Eve Golden on ‘The Best of Everything’

Posted on April 3, 2012 by lmharnisch

Oct. 9, 1959: The Best of Everything

Oct. 9, 1959: “The Best of Everything” opens at the Chinese Theatre.

If you’re an Eve Golden fan (and aren’t we all?) you’ll enjoy reading her article on “The Best of Everything” in The Modern.

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood | Tagged | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo – Newsboy Cap Edition IV [Updated +++]

Posted on April 2, 2012 by lmharnisch

Mystery Photo

Yes, it’s another newsboy cap edition of the mystery photo.

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
How to Wear a Newsboy Cap – Marc Chevalier Edition

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

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 21

Posted on April 2, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Full Service"

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge.

I am still on Bowers’ account of his first purported tryst in Los Angeles and this is what we have so far: In 1946, in the days before cars had air conditioning, Walter Pidgeon is motoring around Hollywood on a miserably hot day with the windows in his car rolled up. Pidgeon — a prominent movie star and board member of the Screen Actors Guild — picks up a total stranger at a gas station for some gay sex, offering to pay $20 ($233.50 USD 2012).

He and Bowers head up Benedict Canyon Drive to a house occupied by Jacob/Jack/Jacques Potts, allegedly across the street from Harold Lloyd’s estate – which is actually 0.2 of a mile away

Walter Pidgeon (actual age 46) was “at least fifty,” according to Bowers.

Jacob/Jack/Jacques Potts (actual age 70) “could have been a bit older,” according to Bowers.

In other words, questionable if not outright wrong.

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: 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

Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on April 2, 2012 by lmharnisch

hearse_1984_cadillac_haunted

A 1984 Cadillac hearse, which the vendor says may be haunted, has been listed on EBay at $520 – with a reserve.

Queen of the Dead – dateline April 2, 2012

•  This damn well better not be an obit, but I read this week that the 107-year-old show biz bible Variety has been put up for sale by the Dutch and British conglomerate Reed Elsevier. The Intranets done kil’t it, of course, and as far as I am concerned Peter Bart (editor from 1989-2009) did it no favors by decimating the obituary section. Variety’s obit section used to be the industry’s bulletin board: it covered not just the big stars—as it still does today—but bit players, behind-the-scenes people, and even their relatives. The best chunk of cash I ever spent was on a complete set of the bound Variety Obits, 1905-1988. My preferred bedside reading.

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Posted in Animals, Eve Golden, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Obituaries, Queen of the Dead, Television | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Found on EBay – Batchelder Fireplace

Posted on March 31, 2012 by lmharnisch

Batchelder Fireplace

A (mostly) complete Batchelder fireplace that was salvaged – if that’s the right term – from a Catholic school in Wisconsin has been listed on EBay. The vendor says: “There were a few ornate carved animal 4″x4″ tiles that i DON’T have. But you could either eliminate them or buy the artsy ones that you like from Ebay.”

Bidding starts at $20. Really. But there is a reserve.

Posted in Architecture, Batchelder Tile, Found on EBay, Preservation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Downtown L.A., 1946

Posted on March 31, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Down to Earth"

View Down to Earth in a larger map

After yesterday’s post on the Black Dahlia and downtown Los Angeles at night, I pulled together a map while watching the process shots filmed for “Down to Earth.” Google, unfortunately, wiped out some of the addresses and time stamps. And WordPress hates anything that’s embedded, hence the screen shot.

The film car made four passes, taking both sides of the street, starting around 5th Street and Olive, heading south on Olive, east on 8th Street and ending up between Los Angeles Street and Maple Avenue. Because the film was shot at night, it’s hard to make out the details.

Notice the number of police officers (including a black and white and what appears to be a three-wheeled Servi-Car). There seems to have been an Owl Drug Store on every corner!  Notice the number of furriers at the time – and the marquee of the Olympic Theatre.

The locations are approximate and in some instances I couldn’t make out the signs. Enjoy!

Posted in 1946, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on March 30, 2012 by lmharnisch

Mystery Photo

This will be too easy, but after Geene Courtney, I thought I should pick something everybody will recognize.

Yes, everyone recognized this as Janet Gaynor’s feet in “A Star Is Born.” Ed was first, followed by Michael Ryerson, Mary Mallory, Jenny M, Julie Merholz, Gary Martin, Benito, Dewey Webb, Craig Deco, Eve, Cindy Walters, L.C., Jo Anne, Rance Ryan, Herb Nicholas, Pat in Michigan, Karen, Barbara Klein, Roget-L.A., Norman Desmond and Don Danard. Bill Krieger wins for most original answer.

There are some fun location shots in the film. Here are a few:

Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , | 28 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, MIA Edition

Posted on March 30, 2012 by lmharnisch

You might be wondering: Where’s the next post on Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service?”

I have been busy with other tasks. I was asked to write a column for The Times and was happy to profile Ed Fuentes. Here’s the story: “A vibrant voice chronicles the renaissance of downtown L.A.”

I have also been busy on an ambitious project (no, it has nothing to do with the Black Dahlia) that I can’t reveal until it’s officially rolled out, which I expect to happen in the next week.

So many stories, only one Larry Harnisch. And thanks for your patience!

(And to the individual who responded to one of my previous “Full Service” posts to assure me that 70-year-olds are sexually active: You are an inspiration to us all.)

Posted in 1946, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Black Dahlia and Downtown L.A. at Night, 1946

Posted on March 29, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Down to Earth"

"Down to Earth"

Photo: Man with a slate in footage shot for “Down to Earth.”

My friends over at the 1947project have found some process footage that was filmed about April 1946 for the Columbia feature “Down to Earth.”

It’s unfortunate that they are hyping it as an eerie foreshadowing of the Black Dahlia case,   allegedly tracing Elizabeth Short’s path on the night she disappeared, purportedly walking from the Biltmore to the Crown Grill. In truth, nobody knows for certain where she went or what she did.

The Crown Jewel Cocktail Room (also known as the the Crown Jewel Grill, the Crown Grill and the Crown Grill Cocktail Lounge), 427 W. 8th St., was just another downtown bar where people thought they had seen Elizabeth Short. There is a shadow  — but only a shadow — of truth because her roommate Ann Toth sometimes met her boyfriend there.

But there’s nothing in any official records to confirm that Elizabeth Short ever set foot in the place, despite a fairly extensive investigation by the district attorney’s office. And it is less than honest to present such a statement so definitively and without attribution.

Downtown L.A. in color | black and white version

But the footage of downtown Los Angeles is worth a look:

Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Preservation, Theaters | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Explosion in Caltech Secret Project Kills 1, Injures 6

Posted on March 28, 2012 by lmharnisch

March 28, 1942, comics

March 28, 1942, Caltech Blast
March 28, 1942: A fiery explosion during a secret experiment at the Kellogg Radiation Laboratory kills Raymond L. Robey and injures six others. Robey was thrown 50 feet by the force of the explosion, which scorched the four-story building, The Times said.

Charles Cummins, one of three telephone workers who were repairing a cable outside the building, was credited with helping to pull Robey from the laboratory. The Times later reported that before he died, Robey told investigators he didn’t know what caused the explosion, which was ruled an accident.

Hollywood Boulevard osteopath William H. Kanner is charged with performing an abortion after aircraft worker Delmar Marshall, 24, attacked him with a monkey wrench and accused him of making improper advances to his wife, Louise, 19. Kanner denied performing an abortion and said he had been treating the woman for an infection. Pharmacist Milton Niemitz was also charged for allegedly recommending Kanner to the Marshalls.

On Main Street, “Valley of the Nudists” is at the Liberty and the Aztec has an “All Colored Revue.”

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Abortion, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Hollywood | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Eve Golden and John Gilbert, a Research Odyssey

Posted on March 27, 2012 by lmharnisch

Washington, photo by Eve Golden

Larry thought that some of you fellow research nerds might be interested in my trip to the Library of Congress to see four John Gilbert films for my upcoming biography. First, I must tell you I could not have picked two better days—temps in the upper 70s, and not only were the cherry trees in full bloom, but so were the apple and wisterias trees. Comically lovely—you have all seen the famous government landmarks a million times, but attached are some of the swell mid-Victorian houses just blocks from the Capitol, and a delightfully cheesy wig shop right on Pennsylvania Avenue. I had not been in D.C., my dears, since the Harding administration, when Nan Britton and I used to paint the town red.

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Posted in Books and Authors, Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood, Libraries | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Found on EBay – the Tick Tock

Posted on March 26, 2012 by lmharnisch

The Tick Tock

The Tick Tock (d. 1988) has gone to the great watchmaker in the sky. It was the kind of Hollywood place where Pee-wee Herman and Charles Phoenix might have had their own booths. But it lives on in this postcard, which has been listed on EBay at $9.

Posted in 1988, Food and Drink, Found on EBay, Hollywood | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on March 26, 2012 by lmharnisch

Funeral, Italy

A photo of a funeral procession in Dragonea, Italy, listed on EBay at $40.95.

Queen of the Dead – dateline March 26, 2012

•  I love Little Me, one of the funniest books ever written. Grab it. Now. The photos—period mock-ups recreating the 1900s-50s—were taken by celebrity and dance photographer Cris Alexander, who died on March 7, at 92. He had acted and/or danced on Broadway (On the Town, Present Laughter, Wonderful Town, Auntie Mame, Two by Two), as well as on radio, TV and in movies—but his photographs for Little Me will live forever. The 1961 book—a naughty, wildly over-the-top movie-star memoir—was penned by Auntie Mameauthor Patrick Dennis, and “starred” such theater pals as the gorgeous Jeri Archer (as heroine Belle Poitrine), Dodie Goodman, Kaye Ballard, and the delicious Kurt Bieber as Letch Feeley. Alexander’s husband, dancer Shaun O’Brien, appeared as Mr. Musgrove; he died just last month.

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Posted in Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Comics, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Suicide, Television | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Next Week on the L.A. Daily Mirror

Posted on March 24, 2012 by lmharnisch

Coming up next week: In addition Mary Mallory’s Hollywood Heights column and Eve Golden’s Queen of the Dead….

Eve has a special post that I think you’re going to adore: She’s working on a biography of John Gilbert and has written up her visit to the Library of Congress to see four Gilbert films:

Two reels of “Golden Rule Kate,” “Happiness” and “The Hater of Men,” all at Triangle. And Gilbert’s first-released talkie “His Glorious Night.”

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Queen of the Dead | Comments Off on Next Week on the L.A. Daily Mirror

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated +]

Posted on March 24, 2012 by lmharnisch

March 24, 2012, Mystery Photo

And here’s a mystery lady from the amazing collection of Steven Bibb!

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 22 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 20

Posted on March 24, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Full Service" Cover

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge.

I’m sure you’re thinking: “Part 20 and you’re still on Pages 3-4? St. Bonaventure moved faster than this when he was writing his commentaries on Ecclesiastes!” On the other hand, I doubt that Ecclesiastes made St. Bonaventure’s head explode. (Oh dear, he may have been poisoned. How awkward.)

A friend – and respected researcher – who has been following my dissection of Scotty Bowers’ book sends along a bit of information about our current subject, Jacob/Jack/Jacques Potts, who purportedly joined Walter Pidgeon in Bowers’ first Hollywood tryst at a Benedict Canyon home in 1946.

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: 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

 

Continue reading →

Posted in 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Found on EBay – C.C. Pierce

Posted on March 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

theosophical_institute_cc_Pierce

Here’s a fun discovery: A postcard of the Theosophical Institute on Point Loma from the C.C. Pierce studios. As I noted the other day, Charles C. Pierce was one of the more prolific photographers in Southern California and acquired the work of other photographers. Bidding on this postcard starts at $3.99.

Posted in Found on EBay, Photography, Religion | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – C.C. Pierce

Found on EBay – Oviatt’s

Posted on March 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

Oviatt Purse

Oviatt expert Marc Chevalier passes along this item listed on EBay – a purse and the original box. Bidding starts at $265. As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before submitting a bid.

Posted in Fashion, Found on EBay | Tagged , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – Oviatt’s

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 19

Posted on March 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Full Service" Cover

In case you just tuned in, I’m doing a little fact-checking as I go through Scotty Bowers’ “Full Service.” This will be fairly tedious except to a research drudge.

I am still on the trail of the mysterious Mr. Jacob/Jack/Jacques Potts, who purportedly took part in Scotty Bowers’ first Hollywood tryst in a home on Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills in 1946. I have spent some time trying to determine the outlines of Potts’ life. And it hasn’t been easy.

For one thing, I haven’t been able to discover his birth and death dates, although we do know he retired from business in 1947, the year after his encounter with Bowers, so I suppose it’s safe to assume he might not have been at the peak of his manhood.

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: 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

Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, 1946, Another Good Story Ruined, Architecture, Books and Authors, Chicago, Fashion, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Housewife Writes Pulitzer-Nominated Novel While Raising Family, Remodeling Kitchen

Posted on March 22, 2012 by lmharnisch

March 22, 1942, Nellise Child

March 22, 1942: Until this morning, I had never heard of Nellise Child (and I dare say most people haven’t) but I was immediately enchanted with her story: A former reporter (her husband didn’t want her to work), she raises a child, remodels the kitchen and – for five years – retreats to her backyard writing shack to produce an acclaimed novel that was nominated for a Pulitzer.

And no, she didn’t win (that was “In This Our Life” by Ellen Glasgow), but that’s beside the point. Who is this woman and why is it so hard to find out anything about her?

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Books and Authors, Stage | Tagged , , | 4 Comments