On the Set With Preston Sturges, March 20, 1944

Posted on March 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

Rosalind Shaffer is not byline I recognize. She filed this feature on Preston Sturges, published in the St. Petersburg Times, March 20, 1944.

Here’s a bonus fact: Shaffer helped found the Hollywood Women’s Press Club.

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1944 in Print — Walter Winchell on Broadway, March 20, 1944

Posted on March 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 20, 1944, Walter Winchell

March 20, 1944

Portraits of Patriots

Jerome Hartman: 44-year-old lieutenant commander U.S.N… Hails from Dayton, Ohio … When World War I was over, he became a resident M.D. at the veterans’ hospital in Ohio. For five years, he devoted himself to the care of our wounded soldiers … When World War II came along, he enlisted in the Navy and was assigned, as an observer, to the British flat-top Illustrious.” … The carrier sailed into the Mediterranean, where in battle it was bombed unmercifully. There was no obligation on the part of Cmdr. Hartman to risk his safety. But, without asking questions, he changed his battle station to top deck where, oblivious of bombs, he treated every sailor he found wounded … For this extraordinary “heroism in tending wounded men” this American was decorated by the British government.

John Rankin: Congressman from Miss., appeaser, Negro-and-alien baiter, obstructionist, anti-Semite and darling of native Fascists … In June ’41 he outraged Congress with a vicious attack on minorities. On representative, deeply shocked, answered him, walked out into the lobby, collapsed and died … This Rankin dared to tell Congress that “slavery was the greatest blessing the Negro ever had” … In April ’43 he declared on the House floor that the plan to “Beat Hitler First” was suicidal … He admitted hiding some of his expenses by keeping his wife on the congressional payroll for $3,250 a year as his private secretary, though she did not work in his office.

From the St. Petersburg Times.

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LAPD Scrapbook: Convict Describes Killing by L.A. Cop, Daily News, June 7, 1949

Posted on March 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

June 7, 1949, Daily News

June 7, 1949, Daily News

Here’s another front page that was saved in the LAPD scrapbooks at the city archives. This is the Daily News from June 7, 1949.

Notice the bizarre byline: Will O’Wisp. I can’t recall seeing a fake byline on a news story before. The Times used to publish political items by “The Watchman,” but that’s a bit different.

Note to people making 1940s L.A. gangster pictures (this means you, “Gangster Squad”): Our young hooligans used a burp gun rather than an old-fashioned Thompson submachine gun.

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1944 on the Radio — Jack Benny and Fred Allen, March 19, 1944

Posted on March 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 19, 1944

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

— “The Jack Benny Show.” Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org

—“The Texaco Star Theater” with Fred Allen. Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org.

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World War II on the Radio, March 19, 1944

Posted on March 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

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March 19, 1944

— CBS’ “World News Today” reports on Allied bombing of Germany and the battle for Cassino. “This is still a battle of yard by yard annihilation.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

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1944 in Print — Hollywood Gossip by Louella Parsons, March 19, 1944

Posted on March 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

March 19, 1944, Ramsay Ames

March 19, 1944, Louella Parsons

March 19, 1944

It was old home week when I visited the first lady of the theater, Ethel Barrymore, on the “None but the Lonely Heart” set.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel.

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LAPD Scrapbook: June 16, 1949

Posted on March 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

June 16, 1949, Los Angeles Examiner

June 16, 1949, Los Angeles Examiner

I recently visited the city archives and thanks to archivist Michael Holland, I learned that the LAPD kept scrapbooks in the 1940s. Not all years are represented, unfortunately, but the department apparently subscribed to a clipping service at one point.

This front page is from the June 16, 1949, Los Angeles Examiner with a headline about the Brenda Allen scandal.  Notice that this is the 9 a.m. final. Like all newspapers of that era, the Examiner had multiple editions through the day. I mention this because newspapers today have one edition, so the idea of tearing up a page several times over the course of a day is unfamiliar.  My impression is that this edition wasn’t delivered to homes (that would be an earlier edition) but was sold on newsstands.

And to save you the trouble of looking, there’s nothing about the Black Dahlia case in the scrapbook for 1947. Not a single clipping was saved. The most you may find is a few stories about the Leslie Dillon fiasco in the 1949 scrapbook.

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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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