I stumbled into a trove of interesting interviews by Mike Wallace that are online at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Austin at Texas. Here’s Wallace’s Aug. 25, 1957, interview with the notorious Freddie Otash, the former LAPD officer who worked for Hollywood Research, which did the snooping for Confidential. Video | Transcript
Look! here’s Lili St. Cyr! Video | Transcript
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Photo: Crane bathroom fixtures. Credit: Life magazine, April 29, 1957.
We grew up in a sterile, cookie-cutter home, on a sterile, cookie-cutter street, in a sterile suburb of Chicago, where all the people were white and all the bathrooms were pink. The dads went to work, the moms stayed home and they all got drunk and slept with the neighbors.
So we are slightly puzzled as to why anyone would want to live in the Studebaker Lark of American architecture. Maybe it’s just hipster irony.
But for those who are searching for that perfect Persian red sink (above right) or retro “his and hers bathrooms” with “his and hers toilets” (top) there is retrorenovation.com. Steven Kurutz in the New York Times.
The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas is trying to preserve five costumes from “Gone With the Wind” for a 2014 exhibit marking the film’s 75th anniversary. The costumes, part of the David O. Selznick collection, are Vivien Leigh’s wedding dress, nightgown, ball gown, green velvet gown and her green curtain dress, according to the Associated Press.
The L.A. Daily Mirror and L.A. Crime Beat fashioned from Twitter feeds to the most exacting specifications by the bots at paper.li
“Santa Anita Racetrack,” by Marion Eisenmann
Marion Eisenmann, who shares her artwork with the Daily Mirror in Artist’s Notebook, will be giving monthly classes in plein air painting on Thursdays at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia. Sessions are scheduled for Sept. 8, Oct. 6 and Nov. 3, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with an hour for lunch. The fee is $120 per session for members and $150 for non-members. Further information and reservations are available at (626) 821-4623. Students may buy lunch at the Arboretum cafe or bring their own.
This Witzel photo has been posted on EBay. Judging by the stamp on the back, it’s some celebrity, but the woman isn’t identified. OK, brain trust, what do you think? Bidding starts at $24.99.
Photo: “Charge of the Light Brigade,” filmed at Lasky Mesa.
James Curtis’ interview with Dick Lane touched on a filming location known as Lasky Mesa. Films shot there include “Rose of the Rancho” 1914, “The Thundering Herd” (1925), “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (1936), “Another Dawn” (1937), “Geronimo” (1939), “They Died With Their Boots on” (1941) and “Duel in the Sun” (1946).
The area was described in news stories as “70 miles north of Universal City” or “two miles north of Calabasas.” Moviesites.org describes it as northwest of Los Angeles on the west end of Victory Boulevard. Later known as Ahmanson Ranch, it is now the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
Photo: Mujeres listas para recivir a Rabago, 1911. Credit: Walter H. Horne/Getty Research Institute
“A Nation Emerges,” featuring images of the Mexican Revolution, will go on display at the Central Library from Sept. 8 to June 3. The exhibit, presented by the library and the Getty Research Institute, will include more than 130 photos, prints and maps from the Getty as well as posters from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics.
Thieves seeking to capitalize on the purported medicinal powers of rhino horns broke into the Ipswich Museum in Essex, England, recently and stole the horn from a 100-year-old mounted specimen. David Jolly, New York Times’ Green blog.
The Museum of Broken Relationships, an exhibit at Tristan Bates Theatre in London, puts artifacts from insignificant others on display. Elizabeth Flock in the Washington Post.
The L.A. Daily Mirror and L.A. Crime Beat crafted from Twitter feeds with loving care to the most exacting standards by the bots at paper.li.
This Witzel photo of actress Dorothy Phillips has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $19.99. Phillips received a one-paragraph obituary in The Times on March 10, 1980.
Back in 2008, Scott of Tropico Station decided to revisit Glendale locations used in “Crime Wave.” Voila!
Photo 1: “Crime Wave.”
Photo 2: San Fernando road looking north. Credit: Tropico Station.
Photo: Dick Lane with Laurel and Hardy in “The Bullfighters.”
This is Part 5 of James Curtis’ 1975 interview with Dick Lane. In this segment, Lane discusses Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, making “Wonder Man” with Danny Kaye and George Balanchine, and genesis of pro wrestling on TV.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
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This hat from the Collegienne department of Bullock’s Wilshire has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $14.99.
Photo: Dick Lane in “Boom Town.”
Coming up tomorrow: Part 5 of James Curtis’ interview with Dick Lane, who discusses Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, making “Wonder Man” with Danny Kaye and televising pro wrestling.
Photo: “The Marriage of Tobias and Sarah” by Jan Steen. Credit: Museum Bredius in The Hague
Photo: “The Marriage of Tobias and Sarah” by Jan Steen. Credit: Museum Bredius in The Hague
The Hague municipality has settled with an heir of a Jewish art dealer whose works were lost to the Nazis, including part of “The Marriage of Tobias and Sarah” by Jan Steen. AP via Washington Post.
At some point in its history, Steen’s original work was cut into several pieces, two of which were rejoined to create the current painting. According to the Museum Bredius website:
It is well to realize that, in spite of all the efforts, we are still dealing with the remaining middle part of a larger painting. The painting probably used to be much larger, especially on the left and the top side, possibly several decimeters. The kneeling couple might have been the centre of the composition. The restored parts are all that is left of a large, monumental composition. All one can do is to try to picture it in the mind’s eye.
The Rembrandt sketch stolen Saturday has been found in [correction: near] an Encino church. Richard Winton and Abby Sewell in Los Angeles Times.
The L.A. Daily Mirror and L.A. Crime Beat from Twitter feeds, lovingly prepared to the most exacting specifications by the bots at paper.li
Aug. 6, 1892: Fall River’s Mysterious Murder.
Jennifer Levitz of the Wall Street Journal revisits the Lizzie Borden case. So why shouldn’t we?
Photo: Crucifix on display at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Credit: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times
I was reading the Sunday papers with my eye out for historical items and saw Mike Anton’s piece about artifacts on display at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Anton says: The story goes that around 1900 a man embroiled in a business dispute unloaded his anger — and his pistol — inside a chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Miraculously, no one was hurt. But the 18th century silver cross likely used by mission founder Father Junipero Serra took one near the top.
There’s something in the picture that makes me wonder about this anecdote. Do you see anything?
Let’s dig into this a bit. Continue reading
A photo of Spring Street looking north from about 4th Street has been listed on EBay. Our landmark is the Steinway piano ad on the side the building. Bidding on this postcard starts at $5.49.
Here’s a better view:
June 21, 1893: Lizzie Borden is found not guilty of killing her father and stepmother.
Since it’s August, I thought it would be interesting to go through a few clips on the Lizzie Borden case.
I’m taking a break from the daily listings of history and museum news. Compiling the lists is time-consuming and they don’t seem to get many readers.
In the meantime, there’s the L.A. Daily Mirror and the L.A. Crime Beat crafted with care from Twitter feeds by the bots at paper.li.
On the other hand, it’s hard to resist stories like “Fire Destroys World’s Largest Stove.”
Photo: 1995 Cadillac hearse for sale on EBay.
Queen of the Dead – dateline August 15, 2011
• I mentioned recently that I worked in advertising in the 1980s—well, I found out that the Don Draper to my Peggy Olsen died on August 7. Bernard Cooper—who was 84—was founder and president of Cove, Cooper, Lewis, one of those small, workhorse New York advertising agencies that don’t get TV shows made about them. Bernie was a great boss, and what might be called a firecracker. Bursting with energy—sometimes to the dismay of us Peggies—he fought in the Navy in World War II, ran 13 New York marathons (starting in his fifties), helped form the New York Road Runners Foundation, and in a way got Yours Truly started on a writing career. When I say I was a Peggy Olsen at CCL, I am not kidding: I was a bright-eyed 20-something secretary and Bernie spotted my way with words and let me write copy (yes, to the fury of the older male copy staff, just like on Mad Men). Those Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ads in TV Guide? Mine! So thanks, Bernie, and bon voyage.
Photo: First all-women jury in Los Angeles. Credit: EBay listing.
Photo: First all-women jury in Los Angeles. Credit: Bain News Service, Nov. 2, 1911.
You can pay $9.99 for a cropped version of this photo on EBay or get it full-frame from the Library of Congress for nothing.
