1944 on the Radio — Dorothy Lamour on ‘Abbott and Costello’

Posted on February 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

Feb. 17, 1944

It’s Thursday in 1944 and today we have:

— Dorothy Lamour is the guest on “Abbott and Costello.” Abbott has been elected mayor of Sherman Oaks! (Sherman Oaks is so small the motorcycle cops go around on roller skates). Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Dinah Shore sings “Speak Low” on “The Dinah Shore Show.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

—  Cass Daley and Marilyn Maxwell with Bing Crosby on “Kraft Music Hall.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— “Life Ends at Midnight” with Fay Bainter and Dane Clark on “Suspense.” Courtesy of otrrlibrary.org.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Marion Davies’ Santa Monica Beachside Cottage

Posted on February 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

Marion Davies Beach House

Marion Davies’ beach house, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

 


Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst inherited and erected lavish estates for himself around California like Wyntoon, his Northern California retreat, and Hearst Castle, his main residence on the Central Coast, but in 1926 he constructed a mammoth Georgian Colonial home on Santa Monica’s Gold Coast as a present for his companion, Marion Davies. A Hollywood version of a Newport Beach, Rhode Island, “cottage,” Davies’ mansion dwarfed those of fellow film industry notables like Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Harry Warner, and Constance and Norma Talmadge. Davies’ beach house represents the perfect combination of Hollywood excess and elegant architecture.

Marion Davies’ life was never the same after meeting business magnate Hearst. A Ziegfeld Follies girl, Davies’ charming, endearing personality attracted the much older, shyer man. By 1918, the pair were a twosome, though Hearst was married to Millicent, a former showgirl herself. The couple moved permanently to California in the mid-1920s to further Davies’ film career at MGM, and to distance themselves from his wife.

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

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ Feb. 17, 1944

Posted on February 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

Feb. 17, 1944, Walter Winchell

Feb. 17, 1944

Note: If you haven’t noticed already, start keeping track of the number of times Walter Winchell takes a blast a certain members of Congress, particularly Rep. John Rankin (D-Miss.). Next month (that is, March 1944), Rep. Martin Dies, head of the what’s now known as the House Un-American Activities Committee, will accuse Winchell of being “a mouthpiece for a ‘smear bund’ that was trying to destroy Congress.”

Dies insisted that there was a “highly organized and well-financed enterprise to destroy by vilification the character of any public man who gets in the way of the objectives of the groups who manage and finance this offensive.”

The shadowy group’s objectives? To “undermine the authority and destroy the prestige of Congress in the interest of setting up an all-powerful central executive.”

Notes of a Newspaperman

Today’s colyum: Then there are the about-faces of the armchair strategists … Not long ago, lots of commentators were being very sarcastic about the military program in the South Pacific … They couldn’t think of anything more cutting than to call the Navy “island hoppers” … The name had the same note of panning as boondogglers or pub-crawlers … Then the victory which won the Marshalls brought this same mob to their feet cheering — acting just like they thawt out the whole maneuver themselves … Somebody’s going to have fun (after the war) collecting the memwars of the popper-offers — which’ll sell as humor.
You can have those idiotic pieces on Lincoln’s anniversary, too … Just make me an offer of any nickel … A lot of scriveners very kindly volunteered to explain how Abe would have run things today — deeming that little enough to do for him in his absence … One typewriter-spoiler thawt it highly significant that Lincoln had never been to Yurrop — and had no experience in international relations … The idea being, of course, that if Lincoln were alive today he would live in the same fog as they do — which is about as vicious an insult to his memory as you can imagine … Lincoln was so far ahead of his time that a lot of those who attempt to interpret him haven’t caught up to his 1861 point of view.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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1944 on the Radio — Bing Crosby on ‘Mail Call’

Posted on February 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

Feb. 16, 1944

It’s Wednesday in 1944 and today we have:

— Bing Crosby in “Mail Call.” And we have the hit song “My Heart Tells Me” plus “Stardust” and “Oh! What a Beautiful Morning,” sung by Connee Boswell. And opera singer Richard Crooks, who gets a chilly introduction from Der Bingle. Courtesy of Archive.org.

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

— “To Your Good Health” from the House of Squibb. Betty Mulliner (which is not a name I recognize) sings “Musetta’s Waltz” from “La Boheme.” And you can depend on Squibb tooth powder! Courtesy of Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ Feb. 16, 1944

Posted on February 16, 2014 by lmharnisch

Feb. 16, 1944, Walter Winchell

Feb. 16, 1944

Man About Town

Errol Flynn was turned down for the seventh time by the Army and Navy. He is asking the latter for special service and a waiver on physical defects … Quentin Reynolds, the war correspondent, offers this retort by a general — for all the inane arguments as to how long the war will last … On his last trip abroad, Reynolds summoned enough nerve to ask Gen. Montgomery point-blank: “General, when do you think the war will end?” … Montgomery frowned and said: “Young man, only an idiot would ask it, and only an idiot would answer!”

Quite a rumpus at Penn Deppo the other day. Three different couples boarded a Florida bound train to learn all had been peddled the same accommodations — at black market fees, no less … Two ticket sellers were fired and the Pennsy for the first time in its history installed a vice president of the railroad to supervise ticket sales to Florida…. Allan Zoll, a founder of “The American Patriots” (before the war) is back after an enlistment with the Canadian army. One of his first visits was with Gerald L.K. Smith…. The mother of the five Sullivan Navy heroes is the source for the news that their grandfather was Jewish. In Germany that would have kept them out of the Nazi navy.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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1944 on the Radio — Fred Astaire on ‘Burns and Allen’

Posted on February 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Feb. 15, 1944

It’s Tuesday in 1944 and today we have:

— Fred Astaire is the guest star on “Burns and Allen.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Fibber has his handwriting analyzed in “Fibber McGee and Molly.” Listen for a bit of “Mairzy Doats.” And be sure to wax the wire shelves in your refrigerator with Johnson’s Wax! Courtesy of Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ Feb. 15, 1944

Posted on February 15, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Feb. 15, 1944:

Notes of an Innocent Bystander

“The Sullivans” …  This is the movies’ memorial to the five Sullivan boys who died in the same sea action. It’s tender and moving and resists the temptation to cry too much. Thomas Mitchell and Anne Baxter are tip-top and so are the five lads who impersonate the Sullivan heroes … “Song of Russia” is full of good intentions, meaning to show how full of fight and moxie the Sovvys were when the Huns came. But the filmmakers figure Robert Taylor’s love for Susan Peters tops the defense of Russia, which isn’t what Stalin has been saying.

The annual radio editors’ poll (via The Billboard) for the fifth consecutive year elected Fred Waring’s show the top 15-minute event, which is what we’ve said all along.

FDR was severely criticized for having a message in Bibles sent to servicemen. Bibles sent during the last big war contained one from Wilson.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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Vintage Valentines

Posted on February 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

Movie Fiend

My grandparents used to have a few of these insult valentines stashed in a drawer. But not this one, which seems as timely as ever. This example is listed on EBay with bids starting at $3. And Happy Valentine’s Day to all the movie fiends in the Daily Mirror Brain Trust!

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Black Dahlia: The Black Dahlia Files and Donald Wolfe

Posted on February 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

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While we are on the subject of nonsense in the Black Dahlia case, the Sky Valley Chronicle posted a story yesterday based on Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files.” As many of you may know, this book is so bad that I devoted an entire blog to debunking it.

Here is an index to the blog, which unmasks many of Wolfe’s errors and manipulations. Be sure to read “How to Fake a Document.”

Posted in 1947, Another Good Story Ruined, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Donald Wolfe, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

1944 in Print — Life Magazine, Feb. 14, 1944

Posted on February 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Feb. 14, 1944: Guess where we are! Featured movie of the week: “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek.” Courtesy of Google.

Feb. 14, 1944, What to Tell Your Husband

The Greatest Generation puzzles over women taking jobs.

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1944 on the Radio — ‘The Lone Ranger’

Posted on February 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

Feb. 14, 1944: Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear! “The Lone Ranger.” Courtesy of otronmp3.com.

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ Feb. 14, 1944

Posted on February 14, 2014 by lmharnisch

Feb. 14, 1944, Walter Winchell

Feb. 14, 1944: Walter Winchell writes a “New York Newsreel,” a long series of vignettes of the city and its people. Here’s a sample:

The church for mutes, where the pastor’s sermon is delivered with his fingers and where the choir “sings” with their hands … The Sixth Avenue subway — five stories down … MacDougal Alley in Greenwich Village — a privately owned street — lit by gas lamps … The tattered old lady around midtown wearing a diamond bracelet. A tender reminder of her only love — killed in an accident 40 years ago … The wind at the corner of Madison and 42nd Street, revealing more undraped cuticle than any of the Broadway girlshows … The Chinese laundryman on 171st Street with the sassiest name of all: “Tip Want”… The downtown synagogue conspicuously displaying a “No Smoking” warning — in Yiddish. It is signed “Patrick Walsh, Fire Commissioner” … The beer truck, rumbling along Sixth Avenue — pulled by horses —the drivers with long mustachios … The colossal Automat on 57th Street —more sumptuous than many expensive nightclubs. Besides you don’t find drunks there.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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Los Angeles, Hollywood’s Back Lot

Posted on February 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

Cillie Barnes Video

Cillie Barnes Video

I went to dinner last night at Grand Central Market and got these shots of a group filming a video. And since we’re all good Angelenos, we went “oh yeah, a film crew, a guy with a Stedicam”  and went about our business (except for me and the guy in the background getting a shot with his cellphone). A little investigation revealed that it was Cillie Barnes.

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Black Dahlia: George Hodel, Soil Analysis and Sweeps Month

Posted on February 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

Fail

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Look it’s an “update” on the Buster the Wonder Dog saga, via L.A. Observed.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

For those of you (that would be most of the world) who haven’t followed the saga of “Buster the Wonder Dog proves Dr. George Hodel killed the Black Dahlia at the Sowden house,” let me give you some crucial background information.

ALSO
Soil Samples at the Sowden House: FAIL
George ‘Evil Genius’ Hodel and the Black Dahlia: Another Good Story Ruined

The George Hodel files 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 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37

 

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Christine Pelisek in the Daily Beast writes one of the “cute animal story meets Jack the Ripper” items that flourished last year over Buster’s frolic at the Sowden house.

In February 2013, KNBC-TV Channel 4 was all over the story that retired Police Sgt. Paul Dostie and his miracle cadaver dog, Buster, had found “something” at the Sowden house in Hollywood that sort of, kind of, maybe proved that onetime occupant Dr. George Hodel killed someone, possibly Elizabeth Short, as claimed by retired LAPD Detective Steve Hodel. Steve Hodel has written extensively about how his father was an evil genius who committed virtually every unsolved murder in Los Angeles, invented the Edsel and Classic Coke. Oh, yes, and in his spare time he was Zodiac.  Soil samples were collected from the vicinity of the Sowden house and purportedly sent off for analysis.

If you read the fine print on the Buster the Wonder Dog stories, you discovered that the video that aired on Channel 4 was outtakes shot in November 2012 for the Syfy show “Ghost Hunters.” Syfy never aired the video. But February, after all, is a sweeps month, when TV stations  go on hyperdrive (emphasis on hype) to boost their Nielsen ratings because they determine ad rates and KNBC jumped all over the story.

So Buster’s cavorting at the Sowden house was all over the pop media and one-source news outlets a year ago.

To her credit, Pelisek was the only writer who had the smarts to ask Steve Hodel  when the results of the soil tests were going to be announced.

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Notice: “Soil samples were taken and results are expected next week.”

Those who pay attention to such things waited.

And waited.

And waited.

A week went by. Then two. Then a month. Then six months.

Finally on “Darkness Radio” on Nov. 5, 2013, on its “True Crime Tuesday” program,  Dostie said:

At that point we sent the samples off, and unfortunately we’ll probably not get analysis on that. (slight laugh) It’s been almost a year now. And it’s really unfortunate. But we can get some from outside…

When Steve Hodel says “soil analysis of dirt near a Hollywood home once occupied by his father contains markers of human remains,” I can’t imagine what he’s talking about. As far as I know, he and Dostie never got the results.

Another good story ruined.

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1944 on the Radio — Jack Benny, Fred Allen and ‘The Life of Riley,’ Feb. 13, 1944

Posted on February 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Feb. 13, 1944

It’s Sunday in 1944 and today we have:

— A broadcast from March Field on “The Jack Benny Show.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

—“The Fred Allen Show.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Victor Young and the Orchestra on “The John Charles Thomas Show.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Pabst Blue Ribbon presents “The Life of Riley.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Joan Fontaine, Fredric March, Jimmy Durante, Bidu Sayao, Alec Templeton, Lowell Thomas on “Radio Hall of Fame.” With Deems Taylor. Opening music “The Warsaw Concerto” conducted by Paul Whiteman.  Now that’s quite a lineup. Templeton is mostly forgotten today, except perhaps as the composer of the novelty “Bach Goes to Town,” which was recorded by Benny Goodman. In this show, he performs excerpts from Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with Whiteman conducting. Courtesy of Archive.org.

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And They Call Themselves Movie Writers?

Posted on February 12, 2014 by lmharnisch

Oh the howls and groans of my outraged movie friends (you know who you are) over some of the things being written about Shirley Temple.

I feel your pain. Really.

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1944 on the Radio — Frank Sinatra, Feb. 12, 1944

Posted on February 12, 2014 by lmharnisch

shoo-shoo-baby_crew
The crew of the B-24 Shoo-Shoo Baby, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Feb. 12, 1944

It’s Saturday in 1944 and today we have:

— Jim and his companions plan to blow up a Japanese airfield in “The Adventures of Jungle Jim.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— The Band of the Training Command of the Army Air Forces with Sgt. Johnny Desmond under the direction of Capt. Glenn Miller. “Jukebox Saturday Night!” Courtesy of Archive.org

— Gene Tierney is the guest on “Blue Ribbon Town,” with Groucho Marx. (poor audio quality). Courtesy of Archive.org.

— Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra with host Bob Hope on “Command Performance.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— “A Light in the Dark” on “The Green Hornet.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— “The Man Behind the Gun.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— “Missing: Harold Ascort” is another case for “Nick Carter: Master Detective.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

— “Your Hit Parade.” “Speak Low” by Frank Sinatra is ranked No. 8; No. 3 is “Mairzy Doats.”  No. 2 is “My Heart Tells Me.”

Frank Sinatra sings the No. 1 song, “Shoo-Shoo, Baby.”   Wow listen to all the screaming for Frank Sinatra! And that explains all the gags about the song for about the last month. Courtesy of Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ Feb. 12, 1944

Posted on February 12, 2014 by lmharnisch

Feb. 12, 1944, Walter Winchell

Feb. 12, 1944

New York Novelette: She was a waitress in a small Midwest hotel. Loved working there … Because her feller played in the band … One day a stranger offered her a screen test chance … She spurned it … She wanted to be near her Joe — hoping he’d ask her to marry him .. All uvasudden her Josephus wrote one of those screwy nonsensical national anathemas which periodically sweep the land … So he upped and left for the Big Burg … Leaving her behind, of course … Two months later, she followed her broken heart … In New York he bluntly told her that his plans did not include her. He said he was waiting for a movie agent who was bringing him a contract for Hollywood any moment — and would she please leave? … She found herself staggering down the hall toward the elevators, where out stepped the guy who offered the screen test back home! He recognized her and had no trouble selling Hollywood to her right there … You anticipate me … Her Joe still is waiting for the same agent with his movie contract — and wondering whatinell happened? … Shall we tell him?

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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Shirley Temple’s Tempest — Celebs Tee Off on Golf Course Over Star

Posted on February 11, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Jan. 27, 1950: It’s difficult to figure out exactly what happened at the Riviera Country Club between actor/golfer Joe Kirkwood Jr. and singer Johnny Johnston. At one time the men and their wives were very chummy, apparently. Then Shirley Temple divorced actor John Agar and there were rumors. Kirkwood and Johnston encountered each other at the Riviera, words were exchanged, etc., etc. Tracked down at a beauty parlor, Temple said she knew nothing about the incident and didn’t care.

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1944 in Print — ‘Walter Winchell on Broadway,’ Feb. 11, 1944

Posted on February 11, 2014 by lmharnisch

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Feb. 11, 1944: Sherman Billingsley, the Stork Club owner, has mike fright. Last year, frixample, he agreed to appear on “Duffy’s Tavern,” but at the last moment ran out, scared stiff. Ed Gardner went dizzy seeking a substitute, and was very irked with Mr. B, who said he’d rather pay plenty than appear on the radio.

The other day Paramount Pictures, which paid him $100,000 (just to use the two words “Stork Club” for a film title), reminded Billingsley that the fee also meant that he agreed not to permit the use of the name Stork Club on the radio — nor must Billingsley make any radio talks for the next seven years. Haw!

The Rankinese: Cong. Rankin, who will go down (away down) in the history books for belittling foreign-sounding names, is reminded of the 100 percent American name of Rep. Jeanette Rankin — the only member of Congress who refused to vote for the war against Japan — the day after Pearl Harbor.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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