Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on June 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

The Man Who Talked Too Much
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1940 Warner Bros. film “The Man Who Talked Too Much,” with George Brent, Virginia Bruce, Brenda Marshall, Richard Barthelmess, William Lundigan, George Tobias and John Litel. The screenplay was by Walter DeLeon and Earl Baldwin, from a play by Frank J. Collins, photography by Sid Hickox, art direction by Hugh Reticker, gowns by Howard Shoup, makeup by Perc Westmore, music by H. Roemheld, arrangements by Ray Heindorf and musical direction by Leo F. Forbstein. Directed by Vincent Sherman.

”The Man Who Talked Too Much” has never been commercially released, as far as I can determine. It does air on TCM occasionally.

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

Posted on June 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

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Oct. 25, 1954: Betty White becomes honorary mayor of Hollywood.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

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 new schools, post offices, and banks. Most who served did so as an act of public service, gladly giving back to their communities for all the success they had achieved. By the 1950s, however, serving as honorary mayor often meant earning greater publicity opportunities rather than performing a needed civic duty.

The city of Los Angeles boomed after World War II, with many veterans returning to a city they had passed through on their way overseas.  African Americans flocked here for what they saw as greater opportunity and freedom. Manufacturing plants exploded, leading to a higher standard of living for many people. This growing prosperity allowed the city to provide more and better services as the metropolitan area expanded.

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June 11, 1947: Hillary Brooke Tries Out Job as Reporter

Posted on June 11, 2018 by lmharnisch


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Note: This is an encore post from 2005 that originally appeared on the 1947project.

Somehow I’d like to think that Brooke wrote the marijuana bust story as she was studying for her role in “I Cover Big Town” (apparently not yet out on DVD). I can’t say I’ve ever seen it, but I love the title. One interesting note: The price of marijuana in 1947 ($20) equals $189.28 in USD 2005.

The other note is that I was lucky enough to know one of the arresting officers, Ed Walker, who retired with the rank of inspector and headed the LAPD’s public information office. Ed was the officer who arrested Errol Flynn on statutory rape charges and told Khrushchev that he couldn’t go to Disneyland. He was a wonderful man.

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Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Sandow Returns

Posted on June 11, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

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1935 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux

Posted on June 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

1935 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux

One of the joys of living in Southern California is the random opportunity to see gorgeous cars – new and vintage – in the wild. We saw this 1935 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux a few blocks from the Daily Mirror HQ. As far as we can determine, it lives at the Petersen Automotive Museum and was taken out for a few hours – we’re guessing at the San Marino Motor Classic.

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June 10, 1947: Artist John Decker Speaks at His Funeral Via Recording

Posted on June 10, 2018 by lmharnisch


June 11, 1947

June 11, 1947, L.A. Times

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

From a transcription he made six weeks before his death, Artist John Decker’s voice came back to intone his philosophy at his funeral yesterday.
In his flower-decked studio at 1215 Alta Loma Road, where the private services were conducted, came the voice reciting a speech of Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

“…to sing, to laugh, to dream, to walk in my own way, and be alone.”

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Feb. 2, 1933: James M. Cain Writes Appreciation of Ice Cream Truck Driver Robert D. ‘Red’ Shay

Posted on June 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

Feb. 2, 1933, Los Angeles Times  

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

“Red” Shay, 26, was riding with his girlfriend, Nancy Reed, in the rumble seat a car driven by his roommate, L.W. Sinclair, when it struck a Pacific Electric train on Huntington in Arcadia at the edge of the Baldwin Ranch, Jan. 22, 1933. Sinclair and his girlfriend, Lorraine Gaines, apparently survived. Shay and Reed did not.

Shay, the beloved ice cream man of Burbank, was buried at Forest Lawn, Glendale.

A happy discovery. I’ll never be able to think of the author of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” and “Double Indemnity” in the same way.

Posted in 1933, Books and Authors, Obituaries | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

June 9, 1907: Woman’s Bizarre Death Exposes a Family’s Curse

Posted on June 9, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

June 9, 1907
Los Angeles

Olga Miller was a comely young thing who worked at the Hotel Rosslyn and was considered quite attractive despite the scar on her temple from shooting herself in the head.

One day she fell ill and was taken to County Hospital, where she went into convulsions and died after a visit from Richard Hardy, who forced his way into her room and made her drink a glass of milk that police suspected was poisoned.

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Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on June 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Library of Congress Mystery Photo
For Friday, we have our last photo from the Library of Congress. The library says this picture was taken by “Katherine Russell Bleecker, the first female cinematographer in film history,” but there’s no more information. Any ideas?

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

June 9, 1947: Personals

Posted on June 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

To a certain party in Beverly Hills: Some Las Vegas casino executives should close those swank drapes when they sit in the living room and read the paper. It’s hard to clean the matching fabric on the sofa.

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June 8, 1947: Neighbors Organize to Block Workers for Trackless Trolleys

Posted on June 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

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L.A. Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Perhaps one of most the common and ingrained bits of wisdom about old Los Angeles is the vast conspiracy of bus companies and car dealers that did away with the streetcars.

But to delve into mass transit in the 1940s is to plunge headfirst into the rabbit hole of “Alice in Wonderland” and never return. Master plans, freeways, congested traffic, parking, one-way streets, buses, comparisons with Seattle’s solutions to mass transit, newspaper editorials and letters from angry readers; it’s all there, just as hotly debated as today.

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Posted in 1947, Streetcars, Transportation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on June 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Library of Congress Mystery Woman

For Thursday, we have a mystery woman, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

June 7, 1947: Kenneth Hahn Sworn in as L.A. Councilman

Posted on June 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

L.A. Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Hahn retired from public service in 1992, after being elected 10 times to the county Board of Supervisors, beginning in 1952.

Source: Los Angeles Times, June 7, 1947.

 

Posted in 1947, City Hall, Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: USC Film Student Refuses ‘Uncle Tom’ Role in Radio Play

Posted on June 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 5, 1947, William Grant Still

June 5, 1947: USC film student James C. Johnson, a member of the Delta Kappa Alpha cinema fraternity, said he would not play a role in a student’s radio play because it depicted “the Negro as stereotype,” the Sentinel said.

According to the Sentinel, Johnson said the story was degrading and had no moral value. Johnson said that many writers are unable to accurately portray African Americans “because they are not exposed to the proper environment of the Negro in order to characterize his stories.”

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June 7, 1907: Judge Wins Black Eye in Pasadena’s First Dog Show

Posted on June 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

 

June 7, 1907, L.A. Time

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

June 7, 1907
Pasadena

After a hard day of judging Boston terriers, English bulldogs and foxhounds, John Bradshaw went to a local restaurant with two exhibitors, William J. Morris and James Ewins.

Over dinner, and apparently many drinks, Bradshaw told Ewins at great length what was wrong with his prize bulldog, Moston Barnone. Although Ewins had owned several great bulldogs, including one named Moston Monarch, he took Bradshaw’s remarks in stride.

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Shout Out

Posted on June 7, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

General Motors [ISP Redacted] Windows 2000? Upgrade!

The Netherlands [ISP Redacted]

E! Entertainment [ISP Redacted] “E! Mysteries and Scandals,” my first TV interview, by the guy who did “Real Chases of the Highway Patrol.”

Department of Veterans Affairs [ISP Redacted]

My pal in Kerkira, Greece [ISP Redacted]

Simpson Thacher and Bartlett llp [ISP Redacted]

And no, I still haven’t heard from Donald H. Wolfe about his bogus document. Something tells me I’m not going to.

Here’s a factoid for you: Olga Rutterschmidt, who is being held on suspicion of an insurance fraud scheme involving the deaths of two homeless men, lives at 1776 N. Sycamore in Hollywood, the site of Bobby Fuller’s mysterious death in 1966. A building with seriously bad mojo!

Hurry back!

Posted in 1947, 2006, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, History, Hollywood, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on Shout Out

Movieland Mystery Photo

Posted on June 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Movieland Mystery Photo

For Wednesday, we have another mystery guest from the Library of Congress. The print is stamped Dec. 15, 1936, with the pencil notation “The Bulgarian Phesant”

The back of the photo is on the jump.

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June 6, 1947: American POW Recognizes Sadistic Japanese Prison Camp Guard in L.A. Store

Posted on June 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

On D-Day plus three years, Los Angeles was torn between the past and the future. And in one instance, the past and its aftermath were the future.

On its photo page, The Times ran a picture of a young French girl romping in the water at Omaha beach. In another, Maj. Robert Crisson poses on a rusting operations boat and gazes across Normandy beach, where he led an infantry company in the first wave of invading troops June 6, 1944. Of those 600 men, only seven survived the war, Crisson says.

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Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, World War II | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: 5 LAPD Officers Injured in 3 Fights

Posted on June 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

June 5, 1947, Barber dies
June 5, 1947: Christopher W. Bankhead, who was injured in a plane crash during World War II, dies of a heart “ailment” while cutting a customer’s hair at William McKinney’s barbershop, 4012 S. Central Ave.

June 5, 1947, LAPD fight

LAPD Officers S. Goldman and E.R. Nelson were questioning two men at Pico Boulevard and Georgia Street when a crowd gathered and someone yelled “Let’s beat the hell out of those XXX cops.”

Officer Orville Frederickson, coming to the aid of his fellow officers, was injured when he was knocked down and kicked in the face. Police responding to a radio call for help arrested Norman Charles Bale, 29, of 1302 W. Pico Blvd.

According to the Sentinel, Bale said: “I hate cops and when I get a chance, I’ll get myself one.”

Frederickson was taken to Los Angeles County General Hospital with facial fractures while Goldman and Nelson were taken to the Georgia Street Receiving Hospital for cuts and bruises.

1001 E. 29th St., Los Angeles, CA

1001 E. 29th St., via Google Street View.

The Sentinel also reported that Officer M.J. Lee of the Newton Division was helping two other officers arrest “two Negro youths dressed in women’s clothing” at 1001 3/4 E. 29th St.  when he was struck in the shoulder with a 2 by 4 studded with nails.

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, LAPD, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

June 6, 1907: Miner Sues Tenderfoot Prospector for Shooting Pet Horse

Posted on June 6, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

June 6, 1907
San Bernardino

The miners of the Silver Lake camp out in San Bernardino didn’t take the tenderfoot too seriously. His name was Fred Myton and he presented himself as the son of a wealthy Salt Lake City family, come fully outfitted to strike it rich in the gold fields.

One of the miners’ amusements in the remote desert was Bobbie, a horse owned by contractor Sidney Barber but belonging to almost everyone in the camp as he was treated like a pet. Allowed to roam untethered, Bobbie would forage from one miner to the next looking for some kind words, maybe a pat or two and whatever the men could spare from their meals.

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Posted in 1907, Animals, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on June 6, 1907: Miner Sues Tenderfoot Prospector for Shooting Pet Horse