Paul Coates, Jan. 10, 1961

Posted on January 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 10, 1961, Mirror Cover  

Jan. 10, 1961: Author Dashiell Hammett dies…

Paul Coates didn’t get invited to the John F. Kennedy inaugural…. notice the Page 1 story on Frank Sinatra’s wardrobe for the Kennedy bash! 

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 10, 1941

Posted on January 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Jan. 10, 1941, Europe  

Jan. 10, 1941: HOLLYWOOD AFTER DARK: Aviation enthusiasts Bob Taylor and Jimmy Stewart sketching proposed air excursions on a Brown Derby tablecloth, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Another Good Story Ruined – The Black Dahlia

Posted on January 10, 2011 by lmharnisch
It is deceptively difficult to write with any degree of accuracy about the Black Dahlia case. Here’s a recent example of a mangled account by Scott McCabe of the Washington Examiner:

On this day, Jan. 9, 1947, Elizabeth Short, anaspiring actress, disappeared, triggering a criminal investigation in which she was dubbed the "Black Dahlia."

–In fact, there was no investigation until her body was found. Short was so disconnected from society that nobody realized she had vanished. [And yes, bonus points for the typo.]

A week later, her body was discovered cut in half and mutilated in a Los Angeles parking lot.

–In fact, the body was discovered in a vacant lot.

 
Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Crime and Courts, Homicide, LAPD | Comments Off on Another Good Story Ruined – The Black Dahlia

Yorty Runs for Mayor!

Posted on January 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

Jan. 10, 1961, Yorty Jan. 10, 1961, Mayor's Race

Jan. 10, 1961: Incumbent Norris Poulson and  challenger Sam Yorty are about to get into a nasty campaign for mayor. Should I mention the $2-million slander suit? The Times editorial headlined “Either Poulson or Calamity?” (So much for the value of a Times endorsement.) And yes, The Times' Ed Ainsworth wrote the Yorty biography "Maverick Mayor."

Stay tuned! 

ALSO

Norris Poulson on the Daily Mirror

Sam Yorty on the Daily Mirror

"Maverick Mayor" on Bookfinder

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Posted in City Hall, Politics, Richard Nixon | 3 Comments

From the Vaults: ‘The Eyes of Laura Mars’ (1978)

Posted on January 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

Lauraposter Like all right-thinking people, I cherish "The Empire Strikes Back," and was saddened by the death of director Irvin Kershner. But I didn't realize until reading his one of his obits that he also directed the acclaimed thriller "Eyes of Laura Mars." And I didn't realize, until sitting down to watch the film for the first time this week, that Tommy Lee Jones could be so exquisitely pretty. Yes, pretty. Forget Yoda and space slugs and Sensitive Han — Jones' sensitive urban pout takes you to new worlds!

Actually, "Laura Mars" is pretty well grounded in our own world, specifically New York of 1978. It's glamorous yet gritty! Taxis honk their horns, men have big hair, people swear at each other in the street, and the culture is saturated with sex and violence.

Embodying the latter two is the photography of fashion guru Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway), whose sought-after yet controversial work tends to feature beautiful women in violent situations. Feminists loathe her, but as she eventually explains, real-life violence against women really bugs her: "I can't stop it. But I can make people look."

Unfortunately for Laura, she's not the only person in New York concerned with violence: She's plagued by killer's-eye visions of vicious homicides that turn out to be real. Worse, they all involve the slaughter of people she knows. So the movie's question becomes not just who is the killer, but what's his connection to Laura?

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Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 3 Comments

Matt Weinstock, Jan. 9, 1961

Posted on January 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Jan. 9, 1961, Comics  

Jan. 9, 1961: Matt Weinstock has an item on the demise of the Pioneer Dairy Lunch, 332 S. Spring St., where coffee is a nickel, and homeless men can eat for a few pennies a meal and sit for hours without being bothered. In fact, one man died in his chair and wasn’t noticed for quite some time.

CONFIDENTIAL TO "FLUNKING OUT": Some students drink deeply at the fountain of knowledge — others just gargle. Quit gargling and start drinking.

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Paul Coates, Jan. 9, 1961

Posted on January 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Jan. 9, 1961, Cover  

Jan. 9, 1961: Paul Coates has the story of Harry,  a bachelor who gets a mysterious call and…. Well, Coates can tell you the rest.

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Posted in Columnists, Paul Coates | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 9, 1941

Posted on January 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Jan. 9, 1941, Judge  

  Jan. 9, 1941, Nazi Flag  

Jan. 9, 1941: Sailor Pedro V. Rodriguez met Eva J. Sandstrum at a San Pedro cafe and after being invited to her home, had several drinks. However Rodriguez got tired of her repeated questions about his ship's cargo and its itinerary and when he saw her Nazi flag, he went berserk and stabbed her!  As a result, Judge Ida May Adams decided to burn the flag before it caused any more trouble.

Look for fireworks between Errol Flynn and Warners. They didn't know about his plan to tour the war-threatened Orient before returning home from his "Honolulu" vacation, Jimmie Fidler says. 

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Posted in Columnists, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Second Update]

Posted on January 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

  2011_0107_mystery_photo_bw  

  Los Angeles Times file photo  

[Update: Here’s a little more information. The photo was published June 21, 1936, in The Times rotogravure section, which wasn’t microfilmed, so I can’t refer to the original. The occasion was a meeting at the Riverside Drive Breakfast Club in which silent screen stars "organized a club of their own to perpetuate memories of the past, though many of them still are active in 'the pictures.' "]

They had faces then – and here they are: A reunion of silent film stars in the 1930s. There are a lot of folks in this photo so I’ll leave it up for a few days. I suspect it will be more fun if I post the entries as they come in rather than waiting until the end. Enjoy! And you will see where I had to paste this together from two scans.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 19 Comments

Hollywood Pays Tribute to an Ailing Gary Cooper

Posted on January 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Jan. 9, 1961, Gary Cooper  

Jan. 9, 1961: A testimonial by the Friars Club was one of the many tributes Gary Cooper received in the months before his death. His deteriorating condition from cancer was not widely known until April, when he was unable to appear at the Academy Awards and actor James Stewart, accepting an honorary Oscar on Cooper’s behalf, was overcome with emotion and scarcely able to talk. Cooper marked his birthday on May 7, gravely ill and unable to see friends, and died May 13. He was 60.

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Jimmie Fidler in Europe, Jan. 8, 1941

Posted on January 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 8, 1941, Tobruk  

  Jan. 8, 1941, Vice Raid  

Jan. 8, 1941: Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, the “perfect lovers,” had an out-loud row just before sailing for Europe — and almost went in opposite directions, Jimmie Fidler says.
 
Keeping reading for more on the vice raids on nightclubs in Little Tokyo and along Central Avenue….

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Hollywood at War

Posted on January 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Hollywood, Nov. 15, 1942  

  Nov. 15, 1942, Hollywood  

Nov. 15, 1942, Hollywood Studio executive Walter Wanger (d. 1968) describes how World War II is affecting the motion picture industry in this Nov. 15, 1942, article. He notes that movie audiences are increasing, and suggests that because of gas rationing, the local movie house will become  the leading entertainment center.

Wanger also describes the effect of a $5,000 limit on movie sets [$65,094.52 USD 2009] in terms of recycling materials and notes that costumes are being made of less expensive materials. The importance of conserving film stock means more rehearsals and fewer takes, he says. And he also notes moviemakers’ response to the loss of actors (and extras) to the military.

Wanger apparently died of a heart attack in his New York apartment, where he lived quietly after a rather turbulent career, which culminated in the 1962 Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton opus/debacle "Cleopatra."

He served 102 days at a county prison farm for the 1951 shooting of agent Jennings Lang over an alleged affair with Wanger’s wife, Joan Bennett. His prison experience prompted him to produce the film "I Want to Live," about the Barbara Graham case. He was also president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

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Posted in #courts, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 7, 1941

Posted on January 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 7, 1941, Roosevelt Speech  

  Jan. 7, 1941, Roosevelt Speech  

Jan. 7, 1941: Jimmie Fidler has an intriguing item about "poison pen notes" being planted in the pockets of workmen on "North West Mounted Police" and "The Great Dictator," which were found by the men’s wives and in several instances nearly provoked divorces.

"The victims of these 'jokes' are positive they know the identity of the perpetrator. If they are correct, what a shock it would be if the name of the suspected person were made known," Fidler says.

[Yes, Paulette Goddard is in both films — lrh].

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on January 7, 2011 by lmharnisch

  2011_0106_mystery_photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

[Update: As many people realized, this is from “There’s That Woman Again.” I expected most people to recognize Melvyn Douglas, but some of the responses were quite detailed. Please congratulate Mary Mallory, Dewey Webb, Eve Golden, Herb Nichols, Zabadu, Rick, Mark Heimback-Nielsen, Benito, Periwinkle, Lee and Arye Michael Bender. And Mike Hawks' post was most impressive:  THERE'S THAT WOMAN AGAIN 1939, Columbia Pictures. shown left to right are cameraman Joseph Walker, Pierre Watkin, director Alexander Hall, Margaret Lindsay, Melvyn Douglas and Virginia Bruce.

[Keep reading for the original caption…. ]

This was another fun discovery…. Unfortunately, the print was so large that I had to scan it in two pieces and paste them together. The crease in the center of the photo is where it was folded in half to be put in the folder, which is typical of the oversized prints.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 19 Comments

Paul Coates, Jan. 6, 1961

Posted on January 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 6, 1961, Mirror Cover  
  Jan. 6, 1961, Integration  

Jan. 6, 1961: Paul Coates dips into the mailbag and has an item on a jazz band and choir that perform “ ‘Peter Gunn’-type music” at church services.

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Matt Weinstock, Jan. 6, 1961

Posted on January 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

  image  

  Jan. 6, 1961, Newspaper circulation  

Jan. 6, 1961: What’s this? Newspaper circulation is up 52% over the last 25 years? “Newspaper circulation grows because the service rendered to readers is not available from any other source and not likely ever to become available from any other source,” says Stanford Smith of the American Newspaper Publishers Assn.

The words "secluded hillside cottage" are irresistible to musicians, Matt Weinstock says.

CONFIDENTIAL TO TOMMY: The mental cases most difficult to cure are those people who are "crazy" about themselves.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Jan. 6, 1941

Posted on January 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 6, 1941, Wrecked Plane  

  Jan. 6, 1941, Plane Crash  

Jan. 6, 1941: Times artist Charles H. Owens gives his interpretation of the crash of a Navy DC-2 into White Mountain, 25 miles southeast of San Diego. 
 
“In 30 years of incessant searching for new screen talent, I have learned one ironic fact: The more beautiful the girl, the more apt she is to have slovenly speech habits and an unpleasant, poorly modulated voice,” Cecil B. De Mille tells Jimmie Fidler.

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Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on January 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 5, 2011, Mystery Photo  

  Los Angeles Times file photo  

[Update: Our mystery woman has been identified as Miss Dupont. Congratulations to Mike Hawks! To see the information on the back of the photo, keep reading.]  

This truly is a mystery photo. There’s minimal information on the back, so I’m leaving the code number instead of hiding it.  I suppose it ended up in the movie production file because the mystery woman is carrying a camera.

 

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 12 Comments

The Loud Family, Seven Years After TV Series

Posted on January 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Jan. 6, 1980, Loud Family  

  Jan. 6, 1980, Loud Family  

Jan. 6, 1980: Years before there was MTV’s “The Real World” (or MTV, for that matter), there was Craig Gilbert’s “An American Family,” the story of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, which aired on PBS in 12 one-hour episodes in 1973. During what is now considered the first reality TV show, oldest son Lance Loud announced that he was homosexual and Pat Loud ordered her husband, Bill, out of the house because of his infidelity. 

Margaret Mead called Gilbert's approach "As important in the history of human thought as the invention of the novel" but critics were less enthusiastic, saying that all the Louds seemed to do was lounge around their swimming pool. Several members of the family criticized Gilbert for selective editing that trivialized them.  
 
A follow-up film was made in 1983 and a 2001 film explored the life of Lance Loud, who died in 2001 at the age of 50.

Note to Times copy desk: 1980 – 1973 = 7, not 8.

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Huntington Beach Jane Doe, 1968

Posted on January 5, 2011 by lmharnisch
  April 15, 1968, Jane Doe  
My Google alert for “Black Dahlia” sent me to Tori Richards’ piece on an unsolved 1968 homicide being reopened by the Huntington Beach Police Department. Taking the case to the Internet has already dispelled decades of speculation that a purse and some photographs found the same day as the killing might have belonged to the victim. Police say that they have been contacted by the people in the pictures, which are completely unrelated to the killing.

The unidentified victim was found by three boys March 14, 1968, in a drainage ditch separating two plowed fields about 150 yards south of Yorktown Avenue and Newland Street, The Times said.

Police describe the victim as a white or Latino woman 20 to 25 years old, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-4 and 140 pounds, with dark, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes. She was missing several back upper and lower teeth and her front teeth were somewhat crooked, police say. 

She was wearing a multi-colored flower print blouse, purple Capri-style pants, a black imitation leather three-quarter-length coat and flat, loafer-type shoes. She was wearing a ring with a square, light-blue stone in a silver metal setting. 

“Her clothing had been torn open, she had been raped and her throat had been cut,” The Times said in 1968.

In 2001, the Orange County crime lab obtained a DNA profile from evidence recovered in 1968, but no match has been found in the FBI Combined DNA Index System, police say. 

In 1969, The Times reported that a woman named Jacqueline Smay had identified the victim as an acquaintance named Rhonda Fisher. At the time, detectives said the identification hadn’t been confirmed. “We think we have found the person Miss Smay thought she knew,” Det. Sgt. Monty McKennon said.

In 1972, The Times reported that a former friend had tentatively identified the victim as Teresa Marie Tippet, 29, formerly of Long Beach, who was also known as Mattie Meeker.

“The description she gave us was fairly close to our Jane Doe, and so was her description of a ring the victim was wearing,” Det. John Cale said.

Still, detectives said the identification wasn’t conclusive and continued to consider the victim a Jane Doe, The Times said.

Curiously enough, The Times referred to Jane Doe as 68-0745 and the Huntington Beach Police Department refers to Jane Doe 68-006079.

Anything with further information should call Det. Mike Reilly (714) 536-5940.

The Huntington Beach police news release is here.

Postscript: I’m unable to find any details on a solution to the other puzzling 1968 homicide in Huntington Beach, that of Marine Staff Sgt. Cecil T. Caldwell, who was shot in the back with a .30-30 while working in a gas station at Bolsa Avenue and Springdale Street.

 

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Posted in 1968, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Comments Off on Huntington Beach Jane Doe, 1968