Houdini on TCM: ‘The Grim Game’

Posted on October 12, 2015 by lmharnisch

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Harry Houdini in “The Grim Game.”

Update: TCM is airing “The Grim Game” on Oct. 18. Set your DVRs!

Here is Mary Mallory’s post on the film.

Long considered mostly lost, Harry Houdini’s second film, “The Grim Game,” re-premieres in its entirety Sunday, March 29, 2015, at the TCM Classic Film Festival, 96 years after it was released. A suspense thriller packed chock-a-block with hair-raising stunts, “The Grim Game” smartly capitalized on an accident during filming to pack in audiences, obscuring some facts along the way.

Self-liberator and escapologist Harry Houdini ranked as the world’s top illusionist in the 1910s. Hungarian-born Houdini “magically” escaped from handcuffs, chains, strait jackets, and locked cases in performances around the world, thanks to careful planning and special keys. He masterfully employed newsreels, magazine, and newspaper coverage to exploit his fame and derring-do.

TCM Classic Film Festival 

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywood land: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in 1919, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 12, 2015 by lmharnisch

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This week’s mystery movie has been the 1933 Paramount picture “The Story of Temple Drake,” with Miriam Hopkins, William Gargan, Jack La Rue, Florence Eldridge, Sir Guy Standing, Irving Pichel, Jobyna Howland and William Collier Jr.

It was directed by Stephen Roberts, with a screenplay by Oliver H.P. Garrett from a novel (“Sanctuary”) by William Faulkner. It was photographed by Karl Struss. The film also featured Elizabeth Patterson, James Eagles, Harlan E. Knight, James Mason, Louise Beavers and Arthur Belasco.

“Deliberately sordid, unsympathetic and nearly offensive … crudely realistic.” — The Los Angeles Times

“Better than anticipated …. A gruesome, sordid tale … but it has a certain strength.” The New York Times

“Temple Drake” elicited several interesting comments from the Brain Trust.

Gary Martin said: Also in 1959 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, I had the pleasure of designing the set for Look Homeward Angel starring Miriam Hopkins. I had been warned that she would be “a bitch” but after I had a stairway changed to her needs …and in record time …I became her pet. One day she gave me a tub of gardenias …of two that she had picked at the beach. It was then I discovered that I am allergic to gardenias. A very nice lady. Is this she or am I just getting old and sentimental?

Howard Mandelbaum said: I saw “Temple Drake” at the Museum of Modern Art. The screening kicked off a big Paramount retrospective. Miriam Hopkins spoke afterward. She apologized for the movie, which was totally unnecessary. There are stories of her jumping the line in the ladies room that night, announcing, “I’ve suffered more than you have.”

And here’s why I picked the movie:

Nitrate Diva
A restored print of the movie was shown at the 2010 TCM Classic Film Festival, but has not been generally released. I happened to record it during my DVR binge last year.

June 3, 1933.
Look! It’s Rube Wolf!

Here’s The Times review from June 3, 1933.

 

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , | 36 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: La Belle Tour Provides Classic Appeal

Posted on October 12, 2015 by lmharnisch

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6208 Franklin Ave., via Google Street View.

Hollywood’s population exploded during the early 1920s as motion picture production soared, thanks to studios moving their production facilities westward from New Jersey. Land values soared, and businesses and developers rushed to keep up with the growing need for residential and commercial space. Many of Hollywood’s most elegant office towers and theaters were erected during this period, as were some of its most striking bungalow courts and lavish apartment buildings.

Many of these upscale structures emphasized their luxury appeal with names like the Castle Argyle, Trianon, the Fontenoy, the Chateau Elysee, and La Belle Tour, with sparkling French Normandy or Classical-style architecture to match their catchy names. Their sophisticated look and style drew celebrities as well as high society or ambitious clientele.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Wikipedia: A Fact-Checker’s Shooting Gallery

Posted on October 8, 2015 by lmharnisch

No_wikipedia
Well, it works for me.

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I wanted a quick answer to the date of Aaron Copland’s “El Salon Mexico,” and sure enough, at the top of the Google search there was my old nemesis Wikipedia. I usually exclude Wikipedia from my searches, but this time I read a few paragraphs.

Jaw on floor.

Previously on the Daily Mirror:

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth

Here is the article as it exists at 8:06 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2015, and it’s necessary to quote it because Wikipedia articles are written in sand and can be revised by anyone at any time:

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Posted in Wikipedia | Tagged | 3 Comments

L.A.’s Transportation Past Found in Broadway Excavation

Posted on October 5, 2015 by lmharnisch

 

Railroad Ties on Broadway

This work site at Broadway and 2nd Street is fenced off, but a gate was left open Friday long enough for me to snap a picture. The ongoing excavation  for the Metro station has revealed railroad ties apparently set in gravel. The spacing seems very close together. Anyone have any ideas?
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Posted in Broadway, Downtown, Transportation | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Happy Birthday, Buster Keaton!

Posted on October 5, 2015 by lmharnisch

Buster_Keaton_scrapbook

And in honor of Buster Keaton’s birthday yesterday, here’s a link to Buster’s scrapbook, which is online at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Here’s the link. Happy birthday, Buster!

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 5, 2015 by lmharnisch

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This week’s mystery movie was the 1930 version of the First National picture “Dawn Patrol,” which was renamed “Flight Commander” when Warner Bros. sold the film to TV to prevent confusion with the 1938 remake starring Errol Flynn. according to the intro by TCM host Robert Osborne.

The movie was based on a story by John Monk Saunders (later novelized by Guy Fowler) and directed by Howard Hawks, with adaptation and dialogue by Dan Totheroh, Howard Hawks and Seton Miller. Photography was by Ernest Haller, aerial photography by Elmer Dyer, edited by Ray Curtiss, art director Jack Okey, the aeronautic supervisor was Leo Nomis, general music director was Erno Rapee, special technical effects by Fred Jackman and the Vitaphone Orchestra was directed by Leo F. Forbstein.

The film’s credits list Richard Barthlemess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Neil Hamilton, Clyde Cook, James Finlayson, Gardner James, William Janney and Edmund Breon.
Here’s a link to Mary Mallory’s post about Dick Grace, Hollywood’s Sky Pilot that discusses many early aviation films.  Mary passes along the names of the pilots in his “Squadron of Death.” Hallock Rouse, Ross Cooke, Clement Phillips, Charles Snoffer, Frank Baker, B. M. Spencer, Lonnie Hay and E. D. Baxter

 

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 49 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Roy Harlow’s Pump Room Fills Up Studio City Residents

Posted on October 5, 2015 by lmharnisch

Roy Harlow's Pump Room
A postcard of Roy Harlow’s Pump Room, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Ventura Boulevard has been the dining and entertainment mecca of Studio City residents back to 1927, when the area was still part of North Hollywood. Originally a main highway connecting Santa Barbara with Hollywood and Los Angeles, Ventura Boulevard evolved into a major business corridor for the area as well, thanks to the highway and the construction of the Mack Sennett Studios.

More celebrity driven or upscale restaurants lined the street, offering a more high tone evening for those with some money to spend. Many proffered free entertainment with the purchase of dinner, often with top drawer talent. Most featured hearty fare in elegant surroundings, appealing to the better classes.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in 1946, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + +)

Posted on September 30, 2015 by lmharnisch

Oct. 3, 2015, Mystery Movie
This week’s movie has been the 1946 Columbia picture “Johnny O’Clock,” starring Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes. The movie was directed by Robert Rossen, with Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Drew, Nina Foch, S. Thomas Gomez, John Kellogg, Jim Bannon, Mabel Paige and Phil Brown. The screenplay is by Rossen from a story by Milton Holmes. It was photographed by Burnett Guffey, with art direction by Stephen Goosson and Cary Odell, with set decorations by James Crowe.

It is available in the Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics IV collection from TCM, with “So Dark the Night,” “Walk a Crooked Mile,” “Between Midnight and Dawn” and “Walk East on Beacon.”

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 71 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated)

Posted on September 28, 2015 by lmharnisch

Sept. 28, 2015, Mystery Photo

For Monday, we have a mystery lad.

 

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 26 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Erich von Stroheim Unlocks Suspense With the Devil’s Passkey

Posted on September 28, 2015 by lmharnisch

 

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A poster for “The Devil’s Passkey.”

Riding high on the wave of great reviews and huge box office for “Blind Husbands,” his first film as director, artistic Austrian Erich von Stroheim expanded his horizons with his second film, “The Devil’s Passkey.” Rushed into production after Universal Studios realized the box office potential for “Blind Husbands,” ”The Devil’s Passkey” allowed the young director more freedom to experiment. Would freedom be a blessing or curse for the overly confident director?

“Blind Husbands” turned out well for both the director and studio. von Stroheim revealed a master’s eye for detail in story, capturing character in a line or side glance. He kept both himself and his actors restrained in telling a mature tale, one hinting at depravity without crossing the line. Most importantly, he stayed reasonably within budget; Arthur Lennig in “Stroheim” reveals he spent $125,000, slightly more than the average Universal budget, on his film. Costs stayed relatively within budget by filming the Alpine scenes at Big Bear and Idlywild, and focusing more on simple sets.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Black Dahlia: Halloween Costumes to Die For

Posted on September 25, 2015 by lmharnisch

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Halloween is coming next month and somewhere, someone is already planning a Black Dahlia costume and working out the makeup.

Just stop yourself.

Really, folks, dressing up like the victim of a brutal, gruesome murder is not a good idea. We recommend Harley Quinn or Mad Moxxi instead.

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Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Fashion | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 21, 2015 by lmharnisch

Sept. 26, 2015, Mystery Photo
This week’s mystery movie has been First National Pictures’ 1931 film “Safe in Hell.” It was directed by William A. Wellman. Curiously, the credits come at the end of the film.  It starred Dorothy Mackaill, Donald Cook, Ralf Harole, John Wray, Ivan Simpson, Victor Varconi, Morgan Wallace, Nina Mae McKinney, Charles Middleton, Clarence Muse, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Noble Johnson and Cecil Cunningham. It was based on the play by Houston Branch, with adaptation and dialogue by Joseph Jackson and Maude Fulton. Photography was by Sid Hickox.

Interestingly enough, “Safe in Hell” was also sketched out as a four-act opera, according to a catalog of Branch’s archives. A pre-code opera? Why not.

“Safe in Hell” is no longer listed at Warner Archive, but a Warner Archive version can be found at TCM for $17.99 or $14.99 from Amazon.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 51 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Jesse L. Lasky, Music Man

Posted on September 21, 2015 by lmharnisch

The Trained Nurses - Jesse lasky
Jesse Lasky on the cover of “We’ve Had a Lovely Time, So Long, Good Bye,” Courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Best known as one of Hollywood’s early motion picture moguls, native Californian Jesse L. Lasky also excelled at radio and theatrical production during his long career. A natural born performer and optimist, Lasky developed much of the material for the shows he produced, performed on stage by talented actors he discovered, thanks to his wide experience working in entertainment himself.

Lasky himself began performing at a young age, playing the cornet and dreaming of playing in the great John Phillip Sousa band. He points out in his biography, “I Blow My Own Horn,” that he served as solo cornetist in the San Jose Juvenile Band, later playing in tent shows. After his father’s death, he played in tent shows, the Bella Union Hotel, and music halls before landing a job playing in the orchestra at Keith’s Union Square Theatre, per Filmplay Journal in April 1922. The adventurous young man took off on tour to far away places like Hawaii playing his cornet, eventually returning to California to work as a newspaper reporter. Wanderlust captured him again, and he set off to Alaska to prospect for gold.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: Janice Knowlton Rants

Posted on September 18, 2015 by lmharnisch

Daily Mirror tapes

As I noted previously, I have been digitizing all my notes, audio cassettes and videos.

Today, I came across a recording of a 1997 voicemail message from the late Janice Knowlton, who made increasingly bizarre claims about her father, the Black Dahlia case and any number of conveniently dead celebrities who purportedly molested her.

She committed suicide in March 2004, but her death went unnoticed by the news media for months.

Here’s a brief clip.

Posted in 1947, 1997, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

David Scholer: ‘Living With Cancer’ 10 Years Later

Posted on September 18, 2015 by lmharnisch

David Scholer

 

 

Sept. 18 marks the 10th anniversary of the Rev. David Scholer’s sermon “Living With Cancer.” David was a good friend and New Testament scholar at Fuller Theological Seminary who spoke frankly about his terminal illness as viewed through the prism of his faith.

The sermon resulted in a feature story by then-Times reporter K. Connie Kang.

David died less than three years later. Here is his obituary by Elaine Woo.

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Parkey Sharkey’s ‘Whiskey Road’

Posted on September 15, 2015 by lmharnisch

Parkey Sharkey

A copy of Parkey Sharkey’s “Whiskey Road” has been listed on EBay. Many people believe that Sharkey was invented by Mirror/Times columnist Paul Coates. He was for real. Bidding on “Whiskey Road” starts at $24.95.

ALSO

Paul Coates on Parkey Sharkey

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood Cemetery Battles to Offer Place of Eternal Rest

Posted on September 14, 2015 by lmharnisch

 

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Hollywood Cemetery, the Los Angeles Herald, May 21, 1905.

For over 115 years, Hollywood Cemetery, or what is now Hollywood Forever Cemetery, has offered a bucolic place of eternal rest for those finding their everlasting reward. The first constructed within the boundaries of what is now Hollywood, California, the cemetery was organized to serve the citizens of Cahuenga Valley in finding a place of rest for themselves and their loved ones. Instead of slow, peaceful days of running their business, the owners from the very beginning concept of the memorial have battled to even stay open, opposed by real estate and land interests.

The Hollywood Cemetery Association was first organized February 18, 1897 when F. W. Samuelson of Humboldt, Nebraska, Mrs. M. W. Gardner of Santa Monica, Joseph D. Rodford, Gilbert Smith, and Thomas R. Wallace announced they had filed incorporation papers with $100,000 planned capitol to build a cemetery near Hollywood and Colegrove, per the February 19, 1897 Los Angeles Times, on land purchased from Samuelson. They intended the land to serve as a resting place for rich and poor alike living in the surrounding area, and the city of Los Angeles, just two and a half miles away.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 14, 2015 by lmharnisch

Sept. 19, 2015, Mystery Photo
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1945 Ealing Studios film “Dead of Night,” a supernatural thriller consisting of five separate stories and a sixth story that ties them together. Robert Osborne mentioned it recently in introducing “Went the Day Well?” and fortunately I had a copy in the archives thanks to my binge recording of (almost) everything on TCM before 1960.

The film opened in Los Angeles at the Four Star Theater in August 1946.

The Times’ Edwin Schallert said:

The picture will prove intriguing for those who are willing to “reach” for its purport and plot. However, it will perhaps have only an indifferent appeal for most audiences, unless they are caught by what might be termed its uniqueness….

In many ways, the feature carries less impact than the fine “March of Time” on atomic power, and the John Nesbitt “Passing Parade” about inventions that were due to hunches or accidents.

“Dead of Night” stars Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Frederick Valk, with Mary Merrall, Renee Gadd, Judy Kelly, Antony Baird, Miles Malleson, Robert Wyndham, Sally Ann Howes, Michael Allan, Googie Withers, Ralph Michael, Esme Percy,  Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Peggy Bryan, Michael Redgrave, Hartley Power, Elisabeth Welch, Garry Marsh, Magda Kun and Allan Jeayes.

It was written by John Baines and Angus MacPhail with additional dialogue by T.E.B. Clarke, based on original stories by H.G. Wells, E.F. Benson, John Baines and Angus MacPhail. Music was by Georges Auric.  The film’s segments  were directed by Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer.

“Dead of Night” is available on DVD from Amazon (U.S.) paired with “Queen of Spades”  or in a Region 2 DVD from Amazon UK at a better price.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 55 Comments

Hector Tobar: ‘Deep Down Dark’

Posted on September 13, 2015 by lmharnisch

Hector Tobar

Hector Tobar, with Carolina Miranda of The Times, discusses “Deep Down Dark” at the Last Bookstore, photo courtesy of the Last Bookstore.

We stopped by  the Last Bookstore last night to hear our old friend and former colleague Hector Tobar talk about his latest book, “Deep Down Dark,” the story of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped 2,300 feet underground for 69 days in 2010. The book was a New York Times bestseller and was one of the New York Times 100 notable books for 2014. It was also the basis for the movie “The 33,” starring Antonio Banderas, scheduled to come out in November.

Hector talked about how he got the job of writing the book after the miners signed an exclusive contract with a law firm (among other things, he had to prove that he wasn’t a faux Latino), get 33 men – and their families – to tell their stories, and weave all the stories into a cohesive narrative. He also praised the upcoming movie.

Héctor Tobar’s “Deep Down Dark” tells a modern-day odyssey from SOJC on Vimeo.

New York Times book review, Nov. 20, 2014.

One of the more interesting aspects of the book – for dedicated researchers – is that Hector was able to use a diary that was kept by one of the miners and various letters that were written while the men were trapped, rather than having to rely on their memories. The diary began as one man’s farewell letter to his family and continued for the duration.

 

The audience asked about how the men spent their time (they kept a regular schedule that included prayer), health hazards in the mine (Hector said the dust was the primary hazard and that the men tended to have silicosis) and what the men did after they were freed (the older men retired, others were semi-famous and got good jobs on the surface and a few returned to mining).

We look forward to reading the book and wish Hector the best on his next project, which he says is a novel.

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