“Angel’s Flight” by Leo Politi.
Another of my favorite books about Los Angeles is Leo Politi’s “Bunker Hill Los Angeles: Reminiscences of Bygone Days,” published in 1964. Copies are listed on Bookfinder for as little as $20. This painting shows Angels Flight as it was in the 1930s and ‘40s, when it was next to the 3rd Street Tunnel. It was moved to its current location, across from Grand Central Market, as part of a 1980s redevelopment project after years of being in storage.
This week’s mystery movie was 1939 Warner Bros.’ picture “Private Detective,” with Jane Wyman, Dick Foran, Gloria Dickson and Maxie Rosenbloom, with a screenplay by Earle Snell and Raymond Schrock, based on a story by Kay Krausse. It was directed by Noel Smith.
Roy D’Arcy, photo courtesy of Mary Mallory.
Discovered by the great silent film director Erich von Stroheim and introduced to films in his magnificent “The Merry Widow,” suave Roy D’Arcy, born Roy Giusti, fashioned his screen persona and perhaps even his life, after the extravagant Teutonic director. Like von Stroheim, he grew up in Europe, perhaps witnessing Austrian-Hungarian aristocracy and an old-world way of life soon to be destroyed by World War I. Unlike most Hollywood actors, he began at the top, and worked his way down. A top character actor for a short while in the late 1920s, D’Arcy’s life remains mostly in shadow, perfect for the often reptilian characters he portrayed on screen.
Born February 10, 1892 in San Francisco, California, to dentist Dr. John Giusti and his wife, per US immigration records, Roy appears to traveled the world as a young man before employing his artistic talents. The San Francisco Chronicle noted in their May 27, 1900 edition that Dr. and Mrs. Giusti and child departed New York May 24, 1900 on the steamer Grosser Kurfuerst for Germany. Here things grow a little murky.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
Dec. 14, 1945
This item in the LAPD scrapbooks at the city archive is from the Westwood Hills Press and profiles Officer Walter A. Callahan, who was awarded the Silver Star and Marine Corps Distinguished Service Medal in World War II.
“The Los Angeles Book,” with text by Lee Shippey and photos by Max Yavno is one of my favorite books on Los Angeles – but only for Yavno’s photographs. The text is forgettable and, in fact, Yavno said he paid no attention to it when he took his pictures. There are many famous images here, including Muscle Beach, the opening of “The Heiress” at the Carthay Circle Theatre (RIP), etc. Copies can be located on Bookfinder.com starting at $17.
Nov. 25, 2014. Septerhed’s latest drawing at Starbucks.
Since I encountered them more than a year ago, I have been a fan of Septerhed’s drawings, a recurring feature at the Starbucks at Spring and 6th streets in downtown Los Angeles. All Starbucks stores have blackboards, usually with some sort of artwork, but nothing like this. These are ephemeral works, drawn on a blackboard, so a photo is the only way to preserve them.
In February, I ran a series of posts by James Curtis about producer David Lewis. This isn’t a new book but I found it remarkably insightful. “The Creative Producer” can be found via Bookfinder.com, with copies starting as low as $19.99 in somewhat bedraggled condition.
James Curtis: L.A. Voices – David Lewis, Part 1
James Curtis: L.A. Voices – David Lewis, Part 2
James Curtis: L.A. Voices – David Lewis, Part 3
Detective Mark McPherson (played by Dana Andrews), confronts Shelby Carpenter (played by Vincent Price) about a shotgun that might be the murder weapon.
In case you just tuned in, I’m using Louella Parsons’ May 15, 1944, item on Rouben Mamoulian being replaced as the director of “Laura” to take a meandering look at the making of the film, which was released in Los Angeles in November 1944.
The first 30 posts were devoted to the writing career of “Laura” novelist Vera Caspary, the state of the detective story in 1941, when she was writing the novel, the New York locations Caspary used in the book and an examination of the major and minor characters.
This series of posts breaks down the novel to study the challenges of adapting it for the screen.
The Making of “Laura” Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
James Ellroy to script remake of ‘Laura’
Spoilers ahead
Mark A. Vieira and Cecilia B. de Mille Presley will be making a personal appearance for the launch of the opulent volume “Cecil B. De Mille The Art of the Hollywood Epic” on Friday at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, 2100 N. Highland Ave. The hardcover and the e-book versions are $60 – but why would you want this in anything other than print?
Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) confronts a sleeping Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) in “Laura.”
I have been using Louella Parsons’ May 15, 1944, item on Rouben Mamoulian being replaced as the director of “Laura” to take a meandering look at the making of the film, which was released in Los Angeles in November 1944.
The first 30 posts were devoted to the writing career of “Laura” novelist Vera Caspary, the state of the detective story in 1941, when she was writing the novel, the New York locations Caspary used in the book and an examination of the major and minor characters.
This series of posts breaks down the novel to study the challenges of adapting it for the screen.
The Making of “Laura” Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
James Ellroy to script remake of ‘Laura’
Spoilers ahead
Note: This is a post from 2013 in which we chatted with author Christina Rice.
The book is available for $22.99 for the Kindle, $36.17 in hardback from Amazon or $40 at local independent bookstores such as Vroman’s, which is where I got my copy.
Several weeks ago, the L.A. Daily Mirror had lunch with Christina Rice, author of the new book “Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel” and it’s always fun when two ardent researchers get together to talk shop. We chatted about various archives, the thrill of the hunt in tracking down information and how many Hollinger boxes there are on such and such a subject.
A lesson about time: Laura Hunt’s antique clock has an unfortunate encounter with Waldo Lydecker’s shotgun in “Laura.”
As I have said here before: So many stories, only one Larry Harnisch.
In September, I put aside a long series of posts on the making of the 1944 film “Laura” to examine the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, also from 1944.
With the conclusion of the Bauerdorf project, I will be resuming the posts on “Laura,” but there is a catch.
Continue reading
In 1982, Jim Romenesko, then a young reporter, compiled coroners’ reports on unusual deaths. Jim now runs the JimRomenesko.com blog and notes that he still has a few copies of his self-published book. He is selling them for $15, including shipping. Here’s his Etsy page. I haven’t seen the book, but I ordered a copy because it seems highly relevant to the L.A. Daily Mirror.
A not great photo by me showing the Lindbergh beacon in December 2006.
Update: Mayor Eric Garcetti says: Checking on it right now–I love the beacon and will be sure it gets lit if it hasn’t been.
Dec. 9, 2014: As of last night, the Lindbergh beacon was still dark. We will be waiting with our fingers crossed.
Dec. 11, 2014: Still no Lindbergh beacon.
Dec. 18, 2014: Nope, nothing.
I was downtown Saturday night and noticed that the Lindbergh beacon had not been lit again this year. The decorations in Grand Park are nice — but they are no replacement for firing up the beacon on top of City Hall.
Come on, Mayor Garcetti. You always say you are big on L.A. history and traditions. This is a big one.
Don’t these Art Deco kitty bookends look somewhat familiar from some other movie title?
Obviously this movie is “Green Mansions” (MGM 1959). No, it’s “Little Women” (RKO 1933). OK, it’s “Man of Two Worlds” (RKO 1934). Or how about “Of Human Bondage?” (RKO 1934).
No, it’s actually “Ann Vickers.”
A copy of Erich von Stroheim’s “Paprika” inscribed to Hugo Ballin has been listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $875.
Note: This is a post that originally appeared in 2012.
Famed director/actor Erich von Stroheim faced financial disaster in the mid-1930s. After directing such visual powerhouses as “Foolish Wives,” “Greed,” “The Merry Widow,” “The Wedding March,” and “Queen Kelly” in the 1920s, as well as others, and sometimes stealing films in which he co-starred, the Austrian auteur couldn’t land a job. Fox had savagely re-cut and remade his 1932 film “Walking Down Broadway” and changed the title to “Hello, Sister!” Directing opportunities vanished. Von Stroheim found acting roles in low-budget/poverty row films, but found himself frozen out of big budget studio films.
Note: This is a repost from 2011.
In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular curriculum to give his young pupils a firsthand account of Pearl Harbor.
Many years later, I contacted Mr. Humbert. He didn’t remember me (I was not a stellar student) but he was thrilled to get a phone call from one of his former charges who wanted to hear once more about Pearl Harbor.
Rene P. Humbert died in 2002 at the age of 81. I was his student in a much more formal era of American life. Male teachers wore coats and ties, and didn’t share much about their personal lives. I don’t even remember him mentioning that his brother’s fighter plane had been shot down in June 1944 over France.
What I learned many years later was that Mr. Humbert joined the Navy at 19, went through all of World War II and was called back for the Korean War. Perhaps one reason he was a little hard on us Baby Boomers in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago was because he didn’t graduate from high school, but got a GED and started college at the age of 31 under the G.I. Bill
Mr. Humbert was on the San Francisco, a heavy cruiser, during the Pearl Harbor attack and the ship was untouched except for shrapnel because the Japanese were concentrating on the larger ships. He was also in the Battles of the Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal. In one battle, Rear Adm. Dan Callaghan and Capt. Cassin Young were killed by a 14-inch shell that hit the San Francisco’s bridge.
What follows is his account. I have edited his brief biography very lightly after scanning a typewritten copy with my optical character recognition software. And I have incorporated portions of his Pearl Harbor account from the Pearl Harbor Survivors website.
Photo 1: Rene Humbert, Washington Junior High, 1964.
Photo 2: Rene Humbert, no date.
Dec. 6, 1944: Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge. Courtesy of otronmp3.com.
Note: This is a repost from 2013.
Glen Creason’s book on maps of Los Angeles shows the many ways people have viewed the city over the years. I interviewed him for The Times in 2012 and fortunately for all concerned, the column was seen by a real estate agent who was getting ready to sell off a rather curious home in Mt. Washington that had been owned by a man who had a mania for maps. The result was the discovery of the “map house,” one of the great (and strange) stories of Los Angeles.
“Los Angeles in Maps,” published in 2010, is in many local bookstores and available online.
The 2014 luminaria festival will be held at Campo de Cahuenga Dec. 7 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Note: This is a repost from 2012. This year’s luminaria festival will be held Sunday.
Driving south down Lankershim Boulevard from Toluca Lake into Universal City, it’s hard to miss the skyscrapers, soundstages, and flashing billboard of Universal Studios on the south side of the street. On the north side of the street in Studio City, surrounded by the MTA Universal City subway station parking lot and hard to see, sits a small Spanish building called the Campo de Cahuenga. At this location on Jan. 13, 1847, Col. John C. Fremont signed a treaty with Andreas Pico, ceding California to the United States. Here, California’s Spanish past merged with America’s western expansion to help eventually create our bustling state.
ladailymirror.com 