June 19, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, June 18 — (INS) Bing Crosby gets his way — meaning an “unknown” plays the title role in “The Great John L.” Greg McClure is the lucky gent. He’s a 26-year-old Irishman, built like an “ad” for a physical culture training course, two-fisted and good looking.
It is really sad when a certain hometown newspaper makes this sort of mistake, especially in a section that covers films. Not only is this famous horizontal photo run as a vertical; it’s also flopped.
June 18, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, June 17 – On June 21, Leo the Lion will have roared for 20 years, carrying many glamorous and popular stars to fame. When I came to Hollywood 19 years ago, this company was making itself known with Norma Shearer, who had only lately come from New York. Later she was to fall in love with and marry Irving Thalberg, brilliant executive, who had a great part in creating screen productions that were to give M-G-M an enviable place in the amusement world.
June 17, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, June 16 — My old friend Ralph Wheelright, whom I have known since he was in the MGM publicity department and before that, when he was one of the Los Angeles Examiner’s star reporters, takes another jump up the ladder. From here on Ralph is a producer on the MGM lot, and it is a promotion he has earned the hard way. Far be it from me to say Ralph ever stopped to dreaming up good publicity stories, but he did author two of Metro’s best originals, “Blossoms in the Dust” and “Thunder Afloat.”
I mean really.
This is “Shield for Murder,” requested by Julie Merholz, who says that she watched some of the filming when she was a student at Beverly Hills High (scene of the swimming pool sequence). Thanks, Julie!
Buddy Rogers, photographed by Preston Duncan.
Motion picture still photography grew rapidly from the early teens through the mid-1920s, becoming the main publicity staple of Hollywood film studios. Begun merely as a record for film scenes, shot by camera operators and cinematographers, stills also quickly expanded into the artistic realm.
At the turn of the 20th century, stage and vaudeville performers personally hired New York studio photographers to shoot images they could employ to promote themselves in newspapers and magazines. David Shields, in his book, “Still: American Silent Motion Picture Photography,” notes that many studios at this time began experimenting with visual language to create what we now know as glamour.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
Here’s another item that is tangentially related to the Black Dahlia case: A photograph of Gloria Swanson inscribed to Florentine Gardens business manager Mark Hansen. Hansen was a small-time operator of movie theaters and news accounts of the Black Dahlia case describe his home (now demolished) on Carlos Avenue, where Elizabeth Short lived for a time, as being full of photos of movie stars such as this one.
Bidding on this item starts at $350 or Buy It Now for $499.99. As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be investigated thoroughly before submitting a bid.
An EBay vendor has listed the pilot wings that belonged to Joseph G. Fickling, Elizabeth Short’s onetime boyfriend. Apparently these items were in a storage unit. The vendor has posted a photo of Fickling’s dog tags (not included in the sale) to prove authenticity.
I interviewed Fickling in 1996 about the case and found him to be a very nice man. After his death, some of Fickling’s other militaria was listed on EBay, including a uniform, as I recall.
Bidding on the pilot wings starts at $59.99. As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be investigated thoroughly before submitting a bid.
June 13, 1944
The Times reports the death of pilot Maj. Joseph D.R. Shaffer, 26, of Long Beach, who received the Silver Star and the Distinguished Service Cross for shooting down a Nazi bomber near Reykjavik — the first German plane downed by an American in the European theater. Shaffer was killed in a plane accident over Salisbury, England, officials say. Pilot Elza Shahan also received the Silver Star for attacking the German plane on the same mission with Shaffer.
Howard Whitman of the New York News files a delayed report on German atrocities during the D-Day invasion. Troops told Whitman that Nazi troops executed captured Americans by shooting them point-blank in the face. Other Americans had their throats slit by German troops.
Columnist Tom Treanor, who will be killed in August in a jeep accident during the liberation of France, files a radio broadcast on the invasion.
One of the sights I saw was a little group of German prisoners walking peaceably down a little side lane guarded by a soldier with a fixed bayonet. They looked tired, dirty and generally without spunk. Here, as elsewhere, they certainly fought hard before they surrendered.
In the theaters: “Are These Our Parents” with Lyle Talbot and Helen Vinson. Produced by — hey it’s Donald Wolfe’s stepfather Jeffrey Bernerd!
June 13, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, June 12 — There isn’t a chance of MGM making the same mistake with 14-year-old Jane Powell they made with Deanna Durbin. Deanna slipped through their fingers and then made “Three Smart Girls” for Charles Rogers and immediately zoomed to stardom. Now, as soon as Jane makes one more picture for Rogers (she has been seen in “Song of the Open Road”)_ she’ll return to her home studio.
And advice to empty-nesters from Dorothy Dix.
June 12, 1944
Life’s cover photo shows 500-pound bombs falling on an oil refinery in Leghorn, Italy.
Where does Al Capp get ideas for his characters? Would you believe Veronica Lake?
A feature on Humphrey Bogart says that while filming a dangerous scene in “Action in the North Atlantic” in which he and Raymond Massey were being doubled by stuntmen, Bogart said: “Ray, I’ll bet you $10 my double is braver than yours.”
June 12, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, June 11 — Right out of New York comes word Jack Warner has added “The Two Mrs. Carrolls” to his list of New York plays. Jack, who has spent money unstintingly for New York hits, is starting with a schedule that is terrific from the standpoint of an investment in screen material.
The price reported paid for this murder thriller is $225,000. It was the play in New York with Elizabeth Bergner and Victor Jory. It’s old-fashioned melodrama but the kind the theatergoing public eats up.
I was underwhelmed by “Saving Mr. Banks,” but look what I found! It’s Heritage Square, which (for out-of-town readers) is just off the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
Here’s Heritage Square as shown on Google Street View.
June 10, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, June 9 — There has been so much talk that Joan Fontaine would take her troubles to court and ask to have her David Selznick contract canceled that I did a little investigating. I talked to David Selznick and learned he met with her agent, a Jules Stein representative, on Thursday and offered to set up a trust fund in addition to her salary. Because of the wage stabilization law, it is impossible to give an increase in money.
Interestingly enough, Parsons mentions a Billy Wilder-Charles Brackett project at Paramount titled “Olympe.” It’s hard to picture that as a working title for “Double Indemnity” (released in August 1944) or “Lost Weekend.” Imdb and The Times clips are most unhelpful. Anyone in the Brain Trust have more information on this intriguing project?
Some folks on the Internet are quite casual about where they get images. I always watermark mine so that even if someone swipes it, the url is still visible — unless someone crops it out. Here’s a case in point.
This week’s mystery movie was “Black Angel,” as requested by B.J. Merholz. Thanks, B.J. And if you have a mystery movie request, email me here.
Clifton’s Pacific Seas, 618 S. Olive St.
Long before kitschy was cool and themed restaurants like tiki bars, Planet Hollywoods and Rainforest Cafes existed, downtown Los Angeles sported eclectically decorated and festive Clifton’s Cafeterias. Over the top and lavishly theatrical, Clifton’s operated in Los Angeles’ heart, including Clifton’s Pacific Seas and Brookdale, one sporting an exotic, tropical setting and the other looking like a set from a national park.
Even more remarkable than their lavishly decorated interiors was the generous, lovely operating philosophy behind the chain. From the beginning, Clifton’s operated on the policy of “the Golden Rule,” hoping to treat others as kindly as they themselves were treated. Clifford Clinton, son of missionary Edmond Clinton, was born in China while his parents served the poor after the Boxer Rebellion. Seeing the hungry and homeless, his deep compassion filled him with a desire to take care of those less unfortunate.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
June 7, 1944: “The First Nighter” with an episode titled “Susan Stepped Out.” Courtesy of otronmp3.com.
June 6, 1944
HOLLYWOOD, June 5 — When Harriet Parsons (a young producer I know very well — in fact she used to put the bite on me for ice cream sodas) finishes “The Enchanted Cottage” she takes over her second RKO movie, “Who Could Ask for More?” Authoress Kay Smith arrived Friday to huddle with Frank Gruber, who works with her on the script. Remember we told you some time ago about this original story about a femme songwriter who marries a cowboy and gives up Broadway to live out West?
ladailymirror.com 