Jan. 16, 1947: Teachers Call ‘Song of the South’ Racist Propaganda

Posted on January 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

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Jan. 16, 1947: Chef Tubbs is opening a restaurant at 1305-7 E. Olympic Blvd.

Olympic and Central, Google Street View

Olympic Boulevard and Central Avenue, via Google Street View.

Jan. 16, 1947, Los Angeles Sentinel

Jan. 16: Local 27 of the American Federation of Teachers, meeting in Washington, called the Disney feature film “Song of the South” “insidious and subtle propaganda against the Negro.”

According to Paul Cooke, head of Local 27, actor James Baskett was “hampered by having to portray the fixed conception of the Negro — a lazy, hat-in-hand, spiritual-singing inferior ‘old rascal.’ ” Cooke also criticized the film for the theme of “the Negro in service to white people, the Negro apparently whose only thought is to help solve the problems of white people.”

 

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Oscar Apfel, Paramount’s Forgotten Man

Posted on January 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

 

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Oscar Apfel in Motion Picture News.

Multi-talented, smart, ambitious, hard-working, Oscar Apfel rose to the top of the early movie industry only to see evolving business practices, lack of luck, and bad choices push him down the ladder into just a small supporting part of the profession he helped create. A man whose contributions to the 1914 film “The Squaw Man” helped create the studio behemoth Paramount is virtually forgotten today, like so many early film pioneers.

Born January 17, 1879 in Cleveland, Ohio to German immigrant parents, young Oscar Carl Apfel applied himself both to education and work, looking for a way to earn a good solid living. The September 13, 1917 Albuquerque Morning Journal reported that he worked as a bank clerk in Ohio while performing as an amateur actor. Yearning for the more exciting life on stage, Apfel quit after he gained a role in the play “The American Girl,” traveling the country performing for 47 weeks in one night stands.

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.

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Union Rescue Mission

Posted on January 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

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Black Dahlia: Today Is Jan. 15 — Trim Your Roses

Posted on January 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

Today is Jan. 15, and the Daily Mirror marks the anniversary of Elizabeth Short’s death by pruning back the roses.

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Meet Victor Segno — L.A. Mystic and Con Man

Posted on January 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

Jan. 15, 2007
Los Angeles

While making my daily check of EBay, I found another envelope from 1907, this one addressed to A. Victor Segno, 701 N. Belmont.

A brief check of Proquest reveals—what’s this? A major scam artist, self-help author and wife-stealer.

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Posted in 1907, 1908, 1911, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Education, Found on EBay, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 15, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 20, 2018, The Reckless Moment
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1949 Columbia film “The Reckless Moment,” with James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O’Neill, Shepperd Strudwick, David Bair and Roy Roberts. The screenplay was by Henry Garson and Robert W. Sodeberg, adapted by Mel Dinelli and Robert E. Kent, from a Ladies Home Journal story “The Blank Wall” by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. The photography was by Burnett Guffey, art direction by Cary Odell, set decoration by Frank Tuttle, gowns by Jean Louis, musical score by Hans Salter and musical direction by Morris Stoloff. The producer was Walter Wanger and the director was Max Opuls (Ophuls).

“The Reckless Moment” is available on DVD from Amazon, but you will need an all-region player to watch it.

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At the Del

Posted on January 14, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

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Not in My Back Yard

Posted on January 13, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

Jan. 13, 1907
Los Angeles

The Times takes a light, humorous look at the destructive wanderings of Eaton Wash: a docile stream, if not entirely dry, most of the year, turned into a churning monster by heavy rains.

“The little river that makes so much trouble lives somewhere in the fastness of Eaton’s Canyon during the summer months,” The Times says. “In the rainy season it always comes prowling out for a wild outing.

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1907: Last Rites for an Early Church

Posted on January 12, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

Jan. 12, 1907
El Monte

For half a century, the Baptist Church of El Monte and the Mason’s Lexington Lodge No. 104 shared a clapboard building on Main Street, the worshipers on the first floor and the Masons, as always, on the second.

Then came the developers and the urge to grow.

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Black L.A. Laura Bowman Cast in All-Black Production of ‘Anna Lucasta’

Posted on January 12, 2018 by lmharnisch

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Jan. 9, 1947, Los Angeles Sentinel

Jan. 9, 1947:  Laura Bowman, who died in 1957 after a long illness, is to appear in an all-black production of “Anna Lucasta” at the Biltmore Theater. ”

Anna Lucasta,” written by Philip Yordan, was originally produced by the American Negro Theatre and ran for 957 performances on Broadway from August 1944 to November 1946, with Georgia Burke, Alice Childress, Alvin Childress and Hubert Henry. It was revived in September 1947 for 32 performances with Bowman, and Sidney Poitier in his second Broadway role.

The Los Angeles performance featured Alice Childress and Alvin Childress, veterans of the Broadway show, plus Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Warren Coleman, Inge Harrison,  Laura Bowman, Lance Taylor,  Monte Hawley, Kenneth Freeman and John Tate. After its successful run at the Biltmore, it was revived in April 1947 at the Belasco Theater.

Anna Lucasta

March 1, 1947: Lena Horne hosts a reception for the cast of “Anna Lucasta.”

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Jan. 11, 1907: USC Medical School Cadavers Found in Garbage Dump

Posted on January 11, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

Jan. 11, 1907
Los Angeles

A woman living on a hog ranch near the Santa Fe railroad crossing over the Los Angeles River contacted police after seeing dismembered human bodies in the old dumping ground near George Street.

Investigators dug through the dump, retrieving the body of a child that was nearly intact, along with bits and pieces of a man and a woman, including their skulls. In addition to the remains, police found books and papers traced to the University of Southern California Medical School.
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Black Dahlia: ‘Who Is the Black Dahlia?’ Script on Craigslist

Posted on January 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Who Is the Black Dahlia?

Someone on Craigslist has listed a copy of the shooting script for “Who Is the Black Dahlia?” the TV movie that featured Lucie Arnaz as Elizabeth Short and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Detective Harry Hansen (with an amusing turn by the saintly Tom Bosley portraying reporter Bevo Means, famed for his boozing).

The asking price is $240. As with anything on the internet, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before completing a transaction.

Note: Robert Lenski (whom I interviewed) had to change many elements of the story because people were still alive and refused to sign releases. Accurate, it is not.

Posted in 1947, 1974, 1975, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black L.A. 1947: LAPD Detectives Cleared of Brutality Against Drunk Woman

Posted on January 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

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Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel reports on the ruling by the Los Angeles Police Commission in the case of Edythe L. Galloway, 434 E. 48th St.

On Nov. 6, 1946, the Police Commission voted to investigate the allegations of brutality by Detectives Hansen (No. 7495) and Grutsch (No. 3964) against Galloway.

Nov. 6, 1946, Los Angeles Police Commission Minutes

Note: For those who just tuned in, we’re going to reboot the concept of the 1947project (founded by Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak) by going day by day through 1947 – but using the Los Angeles Sentinel, an African American weekly, rather than the very white and very conservative Los Angeles Times. We promise you an extremely different view of Los Angeles.

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(The historic Los Angeles Sentinel is available online from the Los Angeles Public Library. We encourage anyone with a library card to delve into the back issues and explore the history of black L.A.

 

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The Floods

Posted on January 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

Jan. 9-10, 1907

The worst storm in 23 years blew across Southern California with the force of a gale, dumping more than an inch of rain in Pasadena, killing an Orange County rancher, washing out railroad tracks and collapsing tunnels, and leaving nearly every small ship in Santa Barbara sunk, driven ashore or pounded to pieces.

Floodwaters destroyed a railroad bridge under construction near Ventura, cutting off the Southern Pacific’s coastal rail service, and at Summerland, oil rigs along the shore were ripped to pieces. The San Fernando Valley was especially hard hit: The Times reports that a bridge over the Big Tujunga Wash was underwater and that the river was a mile wide and impassible. The roar of water at Pacoima can be heard two miles away, The Times says.

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Black L.A. 1947: Sentinel Refuses Ads From Central Avenue Club Over White Cashier

Posted on January 9, 2018 by lmharnisch

4201 S. Central
4201 S. Central, the location of the Downbeat Room, via Google Street View. Notice the Dunbar Hotel next door. The famous Club Alabam’ was nearby at 4215 S. Central.

 

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Jan. 9, 1947: Mabel Scott and Gerald Wilson open the year at the Downbeat Room (also Down Beat Club) at 4201 S. Central Ave., which called itself “The Home of the Big Little Bands.” Judging by the Los Angeles Sentinel stories, the Downbeat Club was active from about 1947 to about 1950. As for manager Maxine Herreford, we can find nothing. Also appearing in 1947 were Cee Pee Johnson and His Tom Toms; Edgar Hayes and His Stardusters, pianist Edgar Hayes, guitarist Tedd Bun, drummer Blinky Allen and bass player Curtis Councee; The Blenders, with Jimmy/Jimmie Grissom; Joe Liggen’s Honeydrippers;  and trombonist Vic Dickson.

Note: For those who just tuned in, we’re going to reboot the concept of the 1947project (founded by Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak) by going day by day through 1947 – but using the Los Angeles Sentinel, an African American weekly, rather than the very white and very conservative Los Angeles Times. We promise you an extremely different view of Los Angeles.

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(The historic Los Angeles Sentinel is available online from the Los Angeles Public Library. We encourage anyone with a library card to delve into the back issues and explore the history of black L.A.

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Jan. 8, 1947: Judge Denies ‘Hollywood’ Divorce for Actress Virginia Engels ‘The Orchid Queen’

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Nancy, Jan. 8, 1947

Note: This is a post I wrote in 2006 for the 1947project.

Jan. 8, 1947: The apartment was so small that her husband, James Robert Dennis, asked her to go home to live with her parents. He said he’d call but she didn’t hear from him for four days. She gave him $300 to build a prefabricated house on one of his lots in Benedict Canyon but he put it into his business. He agreed to a divorce.

But not in Judge Charles S. Burnell’s court. There would be no divorce for Virginia Engels, “Miss Los Angeles, 1940,” “Miss Streamline” and “The Orchid Queen.”

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Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A. 1947: Meet the Honor Students of Jefferson High

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 1947, Jefferson High Students

Jan. 9, 1947, Los Angeles Sentinel

Jan. 9, 1947: The Sentinel publishes the photos of four Jefferson High students on the front page: Florence Smith, Ivan Baldwin, Gen Lew and Walter Richard Lumpkin.

Jan. 9, 1947, Los Angeles Sentinel

Jan. 9, 1947, Los Angeles Sentinel

Here we meet four young people — and a significant research challenge: What became of them? A story inside the Sentinel said that the four Jefferson High students were members of or Ephebians, the school’s honor society. But beyond that, the trail is quite cloudy.

Note: For those who just tuned in, we’re going to reboot the concept of the 1947project (founded by Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak) by going day by day through 1947 – but using the Los Angeles Sentinel, an African American weekly, rather than the very white and very conservative Los Angeles Times. We promise you an extremely different view of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Public Library

(The historic Los Angeles Sentinel is available online from the Los Angeles Public Library. We encourage anyone with a library card to delve into the back issues and explore the history of black L.A.

 

Continue reading →

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A Cold Dose of Reality

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2007.

Jan. 8, 1907
Los Angeles

Perhaps Mayor Arthur C. Harper and the incoming slate of officials are focused on how they will divide the spoils of the city and assign patronage jobs, although the mayor says the “last seat at the pie counter” was taken days ago.

The average Angeleno is more worried about getting even a bit of coal for the furnace. Conditions in Pasadena have been so dire that people are going to the coal yards with wheelbarrows in hopes of getting enough to scrape by. The Times notes that throughout the city, people are rummaging through attics and basements looking for anything that might be burned for a little heat.
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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

Jan. 13, 2018, Miss Julie
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1951 Swedish film “Miss Julie,” from the play by August Strindberg, with Anita Bjork, Ulf Palme, Marta Dorff, Lissi Alandh, Anders Henrikson, Inga Gill, Ake Fridell, Kurt-Olof Sundstrom, Max Von Sydow, Margareta Krook, Ake Claesson, Inger Norberg and Jan Hagerman. Photography by Goran Strindberg, music by Dag Wiren, conducted by Sixten Ehrling, art direction by Bibi Lindstrom, screenplay and direction by Alf Sjoberg.

“Miss Julie” is available on DVD from the Criterion Collection.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Studio City Motels, Then and Now

Posted on January 8, 2018 by lmharnisch

 

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The Carlton Motor Lodge, via Google Street View.

The evolution of a community can often be acknowledged through the types of businesses along its main streets. Simple buildings from its days as an unpretentious neighborhood or small town often give way to more elaborate and ostentatious facades as the surrounding area gentrifies and grows more wealthy.

In the same way, accommodations evolve, demonstrating the area’s change from rural outpost to suburban bedroom community. Mom-and-pop auto courts from one-highway days develop into chain or upscale inns, or perhaps even disappear altogether, as high-end restaurants or boutiques take their place.

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.

 

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Posted in Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment