1970s VHS Nostalgia

Posted on April 3, 2014 by lmharnisch

NBC Proud as a Peacock

I have been going through some of my old VHS tapes, which I burned to DVDs. Who remembers this ad campaign from 1979?

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Books From the Slush Pile: ‘Charlie Chaplin, Director’

Posted on April 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

Review Copies

The reject pile! Aspiring authors, avert thine eyes!

This is a sample of review copies that are cast aside in bins to be rummaged through by the staff. Usually they are contemporary genre fiction (“50 Shades of Stealing Maps for the OSS/CIA/NSA/FBI Written by Tom Clancy From Beyond the Grave”), self-help books (“Lose Those Stubborn Last 50 Pounds While Raising Young Einsteins in Five Days!”) and scholarly works (“The Socio-Cultural Effect of the Introduction of the Crimped Bottle Cap in the Belgian Congo.”)

But occasionally there are books that seem somewhat interesting. At least interesting enough to lug back to the Daily Mirror HQ. Because it’s sad to see them junked by the cartload.

charlie_chaplin_director

Here’s today’s entry, a new book from the Northwestern University Press on Charlie Chaplin.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, April 2, 1944

Posted on April 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 2, 1944, Skolsky

April 1, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, April 1 — War Notes of the Week: Looking at the front page of most of the local papers you wouldn’t know that there was a war on, for the headline and most of the page is devoted to the Chaplin case … John Garfield from his recent letter, is now in Algiers …. Don The Beachcomber, who took that name legally, is now Captain Beachcomber, and is in charge of the rest camp in, of all places, the Isle of Capri.

From the Miami News.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, April 2, 1944

Posted on April 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

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The Sentinel is serializing “Goodnight, Sweet Prince,” Gene Fowler’s biography of John Barrymore, with illustrations by James Montgomery Flagg.

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April 2, 1944

Louella Parsons asks Ann Sheridan: “When are you and Steve Hannagan going to take that big step?”

Sheridan says: “Steve is grand. I have more fun with him than any man I know and I am not denying to you that I like him better than anyone else. But say, for heaven’s sake, you’re not trying to get me married — isn’t twice enough?”

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood by Sidney Skolsky, April 1, 1944

Posted on April 1, 2014 by lmharnisch

April 1, 1944, Sidney Skolsky

April 1, 1944

Meet Sidney Skolsky (d. 1983), a Hollywood-based gossip columnist. Let’s give him a month and see if he’s a keeper.

HOLLYWOOD, April 1 — It doesn’t matter who your favorite movie critic is, you can’t ignore those exhibitors who write their own reviews in the Motion Picture Herald. After a while, they’ll become your favorites, also, for they don’t pull their punches and are humorous sometimes without intent.

Exhibitor F.A. Falle of Ont., Canada writes about “Higher and Higher”:

“The airwomen were out in force, they feigned swoons, clapped and tried to give the impression that they were really enjoying it. The airmen were silent. Generally, the show was not as good as expected.”

And about Red Skelton in “Whistling in Brooklyn”:

“Of course the public will come if there is a chance that they will get some laughs, which is what they expect of this supposed comedian. He clowns, but my audience did not seem to think it was funny by the silence that was apparent when the laughs were supposed to come; that is the reception it received. He has no original line and frankly I don’t see how he gets by, and neither do most of my audience from the chill that it got.”

From the Miami News.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons

Posted on April 1, 2014 by lmharnisch

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April 1, 1944, Louella Parsons

April 1, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, March 31 — If Olivia de Havilland can straighten out her affairs and if there are no legal complications, she will do “Made in Heaven” at RKO. Charles Koerner just bought the comedy from — and here’s an amusing slant — Jack Warner, Livvy’s former boss. “Made in Heaven” was originally bought by Jack with the intention of starring Olivia or Priscilla Lane. Now both girls are gone, so he sold it to Koerner.

I don’t believe Warners will lift a finger to prevent Olivia from making the picture. Perhaps Jack knew when he sold the story to RKO that Charlie had Olivia in mind. Since Livvy is still in the Aleutians she won’t be able to discuss this romantic comedy about a wife who thinks she is going to die then sets out to choose her husband’s second wife — until her return.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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LAPD Parker Center Cop Shop Files (Updated)

Posted on April 1, 2014 by lmharnisch

Howard Gantman Press Room

In 2013, I was given a box of material that was cleaned out of the old press room at the LAPD’s Parker Center headquarters, sometimes called “the cop shop.” The box was a jumble of press releases, photographs, artists’ sketches and other items dating from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. I am organizing and cataloging the material and I’ll be posting selected items.

This is one of those mysterious pieces of paper in the cop shop files. Obviously it’s some sort of shipping label … but Howard Gantman?   If you have any ideas, email me.

Update: Several people emailed to say: “These are phone books, you moron!” To which we answer “Yes, we know. In fact we have a collection of vintage Los Angeles phone books and city directories in the Daily Mirror library.”

The question is what was Howard Gantman doing at the LAPD Cop Shop?

Ed Epstein replies:

Howard Gantman worked for UPI in LA. He then worked for Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington for many years, as her communications director.    He left her staff in 2009 and now is communications director for the Motion Pictures Association of America, the powerful MPAA.    His offices are just a block from the White House.

FYI: As a fan of Old Hollywood, I love your LAdailymirror.com.

Thanks for your help, Ed!

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 31, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘Poor Pauline,’ Parody Sheet Music

Posted on March 31, 2014 by lmharnisch

 

Poor Pauline
“Poor Pauline,” courtesy of Indiana University.


While sheet music was sold and manufactured beginning in the 1700s, only in the late 1880s did its sales truly take off, when Tin Pin Alley music companies began springing up. By 1900, sheet music was red hot, sold for use in homes, bars, clubs and the stage. Songwriters and publishers created music about almost anything: food, entertainment, home, love, animals, anything could be featured in a song.

Movies were introduced in America in 1895 and by the early 1900s, construction of nickelodeons skyrocketed. By about 1907, entrepreneurs began constructing theaters, which attracted more middle-class audiences. Attendance once again swelled. Many exhibitors even provided such entertainment as singing along to popular songs of the day by employing song slides, which listed lines of lyrics and colorful illustrations on pieces of thick glass. Thus, cross-pollination between movies and sheet music increased sales and receipts for each.

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

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March 2014 Reader Survey

Posted on March 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

2014 Reader Survey

Here are the results as of Saturday. I’m guessing the figures may change a bit, but not too much.

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Posted in 1944, Books and Authors, Columnists, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, Mary Mallory, Radio | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

1944 on the Radio — ‘First Nighter’

Posted on March 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

March 29, 1944: “The Chinese Gong” on “The First Nighter” with a script by Arch Oboler. Sponsored by Campana! Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 29, 1944

Posted on March 29, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 29, 1944

The Private Papers of a Cub Reporter

The following is an editorial from the St. Louis Star-Times titled: “Dies Committee’s Un-American Investigation of Winchell” … “The Dies committee to investigate Un-American activities, in the course of its distressingly protracted longevity, has investigated almost everything else. So no one should be surprised that the Dies committee is now investigating Walter Winchell, famous radio commentator and columnist.

* * *

“Always open to criticism on the grounds that it has sought to make headlines, that it has itself furnished material for anti-American elements by its constant Red-baiting and its failure to expose Fascist groups, the Dies committee is now wandering clear off the reservation in a spite attack on Winchell.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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1944 on the Radio — Brian Aherne on ‘Burns and Allen,’ March 28, 1944

Posted on March 28, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

March 28, 1944

It’s Tuesday in  1944, which means we have:

— Brian Aherne is the guest on “Burns and Allen.” Listen for the Frank Sinatra jokes. Courtesy of Otrrlibary.org via Archive.org.

— The Great Gildersleeve visits “Fibber McGee and Molly.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 28, 1944

Posted on March 28, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 28, 1944, Comics

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March 28, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, March 27 — If you’ve seen “Oklahoma” you’ll remember the red-haired American named Marc Platt, who dances with the grace of Fred Astaire. Well, Marc has been signed by Columbia and is heading for Hollywood to play opposite Rita Hayworth and Janet Blair in “Tonight and Every Night.” Not bad for a newcomer to get two such beauteous co-stars.

The story about young Platt is an amusing one. He studied ballet and took the name of Patnoff when he joined the Ballet Russe. His Russian nom de plume was quickly dropped when he went into the Americania musical “Oklahoma.”

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 28, 1944

Posted on March 28, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 28, 1944

Notes of an Innocent Bystander

The Magic Lantern: “See Here, Private Hargrove” is loaded with familiar comedy gags, but it’s got so doggone much good feeling that you skip the stencils. Besides, it’s got a pair of likable lads — Robert Walker and Keenan Wynn — as the rookies and Donna Reed as the lookie… “The Fighting Seabees” means to be a back-slap for that useful arm of the military, but sometimes the praise gets gibbery. The thing is too Hollywood-flavored to look like war … “The Heavenly Body” does not refer to Hedy Lamarr, who’s in it. The title comes from William Powell’s monkeying with the stars. Sometimes the going gets funny, but too often you can almost hear Powell’s suspenders give from the strain of carrying the frail tail. .. “Tunisian Victory,” action shots by the U.S.A. and British cameras, records some lovely shots of the Rats on the run, than which there is nothing more entertaining.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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Take the L.A. Daily Mirror Survey

Posted on March 27, 2014 by lmharnisch

June 25, 1949, Burlesque

Now that I have your attention, please take a little survey on where the blog goes from here.

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Mary Mallory: Film Noir Fest Visits The Dark Side

Posted on March 27, 2014 by lmharnisch

Too Late for Tears
A lobby card for “Too Late for Tears,” listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $75.


For 16 years at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre, the Film Noir Foundation has been presenting Noir City, a dedicated look at the evil underbelly of the human psyche, not only in Southern California, but now, all over the world. As usual, the festival pairs up films to highlight actors, locations, themes or interesting dichotomies and this year travels the world to reveal human depravity around the globe.

This year’s opening weekend films focused on petty crooks, slimy slicksters, two-faced plotters and double dealings, all featured in glorious shades of black and white, both in delicious 35-millimeter film prints and pristine digital restorations.

Opening night, March 21, showcased the shady shenanigans of droopy-eyed Dan Duryea and his fellow fraudsters. Long sought after by noir aficionados, “Too Late for Tears” opened the Hollywood Fest after a five-year search and rescue operation by the Film Noir Foundation. The film was carefully restored from a multitude of sources for its physical rebirth.

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

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1944 in Print — Life Magazine, March 27, 1944

Posted on March 27, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 27, 1944, Life Magazine

March 27, 1944: Landing craft 220 transports troops to an Italian beach, while LCI 226 lands troops in New Guinea and New Britain, the subject of a profile by John Hersey. Universal movie studios photographer Ray Jones gives a lesson in how to pose a glamour shot, with Elyse “Mummy’s Tomb” Knox. The featured photographer is Alfred Eisenstaedt and this week’s movie is “See Here, Private Hargrove.” Courtesy of Google. Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 27, 1944

Posted on March 27, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 27, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, March 26 — A lawsuit that may completely upset one of M-G-M’s most important pictures, starring Susan Peters and Robert Young, looms potent on the horizon. Today, by wire, Pauline Leader Brand, former wife of Millen Brand, author of “The Outward Room,” confirmed information she is preparing to sue M-G-M for $500,000. She is alleging the main feminine character in the movie (now titled “Secrets in the Dark”) is she and that it would damage her because there is an illicit love affair and a baby born out of wedlock.

The picture is nearly finished and at M-G-M they tell me they have not been notified of the suit. Of course, I wonder if Mrs. Brand knows there isn’t a chance of an illicit love affair nor an illegitimate baby in any movie these days? Papa Hays and his office would say” No! No!”

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 27, 1944

Posted on March 27, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 26, 1944, Walter Winchell

March 27, 1944

Broadway Alien

She was once taken to a New York nightclub on New Year’s Eve and didn’t enjoy herself … She believes everything she reads in the movie mags… The only time she stays up all night is when she has a toothache … Marriage, in her opinion, is something sacred, not just a breathing spell between gigolos … She thinks Lucius Beebe is the name of a perfume … If she wasn’t true to the guy she cared about most, she’d never be able to sleep. It would worry her too much. When she sees a girl snubbing others or being insulting, she doesn’t consider it being sophisticute, but downright rude.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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