1944 on the Radio — ‘The Adventures of Jungle Jim,’ March 18, 1944

Posted on March 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 18, 1944

It’s Saturday in 1944 and today we have:

— Jungle Jim and the crew evade Japanese soldiers.  “The Adventures of Jungle Jim.” Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org via Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 18, 1944

Posted on March 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 18, 1944, Tender Comrade

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March 18, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, March 17 — Warners are going all out for American movies, and if you want to call that “flag waving” it’s all right with them. As Jack Warner says: “You can’t wave a better flag!” One of the first of the specials will be “San Antonio,” a saga of Texas and the Alamo which should be a minor sized riot where the Texas are concerned….

IT’S GOSSIPED IN MOVIE CIRCLES   that Columbia has bought “Burlesque” for Rita Hayworth.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 18, 1944

Posted on March 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 18, 1944, Walter Winchell

March 18, 1944

Broadway Ballad

Novelette: Irving Berlin arrived the other day from England with messages for kin and loved ones of members of “This Is the Army.” Berlin phoned parents, wives, sweethearts and pals, and took down messages to relay to the boys in his show now abroad. He made several hundred calls.

The most touching: Two soldiers gave him the same name of “the only girl in the world.”

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + +)

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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This is “Sister Kenny,” which I thought would be fun to post since Louella Parsons had recently written about it. You may recall that Parsons said Kenny was Rosalind Russell’s house guest while visiting Los Angeles.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Morgan Lithograph Co. Designs Eye-Popping Posters

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

The Sheik

Morgan Lithograph’s poster for “The Sheik.”


Fast-cutting, hyper-kinetic trailers and TV spots today sell upcoming films to the general public. In the 1910s-1920s, however, eye-catching visual illustrations like posters and theater displays lured paying customers into movie palaces. Film studios provided lithography companies with photographs or suggested designs around which talented artists produced striking key art promoting the films. Exhibitors rented or purchased the never-ending supply of publicity materials from the studios, manufacturers and exchanges to display throughout their theater or around the town in sizes ranging from half-sheets and one-sheets, to wall-size three- and six-sheets, all the way to gigantic billboard-sized 24-sheets. The Morgan Lithograph Co. reigned as one of the top poster lithographers of this period, creating stunning images branding a company’s product and selling them on a grand scale to consumers.

According to the book, “Cleveland: the Making of a City,” Captain William J. Morgan and his younger brother, George, established the W. J. Morgan & Co. on Superior Street in 1864 to produce broadsheets and various forms of business ephemera (trade cards, pamphlets, blotters, postcards, posters) to advertise local businesses. Increasing orders from surrounding states soon forced the company to abandon using a hand press and employ a punched stamp press to churn out product. They also moved to larger headquarters.

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

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1944 on the Radio — Constance Bennett Visits ‘Bill Stern’s Sports Newsreel,’ March 17, 1944

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 17, 1944

It’s Friday in 1944 and today we have:

— Andy finally located Madam Queen in “The Amos ‘N’ Andy Show.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Constance Bennett is the guest on “Bill Stern’s Sports Newsreel.” Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org via Archive.org.

— Donald Dame of the Metropolitan Opera is the guest on “To Your Good Health,” a musical program from the House of Squibb. Courtesy of Otrrlibary.org via Archive.org.

— “Vic and Sade.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 17, 1944

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 17, 1944

SNAPSHOTS OF HOLLYWOOD COLLECTED AT RANDOM: The Jack Bennys and Danny Kayes were Joe E. Lewis’ best audience at Slapsy Maxie’s. These two top comedians roared at Joe. Gracie Allen and George Burns were equally appreciative. Gail Patrick and Norman Taurog were also at the opening. They are getting to be a steady duet. Humphrey Bogart’s Dane, Jackson, has been honorably discharged from the canine corps. (On the Q.T. — Jackson was taking nips at friends as well as foes!)

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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LAPD Officer Accused of Hitting Handcuffed Prisoner, March 5, 1914

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 5, 1914: Spring training!

I jumped back to 1914 to see if I could find out anything about the Police Commissions order against non-Asian women in Oriental cafes. No luck, alas, but I did find a couple of goodies.

In the first, a crowd of witnesses hisses mounted LAPD Officer M.E. Wise, whom they accused of beating former firefighter Jack Ramsey, who was thrown in the alley behind the Phoenix bar, 121 S. Main, after getting into a fight. Members of the crowd said Wise handcuffed Ramsey and put him in the back of a patrol wagon, then hit him in the face. A police official said that Ramsey attacked other prisoners after being put in the patrol wagon and had to be subdued.

Meanwhile, Police Chief Charlie Sebastian says there are usually complains whenever anyone is arrested in that area (and yes, even 100 years ago Main Street was a tough neighborhood).

In Stockton, the mystery of Ester Crotzer’s disappearance comes to a grisly conclusion with the discovery of a body cut into 11 pieces and stuffed into four sacks.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 17, 1944

Posted on March 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 17, 1944:

New York Newsreel

Faces About Town: Capt. Clark Gable and pretty Virginia Grey. Their chums say, “This is it!” … Lovely Ann Mace, Billy Rose’s tallest showgirl. Her groom, Lt. Al Downs of Westchester, has the miseries since she returned to the Horseshoe line … The Three Stooges going through their mainiactivities in Lindy’s… Raymond Massey putting a sassy stew in his place at El Morocco… Joe E. Brown ankling along Park Avenue — wearing the stares with dignity … George Raft, the cinemenace, ringsiding at the Ubangi … Kath Cornell, the star, wearing galoshes when it’s slushy — her shoes in her hands … At the Hurricane: Gertrude Niesen featuring red, white and blue fingernails …

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 16, 1944

Posted on March 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Diana van Dyne is at Milwaukee’s Empress Burlesk!

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March 16, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, March 15 — Charles Boyer was on the 20th Century-Fox lot today, so I knew something was cooking, if you’ll pardon my slang. He was there to talk with Ernst Lubitsch about “The Typhoon,” and because he knows the play he said if he could arrange his commitments at Universal he would do it. All actors like to work with Lubitsch because they can be sure of a good picture. Charles would play a Jap as he did in “Hari-Kiri.”

Ernst is very busy these days, with three pictures in the offing. The first of these, “Czarina,” will get going the last of July with the inimitable Tallulah Bankhead as the star. Yep, Tallulah’s coming back. That means good copy for all the newspaper people and a lot of fun for her friends.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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1944 on the Radio — Alan Hale appears on ‘Abbott and Costello,’ March 16, 1944

Posted on March 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 16, 1944

It’s Thursday in 1944, and today we have:

— Alan Hale is the guest on “The Abbott and Costello Show.” Courtesy of Otrrlibrary via Archive.org.

— Laird Cregar is the guest with Hans Conried in “Narrative about Clarence” on “Suspense.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

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Monte Cassino Destroyed by Allied Bombing — March 16, 1944

Posted on March 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 16, 1944
March 16, 1944: “It is impossible to see how there could be a living thing left there.”

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 16, 1944

Posted on March 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 16, 1944

Notes of a Newspaperman

A newspaperman and radio reporter is as much a part of our political scheme as the statesman, politician and the dime-a-dozen misfits who make the news … As such the reporter should be subjected to just as many brickbats, slanders and innuendos… It is all part of the game, and anybody who can’t take it should not have entered into it in the first place. But by that same American code by which you are obliged to take it, you are also entitled to dish it out … Currently I am being vilified by being called a vilifier … I welcome the attack because it comes from the people I regard as the most contemptible that ever disgraced American citizenship. They believe that their own miserable self-interest is the destiny of this Republic. They think that freedom of speech is the right to lie about the president, that free enterprise means pre-war profits from government money and that the only thing the matter with Hitler is that he doesn’t pay cash … I repeat, I welcome their attacks. They cannot be expected to stick to the rules because they can never afford to stick to the facts.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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1944 on the Radio — Charles Laughton on ‘Orson Welles’ Radio Almanac,’ March 15, 1944

Posted on March 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 15, 1944

It’s Wednesday in 1944, and today we have:

— Charles Laughton is the guest on “Orson Welles’ Radio Almanac.” More jokes about the income tax. Courtesy of Archive.org.

— “The Lone Ranger.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Baritone William Hargrave is the guest on “To Your Good Health,” a musical program from the House of Squibb. Hargrave died at the VA hospital in Los Angeles in 1986. Courtesy of Otrrlibrary via Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 15, 1944

Posted on March 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 15, 1944, Louella Parsons

March 15, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, March 14 — “The Green Years,” the new Dr. A.J. Cronin novel, has been purchased by M-G-M from the galleys. While George Landy of the Frank Vincent office, who handled the deal, is unwilling to mention price I am told it is an all time record for a novel and that was $200,000 paid. The closest to this was $170,000 paid for “Saratoga Trunk.” The story is not Cronin’s autobiography, as many thought. It is about an Irish boy who goes to live with penurious relatives in Scotland and is in a way another “How Green Was My Valley.”

CHATTER IN HOLLYWOOD: Kay Hurrell, who in the opinion of many people in Hollywood behaved like the gallant lady she is at the time of her divorce proceedings is being forced to return to Hollywood by George Hurrell, local photographer. He has filed bankruptcy proceedings involving her source and so she must return for a session which … breaking for her, since … to put the whole thing … her mind.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 15, 1944

Posted on March 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 15, 1944, Walter Winchell

March 15, 1944

Man About Town

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt (newspaper row hears) is fed up with the way some syndicate clients chop her column to appease local subscribers … Drew Pearson made the identical squawk. Pearson’s beef was that some editors delete the punchiest stuff … A model who won a film contract lost it because (while woofled) she talked too much at the Mocambo in Hollywood…. Ethel Barrymore and her director, Clifford Odets, have eased the tension and dropped the boxing gloves.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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1944 on the Radio — ‘Duffy’s Tavern’ and ‘Fibber McGee and Molly,’ March 14, 1944

Posted on March 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 14, 1944

It’s Tuesday night in 1944, which means we have “Duffy’s Tavern” and “Fibber McGee and Molly.”

— Gertrude Lawrence is this week’s guest on “Duffy’s Tavern.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Fibber McGee and Molly hire Beulah. Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 14, 1944

Posted on March 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 14, 1944

Notes of an Innocent Bystander

The First Nights: Of which the week had none. The current season is one of the wackiest on record, crazier than some of the shows, but not much. There are 30 attractions on the Stem. At least 25 of them are getting handsome moola and 18 rate as smasheroos … When the season started it was impossible for a show to go hungry. Plays that would have expired with a showing got runs. The drain on pocket money caught up with them, however, and now the turkeys are shot down just like in peacetime.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 14, 1944

Posted on March 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 14, 1944

HOLLYWOOD, March 13 — While Jennifer Jones rests at Palm Springs with her two sons (I almost said “rests on her honors” after winning 1943’s best actress Oscar), David Selznick is readying her next picture. It’s to be Robert Nathan’s “Portrait of Jenny,” a fantasy which the author terms “an experiment in time.” It might also be added, in less high falutin’ language that “Jenny” is a charming story and although it will need rewriting it should be good for the Jones girl.

I still say Jennifer needs extra special care in her story selections. Even if the industry did vote her the best actress of 1943, her histrionic range has yet to be tested. “Bernadette” was a natural for her. Meanwhile, there’s a chance she may do a picture for Twentieth Century-Fox before starting the “Portrait of Jenny” for David.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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Walter Winchell, Drew Pearson Accused of ‘Smear Campaign,’ March 14, 1944

Posted on March 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 14, 1944

As you may have noticed, Walter Winchell has been taking frequent blasts at Congress. Now the legislators have fired back.

In an AP story from Washington, Republican Rep. Clare Hoffman of Michigan charges that union leaders, Communists working in the government, the New Deal and radio commentators have engaged in a “smear campaign” to “smirch Congress and unseat some members.”

Their campaign, Hoffman said, was to “override our form of government and convince our people that Franklin D. Roosevelt is the indispensible man.”

Hoffman singled out Winchell, Drew Pearson, the Chicago Sun, a newspaper called PM ,,, and way down in the story is a reference to an attack by Republican Rep. Fred Busbey of Illinois on our old friend Louis Adamic, who you may recall was writing about Los Angeles in the 1920s, especially Aimee Semple McPherson’s disappearance.

Also by Louis Adamic

Aimee Semple McPherson’s Fight With Satan

Cecil B. DeMille, Movie Evangelist

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