From the Vaults — ‘Fires on the Plain’ (1959)

  Fires on the Plain  

So far in my ramble through old foreign films, I have done the Holocaust (“Yiddle With His Fiddle”) and incest (“La Mujer del Puerto,”) so imagine my surprise when this week’s entry, “Fires on the Plain,” turned to cannibalism.

Directed by Kon Ichikawa from a script by Natto Wada based on a novel by Shohei Ooka, “Fires” is set on the Philippine island of Leyte in 1945 as the Japanese are fleeing the advancing the American forces. Private Tamura (Eiji Funakoshi, above), a hapless soldier who is too ill to fight but too healthy to be hospitalized, shuttles between his unit and the hospital, and after being rejected by both, roams the island, encountering other equally desperate soldiers and a few natives.

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From the Stacks – ‘Dancing Bear’ (1968)

  Dancing Bear  

Out of curiosity, I picked up Gladwin Hill’s “Dancing Bear” at the Southern California Library’s book sale.  I never met Hill (d. 1992), the New York Times bureau chief in Los Angeles, but I had heard about him at luncheon gatherings of Times retirees who call themselves the Old Farts. 
 
I tend to avoid reading about politics in my spare time. I get a healthy dose of it at work, and the minute dissection of old political intrigues – stiffly written prose about half-remembered names and long-forgotten battles  – isn’t terribly interesting to anyone but the most confirmed political junkie.

With expectations that “Dancing Bear” would be nothing but a stale time capsule, I was quite pleasantly surprised by Hill’s engaging account of California politics, and his insights not only on the state’s curious history, but especially his perspective on the early career of Ronald Reagan.  

 

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Last Showing of ‘Heaven Is Here!’

  http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-382479120564900203&hl=en&fs=true  

Google has announced that it will be removing its uploaded videos on April 29. I made this little movie about the Black Dahlia case four years ago and at 21 minutes, it's too long to upload anywhere else.

 

Posted in #courts, 1947, Crime and Courts, Film, LAPD | 3 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 18, 1941

  April 18, 1941, Nazis Force Greek Retreat  

  April 18, 1941, Comics  

  April 18, 1941, Lee Shippey  

April 18, 1941: Lee Shippey is hospitalized after what The Times vaguely referred to as “major surgery.” His column continued to appear with guest writers filling in.

On the jump: Benjamin “Bugsie” Siegel is released on bail after being charged with harboring Louis (Lepke) Buchalter. Oh look at this! The Times capitalized "Racketeer" as if it were a profession. Well I suppose it was.
 
Tom Treanor files a report from the Santa Fe Chief:

IF THE OPINION of the wife of an automobile manufacturer is true, this is the year of years to buy an automobile… She thinks there will be no model changes next year. The factories will be too busy tooling up for military production to waste any time, making your 1942 car the greatest bargain by far in the history of the automotive industry.   [For those who don’t know, U.S. car manufacturers ceased production of automobiles for the consumer market during the war–lrh.]

For years I've been begging for such a return of yesterday's stars. They DESERVE the opportunity to come back. They DON'T DESERVE to be forgotten by the industry they helped to build…. I say bring back MORE ex-stars. Betty Compson, Clara Bow, Janet Gaynor, Leatrice Joy, Neil Hamilton, Huntley Gordon. I could fill this column with names and among them, millions of readers would spy old-screen friends they'd like to see again, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Jim Murray, April 18, 1961

 

  April 18, 1961, Day in Sports  

 

  April 18, 1961, Jim Murray  

April 18, 1961: Talk about versatility. Today, Jim Murray writes about riding to hounds: “Here in Southern California, the traditions are being carried on by the West Hills Hunt Club, a doughty band of cavaliers who persevere against great odds. For one thing, the West Coast fox is an inferior being, little bigger than a common rodent, who has the rotten sportsmanship to climb trees to get away. For another, the coyotes substituted for the fox are too damn smart.”

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Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, Animals, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Sports | 1 Comment

‘The Apartment’ Wins Oscars for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director

 
 

  April 18, 1961, Oscars  

  April 18, 1961, Oscars  

April 18, 1961: In a ceremony held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented awards to Elizabeth Taylor for “Butterfield 8,” Burt Lancaster for “Elmer Gantry” and to Billy Wilder as writer (with I.A.L. Diamond) and director of “The Apartment.’

In Jerusalem, "Israeli Atty. Gen. Gideon Hausner renewed his harrowing review of Nazi atrocities as the trial of Adolf Eichmann for crimes against the Jewish people continued today."

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From the Vaults — ‘La Mujer del Puerto’ (1934)

  La Mujer del Puerto  

None of the countless movies  I have ever seen – domestic or foreign — prepared me for the 1934 Mexican film “La Mujer del Puerto” (“The Woman of the Port”). If you watch the movie without knowing anything about it – as I did – you may think the plot is drifting aimlessly. But it’s not.

In case you don’t recall, I randomly ordered old foreign films – the earliest I could find — when I subscribed to Netflix as an escape from the usual Hollywood fare. “Mujer” arrived shortly after “Vamonos Con Pancho Villa!” as part of my meandering through Mexican cinema. The movie deals with a theme that has yet to be explored to any great degree in American films and makes  “Vamonos” look like a romp in the park. 

Aside from the plot, one the biggest surprises of “Mujer” is the technical sophistication. The film is beautifully photographed by Alex Phillips and contains some of the most powerful images I have seen in a long while.    

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 17, 1941

 
 

  April 17, 1941, Eight Axis Ships Sunk  

  April 17, 1941, Comics  

 
SANTA FE CHIEF, April 16 — NOTHING MAKES YOU feel more remote from the toil, trouble and strife of the war world than a powerful train. It's a moving island from which all disturbing influences are censored. It floats through the landscape like a passing dream. Heat and cold alike are shut off. The passengers are as sheltered as a chick in an egg incubator. Nothing changes except the sliding scenery, the rise and wane of daylight and your watch. Even the wheels don't click anymore. They merely murmur, says Tom Treanor, who is on a press junket to Venezuela.

Myrna Loy should watch her appearance; the overweight is too obvious, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Jim Murray, April 17, 1961

 

  April 17, 1961, Levi's  

 

  April 17, 1961, Jim Murray  

April 17, 1961: Jim Murray pulls together a column of various items, including this line about Vin Scully, who is “the only redheaded broadcaster I know who makes a ball game sound like a ball game and not the end of the world.”

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 16, 1941

 
 

  April 16, 1941, U.S. May Have to Fight Foreign War  

  April 16, 1941, Comics  

April 16, 1941: Tom Treanor writes another column about Leland Stowe and Thomas Mann. “Both of these splendid speakers emphasized strongly the evil that Germany is doing. They spoke on moral grounds and they used strong language.

“What was the consequence? When the questions came up, in both cases, the issue was raised: Well, what about India? How do you justify England's treatment of India?”

ONE-MINUTE INTERVIEW with Clark Gable: "I've taken no part in political campaigns other than to cast my rightful vote, because acting is my profession, politics is not. When I feel like turning politician, I'll quit acting, but I won't mix them."

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

  April 11, 2011, Mystery Photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

[Update: I call Daily Mirror readers the Brain Trust and here’s why. Mike Hawks and Don Danard (via email) independently identified our mystery woman and Wednesday’s mystery companion. This still is from an obscure movie that’s not on Netflix, but both of them not only recognized the film but also the character actor – who was misidentified by the studio on the back of the photo. Very impressive!]

Here’s our mystery gal!

There’s a new photo on the jump!

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 41 Comments

Jim Murray, April 16, 1961

 

  April 16, 1961, Rodeo Queen  

 

  April 16, 1961, Jim Murray  

April 16, 1961: Jim Murray has a lighthearted profile of Dick Stuart, who played briefly – but memorably – for the Hollywood Stars.

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Kennedy Names First Black U.S. Attorney

 
 

  April 16, 1961, Comics  

  image  

April 16, 1961: President Kennedy nominates Cecil F. Poole (d. 1997) as U.S. attorney for the Northern District California. He was the first African American U.S. attorney in the Continental U.S., the first black federal judge in Northern California and served on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Books on the local bestseller list include “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” “Hawaii,” “Fate Is the Hunter” and “Winnie Ille Pooh,” which is A.A. Milne’s children’s classic translated into Latin. Candidates for the Zombie Reading List: Gene Fowler's "Skyline" and Gavin Maxwell's "Ring of Bright Water."

The Times also publishes more on the Adolf Eichmann trial, a feature on the defense and another on courtroom decorum. 

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Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, April 15, 1961

 
 

  April 15, 1961, Comics  

April 15, 1961: Matt Weinstock has two items on people who are crossing the country in walks for peace. One is a group that is walking from San Francisco to Moscow and the other is Miss Peace Pilgrim of Cologne, N.J., who began walking for peace in 1953.

Paul Coates writes about Al Einfrank, a truck driver who won a fortune on game shows, but is unemployed and has been exploring skid row.

"Every time you give a dime to one of those bums, you just prolong their misery. You encourage them to remain just the way they are," he tells Coates.

DEAR ABBY: My husband had not been acting like himself for about six months. I finally got it out of him. He said it all started when he gave his bookkeeper a few kisses occasionally because he couldn't afford to give her a raise. He says now she isn't satisfied with kisses, and keeps pestering him to…. 

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 15, 1941

 
 

  April 15, 1941, Germans Push On at Heavy Cost  

  April 15, 1941, Comics  

April 15, 1941: Lee Shippey writes about the restoration of the Don Ignacio de Palomares house as a WPA project to help celebrate the centennial of the Rancho Santa Anita grant to Don Hugo Reid. "Why can't we get some of the historical buildings we still posses in Los Angeles restored that way? Is it because very few Angelenos care anything about our city's own history, and only Christine Sterling is ready to get out and fight for it?"


IT ISN'T NECESSARY
to send in any more suggested names for loyal Japanese born here, Tom Treanor says.

"A new batch has just come in and I was comparing it with suggestions to see if they were duplicated.

"All the ideas were quite good, Japyanks, Lajas, Amborn, Amerinese, Japusas, etc. But it did seem to me that maybe we'd better give the whole thing up. It will be simpler, after all, to use the word Nisei, which the Japanese have in their own language. The original objection was that hardly anyone knows what it means and it might be confused with Nazi.

“Even so, I think it's simpler than calling them Japusas or Lajas or something like that."

“Boris Karloff is giving New Yorkers a gasp, wheeling his baby carriage, baby inclosed,” down Fifth Avenoo, Jimmie Fidler says.

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From the Stacks — ‘Ride the Pink Horse’

  ride_pink_horse_cover_crop  

  Ride the Pink Horse, Page 1  

Out of curiosity, I picked up this paperback for 50 cents at the Southern California Library’s book sale because the 1947 movie based on Dorothy B. Hughes’ novel is often mentioned as a classic film noir, and of course  it’s not on DVD except as a bootleg.

Hughes may be best known for the novel  “In a Lonely Place,” which was also made into a dark, brooding film noir. She was a prominent author of the 1940s and early 1950s who quit writing for family reasons, although she continued to review mysteries for The Times. 

I was ready for a major sit, with a fire in the fireplace, a cup of coffee, music, a comfy chair and – oh dear.  “Ride the Pink Horse” was a huge disappointment.

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Posted in 1946, books, Film, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Zombie Reading List | 1 Comment

Paul Coates and Matt Weinstock, April 14, 1961

  April 14, 1961, Comics  

April 14, 1961: Like some huge, weird, robot-like monster in a dream, the steel and concrete pillars and bridges of the Santa Monica Freeway are advancing slowly westward from Figueroa Street to Venice Boulevard, laying waste all before them.

In the monster's path at the moment and soon to be swallowed is the area between 21st and 22nd Streets and Mariposa and Normandie. The streets are deserted and still. The houses have been vacated and the windows, shattered by youngsters throwing rocks, are jagged and gaping. Some bear signs, "Danger. Keep Out." Here and there are discarded household articles — a ripped old sofa or a bathroom fixture.

An onlooker gets a bombed-out, end of the world feeling but it's only part of the changing face of Los Angeles, Matt Weinstock says.

 
CONFIDENTIAL TO TINA: Your friends are right. When a girl accepts an ankle bracelet from a boy, and wears it on her LEFT ankle, it means they are going steady.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 14, 1941

 

  image  

 

  April 14, 1941, Comics  

April 14, 1961: One of the joys of these old newspapers is stumbling across an undiscovered gem, and Tom Treanor has one today: An interview with Paul Revere Williams, the famous African American architect. Williams discusses a major project he has been commissioned to design in Medellin, Colombia.

A Columbus Ohioan asks if Carole Lombard is really an expert gunwoman. Well, I've seen her shoot both shotgun and rifle, and if Clark Gable's little woman ever points anything bigger than a BB gun in his direction, the movies will be looking for a new he-man, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Jim Murray, April 14, 1961

 

  April 14, 1961, Alex Perez  

 

  April 14, 1961, Jim Murray  

April 14, 1961: The arrival of major league baseball in Los Angeles has curtailed network TV's games of the week, so that sports announcer Dizzy Dean is off the local airwaves, which may be good news to Los Angeles’ English teachers, Jim Murray says. 

Dizzy, you understand, was so busy most of his life picking cotton and learning to throw the change-up, he picked up only a nodding acquaintance with the language of his forefathers. And to better acquaint you not with the King's English but with Dean's English, an undergrowth of syntax which would make Noah Webster set fire to his dictionary, we present herewith Murray's Handy Guide to network listening ala Dean and an English translation wherever possible.

"Farn" — participle of the verb "to fire," most used as in "Drysdale's really farn that ball today,” also as in "light in a far in the farplace."

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Elijah Muhammad Calls for Separate Black Nation

  April 14, 1961, Mirror Cover  

  April 14, 1961, Elijah Muhammad  

April 14, 1961: "Elijah Muhammad, 63-year-old leader of the politico-religious cult known as the Muslims, today held his first press conference in 30 years and asked for a part of America to form his own country," the Mirror's Bill Kiley said.  And yes, that is Malcolm X. I’ll see if we still have the original of this photo. Do you think The Times put the story on Page 1? No.

The Times said: He scoffed at suggestions that Negroes in America are steadily achieving more rights and status but shied away from an outright condemnation of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People….

"We never will believe in anything but the religion of Islam. Islam will give us absolute freedom, justice, equality and brotherly love," Muhammad said.

It would be interesting to see how the Eagle and Sentinel, Los Angeles’ African American weeklies (on microfilm at the Los Angeles Public Library), covered this story. So many stories, only one Larry Harnisch.

  central_washington  

Note to history tour buffs: The news conference was held at the Clark Hotel, 1824 S. Central Ave.  at Washington Boulevard. 

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