On Location in Los Angeles: ‘The Unfaithful’ (1947)

Posted on September 11, 2018 by

Sept. 11, 2018, Angels Flight

Here’s the sequence of shots in “The Unfaithful” showing Angels Flight, photographed by Ernest Haller, edited by Alan Crosland Jr.

In image No. 1, we have a news vendor and the upper entrance to the funicular.

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Sept. 11, 1947: Al Jarvis Replies to L.A. Sentinel’s Charges of Racism

Posted on September 11, 2018 by

“Boogie-Woogie Blue Plate” is No. 2on this week’s juke box hits.

Sept. 11, 1947, L.A. Sentinel, Al Jarvis
Sept. 11, 1947: KLAC disc jockey Al Jarvis replies to Earl Griffin’s criticisms in last week’s Sentinel. “To knowingly plug a sponsor who discriminates against the Negro race is contrary to every belief I have ever had or ever will have.”

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Sept. 11, 1947: Driver of Beer Wagon Gets Revenge on Streetcars

Posted on September 11, 2018 by


image

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

“Big Bill,” driver for Maier & Zobelein, blockaded a procession of cars on Spring Street yesterday afternoon because he was insulted and angry. He had driven his big brewery wagon too close to the tracks and a passing car rolled one of the kegs of beer into the gutter and spilled the contents. For revenge, “Bill” drove his wagon into such a position that not a car could pass north on Spring Street and the trolley coaches began to pile up behind the foam cart.

The team was allowed to stand and “Bill” went into the saloon to refresh himself and cool off as much as possible.

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Sept. 11, 1907: In Praise of the Corset for the ‘Woman Who Weighs a Ton’

Posted on September 11, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 11, 1907
Direct Wire From New York

Wow! Now this is the kind of quote one simply doesn’t see every day, at least in the 21st century. The Victorians certainly had a different attitude toward women’s physiques:

“The woman who gets the proper sort of corset will have the fashionable figure, even if she weighs a ton.”

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Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Fashions, LAPD, Streetcars | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: EBay Avenger

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

OK, I’ve had my fun with Ellroy’s copies of the “Avenger” books. The hardback stands at $38 and the paperback at $29. Despite my minimum bids, there is always the risk that I might end up with these turkeys!

Good luck, folks, I will be watching on the sidelines, listening to John Coltrane’s “Love Supreme.”

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Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 54th Annual Cinecon Goes to the Movies

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

A fascinating look at what middle America saw at the movies from the 1910s through the 1950s, the 54th Annual Cinecon Classic Film Festival provided an excellent slate of films running the gamut from silents to sound, musicals to westerns, revealing how films can unite audiences rather than create walls.

While no major finds rose to the top, overall the entire program provided solid entertainment and featured such recurring motifs as odd wards entrusted with children, mad writers, sardines, a financially struggling population, immigration, and an “arrogance of power.” Favorite actors unexpectedly popped up multiple times, from Walter Brennan, Andy Devine, Monty Woolley, Zasu Pitts, J. Carroll Naish, T. Roy Barnes, Walter Catlett,  Louise Fazenda, Luis Alberni, John George, and Allison Skipworth, and such stars as Colleen Moore and Jack Oakie, received multiple opportunities to shine.

Festivities kicked off Thursday night with a 1913 Kinetophone short following the reception. A primitive early attempt at uniting picture and sound, the experiment failed because of multiple technical issues. This short demonstrated that, a prelude to the “Singin’ In the Rain” scene where unctuous Julius Tannen overenunciates to emphasize that this is a talking picture.

Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.

 

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Posted in 2018, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

Sept. 15, 2018, Mystery Photo
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1948/1950 Warner Bros. film “Backfire,” with Viveca Lindfors, Dane Clark, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien, Gordon MacRae, Ed Begley, Frances Robinson, Richard Robert, Sheila Stephens and David Hoffman.

Screenplay by Larry Marcus, Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts from a story by Larry Marcus. Photography by Carl Guthrie, art direction by Anton Grot, set decoration by William Wallace, makeup by Perc Westmore, Miss Lindfors’ gowns by Milo Anderson, Miss Mayo’s gowns by Leah Rhodes. Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof, produced by Anthony Veiller and directed by Vincent Sherman.

“Backfire” is available on DVD from Warner Archive in a film noir set that includes  “Cornered,” “Desperate,” “The Phenix City Story,” “Dial 1119” “Armored Car Robbery,” “Crime in the Streets” and “Deadline at Dawn.”

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 46 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Charlie Ruggles, Dog Lover

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

Charlie Ruggles and Dog 2

Befuddled and often tongue-tied onscreen, beloved character actor Charlie Ruggles possessed sharp business and organizational skills off screen. He parlayed a love of dogs into a profitable kennel business for several years in the 1930s and 1940s, working to ensure proper, healthy living conditions and behavior for the canines in his charge.

Born in Los Angeles in 1886, Ruggles began appearing on the stage not long after graduating from high school, though his father hoped he would follow him into the wholesale drug business. The young man quickly found his footing, earning wide praise for theatrical appearances around California and on the Broadway stage in 1914. Not long after, Ruggles followed his younger brother Wesley, a future director, into the moving picture business, becoming a well respected performer for over 50 years.

Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.

 

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

Sept. 10, 1947: In Love but Unable to Marry First Cousin, 17, Man Shoots Himself

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

image

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Sept. 10, 1947, Attempted Suicide There are some obstacles that even love cannot overcome, or so David Everett has discovered. The 30-year-old mechanic is in critical condition at Torrance General Hospital after shooting himself in the head and neck in despondency over his frustrated love for his 17-year-old first cousin Janet. And yes, she lives in a trailer park.

Everett is the man who was handing out $100 tips the other day after withdrawing all his money from the bank. Not just to Flora Killingsworth for bringing him ham and eggs, but to 15-year-old newsboy Edward Grant for a nickel paper, and to a cabdriver who took him to Glendale. To top it off, Everett ripped up some $100 bills and threw them in the street.

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Sept. 10, 1907: Horoscope — ‘A Very Uncertain Day’

Posted on September 10, 2018 by


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 10, 1907
Los Angeles

A very uncertain day. No evil omens glare anywhere but in all aspects there lies a heavy veil, defying those who would peer into this day. Beware, therefore, of all and any unconsidered act. Promise nothing unless you comprehend clearly the full scope and limit of the pledge. Sign neither note nor contract this day without full security in your hand. Avoid speculative enterprises like the plague.

“A red flag flows wildly” this day. Take heed that neither spark nor flame be left carelessly in dangerous places. Do not retire tonight without guarding against fire with much more care than usual. A great fire is threatened for a large city on the Atlantic Coast this night.

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Sept. 9, 1947: Roundup of the News — Put Salt in Coffee?

Posted on September 9, 2018 by

Los Angeles Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

In New Delhi, unimaginable carnage. “I counted the bodies of at least 30 Moslems, men, women and children, who were chopped up like beef by bearded Sikhs at the main New Delhi railroad station as they were about to leave for the safety of Lahore in the Moslem Pakistan area of the Punjab,” says James Michaels of United Press.

In Hamburg, British troops force thousands of Jews from Exodus 1947 to disembark in Hamburg, Germany. “Many of the Jews, frustrated in their dream of celebrating the Jewish high holy days a week hence in Palestine, began to wail. They shouted against “Hitlerism” and being returned to “this land which is a bloody graveyard of millions of Jews,” according to Associated Press.

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Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Fashion, Food and Drink | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sept. 9, 1907: Taft Leads Bryan in Presidential Poll

Posted on September 9, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 9, 1907
Los Angeles

More than a year before the 1908 presidential election, Republican William Howard Taft is far and away the favorite over Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a straw poll reported by The Times.

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Sept. 8, 1907: Actor Guilty of ‘Mashing’ Young Woman

Posted on September 8, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 8, 1907
Los Angeles

Jack Foster, a handsome, blond actor who is the toast of the vaudeville circuit, noticed a young lady standing at 3rd Street and Main after a show.

Seeing that she was alone, Foster said: “Rather late for you to be out all by yourself, isn’t it, girlie?”

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Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

James Ellroy: ‘Don’t Anybody Say the Name Steve Hodel’

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

An incredibly curious thing happened yesterday. I’ve been taping segments for an “America’s Most Wanted” episode on the Black Dahlia and the producer called to see if they could get some shots of me in the Biltmore bar talking to Detective Brian Carr, who is assigned to the case.

The Biltmore usually charges astronomical fees for filming and sometimes even buckets of money won’t gain access if the shoot is related to the Black Dahlia, which I learned with another TV production. However, Universal came up with buckets and buckets of money to rent big chunks of the hotel, (including the 10th floor with the Presidential Suite) for a press event publicizing Brian De Palma’s upcoming movie.

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Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Sept. 7, 1947: May Co. Offers Credit Plan With 1% Interest

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

Sept. 7, 1947, May Co.
Sept. 7, 1947: Oh, the innocence here.

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Black L.A. 1947: Some Static for Al Jarvis, Radio’s ‘Great White Father’ of Black Musicians,

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

Sept. 4, 1947, Hollywood Spotlight, L.A. Sentinel

Sept. 4, 1947: Earl Griffin gives some hard shots to disc jockey Al Jarvis of KLAC-AM (570, in case you’re Atwater Kent is working). Jarvis was credited with using black artists on his radio show as early as 1933, but the L.A. Sentinel columnist says Jarvis “has hoodwinked the public into believing he was the ‘great white father’ of our group.”

Griffin goes on to critique an ad on Jarvis’ “Make Believe Ballroom” for a housing development that didn’t say the homes were restricted to whites. He also criticizes a listeners’ contest for records made by members of Local 47 of the musicians union without saying that black musicians were barred from Local 47.

Jarvis, dubbed “the dean of disc jockeys” by the Los Angeles Times, died of a heart attack in 1970 at the age of 60 after a long career in radio and early television.

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Music, Radio | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sept. 7, 1947: The Comics Pages

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

Comics, L.A. Times, 1947

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

Say kids, it’s Sunday morning, let’s look at the comics. Why it’s a 10-page section, imagine that. Los Angeles Times, World’s Greatest Comics—15 cents. That would be $1.42 today.

Who have we got here? Looks like Dick Tracy has finally captured Coffyhead with the help of the Junior Crimestoppers. Red Ryder and his pals are expanding the Rimrock School. Who’s that kid? His name is Little Beaver and he’s supposed to be a Native American. He’s saying: “Him make-um eyes like wolf at teacher. Me gusdusted.”

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Posted in 1947, African Americans, Art & Artists, Comics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Sept. 7, 1907: Typhoid, Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever and Tuberculosis

Posted on September 7, 2018 by


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Sept. 7, 1907
Los Angeles

Henry Sief of the health office has released the latest figures on infectious diseases in Los Angeles and the news is wonderful.

There were only 20 cases of diphtheria in August, a 31% decrease from the 29 cases in July. Scarlet fever was down to 9 cases in August, a 55% drop from July, when there were 20. Tuberculosis is down to 10 cases from 24.

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Sept. 6, 1947: Mexican Workers Essential as Americans Refuse Stoop Labor, Ranchers Testify

Posted on September 6, 2018 by

L.A. Times, 1947
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.

“Up from his 160-acre vegetable farm at San Juan Capistrano, veteran rancher H.L. Remmers informed the committee that he must “get Mexican workers” or “think about going out of business.” Americans, Remmers said, “don’t like ‘stoop labor.’ ” ./

Farmers, he said, will be “glad to go down to the border and bring the Mexicans north at our own expense and responsibility.” Pay ranges from 70 cents an hour for harvesters ($6.62 USD 2005) to $1.10 ($10.41 USD 2005) for tractor men, Remmers said….

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Posted in 1947, Food and Drink, Immigration, Labor | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: Steve Hodel, James Ellroy and EBay: Outbid!

Posted on September 6, 2018 by


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Gosh, I upped my bid on James Ellroy’s copies of “Black Dahlia Avenger” (the hardback and paperback) but was outbid. Darn. I’m going to do my best to get them over $25, though. Don’t you think primo Dahlia material is worth more than a couple of pizzas?

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment