October 29, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on October 29, 2009 by lmharnisch

Women of Japan Enjoy Their Liberty

Paul Coates, in coat and tieLADIES DAY IN TOKYO (Part Two) — When General of the Army Douglas MacArthur returned, as he had somehow hurriedly promised to do, Japan got its first taste of democracy.

In the manner of a triumphant but just warrior, he used an iron hand to force the philosophy of freedom on them.

Say what you will about the pompous, rather regal ruler of our Pacific forces during and after our World War II, he was unquestionably the man who finally managed to introduce the West to the East.

And the main beneficiaries of that introduction were the women of Japan.

Continue reading →

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Lili St. Cyr Remarries

Posted on October 29, 2009 by lmharnisch
 
Oct. 29, 1959, Mirror Cover

Charles Van Doren reportedly confesses to getting answers for the TV game show "Twenty-One.'

Oct. 29, 1959, Lili St. Cyr 

 
Oct. 29, 1959: Americans are ashamed that the U.S. is behind the Soviets in the space race … And Lili St. Cyr is getting married to her sixth husband , Joseph Albert “Strong Boy” Zomar.

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movies

Posted on October 29, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 29, 1956, Friendly Persuasion 

Oct. 31, 1956, Friendly Persuasion
 
Oct. 31, 1956, Friendly Persuasion

Oct. 29, 1956: “Friendly Persuasion” will premiere at the Fox Wilshire Theatre … introducing Anthony Perkins. The film was reviewed twice in The Times, on Sept. 16, 1956, by Philip K. Scheuer and again on Oct. 31, 1956,  by Edwin Schallert.

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Catching Up With ‘Twilight Zone’

Posted on October 29, 2009 by lmharnisch

Aug. 4, 1959, Twilight Zone  

Aug. 4, 1959: I almost didn’t post this Cecil Smith column because it’s not terribly well done and is mostly Smith rambling to great length about ghost stories.  But I reminded myself that at this point, very few people had seen anything but the first few episodes and nobody knew what to expect.

Until “The Twilight Zone” debuted in 1959, there had been very little
in this vein besides “Science Fiction Theatre,” a show that
began in 1955, and perhaps “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955-1962),
which was more of a mystery/suspense show.  “The Outer Limits” didn’t
begin until 1963 and was considered a “Twilight Zone” knockoff.


The American Cinematheque is paying tribute to "The Twilight Zone" with a program on Friday. Read more here.>>>  (Notice that despite what this article says, the lines quoted above are the original opening. The introduction that most of us remember didn't emerge until later).

 

April 26, 1955, Science Fiction Theatre

“Science Fiction Theatre,” 1955-1957, was one of my favorite shows as a kid. It’s  out on DVD but I’m afraid to watch the programs because like so many TV shows of my childhood, they might be absolutely awful. It was a dark and sobering day when I sat down as an adult with “Sky King,” “Whirlybirds” and “Highway Patrol.”

Aug. 20, 1959, Rod Serling

Aug. 20, 1959: Some thoughts on Rod Serling … And notice "Destruction Derby" with women drivers!

 
Oct. 2, 1959, Twilight Zone
Hey, what should we watch? Baxter Ward or “Twilight Zone?”

The Times didn’t write much about “Twilight Zone” in its first season after the show debuted. I’ll be watching for articles as we continue our jaunt through 1959 and into 1960. 
Posted in books, broadcasting, Television | 1 Comment

Sgt. Kutz Questions Barefoot Woman

Posted on October 29, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 29, 1909, Stockings 
Oct. 29, 1909: Lucretia Ruis attracts attention in Long Beach because she doesn’t wear stockings or shoes. She’s an intelligent and refined woman, but shoes and socks cause her too much pain. 

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Matt Weinstock, Oct. 28, 1959

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

October 28, 1959: Peanuts

Misplaced Patch

Matt WeinstockThis one requires the utmost delicacy.

A lady named Irene got an infection on her chin.  Her doctor prescribed a series of shots, not on her chin.  She has been going to his office regularly and the nurse has been administrating them.

The other day when she appeared for her shot she said to the nurse, “I’ve got a business appointment after I leave here, would you put a Band-Aid on it?”

She was thinking, of course, of her chin.  The nurse, administering the shot, was not.  And amid wild laughter from Irene, she slapped the Band-Aid in the wrong place. Continue reading →

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October 28, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch

Nippon Women Split on Retaining Geisha

Paul Coates, in coat and tie LADIES DAY IN TOKYO:  The flowery era of Madame Butterfly is dying, but not quite dead in the postwar life of Japan.

Under the democracy dictated to them by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Japanese women got the vote in 1946.

Since that time, 11 of them have become prominent members of parliament.  There is a very active, very huge, very persuasive League of Women Voters.  Women are beginning to outnumber men at political rallies.

And women are responsible for pushing through a law that banned prostitution for the first time in Japanese history.  It took them five tries in parliament to get the bill through, but they finally did it.

Continue reading →

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Women in Little Tokyo Charged as B-Girls

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 28, 1959, Mirror Cover

And all this time, I thought people were joking about winning the Irish Sweepstakes.  The prolonged steel strike puts 6,100 local General Motors employees out of work. The affected factories are GM's Chevrolet, Fisher Body and truck plants in the San Fernando Valley and the Buick-Pontiac-Oldsmobile plant in South Gate. Note: GM called it the Van Nuys plant, but the factory was actually in Panorama City. 

Oct. 28, 1959, B-Girls

Oct. 28, 1959: Women working in a Little Tokyo restaurant are charged with violating the law against B-girls.

1959_1028_mirror_sports_thumb

San Francisco’s ballpark is nearly ready, with an enormous parking area and seating for 44,000, the Mirror says … and Mickey Mantle says he wouldn't be surprised if the Yankees traded him.

Posted in #courts, Downtown, Food and Drink, Front Pages | 1 Comment

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movies

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 28, 1955, The Phenix City Story 

Oct. 23, 1955

Oct. 28, 1955: “The Phenix City Story” plays in Los Angeles. It’s not on Netflix!

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Teen Hoped to Bear Errol Flynn’s Child

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 15, 1959, Beverly Aadland  
Los Angeles Times file photo

Errol Flynn and Beverly Aadland in a photo published Oct. 15, 1959.

image

Oct. 28, 1959, Beverly Aadland

Oct. 28, 1959: Jack Smith interviews Errol Flynn’s teenage girlfriend Beverly Aadland (whom Smith describes as the actor’s “last playmate”)  and her attorney Melvin Belli. Aadland says that most of her clothing is inaccessible because it’s under Flynn’s name. She says she isn’t pregnant but wishes she were.  I assume The Times used “protege” in headlines because it’s shorter than “girlfriend,” but it’s really silly, as several writers have noted. 

Posted in #courts, Film, Hollywood, Jack Smith, Obituaries | 1 Comment

Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch
Aug. 1, 1938, Nuestro Pueblo 
Aug. 1, 1938: Joe Seewerker and Charles Owens visit Griffith Park and discover an old lime kiln left from mission days. Note: I posted most of the Nuestro Pueblo features when I was going through 1938-39, but I’m picking up the ones I missed.   

Posted in art and artists, books, Nuestro Pueblo | 1 Comment

Squalid Jail Conditions Shame Los Angeles

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 28, 1919, Jail 

image
Dec. 10, 1916: The Times exposes dreadful conditions at the jail.

Dec. 10, 1916, Jail 
"Prison Pit of Poe Is Outdone in Horrors by Los Angeles City Jail"		 Dec. 10, 1916, Jail 
"Under present conditions in this city it is absolutely impossible to care for prisoners in a humane manner," Police Chief J.L. Butler says.

Oct. 28, 1919: The Times editorializes about the shabby condition of the City Jail, which reporter Alma Whitaker documented in 1916. 

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Judge Foils Attempt to Get Women on Jury

Posted on October 28, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 28, 1909, Fur Turbans

Arctic turbans are the latest rage — $82.86 USD 2008.

Oct. 28, 1909, Women Jurors

Oct. 28, 1909, Jurors

Oct. 28, 1909: Prosecutor Guy Eddie is determined to get women on juries despite Police Chief Dishman’s order that they not be summoned. His latest tactic is an attempt to dismiss an entire jury, but he’s overruled by the judge. The defendant in the case, J.W. Slocum, represented himself against charges that he and other socialists violated the rules against public speaking in Central Park (now Pershing Square) during a “harangue over free speech and single tax.”

And in Des Moines, a judge orders that a case between two Jews be heard by an entirely Jewish jury.

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Matt Weinstock, Oct. 27, 1959

Posted on October 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

October 27, 1959: Peanuts

Street Shrinkers

Matt Weinstock
Studies are constantly being made to determine the effects of alcohol, smoking, overeating and noise on people but another perhaps more deadly trauma-producing experience is relatively neglected.      Driving in traffic, I mean. It does things to people.  At least it has to a man named Hank.

“I finally got it figured out,” he said the other day.  “You know these outfits that are always digging up streets and funneling three lanes of traffic into one?  They’ve got extrasensory perception!”

Continue reading →

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October 27, 1959: Paul V. Coates – Confidential File

Posted on October 27, 2009 by lmharnisch

Coates Is Reluctant Stripper of Airways

Paul Coates, in coat and tieYou want my opinion, I say there’s something almost indecent about Japan Air Lines’ luxury flight to Tokyo.

We left Los Angeles after midnight — an hour when self-respecting Occidentals give some thought to retiring.  And that was the kind of idea I had in the back of my mind.

But immediately after the no-smoking lights were off, an adorable hostess sidled up to me and, without so much as a by-your-leave, began unbuttoning my jacket.

Well, I knew right then and there what kind of a ride this was going to be.

Continue reading →

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Grand Jury to Investigate USC Fraternity Hazing Death

Posted on October 27, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 27, 1959, Mirror Cover  
Oct. 27, 1959: General Motors lays off 2,103 autoworkers in Los Angeles because of the continuing steel strike … And the grand jury will investigate the death of Kappa Sigma pledge Richard Swanson.

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movies

Posted on October 27, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 27, 1954, Bengal Brigade 
Oct. 27, 1954: “Bengal Brigade” opens in Los Angeles. Something is really wrong with Rock Hudson’s proportions this artwork.

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Dark Side of the Moon!

Posted on October 27, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 27, 1959, Cover  
Oct. 27, 1959: In another setback for America in the space race, the Soviets release a photo of the hidden side of the moon, while two U.S. satellites plunge from orbit.

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Grauman to Remodel Rialto Theater

Posted on October 27, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 27, 1919, Grauman  
Oct. 27, 1919: Sid Grauman has big plans for the Rialto theater on Broadway near 8th Street. Grauman will install a Wurlitzer organ and cover the theater’s seats in white satin. The first three films booked after the theater reopens are “Male and Female,” “Scarlet Days” and “Everywoman.”

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Boy, 6, Gets a Toy Sword – Mayhem Ensues

Posted on October 27, 2009 by lmharnisch
Oct. 27, 1909, Edward Trimble 
Oct. 27, 1909: Master Trimble goes hunting Indians on South Main, armed with his new sword.

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