Hollis Mulwray House – Update

Posted on February 29, 2012 by lmharnisch

mulwray_house_2012_0229

Back in July, I posted a photo showing renovations on the house at 1315 S. El Molino that was used in “Chinatown.” Here’s how it looks today.

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , | 1 Comment

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 6

Posted on February 29, 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.

In our last installment, I didn’t do all that well on a word association test naming Bowers’ “dear and wonderful friends,” who are  Conveniently Dead People Who Can’t Sue.  I still haven’t figured out George was.

Finally, I have gotten to Page 1 (I warned you this would be tedious) in which Bowers (with co-author Lionel Friedberg) describes arriving in Los Angeles.

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

 

Continue reading →

Posted in 1945, 1946, 1947, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, World War II | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Found on EBay – ‘Bert Williams: Son of Laughter’

Posted on February 28, 2012 by lmharnisch

Bert Williams Son of Laughter
Note: This post has been corrected.

A rather bedraggled copy of “Bert Williams: Son of Laughter,” a tribute to the  vaudeville entertainer,  has been listed on EBay at $300. Although that might seem high, this is a fairly rare edition (it was apparently reissued several times) and the copies listed on bookfinder.com are even more expensive.

“Bert Williams: Son of Laughter” is also listed in Worldcat.org.

As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before submitting a bid.

Corrected on Feb. 28, 2012, at 9:16 a.m. As Eve Golden points out, it is wrong to describe Bert Williams as African American. Thanks, Eve!

Posted in 1923, African Americans, Books and Authors, Found on EBay, Libraries, Stage | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 5

Posted on February 28, 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 could probably spend another day on the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, examining the neighborhood as it was in 1946, when author Scotty Bowers apparently arrived in Los Angeles after World War II. But in the interest of time – we are still on the preface, after all – it’s best to move on. At least to the next page. Remember, I warned everyone that this is tedious work.

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

 

Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo – Academy Awards Edition [Updated +++]

Posted on February 27, 2012 by lmharnisch

Movieland Mystery Photo

I went into the archives at the Daily Mirror HQ for a special Academy Awards edition of mystery photos, figuring the Brain Trust would have fun guessing the venue, the year and possibly the mystery person on stage.

[Update: I think nearly everyone identified this as the Music Center at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Dewey Webb got the year – but nobody has identified our mystery guest.]

[Update 2: Please congratulate Dewey Webb and Mary Mallory for identifying our mystery fellow.]

Karl Malden
Our mystery guest is Academy President Karl Malden at the Music Center of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

62nd Academy Awards
Hosted by …  yes, this is Billy Crystal as we remember him. Younger and funnier.

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , | 46 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on February 27, 2012 by lmharnisch

1963 Cadillac Hearse Model

Photo: A Hot Wheels model of a customized 1963 Cadillac hearse listed on EBay at $6.50.

Queen of the Dead – dateline February 27, 2012

•  Do you collect Instant Disaster books? I do. I have same-year accounts of the General Slocum fire, the Johnstown flood, the Titanic, the Iroquois Theater fire—and of course the San Francisco earthquake and fire. News came this week of the death of 109-year-old Rose Cliver on February 18; she was one of the last survivors of the 1906 disaster. She was only three at the time and there is no way she actually remembered it, but having been told of the scene over and over again, she recalled, “We watched San Francisco burn. They wouldn’t let us live in our house afterward. We had to live in the backyard in a tent. We were living like Okies in our own place. It was really a sight to see.” In 2009, Cliver took part in a memorial parade with fellow survivor William Del Monte, then 103 to her 106. “It’s a blind date,” said Del Monte. “I like older women.” And I like William Del Monte: I wonder if he’s still alive?

Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Music, Queen of the Dead, San Francisco, Television | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

An EBay Mystery – Earl Carroll’s Inner Circle

Posted on February 26, 2012 by lmharnisch

inner_circle_harold_lloyd03

One of the more intriguing mysteries I’ve come across in years of delving through EBay surfaced the other day, but the auction ended before I could write about it (so many stories, only one Larry Harnisch).

The item was a collection of Harold Lloyd papers from 1938 dealing with the Inner Circle of Earl Carroll’s Theater.  According to The Times’ clips, the Inner Circle Corp. owned the Earl Carroll Theater in Hollywood and one of the letters refers to stock participation.

All well and good.

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Nightclubs | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

UCLA Provost Calls for a Return to Basics in Education

Posted on February 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

Feb. 25, 1942, Coast Alert for New Raids

Feb. 25, 1942, Comics

Feb. 25, 1942: UCLA Provost Earle Hedrick (d. 1943) describes the prevailing disdain for the “three Rs” as “the Pearl Harbor” of American education.

Charging that American education is ruled by an elite clique, Hedrick says: “I propose that we … refuse to bend the knee to the wearers of the old-school-tie of educational hierarchy.”

His main complaint is that American schools do a poor job of teaching mathematics. Mechanics, pilots, navigators and others in the American military are challenged by simple problems, says Hedrick, a former math professor.

Southern California remains on alert after a Japanese submarine shelled the Ellwood oil field near Santa Barbara.

“Roxie Hart” opens tomorrow at Grauman’s Chinese and Loew’s State.

Edwin Schallert writes that Warner Bros. is in negotiations to get Joan Fontaine, who is under contract to David O. Selznick, to star with her sister Olivia de Havilland in “Devotion.” (The role went to Ida Lupino, in case you’re wondering.)

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Education, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 4

Posted on February 24, 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.

Yesterday, in Part 3, I was exploring the history of Hollywood Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, site of the Richfield service station that figures prominently in “Full Service.”

You thought I was done? Ha.
Fact-Checking “Full Service”: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transportation | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Random Shot: N.Y. = L.A.

Posted on February 23, 2012 by lmharnisch

NY_taxi_in_los_Angeles_crop

Look what I found last night outside the Last Book Store at 5th and Spring.

Posted in Books and Authors, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Photography | Tagged , | 2 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 3

Posted on February 23, 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.

You want to know about all the hot gossip in this book? Sorry, I’m still stuck on the best little Richfield station in Hollywood, 5777 Hollywood Blvd. (I warned you that this would be tedious).

The next step is to see what was written about the gas station in The Times.

ALSO

Fact-Checking “Full Service”: Part 1 | Part 2

Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 2

Posted on February 22, 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.

Pages XI to X of “Full Service” set the scene on Hollywood Boulevard as it appears today, starting with Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Kodak Theatre and the El Capitan, followed by a ruminations on the boulevard in the days when “bejeweled and fur-clad women  once strolled arm in arm with tall, handsome men in tuxedos” and how that has been replaced by tourists during the day and “drunks, drug pushers and the homeless” at night.

Next comes a key passage involving Hollywood Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue:

Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Libraries | Tagged , | 24 Comments

Times Editorial Praises Japanese Evacuation

Posted on February 21, 2012 by lmharnisch

Feb. 21, 1942, Japanese Evacuation

Feb. 21, 1942, Japanese Evacuation

Feb. 21, 1942: The Times editorial page praises the Japanese evacuation while scolding the government for its slow response.

I think this is my favorite quote:

… it is important to remember in case any situations of the kind arise in the future that the mishandling of this vital problem has jeopardized the security of the whole Pacific Coast.

As for the evacuees, the best way for them to serve their country is to leave quietly, The Times says.  Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Front Pages, World War II | Tagged , | Comments Off on Times Editorial Praises Japanese Evacuation

‘Full Service’: Fun With Fact-Checking, Part 1

Posted on February 21, 2012 by lmharnisch

"Full Service" cover

“Full Service,” by Scotty Bowers with Lionel Friedberg.

One of the guiding principles at the Los Angeles Daily Mirror is that history is not the exclusive domain of straight, white, Protestant males. As long as I have been blogging about Los Angeles history, the emphasis has been to document all the people who were marginalized by the mainstream press: Women, people of color, LGBT, etc. For example, for much of its history, the Los Angeles Times said nothing about the gay community except for crime stories and coded references in obituaries to “lifelong bachelors.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Libraries | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on February 20, 2012 by lmharnisch

hearse_1947_cadillac
Photo: 1947 Cadillac hearse listed on EBay at $1.950.


Queen of the Dead — dateline February 20, 2012

  • I am no longer eating candy (ten pounds to go!), but when I did, I was rather fond of Lemonheads. I learned that their inventor (you don’t think they just occurred naturally, did you?), 93-year-old Nello Ferrara, died on February 3. Ferrera was president and chief executive of the Ferrara Pan Candy Company, founded in 1908 by Salvatore Ferrara; among their other delicacies are Red Hots, Boston Baked Beans and various gummies, none of which ever passed my lips. As for their Jawbusters, why would anyone eat something called that? Terrifying, is what it is. Would you eat a Wristsnapper, or an Eyegouger? But I do have a fondness for Lemonheads, despite this hugely unappetizing quote from Ferrera’s son, the latest Salvatore: “He always claimed that when I was born, that I came out of my mother sideways, and my head was shaped like a lemon.” OK, eww.

Continue reading →

Posted in Eve Golden, Fashion, Film, Music, Obituaries, Queen of the Dead, Television | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Japanese Evacuation: Images of Executive Order 9066

Posted on February 19, 2012 by lmharnisch

Scott Harrison, my colleague on The Times photo desk, has posted a gallery of images from the evacuation of Japanese Americans in 1942. He plans to add to these photos, so check back for more.

Posted in 1942, Photography, World War II | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated ++]

Posted on February 19, 2012 by lmharnisch

Mystery Photo

And this movie would be?

Continue reading →

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

GIs Want More Form in Women’s Uniforms — Olive Drab Too Drab!

Posted on February 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

Feb. 18, 1942, Comics

Feb. 18, 1942, Olivia de Havilland in "mannish" uniform.

Feb. 18, 1942: Pvt. Fred A. Ranker of the 3rd Coast Artillery begins a campaign against what he considers women’s unflattering uniforms. On his first pass since Pearl Harbor, Ranker dashed to Hollywood Boulevard.

“Instead of the usual beauty parade, we saw hordes of mannish creatures in unpressed  ‘skibby’ khaki striding up and down the boulevard,” he said.

Feb. 18, 1942, Olivia de Havilland evening dress

The Ft. McArthur Alert — apparently the base newspaper — took up the cause and persuaded Olivia de Havilland to pose for pictures in a uniform and an evening dress.

“Even with the beauty that is hers, uniforms look mannish. They lack appeal. This should prove an eye-opener to less attractive damsels. The second picture shows the way John Soldier would like to see American women when he is given a short pass from the rigors of 24-hour duty.”

Got that gals? Put on your war paint and 86 the camouflage when you stroll Hollywood Boulevard!  [It’s a little difficult to determine what “skibby” khaki is. Any ideas among the Brain Trust?]

Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, Fashion, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Random Shot: Goodbye Whitney Houston

Posted on February 18, 2012 by lmharnisch

Feb. 17, 2012, Los Angeles Theatre

The Los Angeles Theatre was lit up with a tribute to Whitney Houston when I went to dinner last night, so I took a picture. Twilight was beautiful in downtown Los Angeles, which was bathed in those minutes of “magic time,”  the lingering daylight after sunset. The neon signs on the Palace were also lit up.

Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Photography, Theaters | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Movieland Architectural Mystery — Solved

Posted on February 17, 2012 by lmharnisch

image9

The Brain Trust has solved the mystery of the department store used in “The Public Enemy.” Thanks to Craig Deco, Lee Rivas and Nathan Marask!

image174
Here are our young ruffians (Frank Coghlan Jr. and Frankie Darro) sliding down the escalator in the 1931 film “The Public Enemy.”

May Company
And here’s the answer to our mystery: It’s the downtown May Co., as shown in this 1933 photo in the Los Angeles Public Library’s Herald Examiner collection. Our mystery elevators are off to the right.

Thanks, Brain Trust!

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Interior Design, Location Sleuth | Tagged , , | 2 Comments