Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

Main title: Lettering over background of a hill and sky

This week’s mystery movie was the French animated feature Le Roi et L’Oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird), after La Bergere et la Ramoneur by Hans Christian Andersen. Continue reading →

Posted in 1950, 1952, 1979, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

March 30, 1908: U.S. Seeks to Deport Immigrant Radicals From L.A.

Posted on March 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 30,1908: Drawing of target practice in Magdalena Bay

Above, a look at the Great White Fleet in Magdalena Bay. Below, the federal government interviews prisoners and mental patients in Los Angeles in a campaign to deport immigrant radicals. Recall that The Times bombing will occur Oct. 1, 1910. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: ‘The House I Live In’ Promotes Tolerance

Posted on March 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

 

Note: This is an encore post from 2016.


Though the United States is a nation of immigrants, in times of trouble people act of fear and ignorance, hating and blaming the other for their problems. Throughout the country’s history, in times of economic problems, the newest immigrant group found itself hated and attacked for the ills affecting other ethnic groups. Families passed down myths and folklore concerning those of other nations as well.

During World War II, at a time when the country should have banded together to fight our common enemy, some were still attacking others for looking or being different, be they those wearing zoot suits or those of Japanese or German persuasion.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

Continue reading →

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November 12, 1960: Former Mirror Writer Beaten to Death – Update

Posted on March 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

Roby Heard: Man wearing glasses and a telephone headset. Roby Heard, 1921-1960.

Note: This is a blog post from 2010. 

This is something I wrote in 2002 at the request of Det. Rick Jackson of the LAPD’s cold case unit. Jackson said that the “murder book” for 1960 was missing and that the department had no information the case, so I pulled this together from news accounts.

There was some speculation at the time of the killing that Heard had been assaulted by a couple of young self-styled Nazis who were attacked while picketing a Sammy Davis Jr. performance, but that theory was eventually abandoned.  The case was eventually closed by the LAPD, and as I recall it was based on what was aired on an old TV program. One website attributes the killing to Clarence Best.

Continue reading →

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1944 in Print — Life Magazine, March 27, 1944

Posted on March 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 27, 1944, Life Magazine

March 27, 1944: Landing craft 220 transports troops to an Italian beach, while LCI 226 lands troops in New Guinea and New Britain, the subject of a profile by John Hersey. Universal movie studios photographer Ray Jones gives a lesson in how to pose a glamour shot, with Elyse “Mummy’s Tomb” Knox. The featured photographer is Alfred Eisenstaedt and this week’s movie is “See Here, Private Hargrove.” Courtesy of Google. Continue reading →

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March 25, 2011: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Centennial

Posted on March 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 25, 2011: Memorial to victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist FireMarch 25, 2011: Site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire / Photograph by Eve Golden

Note: This is an encore post from 2011.

Daily Mirror reader Eve Golden went to Friday’s memorial for the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire victims and sends these photos. Continue reading →

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March 25, 1908: U.S. Advisor to Japan Assassinated in San Francisco

Posted on March 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 25, 1908: Lawn "Barber" Supplies

Above, time to get ready for barbering the lawn … Below, the Korean community voices strong criticism of Durham W. Stevens, an American adviser to Japan, who was assassinated in San Francisco.  Feelings against Stevens are so strong among local Koreans that he might have faced a similar attack here, The Times says …

Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Front Pages | Tagged , | 2 Comments

March 25, 1907: Young Bike Messengers a Key Part of L.A. Drug, Sex Trade

Posted on March 25, 2026 by lmharnisch


Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

Technology has changed, but people have not. Simply because they lived nearly a century ago doesn’t mean Angelenos were unable to indulge their vices, they simply procured them in a different manner.

One of the main staples was the throngs of young bicycle messengers who traversed the city in packs.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 2006, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, LAPD, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on March 25, 1907: Young Bike Messengers a Key Part of L.A. Drug, Sex Trade

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Florence Casler, Pioneering Developer Shaped Los Angeles in the 1920s

Posted on March 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

Florence Casler 1928_02
Florence Casler, 1928.

Long before Rick Caruso, CIM group, Lincoln Property, and others hit the Los Angeles real estate world, Florence C. Casler dominated its ranks, constructing many of Los Angeles’ most successful skyscraper buildings in the 1920s. Powerhouse Casler observed her father and husband in their financial and real estate dealings, turbocharging herself into one of Los Angeles’ earliest real estate developers through daring, drive, and insight.

Born Florence C. Sherk in Sherkston, Weiland, Ontario, Canada in 1869, Casler grew up on her family’s farm, where her father Hugh grew mammoth strawberries and other fruits and vegetables and she studied music. Her successful father Hugh made extra money allowing the gas company to set up their telegraph and telephone office on his property.

Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on March 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

Main Title. Lettering over image of streetlamp.

This week’s mystery movie was the 1947 RKO film The Long Night, with Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes, Vincent Price, Ann Dvorak, Howard Freeman, Moroni Olsen, Elisha Cook Jr., Queenie Smith, David Clarke, Charles McGraw, Patty King and Robert A. Davis. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

March 22, 1908: Plans for a New Hall of Records

Posted on March 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 33, 1908: Illustration of the planned Hall of Records next to the Courthouse.

Above, an artist’s concept of the proposed Hall of Records, a white gingerbread building between Broadway and New High Street that was one of the landmarks of old Los Angeles.

Continue reading →

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1944 on the Radio — Rita Hayworth on ‘Burns and Allen,’ March 21, 1944

Posted on March 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

March 21, 1944

It’s Tuesday in 1944 and today we have:

— Rita Hayworth is the guest on “Burns and Allen.” Courtesy of Otrrlibrary.org

— “Fibber McGee and Molly.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

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March 21, 1908: Black Minister Convicted of Speaking on a Corner Without a License

Posted on March 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

March 21, 1908: Baseball and ostriches!Above, baseball and ostriches. Below, the Rev. G.W. Woodbey, an African American minister described in The Times as a rabid radical, is convicted of speaking on a street corner without a license. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Front Pages, Religion | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

1944 on the Radio — ‘Lux Radio Theatre’ and ‘The Lone Ranger,’ March 20, 1944

Posted on March 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

March 20, 1944

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

— Franchot Tone, Chester Morris, Anne Baxter and Miriam Hopkins in “The Hard Way” on Lux Radio Theatre. Courtesy of Archive.org.

— “The Lone Ranger.” Courtesy of Archive.org.

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March 20, 1944: On the Set With Preston Sturges

Posted on March 20, 2026 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.

Continue reading →

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March 20, 1907: St. James Raises a Church — Burned in 1973 as Hate Crime Against Gays

Posted on March 20, 2026 by lmharnisch




Note: This is an encore post from 2006.

The Methodist Episcopal congregation, formed from a merger of the Centennial and Central churches, planned a wonderful new building at 22nd Street and Union. Although the congregation studied the idea of a new location, the members finally decided there was no better place than the one they had.

The church was designed by A. Dudley using an old English half-timbered style with a Gothic tower. The vaulted ceiling was highlighted with gold and the pews were arranged in concentric circles around a corner pulpit.

The Times noted:

“The congregation of St. James gives promise of becoming one of the strongest in the outlying parts of the city. Its pastor [the Rev. Robert S. Fisher] is a young man who has made his way rapidly toward the front and only last fall declined to accede to the wishes of the bishop that he accept a leading church in San Francisco.”

Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, 1917, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Religion, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on March 20, 1907: St. James Raises a Church — Burned in 1973 as Hate Crime Against Gays

March 19, 1990: Barack Obama, Harvard Law Review editor

Posted on March 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

Barack Obama’s Law Personality:

Harvard Law Review’s first black president plans a life of public service. His multicultural background gives him unique perspective.

By Tammerlin Drummond
Times Staff Writer

Barack Obama stares silently at a wall of fading black-and-white photographs in the muggy second-floor offices of the Harvard Law Review. He lingers over one row of solemn faces, his predecessors of 40 years ago.

All are men. All are dressed in dark-colored suits and ties. All are white.

It is a sobering moment for Obama, 28, who in February became the first black to be elected president in the 102-year history of the prestigious student-run law journal.

The post, considered the highest honor a student can attain at Harvard Law School, almost always leads to a coveted clerkship with the U.S. Supreme Court after graduation and a lucrative offer from the law firm of one’s choice. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, Current Affairs, Politics | 2 Comments

March 19, 1944: World War II on the Radio

Posted on March 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

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

Posted on March 19, 2026 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

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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1944 on the Radio — ‘The Adventures of Jungle Jim,’ March 18, 1944

Posted on March 18, 2026 by lmharnisch

radio_dial_1944

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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