Wikipedia: Murder and Myth — Part 17

Posted on May 21, 2013 by lmharnisch

Wikipedia -- Wallace Beery

In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery — alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy — as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths.

We have been backtracking the source for the Wikipedia entries (the ones that cited a source, anyway), E.J. Fleming’s “The Fixers.” From there, we went to one of Fleming’s sources, Jeff and Tom Forrester’s “The Three Stooges.”

Among many other problems, we found that it was impossible, as claimed in “The Three Stooges,” for Ted Healy to have made phone calls to various people describing his attack by Wallace Beery et al, for the simple reason that two men who dealt with Healy that night — including the doctor who treated his cuts — said he had no idea who had hit him.

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AP via The Telegraph, Dec. 22, 1937

Let me repeat that: Healy had no idea who hit him.

None.

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: 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

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition VIII (Updated +++)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by lmharnisch

2013_0520_mystery_photo

Once again, we find newsboy caps in nefarious surroundings — note the presence of a slot machine in the background.

Wonderful_Chance_glass_slide

Mary Mallory sends along a glass slide from her collection. Thanks, Mary!

How to Wear a Hat — Newsboy Cap Edition
How to Wear a Hat — ‘Grapes of Wrath’ Edition
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition I
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition II
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition III
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition IV
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition V
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition VI
Movieland Mystery Photo — Newsboy Cap Edition VII
How to Wear a Newsboy Cap — Marc Chevalier Edition

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Posted in Fashion, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 29 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Ned Sparks — Hollywood Grouch

Posted on May 20, 2013 by lmharnisch


Ned Sparks
Ned Sparks in “George White’s 1935 Scandals.” Photo courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Throughout the history of film, many supporting players have functioned as the spine or safety chord upon which motion pictures have been built. Making the most of sometimes tiny bits, these men and women added a dash of pepper to proceedings, or helped define exactly how audiences should feel. Players like Franklin Pangborn, Charles Butterworth, Guy Kibbee and Ned Sparks always enlivened proceedings.

As the April 7, 1935, Los Angeles Times noted, stock players “are the less publicized heroes who appear in support of the stars, and, through the excellence of their “type” portrayals, often save pictures and frequently steal them…. They command good salaries, may only work a week on a picture, but are considered indispensable by casting directors.”

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Answering Michael Rosenblum: What IS a Library?

Posted on May 18, 2013 by lmharnisch

Michael Rosenblum

A fellow named Michael Rosenblum, whom I have never encountered before, has written a Huffington Post essay on libraries and meanders about on the idea that Google has made them obsolete. Mind you, this is not a direct point — indeed his inability to make a direct point or formulate a cohesive argument is abundant proof of his statement that:

Even though I lived right across the street from it [the Donnell Library in New York] for many years, I never went inside. I never sat in its reading room. I never checked out a book. I never explored its stacks to go through old volumes of bound periodicals in some research project.

Rosenblum is, as you will note from the screen capture, a TV guy and perhaps he can be forgiven for his preference for the Internet and indifference toward libraries. The information available on the Web can be illuminating or just a bunch of claptrap the cat dragged in. Not necessarily up to snuff for the conscientious researcher, but perfectly adequate for what I will politely call the less rigorous standards of television.

But in trying to distill Rosenblum’s thoughts, it seems that he doesn’t like libraries as he remembers them from his long-ago college days — nor does he like what they are becoming.

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Posted in History, Libraries | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth — Part 16

Posted on May 17, 2013 by lmharnisch

Wikipedia -- Wallace Beery

In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery — alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy — as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths.

We have been backtracking the source for the Wikipedia entries (the ones that cited a source, anyway), E.J. Fleming’s “The Fixers.” From there, we went to one of Fleming’s sources, Jeff and Tom Forrester’s “The Three Stooges.” In “The Three Stooges,” we found that Sammy Wolfe, an alleged eyewitness  in the “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” yarn, was an unreliable informant. Wolfe claimed to have been at the Trocadero on the night the alleged beating occurred, but was “guessing” about many details.

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: 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

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Voices — Anne Knudsen

Posted on May 16, 2013 by lmharnisch

anne_knudsen_mike_mullen

March 9, 2013: Former Herald Examiner photographers Anne Knudsen and Mike Mullen at the Herald Examiner Building. Photo courtesy of Mike Mullen.

I recently wrote a column about a reunion of Herald Examiner photographers only to discover that one of them, Anne Knudsen, had died the day before the column ran. She referred to having “chemo hair” during the panel but I had no idea of her long battle with cancer.

I’m not aware of an online obituary yet, but the San Francisco Chronicle did a nice feature in January on Anne and her 15-year-old daughter, Courtney.

Here’s a recording of her comments at the reunion.

Posted in Obituaries, Photography | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Voices — Anne Knudsen

‘Gangster Squad’: Fail — Part 3

Posted on May 16, 2013 by lmharnisch

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In responding to my post on “Gangster Squad,” Earl Boebert raised the interesting question about whether officers used a one-handed or two-handed grip in the 1940s.

LAPD_pistol_range_the_badge

For comparison, here’s a picture from Jack Webb’s “The Badge” (1958) showing LAPD cadets at the pistol range using a one-handed grip. Feet apart, knees bent, in a slight crouch.

Posted in 1949, 1958, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | 9 Comments

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth – Part 15

Posted on May 16, 2013 by lmharnisch

Wikipedia -- Wallace Beery

In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery – alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy – as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths.

We have been backtracking the source for the Wikipedia entries (the ones that cited a source, anyway), E.J. Fleming’s “The Fixers.” From there, we went to one of Fleming’s sources, Jeff and Tom Forrester’s “The Three Stooges.” In “The Three Stooges,” we found that Sammy Wolfe, an alleged eyewitness  in the “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” yarn, was an unreliable informant. Wolfe claimed to have been at the Trocadero on the night the alleged beating occurred, but was wrong about a key detail and was “guessing” about many others.

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: 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

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Wikipedia: Murder and Myth – Part 15

Wikipedia Revert War: Wallace Beery vs. Ted Healy, Round 9

Posted on May 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

Wikipedia -- Wallace Beery

Folks have been busy on the Ted Healy entry!  Will clarity emerge? We can only hope.

Ted Healy, Wikipedia

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black Dahlia: What Is the Address of the Crime Scene?

Posted on May 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

I received a query yesterday from someone at Los Angeles magazine wanting to know the address on South Norton Avenue where the body of Elizabeth Short was found.

The crime scene is usually given as “39th and Norton,” the nearest cross streets, which appears in the original news reports and was picked up by James Ellroy in “The Black Dahlia.” In fact, years ago, one poor soul wrote an Internet post – in a very poor imitation of the hard-boiled style – about flying into LAX, renting a car and driving to 39th and Norton, assuming that he had been at the spot where the body of Elizabeth Short was found. And of course, he missed it entirely.

As I told this individual from Los Angeles magazine, I never give out the address due to consideration for the homeowners. The place where Elizabeth Short was found is now someone’s frontyard.

I have always been wary of giving out the address, but having some fringe dweller from the Cacophony Society lie down in the grass for a picture during a tour years ago (after we told people to behave themselves) confirmed my resolution to never tell anybody where it is.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, History | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth — Part 14

Posted on May 15, 2013 by lmharnisch

Wikipedia -- Wallace Beery

In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery – alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy – as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths.

We are in the middle of looking at Sammy Wolfe’s account of the “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” story after examining whether Wolfe was a reliable source and determining that he wasn’t.

——————–
Correction: (April 21, 2025) The account in “The Three Stooges” says Ted Healy was hit “right in the side of the head,” rather than “in the right side of the head.”
——————–

Here’s what he says in Jeff and Tom Forrester’s “The Three Stooges”:

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: 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

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth – Part 13

Posted on May 14, 2013 by lmharnisch

Wikipedia -- Wallace Beery

In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery – alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy – as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths.

As we enter the third week of our examination of the “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” tale, a legitimate question might be how much longer we’re going to spend on it. Remember I cautioned at the beginning that this is a time-consuming process, which is why I don’t do it very often. But there is no other way to dissect something questionable except a paragraph at a time.

Today we are going to continue looking at Sammy Wolfe, a main informant in Jeff and Tom Forrester’s “The Three Stooges,” which has an account of the alleged incident predating “The Fixers” and which author E.J. Fleming cites in footnotes.

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated +++)

Posted on May 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

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And for Monday, we have a mystery switchboard operator.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Vice to Nice – Cigarette Cards

Posted on May 13, 2013 by lmharnisch

Cigarette Cards Front

 Cigarette Cards Back

A cigarette card of Boots Mallory, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

From the beginning of time, people have collected things, be it books, coins or people, in order to feel important, to be connected, to grow and to learn. Through the 1800s, most collectors were wealthy, acquiring great art collections, libraries and horses, both as a way to diversify their wealth and to demonstrate superior knowledge about a subject. Marketing and merchandising soon opened the joys of collecting to those of more modest means.

As Maurice Rickard notes in “The Encyclopedia of Ephemera,” “Cigarette cards were among the first items of ephemera to be produced specifically for collecting.” Several historians point to tobacco tycoon James Buchanan Duke brainstorming the idea of employing them as a marketing tool in the mid-1880s to sell more cigarettes.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Gangster Squad’: Fail — Part 2 (Updated)

Posted on May 12, 2013 by lmharnisch

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“Inspired by a True Story” is movie shorthand for “what you’re about to see is all b.s.”

Much against my better judgment, I forced myself to watch “Gangster Squad” again when it came out on DVD and “on demand.” Not that I expected it to improve. In fact, a second viewing (and I after the first 20 minutes I was fast-forwarding and pausing at the more egregious parts) merely highlights its many, many flaws.

‘Gangster Squad’ Fail: Part 1

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Posted in 1949, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Was Coleman Harris From ‘Gangster Squad’ a Real Person?

Posted on May 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

'Gangster Squad"

Josh Brolin, left, as Sgt. John O’Mara with Anthony Mackie as Officer Coleman Harris in “Gangster Squad.” Drinking in uniform in a nightclub while on duty? I don’t think so.

Now that “Gangster Squad” is out on DVD and available “on demand,” I’m getting more questions about the film’s historical accuracy. Executive summary: There is almost none.

“Was Coleman Harris from ‘Gangster Squad’ a real person?” No. The LAPD in the 1940s was strictly segregated and its so-called gangster squad had no African American officers.

In fact, Mayor Tom Bradley,  a former LAPD sergeant, said in a 1978 interview:

Dec. 29, 1978, Tom Bradley Dec. 29, 1978, Tom Bradley

Posted in 1949, African Americans, Film, Hollywood, LAPD | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Wikipedia Revert War: Wallace Beery vs. Ted Healy, Round 8

Posted on May 11, 2013 by lmharnisch

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Wikipedia: Now you see it, now you don’t. The story is gone — at least for today. DoctorJoeE has been busy updating the Wallace Beery and Ted Healy entries.

Having been involved with Wikipedia for years, however, I would bet that another “citizen scholar” will restore the material eventually. Thus is the nature of Wikipedia:  No matter how many times you fix it, someone will come along and break it all over again.

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Wikipedia Revert War: Wallace Beery vs. Ted Healy, Round 7

Posted on May 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

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Wrapping up our third week (well, I did warn you that this would be long and tedious) of looking at the “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” yarn here’s where we stand:

Our friend DoctorJoeE has been at work on the Wallace Beery entry and  I have to applaud Doc. This is how Wikipedia is supposed to work:

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth — Part 12

Posted on May 10, 2013 by lmharnisch

Wikipedia -- Wallace Beery

In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery — alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy — as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths.

Here’s a statement that I had bypassed earlier.

Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11

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Wikipedia Revert War: Wallace Beery vs. Ted Healy, Round 6

Posted on May 9, 2013 by lmharnisch

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And here is where we get to one of Wikipedia’s great amusements: long, turgid squabbles over the content of a post. (The protracted, impassioned rag chew over whether the entry should be titled “Black Dahlia” or “The Black Dahlia” remains a classic.)

This exchange involves DoctorJoeE, Geni and Finkellium, and watch them duke it out, folks.  Am I the only one to notice the irony of a Wikipedia “citizen scholar” insisting that an old-school printed book can’t be challenged by what one finds online?

I particularly like the line about “The Fixers” being “meticulously researched,” considering all the holes I have shot in it.

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Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments