Santa Monica Man Admits Strangling Waitress

Posted on December 3, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Dec. 23, 1960, Mirror  

Dec. 3, 1960: Gerald "Frenchy" Fernandez admits strangling Susan Kilgore, whose body was found outside the Wind and Sea Tavern, 101 Broadway, Santa Monica. Her clothing was "disarranged" and Fernandez says he killed her when she "resisted his advances."

Kilgore had a drinking problem and had been married three times, according to her mother. She was 24.

Darryl Zanuck couldn't believe Marilyn Monroe was really singing in the rushes for "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," so he had her sing for him, Maurice Zolotow says in "The Real Marilyn Monroe."

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Homicide | Comments Off on Santa Monica Man Admits Strangling Waitress

On the Trail of the Keystone Kops

Posted on December 3, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Oct. 25, 1915, Costume Ball  
 
Dec. 11, 1914, Keystone Comedians 		 

  Feb. 28, 1913, Keystone  

Oct. 25, 1915: Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle … and Mayor Sebastian?

The ad for the costume ball is the earliest reference to the “Keystone Kops” that I can find in The Times. However, a little more digging turned up a Dec. 11, 1914, ad that refers to a live performance featuring the Keystone Comedians with the Keystone “Cops.”

One of the first references I found to the Keystone Comedy Co. is a Feb. 28, 1913, article about Mack Sennett taking over a mile of streetcar tracks around Central and Vernon for a picture (possibly “The New Conductor”) starring Ford Sterling.

The earliest reference I can find to Sennett in The Times is the Feb. 20, 1913, story of Barney Oldfield speeding him to rescue Mabel Normand, who had been tied to the railroad tracks. 

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Stage | 2 Comments

Matt Weinstock, Dec. 2, 1960

Posted on December 2, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Dec. 2, 1960, Comics  

Dec. 2, 1960: For a second time, Matt Weinstock debunks the notion that the tear-off strips on cellophane cigarette packs should be saved as a way to raise money.  Urban myths are hard to kill, he discovers.

Also on the jump, Marilyn Monroe is continually late, Maurice Zolotow writes in the latest chapter of “The Real Marilyn Monroe.” 

DEAR ABBY: Please do a humane service and put something in your column about these inconsiderate women who perfume themselves so heavily that everyone in the office practically chokes when they come in. I want to cut it out and post it on the bulletin board.

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Posted in art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Matt Weinstock | 1 Comment

Paul Coates, Dec. 2, 1960

Posted on December 2, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Dec. 2, 1960, Mirror Cover  

Dec. 2, 1960: Paul Coates and his wife visit the tomb of Lenin (and, at that point, Stalin) … and John Grover takes a humorous look at President-elect Kennedy’s plan to televise news conferences. 

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Dec. 2, 1940

Posted on December 2, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Dec. 2, 1940, Greeks Capture 7000 Prisoners  

  Dec. 2, 1940, Buck  

RKO's new importation, Signe Hasso, almost severed a finger peeling a potato; it's sewed in place and doctors say she won't lose it, Jimmie Fidler says. 

ALSO

Signe Hasso on the Daily Mirror

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Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Dec. 2, 1940

Bruno Walter’s Last Concert

Posted on December 2, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Dec. 2, 1960, Van Cliburn

 
  Feb. 18, 1962, Bruno Walter  

Dec. 2, 1960: Van Cliburn, the Cold War sensation who won the 1958 Tchaikovsky piano competition, performs the Brahms second piano concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Bruno Walter at Shrine Auditorium.   [Yes, I cringe to think of what the acoustics were like in that big barn.]

I’ve posted Albert Goldberg’s review on the jump, not because it is exceptionally good but because it reflects music criticism of the era when one was supposed to be “transported” by the music. Goldberg’s reviews are certainly head and shoulders above those of  Isabel Morse Jones and he was an institution at The Times. And he does note that Cliburn can play something besides Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.

What’s significant about this performance is that it was last live concert conducted by Walter, who died in Beverly Hills in 1962. He continued to make recordings, however, according to an online discography.  

Also on the jump: Zubin Mehta will make his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1961.

IF YOUR CHILD IS BORN TODAY … he will have a life full of changes and interesting experiences, dealing with fascinating personalities. [I guess if you have a girl you are out of luck!]

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Posted in classical music, Music, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Matt Weinstock, Dec. 1, 1960

Posted on December 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Dec. 1, 1960, Comics  

Dec. 1, 1960: Matt Weinstock complains because Charlie Chaplin has no star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has an update on the fire hydrant in the gutter at 2nd and Hill streets. 

DEAR ABBY: Have you any advice for a man who is married to a woman who spends every afternoon (and half her evenings) playing poker? We've been married for two years and I am getting tired of it.

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Posted in art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Matt Weinstock | 1 Comment

Christina Makes Peace With Joan Crawford, Dec. 1, 1960

Posted on December 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

 
 

  Dec. 1, 1960,  

  Dec. 1, 1960, Eastside Beer  

Dec. 1, 1960: Eastside Beer is $1.09 a six-pack or $7.81 USD 2009.

On the jump, Joan Crawford’s daughter Christina tells Lee Belser: "At long last Mummy and I seem to be feeling a bond of common experience."

And Marilyn Monroe meets Joe DiMaggio in Maurice Zolotow’s biography “The Real Marilyn Monroe.”

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Posted in Film, Front Pages, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Dec. 1, 1941

Posted on December 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

  U.S. Pilots Guard Burma Road

  
  Dec. 1, 1941, Tom Treanor  

Dec. 1, 1941: Tom Treanor visits the cavalry troops at Camp Seeley and mentions the remarkable lack of interest in the war. All the men talk about is their horses and maybe the M-1 Garand.

Pat (Notre Dame fan-atic) O'Brien is circulating a petition, urging the Fighting Irish to break no-postseason-games rule and seek a Rose Bowl bid, Jimmie Fidler says.

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Movieland Mystery Photo – Update 2

Posted on December 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 28, 2010, Mystery Photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

Here’s another mystery photo I found in Mack Sennett’s file. 

Update: Alas, these young women aren’t identified on the back of the photo. It was supposedly published in The Times on June 27, 1948, and dates from 1922, but I can’t locate the picture in The Times’ archival pages on ProQuest, so I'm guessing that it was pulled from later editions.  The photo appears several places on the Net, but none of them has any identification. I also went through Google’s news archives for 1922, but couldn’t find anything. A true mystery photo!

On the jump, Edward Cline describes the origins of Sennett’s Bathing Beauties in a Feb. 26, 1924, Times story.  As with the Keystone Kops, it was an accident (Sennett  tried to slip his actors into a Shriners parade for some comedy scenes and was chased by the police).

Update 2: I’m always impressed by the knowledge and dedication of the Daily Mirror “brain trust.” Mary Mallory writes: Checked almost 30 envelopes of photos of Sennett bathing beauties, and we don't have that one.  I saw Brent Walker last night, and he says he doesn't really have any idea either.

Thanks, Mary!

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 11 Comments

Labor Secretary Calls for Immigration Crackdown

Posted on December 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Dec. 1, 1930, Bruce Russell

 
  Dec. 1, 1930, Immigration  

Dec. 1, 1930: Editorial cartooning from the pen of a younger Bruce Russell, in the days when newspapers ran them on the front page. And no, Russell’s concepts didn’t get any clearer over the years. Compare his 1960 cartoon on Richard Nixon’s experienced hair.  (Hm. Reminds me of A. Victor Segno.)

Also on the front page: James J. Davis, President Herbert Hoover’s outgoing secretary of Labor (he resigned to become a senator from Pennsylvania), calls for tighter restrictions on immigration.  Notice the proposal of Sen. David A Reed (R-Pa.) who wants to shut down immigration for two years.

On the jump, how should sports announcers cover football games? Lots of color and constant chatter or pure statistics and long pauses?

ALSO

Times Editorials on Immigration:

The Japanese ‘Menace,’ 1920

Accepting Jewish Refugees Is Impractical, 1938

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Posted in art and artists, broadcasting, Immigration, Sports | Comments Off on Labor Secretary Calls for Immigration Crackdown

What to See in L.A., 1924

Posted on December 1, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

  Sept. 7, 1924, Post Office  

I don’t post much on the 1920s (so many stories, only one Larry Harnisch) but I stumbled across this feature page when looking for something else and found several interesting pieces. The first is a long interview with Joseph M. Abrams, vice president and general manager of a tour bus line, who says the most popular sightseeing spots are: 

1) Mary Pickford's house

2) Rudolph Valentino's house

3) Charlie Chaplin's house

4) Gloria Swanson's house

5) Will Rogers' house

6) Pauline Frederick's house

7) Milton Sills' house

8) Jackie Coogan's house

9) Tommy Meighan's house

10) William Desmond's house

11) William S. Hart's house

12) Eugene O'Brien's house

13) Pola Negri's house

14) Lois Wilson's house

15) J. Warren Kerrigan's house

16) The house on Dayton Avenue where Jim Jeffries was born. [Note: The home was at Dayton and Cypress Avenues, presumably 535 Cypress, according to the 1909 city directory, available online from the Los Angeles Public Library. A subtle reminder to budget-slashing civic leaders who think librarians only reshelve books. And yes, Jeffries’ father was a minister.]  

“Most of the reservations for sightseeing trips about Los Angeles are made by the women. They constitute 80% of our patrons. Men want to go to the baseball game or to a prizefight or to the beach, where the bathing girls are. When they go to view the city they usually are hauled along by their wives,” Abrams says. 

Then there’s a piece on old and vanished buildings of Los Angeles and  the unusual home of “occultist” Ben Hansen  (no address, alas). It is built entirely of eucalyptus and decorated with Egyptian/Assyrian/Persian/Aztec symbols. With a couple of Buddhas  tastefully thrown in.

ALSO

Jim Jeffries and the “Fight of the Century”

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Posted in Architecture, art and artists, Downtown, Film, Hollywood | Comments Off on What to See in L.A., 1924

Matt Weinstock, Nov. 30, 1960

Posted on November 30, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Nov. 30, 1960, Comics  

Dec. 2, 1960: A publicity man never gives up, Matt Weinstock says, citing his experience with a tale about the Arizona Bar – in San Diego.

DEAR ABBY: We are the parents of four wonderful adopted children. One of the boys is part Indian. He is bright and lovable, but his skin is darker than the rest. When we take our family places, thoughtless strangers gawk at us like we were from outer space. I don't mind that so much, but I've had people….

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Paul Coates on Adolf Eichmann, Nov. 30, 1960

Posted on November 30, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

 
 

  Nov. 3, 1960, Mirror  

Nov. 3,  1960: Israel's Atty. Gen. Gideon Hausner tells Paul Coates: "Revenge is not the motive of this trial. What we want to do is, once and for all, set before the world the fully documented story of the so-called 'Final Solution to Jewry,' and we want to do it through the testimony of the man who was responsible.

"But let me assure you. We are bound by the strict observance of law. This will not become a circus. Adolf Eichmann will get a fair trial."

On the jump, Marilyn Monroe is purportedly an orphan but a gossip columnist finds her mother in  a sanitarium in the latest chapter of Maurice Zolotow’s biography “The Real Marilyn Monroe.”

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Posted in #courts, Columnists, Film, Front Pages, Hollywood, Paul Coates | 2 Comments

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Nov. 30. 1940

Posted on November 30, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  image  

  Nov. 30, 1940, Tom Treanor  

Nov.  30, 1940: I watched Olivia de Havilland select a swank pair of earrings which, she confided, were destined for sister Joan Fontaine's Christmas tree.

The purchase completed, the clerk asked: "Anything else, Miss de Havilland?"

"Nothing," replied Olivia reflectively, "except — please be nice to Miss Fontaine when she comes in to exchange these."

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Movieland Mystery Photo – Update 2

Posted on November 30, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 27, 2010, Mystery Photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

image Mack Sennett was this week’s mystery guest. I found this picture in his file and thought it would make a nice mystery photo.

Update: Harry “Kid” McCoy, center, is the only fellow identified in this photo, so I’m hoping the Daily Mirror “brain trust” will come through with the rest of the identities.  As Stacia suggests, the fellow on the lower left looks like Slim Summerville, although I can see a resemblance to Lupino Lane.  And the mystery woman on the right appears to be Mae Busch.

Update 2: Mary Mallory writes: I have some information on the Triangle Komedies photo.  It is THEIR WEAK MOMENTS (Triangle-Sennett, 1917).  Harry McCoy stands holding the gun, the woman in the straw hat is Cecile Arnold, and the woman in the black hat is Vivian Edwards.  The man on the floor with the tilted hat is Mal St. Clair.  Don't know the other two.  I figured this out from Brent Walker's book which has a photo of McCoy and the women, and then discovered that we have the exact same photo in the film file.

There are more detailed images on the jump.

At right: Mack Sennett and Thomas Ince ankle Triangle, July 7, 1917

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | 10 Comments

Dodgers’ Youth Movement

Posted on November 30, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Nov. 30, 1960, Dodgers  

Nov. 30, 1960: The Dodgers' youth movement rolled on.

"Our kids continue to improve and none of them has reached his peak," Manager Walt Alston told The Times' Frank Finch. "The Dodgers will be a team to be reckoned with for some time."

Highest on the list of future Dodgers were players who appeared in Los Angeles during the disappointing 1960 season—Frank Howard, Willie Davis and Tommy Davis.

Things had changed dramatically for the Dodgers since the move to Los Angeles before the 1958 season, when the team included many stars from its years in Brooklyn.

Consider the plight of Gil Hodges, an eight-time all star who was a fixture at first base. Discussing his catching situation Alston said he might keep only two catchers in 1961 "if Hodges is still around."

–Keith Thursby

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Matt Weinstock, Nov. 29, 1960

Posted on November 29, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 29, 1960, Comics  

Nov. 29, 1960:  Matt Weinstock has the story of a group of people who were discussing current films (one of them had seen a preview of “Exodus”) and another said he hadn’t been to a movie since “Wings.”

Also on the jump, a story about Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling and his clash with Sen. Thomas J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who inserted a statement in the official record of a hearing charging that Pauling had a "long record of service to Communist causes and objectives, many of them related in no way to his special field of science."

CONFIDENTIAL TO "TRYING TO FORGET": Get rid of the letters, pictures and all the little "reminders." The romance is dead, dead, dead!

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Paul Coates on Adolf Eichmann, Nov. 29, 1960

Posted on November 29, 2010 by lmharnisch

  Nov. 29, 1960, Mirror  

Nov. 29, 1960: Paul Coates talks to Holocaust survivors in Israel about Adolf Eichmann and finds complex and contradictory views on him. One person wishes that his captors had simply shot him instead of bringing him to Israel for a trial.

Commander Antek (Yitzhak Zuckerman), one of the leaders of the uprising of the Warsaw ghetto, says: "If I got him in these hands I would kill him, of course. I could not help myself. But what good does killing him do? Will it make up for his crime? Can you kill a man 6 million times?"

Also on the jump, Chapter 14 of Maurice Zolotow's "The Real Marilyn Monroe," in which the actress' drama coach, Natasha Lytess, appears on the set of the Fritz Lang film "Clash by Night." It didn’t go well.

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Nov. 29, 1940

Posted on November 29, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
 

  Nov. 29, 1940, Mexicans Riot  

  image  

Nov. 29, 1940: HOLLYWOOD AFTER DARK: Bob Stack, with Pat Dane at the Pirates' Den, blushing a fiery red when a gushy fan dashed up, scissors in hand, to beg a lock of his hair.

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Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood | Comments Off on Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, Nov. 29, 1940