Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 24

Posted on November 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

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The front door of the Bauerdorf apartment, photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

In the previous post, we examined the scenario about the light fixture in the entryway to the Bauerdorf apartment. At the time of the killing, there was intense speculation that the killer disabled the light so that Georgette Bauerdorf would be unable to see who was at the door and thus admitted the killer.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
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

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Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Found on EBay — Oviatt’s Overcoat

Posted on November 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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This overcoat, size 46, from Oviatt’s has been listed on EBay with bids starting at $4.99. There appears to be some moth damage and some less than expert repairs. Oviatt’s was among the leading men’s stores in Los Angeles its wares are prized by collectors of vintage clothing. (Sorry to miss the latest tweed crawl, chaps. I was working, but I was with you in spirit).

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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This week’s mystery movie has been the 1935 Fox film “Black Sheep,” starring Edmund Lowe and Claire Trevor (Friday’s mystery guests), Tom Brown (Wednesday’s mystery guest), Eugene Pallette (not shown), Adrienne Ames (Monday’s mystery guest), Herbert Mundin (Thursday’s mystery guest) and Ford Sterling (not shown). It was directed by Allan Dwan from a screenplay by Allen Rivkin based on a story by Dwan. Music by Oscar Levant!

I recorded “Black Sheep” several years ago from cable and I’m not sure it is generally available.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 33 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Bryson Apartments ‘The Finest Apartment Building West of New York City’

Posted on November 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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The Bryson Apartments, via Google Street View.


Considered by many to be one of the most attractive apartment buildings in Los Angeles, the regal Bryson Apartment Building at 2701 Wilshire Blvd. stands as a lovely example of 1910s high end apartment living, a stately survivor reflecting the optimistic, go-getter attitude of early Los Angeles residents. Combining superb construction, elegant looks, and luxurious decoration, the Bryson stands as a glorious monument to its builder, Hugh W. Bryson.

Community leader Bryson believed in constructing affordable large scale residential developments filled with beauty and taste. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, August 1, 1868, ambitious Bryson strove for excellence from a young age. After graduating from high school, he worked as clerk for a cotton brokers, working in banking, and selling real estate, before arriving in Los Angeles in 1902. Bryson joined leading contractor, F. O. Engstrum Co., and within a few years, married the owner’s daughter, Blanche. He was named a general manager and director of the company in 104, focusing on major projects. Recognizing the large migration of East Coast and Midwest residents to sunny LA, Bryson began financing and his own projects under his Concrete Appliances Company.

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

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Just in Time for Christmas — Amazon Price Checker

Posted on November 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Here’s a fun toy I just discovered.

CamelCamelCamel.com tracks price fluctuations on Amazon (in case you haven’t noticed – and I hadn’t —  the hardcover price of James Ellroy’s “Perfidia” has been dropping slightly every day). Handy for the holidays, no?

Here’s what it looks like:

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Posted in Books and Authors | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

L.A. Becomes New York: ‘Three on a Match’ (1932)

Posted on November 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

"Thee on a Match"

After I posted a photo of Ann Dvorak’s Duesenberg in the 1932 film “Three on a Match,” John Bengtson noted that the school scenes were filmed at Los Angeles High School on Fort Moore Hill. “Three on a Match” is, of course, set in New York.

Los Angeles High School
A postcard showing Los Angeles High School, listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $5.19.

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Posted in 1932, Architecture, Downtown, Education, Film, Hollywood, Location Sleuth, New York | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 23

Posted on November 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf

A photo (possibly hand-tinted)  of Georgette Bauerdorf, National Police Gazette, August 1946, courtesy of Steven Bibb. 

And now we enter the realm of speculation in the Georgette Bauerdorf case. We have looked at all the evidence as it was reported in the newspapers, but without access to the autopsy report or the Bauerdorf apartment, everything remains tentative at best.  We can only theorize as to what might have occurred.

Let’s examine several scenarios that were suggested by the original investigators.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
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

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Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 36 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 22

Posted on November 12, 2014 by lmharnisch

Georgette Bauerdorf, L.A. Public Library

Georgette Bauerdorf in a photograph courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

So far in our examination of the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, we have looked at almost every aspect except the way the investigation was conducted.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
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
Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 21

Posted on November 11, 2014 by lmharnisch

Henry James Lynch

Henry James Lynch, a plumber who was found in the basement of El Palacio Apartments, explained that he could do a better job than the police in investigating the Georgette Bauerdorf killing, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

As the Georgette Bauerdorf investigation unfolded, it attracted the usual kooks, crackpots and nut jobs, including an anonymous note, purportedly from the killer, that was a hoax.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
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

Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 10, 2014 by lmharnisch

Nov. 15, 2014, Fire Over England
I thought it would be fun to do a British film for a change. This is the 1937 movie “Fire Over England,” with Sir Laurence Olivier, Flora Robson, Leslie Banks, Vivien Leigh, Raymond Massey, Tamara Desni and Morton Selten. Based on the novel by A.E.W. Mason and adapted for the screen by Clemence Dane and Sergei Nolbandov and directed by William K. Howard. Music by Richard Addinsell, photographed by James Wong Howe with costumes by Rene Hubert.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 70 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ravenswood Apartments Attract the Stylish

Posted on November 10, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Mae West in her boudoir at the Ravenswood, Life magazine, Feb. 19, 1940.


Built during the early years of the Great Depression, the luxurious Ravenswood Apartment building at 570 N. Rossmore Ave. stands as one of the best examples of upscale apartment living in Los Angeles the 1930s. A gorgeous Zig Zag Streamline Moderne building, the Ravenswood features elegant decorations, adornments, and amenities, attracting many celebrity and discriminating residents.

Financier Maurice Feigenbaum obtained a permit for an eight-story, 240 room apartment building costing $350,000 in early June 1930, per the June 8, 1930 Los Angeles Times. He hired Max Maltzman, one of the few Jewish architects in Los Angeles at the time, to design an upscale structure. Originally from Boston, where he opened a draftsman’s office in 1923, Maltzman arrived on the West Coast in 1927, working as a draftsman for architect Leland A. Bryant. By 1929, Maltzman opened his own shop at 704 S. Spring Street, designing elegant apartment buildings throughout mid-Wilshire and the surrounding area. Feigenbaum, unfortunately, was indicted along with eleven others by a Federal grand jury November 18, 1931 for attempting to defraud more than $5 million through the U. S. mail.

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

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Posted in 1930, Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Museum of the San Fernando Valley Grand Opening

Posted on November 8, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Sorry for the short notice, but the Museum of the San Fernando Valley says that it’s having a grand opening today from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 18860 Nordhoff St. in Northridge. More information is available here.

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Black Dahlia: Ronald Reagan and the Dead Milkmen

Posted on November 7, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Wow. Just when I thought I had seen everything — and I mean everything — about the Black Dahlia case.

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

On Location in Downtown Los Angeles — 1930

Posted on November 7, 2014 by lmharnisch

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“For the Defense” is one of the old Paramount films now controlled by Universal.

For the Defense

As part of its pre-code marathon, TCM recently aired “For the Defense,” a 1930 Paramount film starring William Powell and Kay Francis.
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Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 20

Posted on November 6, 2014 by lmharnisch

Bauerdorf Light Fixture

An unidentified woman demonstrates how someone disabled the light fixture in the entryway to the Bauerdorf apartment, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library. I wondered whether this was Aggie Underwood because it is a Herald-Express picture and Herald reporters and photographers usually worked in teams. If a photographer wanted to show the height of the fixture, this would be a good way to do it. It’s impossible to be positive, however.   

Several days after Georgette Bauerdorf was killed, investigators focused on the light fixture outside the front door to the Bauerdorf apartment at 8493 Fountain Ave. The fixture had been disabled when someone unscrewed the bulb by several turns so that it no longer made electrical contact, but appeared to be fine. The Times described this fixture as an “automatic night light,” raising the question of whether it might have been on a timer or triggered by an “electric eye.”

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
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
Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

1944 on the Radio — NBC Symphony Orchestra, November 5, 1944

Posted on November 5, 2014 by lmharnisch

Radio Dial, 1944

November 5, 1944: Arturo Toscanini conducts the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, followed by Glinka’s “Caprice Brillant Jota Aragonesa.”  Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 19

Posted on November 5, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oct. 20, 1944, Daily News

Oct. 20, 1944: Capt. Garner Brown examines the fabric used to strangle Georgette Bauerdorf, Daily News.

One of the more unusual aspects of the Georgette Bauerdorf killing was the fabric the killer shoved about four inches down her throat.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
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
Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder, Part 18

Posted on November 4, 2014 by lmharnisch

 

 

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This Google map shows several possible routes from Georgette Bauerdorf’s apartment to the location where the car was found. Whoever took the car had any number of options on where to dump it. Recall that the car, a 1936 Oldsmobile, was found about 10 miles away, at 728 1/2 E. 25th St., out of gas with the keys in the ignition.

Georgette Bauerdorf, an Unsolved Murder:
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

Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Hollywood, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

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This week’s mystery movie has been the Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope production of “Garden of Evil,” with Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward and Richard Widmark. The 1954 film was written by Frank Fenton, based on a story by Fred Freiberger and William Tunberg. Photographed by Milton Krasner and Jorge Stahl Jr., with music by Bernard Herrmann, produced by Charles Brackett and directed by Henry Hathaway.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 35 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Sennett Stills Photographers Display Wide Talents

Posted on November 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Derelys Perdue, photo by Albert J. Kopec.


While some motion picture stills photographers are renowned for their work, such as George Hurrell, Clarence Sinclair Bull, Ernest Bachrach, and Ruth Harriet Louise, others are largely forgotten today, seeming to disappear into the mists of time decades ago. Such is the case with Albert J. Kopec and George Cannons, two of Mack Sennett’s stills photographers. Neither as famous or perhaps as talented as Nelson Evans or James Abbé in their day, the two immigrants created some beautiful work and displayed a wide range of photographic skill throughout their careers, revealing strong compositional eyes.

Forgotten Man Kopec worked for over six decades as a photographer, but seldom appears in any book or article on stills photographers. Working as a second unit man for comedy producer Mack Sennett meant little opportunity for shooting full out glamour shots, the images widely shared by magazines and newspapers.

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

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment