As a bonus, we have another Mystery Cat Movie, totally unrelated to Mystery Cat Movie No. 1 and Mystery Cat Movie No. 2.
Brain Trust roll call: Sylvia E (Mystery Cat Movie and mystery drunk doctor), Joe Vogel (Mystery Cat Movie and mystery drunk doctor), E. Yarber (Mystery Cat Movie and mystery drunk doctor) and Sheila (Mystery Cat Movie and mystery drunk doctor).
Note: This is a repost from 2013.
Whenever I’m asked about my favorite books on Los Angeles, my first recommendation is “Nuestro Pueblo,” a selection of features by Times artist Charles Owens and writer Joseph Seewerker that appeared in The Times. I went through all of them when the blog was at latimes.com, so I won’t repeat them now, but if you’re a fan of Rediscovering Los Angeles, which was illustrated by Owens with commentary by Timothy Turner, you may enjoy “Nuestro Pueblo.” Unfortunately, Rediscovering Los Angeles was never published in book form and has languished in obscurity.
“Nuestro Pueblo” is long out of print and the prices have gone up since I started writing about it, with some dealers asking more than $100 for a copy. A patient shopper can still find a copy for less than $20, however. One of my favorite tools for finding out of print books is bookfinder.com, which shows wide price range on copies of “Nuestro Pueblo.”
And what are your gift recommendations for this holiday season?
Note: This is a repost from 2013. True style never goes out of date, after all.
We are being bombarded by stories about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with videos of long lines at stores and the attendant consumer frenzy.
The L.A. Daily Mirror prefers a more subdued approach to buying gifts during the holiday season. Here’s proof that an ideal retro gift can be practical and inexpensive. It’s the Parker T-Ball jotter, which has changed very little since this 1957 ad.
You can pick one up at most office supply stores for about $8. We like ours with the gel refill, medium point. Perfect for doing the New York Times crossword puzzle.
What’s on your shopping list? If you have a good gift idea, share it with us.
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1945 20th Century-Fox film “Hangover Square,” with Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Faye Marlow and Alan Napier, with a screenplay by Barre Lyndon from the novel by Patrick Hamilton. Music by Bernard Herrmann, photography by Joseph La Shelle, art direction by Lyle Wheeler and Maurice Ransford, set decorations by Thomas Little and Frank E. Hughes, costumes by Rene Hubert and Kay Nelson. Produced by Robert Bassler, directed by John Brahm.
”Hangover Square” is available from Amazon on a newly released Blu-ray and DVD.
Ivan Mosjoukine, courtesy of Mary Mallory.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Not as well known as other silent film stars like Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Buster Keaton or Rudolph Valentino, the recently rediscovered Russian motion picture actor Ivan Mosjoukine ranks among the greats for his charismatic star turns in several 1920s French silent films. While a superstar in Russia and France, Mosjoukine acted in only one Hollywood feature, which eventually helped push him into obscurity. But, as writer Liam O’Leary stated, “What Nijinksy was to dance in Russia, so Mosjoukine was to film.”
Born in Penza, Russia, Sept. 26, 1889, to wealthy parents, Ivan Ilich Mozhukhin attended private schools before studying law in Moscow. Quickly enthralled by the flamboyant world of the theater, Mosjoukine joined a touring theatrical troupe to learn his new trade. Within a few years, he returned to Moscow and entered the Dramatic Theatre for serious work.
Also by Mary Mallory
Keye Luke
Auction of Souls
Busch Gardens and Hogan’s Aristocratic Dreams
A vendor on Craigslist has listed what is claimed to be a display case from the Oviatt Building for $12,500.
Note this disclaimer: “Updated glass shelves and lighting have been added.” So it’s not in original condition.
Howard Greer in Modern Screen, 1933.
Long before Adrian left MGM to set up his own couture house, Paramount Pictures’ costume designer Howard Greer established a tony modiste shop on Sunset Boulevard catering to the needs and desires of many of Hollywood’s female stars. Driven and a great self-promoter, the charming Greer remained in business over 35 years creating simple but luxurious wardrobes for his clients.
Born in Rushville, Illinois, on April 16, 1896, Greer and his family moved to Nebraska around 1900 when his father became ill. The Greers worked their farm outside Lincoln, where young Howard dreamed of a glamorous life outside the dusty, monotonous acreage. While he tried to farm, young Greer loved drawing, especially sketches of female wardrobes and dresses.
Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1945 Paramount film “Two Years Before the Mast,” with Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Barry Fitzgerald, Howard da Silva, Esther Fernandez, Albert Dekker, Luis Van Rooten, Darryl Hickman, Roman Bohnen, Ray Collins, Theodore Newton, Tom Powers, James Burke and Frank Faylen. The screenplay was by Seton I. Miller and George Bruce from the novel by Richard Henry Dana Jr. Photography was by Ernest Laszlo, art direction by Hans Dreier and Franz Bachelin, photo effects by Gordon Jennings and Dev Jennings, process photography by Farciot Edouart, technical supervision by Capt. Fred F. Ellis B.M.M. (Ret)., set decoration by Bertram Granger, music by Victor Young and costumes by Dorothy O’Hara. The film was directed by John Farrow.
The DVD is commercially available on Universal’s Vault Series from Amazon.
Note: This is a post from 2013. Happy Thanksgiving!
A wartime Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, with many service personnel welcomed into people’s homes for a holiday meal.
The Times published cooking tips for war workers, advising cooks who were otherwise engaged “for the duration” to use prepared mixes, packaged pie crust and canned pumpkin to cut preparation time.
Note: This is a repost from 2011. Happy Thanksgiving!
Here’s a traditional roast turkey recipe from the “Every-Day Cook-Book and Family Compendium,” written about 1890 by Miss E. Neill. Be sure your fire is bright and clear and watch out for the gall-bag.
Continue reading
“The Great Corbett Fight” at Tally’s theater.
Former Texan T. L. (Thomas) Tally pioneered early film exhibition practices in the film metropolis of Los Angeles, catering to the needs of his audiences. Always enamored with technology, he seemed to anticipate and lead trends in advancing both the presentation of films as well as their selling and distribution. Though Tally was recognized as an innovator, his history has been promulgated with repeated errors that distort history.
In my first post, I presented the first part of the factual history regarding Tally’s life. Born in Rockport, Texas in 1862, he established his first phonograph parlor in San Antonio in 1890 and first visited Los Angeles that year. Fascinated with engineering and mechanical marvels that produced sound and images, he began seeking out these products.
Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: T.L. Tally – L.A.’s Pioneer Film Exhibitor, Part 1
This week’s mystery movie has been MGM’s 1929 film “The Kiss,” which was the studio’s (and Greta Garbo’s) last silent film. It stars Garbo, Conrad Nagel and Holmes Herbert. From the story by George M. Saville, scenario by Hans Kraly, musical synchronization by Dr. William Axt, titles by Marian Ainslee, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, photography by William Daniels, gowns by Adrian and editing by Ben Lewis. It was directed by Jacques Feyder. With Anders Randolf, Lew Ayres and George Davis.
“The Kiss” is available from Warner Archive for $17.99.
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1936 RKO film “Two in the Dark,” with Walter Abel, Margo Grahame, Wallace Ford, Gail Patrick, Alan Hale, Leslie Fenton, Eric Blore, Erin O’Brien-Moore, Erik Rhodes, J. Carroll Naish and Addison Randall. It was directed by Ben Stoloff, with a screenplay by Seton I. Miller, based on a novel by Gelett Burgess, art direction by Van Nest Polglase and Al Herman and gowns by Bernard Newman.
The film was photographed by Nick Musuraca, who was my reason for selecting this picture.
It is not commercially available on DVD or VHS, but airs occasionally on TCM.
The Studio Club in Photoplay, 1917.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
T he advent of the 20th century offered the possibility of more freedom and opportunity for women. For decades, women had advocated for the right to vote, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Others clamored for more work opportunities beyond teaching, librarian, and secretarial positions.
The relatively new medium of motion pictures also tantalized audiences with many new possibilities beyond their hometowns: exciting new cities, novel hobbies and recreations, and modern employment opportunities. In fact, many people considered the growing film industry itself an excellent field to try their luck, especially movie-struck, naïve young women.
ALSO BY MARY MALLORY
Magic Castle
Mack Sennett
Brand Library
Auction of Souls
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1948 British film “No Orchids for Miss Blandish,” from the novel by James Hadley Chase, with Jack La Rue, Hugh McDermott, Linden Travers, Walter Crisham, Leslie Bradley, Zoe Gail, Jack Durant, Charles Goldner, Macdonald Parke, Lilly Molnar, Danny Green, Percy Marmont, Michael Balfour, Frances Marsden, Jack Lester, Halama and Konarski and Toy and Wyng. Photography by Gerald Gibbs, art direction by Harry Moore and music by George Melachrino. The film was written and directed by St. John L. Clowes.
The DVD is available from Amazon.
Note: This is an encore post from 2012.
From its days as an elegant bank building to its abandoned and forgotten existence in the 1980s and 1990s, the former Security Trust and Savings Bank at Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga Boulevard has served as both a local institution and location setting for films and books. Not as beautiful as the empty bank building at Hollywood and Highland Avenue, the banking veteran still survives as an example of an attractive building for an utilitarian function.
Pier Angeli and friend remind the Daily Mirror readers to turn the clock back one hour.
I think we have found one presumably young and aspiring reporter who apparently believes in doing absolutely no research whatsoever.
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1945 Paramount film “The Stork Club,” with Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore, Robert Benchley, Bill Goodwin, Iris Adrian, Mikail Rasumny, Mary Young and Andy Russell. It was written by B.G. DeSylva and John McGowan and directed by Hal Walker.
The DVD is available from Amazon.com.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Music was an integral part of silent films, giving emotional texture or humorous voice to the films’ precious images. Different types of music and musicians accompanied them: orchestras, bands, photoplayers, pianists and organists. Leading the pack as one of Los Angeles’ premier silent film musicians was organist C. Sharpe Minor, a major talent with an attention-grabbing name.
Born June 24, 1885, in Louisiana, Charles Sulzer Sharpe Minor supposedly arrived in Los Angeles in 1907, but virtually nothing is known about him until he turns up in San Francisco with his wife Barbara Jane in 1917, accompanying films at the Rialto Theatre under the name C. Sharpe Minor. A few authors claim that he added his mother’s maiden name, Sharpe, realizing the eye-catching opportunities of employing this name on theatre marquees. Newspapers called him an extraordinary organist, and he played afternoon and evening shows adding a bit of entertainment with his trick effects and novelty arrangements.
Music: C. Sharpe Minor: “Parade of the Immortals.”
Minor worked at the Rialto for a year before being appointed a first lieutenant in the Army in September 1918. Immediately upon war completion, the organist returned to the theatre, for a short time accompanying films and giving concerts, before landing his first Los Angeles job at the Million Dollar Theatre in March 1919. Ads proclaim him a master organist, and he even earned his own slot in the stage show. By 1920, however, Minor played at San Francisco’s California Theatre.
ladailymirror.com 