Severed”—both of them extremely problematic—and the Los Angeles Examiner. In a survey of the book up to Page 73, these three sources constituted half of Wolfe’s source material. The district attorney’s files accounted for a mere 8% of the book.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Los Angeles theatergoers are transfixed by the new production of “When Knighthood Was in Flower,” Paul Kester’s adaptation of Charles Major’s 1898 novel, forming a mile-long line to buy tickets at Morosco’s Burbank Theater at Main and 6th St.
One reason was the return of Blanche Hall, a longtime member of the Burbank’s stock company, after a stint on the New York stage.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I have ceased blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe uses the “Laura” format, in which the anonymous, butchered body is found and the narrative proceeds in flashbacks.
Now, I am taking a few requests before wrapping up the project. Today, we’ll look at Pages 345-357 at the request of Regular Anonymous Correspondent. Say your prayers, because I hope to conclude the Wolfe project this week.
Yesterday I got derailed on Wolfe’s purported photo of poor old Maurice Clement (actually Salvadore Torres Vara) and excerpts of “Severed” author John Gilmore’s interview with Arnold Smith/Jack Anderson/Jack Wilson.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I have ceased blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe uses the “Laura” format, in which the anonymous, butchered body is found and the narrative proceeds in flashbacks.
Now, I am taking a few requests before wrapping up the project. Today, we’ll look at Pages 345-357 at the request of Regular Anonymous Correspondent. Say your prayers, because I hope to conclude the Wolfe project this week.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
W.S. Stanton of N. 117½ E. First St. was attacked by a vicious mule at the California Truck Company’s stables, No. 337 Aliso St., last night and seriously injured. When he attempted to take the harness off the animal it leaped to one side and kicked him on the thigh, knocking him down. Before he could regain his feet, the mule walked over him, cutting and lacerating the calves of his legs. Stanton was treated at the Receiving Hospital and later taken to his room.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I have ceased blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe uses the “Laura” format, in which the anonymous, butchered body is found and the narrative proceeds in flashbacks.
Now, I am taking a few requests before wrapping up the project. Today, we’ll look at Pages 293-296 at the request of Mary Pacios and Regular Anonymous Correspondent. Say your prayers, because I hope to conclude the Wolfe project this week.
Let’s recap for a minute.
So far that we have seen that:
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
Water is not the only thing that flows downhill, as switchmen at the downtown Southern Pacific freight yard discovered when two runaway flatcars made a 13-mile trip from the San Fernando Valley in 10 minutes.
Although the runaway cars sent people scrambling as they crossed the tracks, there were no trains running at the time, so a serious accident was avoided.
ladailymirror.com 