1944 in Print — Life Magazine, Jan. 24, 1944

Posted on January 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

Jan. 24, 1944, Life Magazine

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.

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Photography, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on 1944 in Print — Life Magazine, Jan. 24, 1944

1944 on the Radio — ‘Casablanca’ on ‘Lux Radio Theater,’ Jan. 24, 1944

Posted on January 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944
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.

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Radio | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Reader Survey — Part 4

Posted on January 24, 2014 by lmharnisch

Final Thoughts

These were the most popular words in the final comments of the reader survey.

 

OK, here are some final comments and responses:

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, History, Hollywood | Tagged , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Reader Survey — Part 4

How to Run Musicmatch Jukebox on Windows 8

Posted on January 23, 2014 by lmharnisch

Musicmatch Jukebox

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).

Posted in Music | Tagged , | 8 Comments

1944 on the Radio — ‘The Great Gildersleeve’ and ‘The Jack Benny Show,’ Jan. 23, 1944

Posted on January 23, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

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

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Radio, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 1944 on the Radio — ‘The Great Gildersleeve’ and ‘The Jack Benny Show,’ Jan. 23, 1944

L.A. Daily Mirror Reader Survey — Part 3

Posted on January 23, 2014 by lmharnisch

image

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.

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, History, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

1944 on Radio — ‘Command Performance,’ Jan. 22, 1944

Posted on January 22, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

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.

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Radio, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 1944 on Radio — ‘Command Performance,’ Jan. 22, 1944

L.A. Daily Mirror Reader Survey — Part 2

Posted on January 22, 2014 by lmharnisch

L.A. Daily Mirror Reader Survey

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.

Continue reading →

Posted in History, Hollywood | Tagged | 7 Comments

1944 on the Radio — ‘Amos ‘N’ Andy,’ Jan. 21, 1944

Posted on January 21, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

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

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Radio, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on 1944 on the Radio — ‘Amos ‘N’ Andy,’ Jan. 21, 1944

L.A. Daily Mirror Reader Survey — Part 1

Posted on January 21, 2014 by lmharnisch

L.A. Daily Mirror Reader Survey

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.

Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged | 1 Comment

Jetpack — A New Technical Problem

Posted on January 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

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.

Posted in Film | Tagged | Comments Off on Jetpack — A New Technical Problem

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + +)

Posted on January 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

Jan. 20, 2014, Mystery Photo

And for Monday, we have a mystery woman in some sort of legal unpleasantness.

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 49 Comments

1944 on the Radio — ‘Challenge of the Yukon’ and ‘Ellery Queen,’ Jan. 20, 1944

Posted on January 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

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.

Posted in 1944, Music, Radio, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on 1944 on the Radio — ‘Challenge of the Yukon’ and ‘Ellery Queen,’ Jan. 20, 1944

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Joseph Farnham, Script Doctor

Posted on January 20, 2014 by lmharnisch

Joseph Farnham
Joseph Farnham in an undated photo, courtesy of Mary Mallory.


Title writers are the mostly forgotten men of the silent film era, the scribes who relayed important plot points and character arcs through witty or descriptive lines employed on cards throughout a silent film. These bon mots weren’t just witty throwaways, they were often the glue that held disparate skits or weak plots together and made them coherent to screen audiences. Their resuscitation work revived flat films, and invigorated well-made ones.

Large, friendly, talented Joseph White Farnham ranks as one of the top title writers of the 1920s, the only winner of the Academy Award for title writing issued by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Farnham possessed great experience and skill in all types of writing and film production, helping his beloved movie industry develop into a major economic powerhouse by the 1930s.

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

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

1944 on the Radio — ‘Superman,’ Jan. 19, 1944

Posted on January 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

Jan. 19, 1944

It’s Wednesday in 1944 and today, we have one of the few “Superman” episodes I can find online.

— “The Green Death,” on “Superman.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Radio, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on 1944 on the Radio — ‘Superman,’ Jan. 19, 1944

1944 on the Radio — ‘All-American Jazz Band’ and ‘Fibber McGee and Molly,’ Jan. 18, 1944

Posted on January 18, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

Jan. 18, 1944

It’s Tuesday in 1944 and today we have:

— “Molly Gets Flowers From a Man Named Ralph” on “Fibber McGee and Molly.”

—Esquire’s “All-American Jazz Band” from the Metropolitan Opera House. This is a terrific find. The audio quality is fairly decent for the 1940s and look at the personnel. The announced performers are singer Billie Holiday; drums, Sid Catlett; trombone: Jack Teagarden; clarinet: Barney Bigard, saxophone: Coleman Hawkins, trumpet: Roy Eldridge. Other online sources also  list Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, Red Norvo, Lionel Hampton, Oscar Pettiford, Al Casey and Mildred Bailey.

Here’s the mp3 version in case your browser doesn’t have a plug-in for the ogg format.

Both recordings courtesy of Archive.org.

Posted in 1944, Music, Radio, World War II | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

No mystery photo today

Posted on January 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

Look for it next week!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

1944 in Print — Life Magazine, Jan. 17, 1944

Posted on January 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

Jan. 17, 1944, Life Magazine

Jan. 17, 1944: Charles Beard, American historian, is featured on this week’s cover. There’s also a feature on cartoonist Bill Mauldin  and the movie “A Guy Named Joe.” All scanned by Google.

Posted in 1944, History, Hollywood, Photography, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on 1944 in Print — Life Magazine, Jan. 17, 1944

1944 on the Radio — ‘Information Please’ and ‘Screen Guild Theater,’ on Jan. 17, 1944

Posted on January 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

Jan. 17, 1944

It’s Monday in 1944 and today we have:

—“Information Please” hosted by Clifton Fadiman, with John Kieran, Franklin P. Adams, Oscar Levant and guest John P. Marquand, author of the current best-seller “So Little Time.” Bonus fact: The Republican and Democratic national conventions will be held in Chicago this year. Courtesy of Archive.org

—“I Love You Again” on “Screen Guild Theater,” with William Powell, Paulette Goddard and Charles Winninger. Courtesy of Archive.org

—“Hop Harrigan.”  Courtesy of Archive.org.

Posted in 1944, Film, Hollywood, Music, Radio | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 1944 on the Radio — ‘Information Please’ and ‘Screen Guild Theater,’ on Jan. 17, 1944

What to Expect in 1944

Posted on January 17, 2014 by lmharnisch

Jan. 1, 1945, Happy New Year

Jan. 1, 1945, Stories of the Year

Jan. 1, 1945: We jumped ahead to see what The Times considered the top stories of 1944, the year we’re going to focus on in 2014. The D-Day (current Times style being D-day) invasion is the most important story, followed by what we now know as the Battle of the Bulge.

Times columnist Tom Treanor is killed in August during the liberation of France.

Spanish will be taught in all grades at Los Angeles schools (Aug. 27).

Esther Takei, the first Japanese American to return to Los Angeles from an internment camp, arrives to enroll in college.  (Sept. 11).

Movies for 1944: “Going My Way,” “Double Indemnity” and “Wilson.”

Continue reading →

Posted in 1944, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on What to Expect in 1944