After watching a crew build the forms and a couple of cement trucks pouring the concrete, I finally saw the completed concrete house at 747 S. Los Robles Ave. in Pasadena. Unfortunately, it’s not clear who designed the house.
And here’s a closer view.
The home is listed at $2.5 million, according to Zillow.
And for Monday, we have a mystery gent.
Update: One of the many things that is notable about Akira Kurosawa’s “I Live in Fear” (1955) is how much the actors disappear into their characters. Burt Lancaster, for all his talent, is always Burt Lancaster. But as Michael Ryerson pointed out, Toshiro Mifune is barely recognizable as the paranoid industrialist Kiichi Nakajima, who wants to uproot his family (and his mistresses and their children — ahem) and move them to Brazil because he’s afraid of another atomic attack.
The same is true for Takashi Shimura, better known as the leader of the “Seven Samurai.” In “I Live in Fear,” he plays a rather meek, humble dentist who is a mediator in family disputes.
Monday’s mystery gent, Toranosuke Ogawa, also appears in “Seven Samurai,” but in a small role. Likewise, Thursday’s mystery fellow, Minoru Chiaki, appeared in many Kurosawa films, including “Stray Dog,” Rashomon” and “Throne of Blood.”
The Cedric Gibbons home, via Google Street View.
Celebrity has often been the cachet for creating style, fashion and cultural trends, especially with the advent of films. Stars wearing a particular designer’s couture, driving a certain car, or a female star wearing pants, started tongues wagging and led average citizens to try to copy their style. Movies themselves fashioned popular trends in music, style and even architecture.
The gorgeous jewel box of a home belonging to 11-time Academy Award-winner MGM art director Cedric Gibbons and his wife, actress Dolores Del Rio, epitomizes Hollywood glamour, and still stands as one of the outstanding examples of home as art in Hollywood. All sleek lines and geometric patterns, it stands as a Streamline-Moderne masterpiece, the perfect representation of one of Gibbons’ MGM luxurious set designs come to life.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
Jan. 26, 1944: “Flo Ash” is one of my favorite names from 1940s Los Angeles. In 1940, she sued the Florentine Gardens and producer Nils T. Granlund over use of the nickname “Cutest Little Nudist.”
Jan. 26, 1944
It’s Wednesday in 1944 and today we have:
— “The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. North,” sponsored by Woodbury’s Facial Soap, for “the skin you love to touch.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— Groucho Marx on the first program of “Orson Welles’ Almanac,” sponsored by Mobil Gas and Oil. Listen to Welles deliver the horoscope! Courtesy of Archive.org.
Jan. 26, 1944: A brief BBC excerpt, courtesy of Archive.org.
Jan. 25, 1944
It’s Tuesday in 1944 and today we have:
— “The Adventures of the Sea Hound” with Capt. Silver and Jerry. Seems that everybody knows the “secret death hold.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— “Dining Out to Celebrate” on “Fibber McGee and Molly.” This show marks the appearance of Beulah. Be sure to use Johnson’s wax on your snow shovels! Courtesy of Archive.org.
— Deems Taylor (who was on “Information Please yesterday) is the guest on “Duffy’s Tavern.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
— “Elizabeth of Austria” on Romance, from WABC New York. Courtesy of Archive.org.
— “Vic and Sade,” brought to you by Crisco. Courtesy of Archive.org.
Jan. 24, 1944: Margaret Sullavan gets the cover photo this week. Inside is Margaret Bourke-White’s feature on the rehabilitation of Naples and the movie is “Destination Tokyo.” Courtesy of Google.
January 24, 1944
It’s Monday in 1944 and today we have:
—“Information Please,” hosted by Clifton Fadiman, with John Kieran, Franklin P. Adams, Elizabeth Janeway — author of the bestseller “The Walsh Girls” — and music critic Deems Taylor. I invite the Brain Trust to try these questions. They can be tough! Courtesy of Archive.org
—“Casablanca,” starring Alan Ladd as Rick and Hedy Lamarr, on “Lux Radio Theatre.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
—“Stolen Patrol Car” on “Hop Harrigan.” Courtesy of Archive.org.
These were the most popular words in the final comments of the reader survey.
OK, here are some final comments and responses:
I can’t be the only one who is frustrated that Musicmatch Jukebox won’t run on Windows 8. At least version 10 won’t run. But As you can see, Version 7.1 will install if you run the installation program in Windows 98 compatibility mode and run MMJB in Windows XP mode. Musicmatch launched just as Windows 8 was telling me that it wouldn’t run. Ha!
You may be asking yourself: “Gosh, Larry, where can I get Musicmatch Jukebox 7.1? It’s from 2002!!” I happened to have a copy because I’m a pack rat. But alas, Musicmatch Jukebox is long discontinued, so getting a copy now might be problematic. If you Google it, you may be able to find a version. Good luck!
And why would I want to run this ancient software? Because, among other things, it includes a first-rate digital recorder.
Next I’ll be hunting a CP/M emulator so I can run WordStar. (Just kidding).
Jan. 23, 1944
It’s Sunday in 1944 and today we have:
— Harold Peary stars in “Does Leroy Need a Mother?” another episode of “The Great Gildersleeve.” Courtesy of Archive.org
— Jack Benny performs at the Army airfield at Muroc, Calif., on the “Jack Benny Show.” “Shoo-Shoo, Baby” makes its third appearance, this time it’s sung by Rochester. Courtesy of Archive.org
And here’s where we try to get a handle on where to focus for 2014:
The top interest among Daily Mirror readers is film, followed by famous crimes (unsolved and solved), then preservation, architecture, television, LAPD/law enforcement, other, theater and fashion.
Jan. 22, 1944
It’s Saturday in 1944 and today we have:
— Bob Hope, Benny Goodman and Deanna Durbin appear in “Command Performance,” an Armed Forces Services Radio program. The program is dated January, but there are lots of jokes about Valentine’s Day. Hm. Courtesy of Archive.org.
In one segment of the survey, I asked readers what other websites they visited. Interestingly enough, the Los Angeles Times was the top website, followed by IMDB, the New York Times, Wikipedia (ahem), L.A. Observed, Curbed L.A., the Daily Beast, L.A. Weekly, L.A. Morgue Files, She Blogged by Night, LAist, Franklin Avenue, Dodger Thoughts, Nitrateville, Self-Styled Siren and the Fedora Lounge.
I neglected to ask about the SkyscraperCity blog, which sends some traffic my way.
Jan. 21, 1944
It’s Friday in 1944 and today we have:
—Charles Boyer is the guest star on “Amos ‘N’ Andy.” Courtesy of Archive.org
Last month, the Daily Mirror polled readers for the first time. The responses were gratifying (thank you) and interesting. Of course, this is an opt-in poll, so it’s not as reliable as one of the more formal, scientific polls, but it’s interesting even so.
WordPress is making it difficult to post today. Apparently my jetpack header is malformed.
I uploaded the mystery photo the old-fashioned Windows95 way, but posting will be light until WordPress gets it fixed.
Jan. 20, 1944
It’s Thursday in 1944 and today we have:
— “Macbeth’s Bloody Knife” on “Challenge of the Yukon” (later “Sgt. Preston of the Yukon”).
— “The Scarecrow and the Snowman” on “Ellery Queen” with guest Jeanne Cagney.
Courtesy of Archive.org.
ladailymirror.com 