Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, May 16, 1940

Posted on May 16, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 16, 1940, Nazis Gain
May 16, 1940, Nazis

May 16, 1940: “Peas-in-a-pod: Loretta Young and Ann Dvorak,” Jimmie Fidler says.

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Mystery Photo

Posted on May 16, 2010 by lmharnisch
May 15, 2010, Mystery Photo
Isn’t this a great photo? There’s a little story that goes with it.

Update: As everybody realized, this is an extremely casual Otis Chandler in one of the few pictures I’ve ever seen of him in which he’s not wearing a suit – and notice the beard. I found this unlabeled snapshot on a vacant desk after one of the rounds of layoffs and kept it because it showed a Duesenberg. It was only after I had it for a while that I realized it was Otis.  The photo was presumably taken at a car show, but I have no idea when or where, although the photo paper says that Kodak is a sponsor of the Olympic Games, narrowing the date to about 1984. 

Posted in Mystery Photo, Photography | 4 Comments

Miracle TI-99/4 Home Computer Has 16K RAM, Runs BASIC!

Posted on May 16, 2010 by lmharnisch
May 16, 1980, TI-99/4
May 16, 1980: The absolutely amazing TI-99/4 home computer … with 16K RAM! BASIC! 16-color graphics! Thermal printer! An an acoustic coupler! Notice that the ad doesn’t even list a price.

Update: If you poke around a little bit you can find a TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A emulator. This software has not been tested in the Daily Mirror computer labs so proceed at your own risk.

Posted in Science | 4 Comments

Little Damage From 6.0 Quake, 1910

Posted on May 16, 2010 by lmharnisch

 May 16, 1910, Quake

May 16, 1910: Here’s an interesting problem – how did newspapers report an earthquake 100 years ago? The Times gathered brief accounts over a wide area, from San Diego and Santa Catalina Island to Riverside, Banning, Mt. Wilson and Elsinore. According to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center, this was an estimated magnitude 6 quake on the Elsinore fault about 15 miles south of Riverside. 

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, May 15, 1940

Posted on May 15, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 15, 1940, Epic Battle

May 15, 1940: “Richard Arlen has stocked his ranch lake with fish and plans summer angling parties for his chums,” Jimmie Fidler says. 

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John Wayne Denies Confrontation With Sinatra

Posted on May 15, 2010 by lmharnisch

 

 
May 15, 1960, Sinatra

John Wayne and Maria Cooper, left, and Frank Sinatra at fundraiser.

May 15, 1960, Sinatra

May 15, 1960: Witnesses say John Wayne and Frank Sinatra nearly got into a fight during a benefit dinner at the Moulin Rouge over Wayne’s comments about Sinatra hiring blacklisted writer Albert Maltz for “The Execution of Private Slovik.” Later in the evening, Sinatra and a companion allegedly roughed up a valet. The next day, Wayne denied that there was any confrontation with Sinatra. “I like Frank,” he said.

The city attorney declined to file charges against Sinatra in the incident, but his companion, John Hopkins, was convicted of battery and sentenced to 10 days jail and a year’s probation for hitting valet Edward Moran. Moran also filed a $100,000 civil suit against Sinatra, but The Times didn’t report the outcome.

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Posted in #courts, Film, Hollywood, Nightclubs | 4 Comments

On the Frontiers of Sports

Posted on May 15, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
image

May 15, 1910: New rules are approved to avoid some football injuries. For example, “no pushing or pulling of the man with the ball” and the flying tackle is banned. But the rules committee keeps the forward pass after heated debate. 

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, May 14, 1940

Posted on May 14, 2010 by lmharnisch

May 14, 1940, Germans Split Netherlands

May 14, 1940, Nazi Death Ray  

Dr. Jones…. Tell us about this Nazi death ray.

May 14, 1940: “Signs of the season: Clark Gable and Carole Lombard practicing fly casting on the front lawn,” Jimmie Fidler says. 

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Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Charles Champlin on ‘Haywire’

Posted on May 14, 2010 by lmharnisch

May 14, 1980, Haywire

May 14, 1980: Charles Champlin on the making of “Haywire,” the TV movie based on the book by Brooke Hayward. The project, which was scaled back from a mini-series to a three-hour show, evoked painful memories for the surviving family members, Champlin says.  The show includes a credit to “Ivan Davis,” a pseudonym, and casting was quite problematic. Bill Hayward wanted Jane Fonda to play Margaret Sullavan, but Fonda didn't like "Haywire" for undisclosed reasons and wasn't approached, Champlin says.

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‘Let Us Commune With the Yogi’

Posted on May 14, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 14, 1910, Vaudeville

Nellie Nichols and the Four Dancing Bugs at the Orpheum!

May 14, 1910: On the jump, the curious case of  Sakharam G. Pandit, a Hindu in Chicago with a “hypnotic eye” who allegedly went too far with women when he massaged them and said, “Let us commune with the Yogi.” The Times' stories are a little vague, but he evidently came to Los Angeles and, as S.G. Pandit, became an attorney once the the courts resolved the thorny question of whether a Hindu was white and could therefore become a U.S. citizen.

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Matt Weinstock, May 13, 1960

Posted on May 13, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 13, 1960, Comics  

May 13, 1960: Matt Weinstock writes about a group of Hill Street barflies who are transfixed by “Miracle on 34th Street.” And a woman tells Abby that she’s troubled by the attention she’s receiving from her husband’s best friend, a lifelong bachelor. 

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, May 13, 1960

Posted on May 13, 2010 by lmharnisch
 
May 13, 1960, Mirror Cover

May 13, 1960: Two mothers share their stories on dealing with teenage sons who are so obsessed with drag racing that everything else in their lives is suffering.  

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Jimmie Fidler, May 13, 1940

Posted on May 13, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 13, 1940, Nazis Advance

May 13, 1940, Bombing
May 13, 1940, Bombing

May 13, 1940: “Charlie Chaplin, ringsiding at N.T.G.'s, with Marlene Dietrich and Tim Durant, ducking to the floor as an acrobatic dancer somersaults less than a foot away,” Jimmie Fidler says.

Note: N.T.G. is Nils T. Granlund and the club would be the Florentine Gardens.

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Aly Khan Killed in Car Crash

Posted on May 13, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 13, 1960, Aly Khan

May 13, 1960: Prince Aly Khan, former husband of Rita Hayworth, is killed when his Lancia sports car crashes into a Simca at Suresnes, France. Khan, who was driving, was accompanied by French model Bettina (Simone Bodin), who suffered a deep cut on her face, and his chauffeur, who was slightly injured. Khan was en route to the home of his half brother Prince Sadruddin, near the St. Cloud golf course, The Times says.

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Cupid’s Sorrowful Tale

Posted on May 13, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
image
Happy foot!

May 13, 1910: Mrs. Mallory gets 90 days in jail for running a disorderly house on Spring Street and a $50 fine for violating liquor laws … and the sorrowful story of a young woman who met a sailor on leave in San Diego.   

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Found on EBay – One Magazine

Posted on May 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

one_magazine_ebay_02 A lot of 34 issues of One Magazine from 1953-55, including the first issue, has been listed on EBay. One, a historic magazine that dealt with gay issues, was published in Los Angeles and figured in a landmark 1st Amendment ruling after being declared obscene. A copy of the January 1953 issue sold for $455 last year. Bidding starts at $9.99.
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Matt Weinstock, May 12, 1960

Posted on May 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 12, 1960, Comics

May 12, 1960: Matt Weinstock is reading a paperback (evidently by Seymour Krim) titled “The Beats.” Weinstock says: “Some very intelligent people, with or without beards, go to coffeehouses and what they say about life and the dilemmas of today makes sense. Furthermore, many of them don't approve of the writing of Jack Kerouac.”

More on the Beats here>>>

What should a married woman do when the foreman gives her a pink silk nightgown? Abby has the answer.

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, May 12, 1960

Posted on May 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 12, 1960, Mirror Cover

May 12, 1960: Paul Coates writes, “He's 18 years old. He uses our freeways and boulevards to prove his prowess, at speeds of 110 mph. Three times, he's almost been killed.”

The racer says: “It was Tuesday night. We were down at the usual hangout. Races going on there every Tuesday night. This '50 Cad pulled in. He's running big racing slicks and all sorts of traction bars.”

"The lines in the road just looked like dots…."

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Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, May 12, 1941

Posted on May 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
May 12, 1941, London Buildings Blasted
May 12, 1941, Posters

May 12, 1941: “Ronald Reagan has a new Warners contract with bigger dough and promising a star buildup,” Jimmie Fidler says. 

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Posted in Columnists, Film, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Los Angeles With a Laugh Track – ‘The Natives Are Restless’

Posted on May 12, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
natives_are_restless 

“Side-splitting?” Not hardly.

Cynthia Lindsay's "The Natives Are Restless" (1960) is not a great book about Los Angeles or even a particularly good one. A frothy mix of humor and sunshine, "Natives" floats to the bright end of the noir spectrum, somewhere between Elisabeth Webb Herrick's1934 "Curious California Customs" and the 1941 WPA handbook.

A movie stuntwoman until being injured in an accident, Lindsay was given a typewriter by Boris Karloff (the subject of her biography "Dear Boris") and wrote for the TV shows "Bachelor Father" and "My Three Sons," which is precisely her approach in "Natives": Los Angeles as a situation comedy. 

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Posted in books, Downtown | 2 Comments