Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on November 7, 2022 by lmharnisch

Main Title superimposed on an image of a grand piano
This week’s mystery movie was the 1953 MGM film Torch Song, with Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding, Gig Young, Marjorie Rambeau, Henry (Harry) Morgan, Dorothy Patrick, James Todd, Eugene Loring, Paul Guilfoyle and Benny Rubin. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood Studio Club Provides Home For Movie-Struck Girls

Posted on November 7, 2022 by lmharnisch

studio_club_photoplayvolume11112chic_1317
The Studio Club in Photoplay, 1917.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

T he advent of the 20th century offered the possibility of more freedom and opportunity for women. For decades, women had advocated for the right to vote, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Others clamored for more work opportunities beyond teaching, librarian, and secretarial positions.

The relatively new medium of motion pictures also tantalized audiences with many new possibilities beyond their hometowns: exciting new cities, novel hobbies and recreations, and modern employment opportunities. In fact, many people considered the growing film industry itself an excellent field to try their luck, especially movie-struck, naïve young women.

ALSO BY MARY MALLORY
Magic Castle
Mack Sennett
Brand Library
Auction of Souls

Continue reading →

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A Reminder From Pier Angeli and Friend

Posted on November 6, 2022 by lmharnisch

Nov. 3, 2016, Pier Angeli

Pier Angeli and her little friend remind Daily Mirror readers to turn back their clocks this Sunday.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 31, 2022 by lmharnisch

Main Title. Letters over a snow scene of an apartment building
This week’s mystery movie was the 1933 RKO picture Topaze, with John Barrymore, Myrna Loy, Reginald Mason, Jobyna Howland, Jackie Searl, Albert Conti, Frank Reicher and Luis Alberni. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Dr. Caligari and the Rise of American Nationalism

Posted on October 31, 2022 by lmharnisch

Los_Angeles_Evening_Express_Wed__May_4__1921_
Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, described by film critic Roger Ebert as the “first true horror film,” still wows audiences more than 100 years after creation due to its high artistic values and nightmarish, foreboding atmosphere. Reflecting as well as foreshadowing political events in Europe at the time, the story of its first release in Los Angeles in May 1921 also mirrors our current political environment.

Released in Germany to huge acclaim in 1920, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari popularized the Expressionist Style of filmmaking through its otherworldly depiction of the depraved psyche and nightmarish anxiety of its lead character. An offshoot of the revolutionary early twentieth century art form cubism, which embraced an abstracted and multidimensional presentation of reality, Expressionism symbolically explored the madness and nightmarish qualities of an anxiety-filled, suspicious culture. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Egyptian Theatre, Where Grauman Put the ‘Show’ in Show Business, Turns 100

Posted on October 25, 2022 by lmharnisch

grauman_postcard
A postcard showing Sid Grauman and the Egyptian Theater, listed on EBay.

On Oct. 18, Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre turned 100 years old. Built and operated by legendary showman Sid Grauman, the spectacular theater introduced major Hollywood premieres and radio broadcasts as it became a mecca of entertainment for Southern California. The successful theater demonstrated the business and creative acumen of the shrewd exhibitor as he formed the template of the Hollywood premiere and its publicity possibilities by showcasing and expanding his creative genius.

Grauman absorbed showmanship from his theater manager father. Vaudeville’s obit called him “the father of continuous vaudeville…the first showman to establish himself after the great fire; also the first showman to adopt the large, luxurious theater for pictures.” Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 24, 2022 by lmharnisch

Main title. Letters over ambulance rushing through streets of New York
This week’s mystery movie was the 1937 film Internes Can’t Take Money, with Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Lloyd Nolan, Stanley Ridges, Lee Bowman, Barry Macollum, Irving Bacon and Gaylord Pendleton.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1937, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 36 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 17, 2022 by lmharnisch

Main title letter on wrinkled paper, as if an old theatrical poster
This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 film The Queen of Spades, with Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, Ronald Howard, Mary Jerrold, Yvonne Mitchell, Anthony Dawson, Pauline Tennant, Miles Malleson, Athene Seyler, Michael Medwin, Maroussia Dimitrevitch, Ivor Barnard and Violetta Elvin.

Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The First Motion Picture Electrical Parade

Posted on October 17, 2022 by lmharnisch

Motion Picture Electrical Parade

Harold Lloyd’s float in the electrical parade, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Long before the Walt Disney Co. began presenting an electrical parade at its parks, Los Angeles offered electrical parades as part of the city’s grand La Fiesta de las Flores celebrations. In 1931, the motion picture industry presented its own lavish spectacular, a glorious, over-the-top affair that only 1930s Hollywood could produce, called Motion Picture Night and the Parade of Jewels.

Los Angeles began celebrating La Fiesta de Las Flores in the 1890s as a way to boost civic pride and awareness as well as lure tourist dollars. Floats, bands and equestrian groups decorated with flowers took part in the event. An evening electrical parade highlighted each fiesta, lending a magical aura to festivities.

ALSO BY MARY MALLORY
Keye Luke
Auction of Souls
Busch Gardens and Hogan’s Aristocratic Dreams

Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Exploring L.A. History With CicLAvia

Posted on October 10, 2022 by lmharnisch

LA City Hall Ciclavia 10-8-22
For more than 12 years, Los Angeles has participated in CicLAvia, which closes city streets to traffic and transforms them for a few hours into public parks. These lively spaces allow residents to enjoy healthy activity, visit new neighborhoods, learn history, and people-watch. It connects people throughout Los Angeles in exciting and energizing ways, hopefully opening eyes and minds to our shared humanity.

Mike Hawks and I decided to enjoy the Heart of LA CicLAvia route Sunday, flaneurs enjoying the international and cosmopolitan flair of Los Angeles. We walked the entire route, traveling more than 24,000 steps and almost 10 miles in a city that has endured painful and discriminatory eras to learn the beauty and power of different cultures and races, blending them into a wonderful, inclusive gumbo that enriches as it informs.

Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 10, 2022 by lmharnisch

Main Title letters against clouds in the sky.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1958 film The Proud Rebel, with Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland, Dean Jagger, David Ladd, Cecil Kellaway, James Westerfield, Henry Hull, Dean Stanton, Thomas Pittman, Eli Mintz, John Carradine and King.
Continue reading →

Posted in 1958, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Black Dahlia: Halloween and Why Murder Victim Cosplay Is Wrong

Posted on October 6, 2022 by lmharnisch

image
Halloween is coming up, so I’ll issue my annual warning: Don’t dress up like “The Black Dahlia.” It’s not honoring the memory of Elizabeth Short. It’s not “Justice for Beth,” however you might define it. Just don’t do it.

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 3, 2022 by lmharnisch

2022_1008_main_title
This week’s mystery was the 1965 film The Train, with Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Michel Simon, Suzanne Flon, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Remy, Charles Millot, Richard Munch, Jacques Marin and Jeanne Moreau.
Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | 43 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Campo de Cahuenga, California’s Birthplace

Posted on October 3, 2022 by lmharnisch

Campo de Cahuenga
A photo of the original museum at Campo de Cahuenga, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Note: This is an encore from 2012.

Driving south down Lankershim Boulevard from Toluca Lake into Universal City, it’s hard to miss the skyscrapers, soundstages, and flashing billboard of Universal Studios on the south side of the street. On the north side of the street in Studio City, surrounded by the MTA Universal City subway station parking lot and hard to see, sits a small Spanish building called the Campo de Cahuenga. At this location on Jan. 13, 1847, Col. John C. Fremont signed a treaty with Andreas Pico, ceding California to the United States. Here, California’s Spanish past merged with America’s western expansion to help eventually create our bustling state.

Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Mabel Normand Studio Leads the Way

Posted on September 30, 2022 by lmharnisch

mabel_studio
One of the first film studios constructed for use solely by a female performer, the Mabel Normand Studio still stands strong at the triangle intersection of Fountain Avenue, Bates Avenue, and Effie Street in East Hollywood, more than 100 years old. Although 4319 Effie St. was originally constructed as the Mabel Normand Studio, it soon evolved into a headquarters for various facets of entertainment production, an excellent example of how vintage structures can be adaptively reused for similar purposes. Mimicking the studio’s very triangular site, many of the building’s inhabitants possess connections with others.

Gaining recognition first as a gorgeous model for such illustrators as Charles Dana Gibson, vivacious Mabel Normand set the world on fire with her charismatic personality and doe eyed beauty as one of the first female superstar film comediennes and directors. First working as an extra in Kalem and later Biograph Film Company shorts, Normand found more success in a series of comic films as “Betty” before returning to Biograph. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: L.A.’s Hispanic History in Its Place Names

Posted on September 27, 2022 by lmharnisch

The_E.O.C._Ord's_first_map_of_the_city_of_Los_Angeles,_drawn_in_August_29,_1849_(CHS-6040)
A detail of Ord’s 1849 survey of Los Angeles, showing street names in Spanish and English.

Hispanic Heritage and history have greatly contributed to the rise and evolution of California and Los Angeles from Spanish colonization through Mexican land grants to the rancho period and on to today. Many streets and cities in and around Los Angeles are named after significant people and places in this long Spanish history, though often corrupted or Anglicized over time. Edward O.C. Ord’s map in 1849 shows street names in English and Spanish, such as Calle Primavera and Spring, and Calle Principal and Main. The following is a small list of streets and place names that honor our Hispanic past. Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 26, 2022 by lmharnisch

Main Title over a row of Black children listening to jazz
This week’s mystery movie was the 1961 Paramount film Too Late Blues, with Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens, Everett Chambers, Nick Dennis, Vincent Edwards, Val Avery, Marilyn Clark, James Joyce, Rupert Crosse, Mario Gallo, J. Alan Hopkins, Cliff Carnell, Richard O. Chambers, Seymour Cassel and Dan Stafford.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1961, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Two Forgotten Women of Early Films

Posted on September 20, 2022 by lmharnisch

Lillian Greenberger with women who replied to a casting ad
Throughout the silent film industry, women took an active part in production, gaining more positions and power than women occupy now. Without women behind the screen, production companies could not have manufactured enough moving pictures to satisfy audience demand as popularity surged in the 1910s. By the second decade, even more women were working behind the scenes as production expanded. From major companies to small independents, women occupied a variety of positions, not just those considered more feminine, recognized for their skills.

As Alice Eyton wrote in the series Unknown Women of Filmland in Story World and the Photodramatist, “These women belong to various departments of the moving picture industry, and their work therein – it is as important, just as creative, and sometimes, more self-developing than the work of the stars, writers, supervisors, and directors…These silent workers form the real background of the profession.”

Unknown Women of Filmland: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Continue reading →

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 19, 2022 by lmharnisch

Main Title, Becky Sharp, elegant writing on a wallpaper background
This week’s mystery movie was the 1935 film Becky Sharp, with Miriam Hopkins, Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray, G.P. Huntley Jr., William Stack, George Hassell, William Haversham, Charles Richman, Doris Lloyd and Colin Tapley. Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Cinecon Returns After Two Years Online

Posted on September 15, 2022 by lmharnisch

CINECON58-980x980
After occurring online for two years because of the pandemic, Cinecon threw a live 58th Annual Festival Labor Day weekend at Hollywood’s beautiful Hollywood Legion Theater. A perfect way to spend time during a blistering hot holiday weekend, the festival featured entertaining films and the chance to reconnect with old friends, a perfect combination.

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FOR THE RECORD, Sept. 16, 11:02 a.m.: A previous version of this post referred to the American Legion Theater.
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Like any typical Cinecon, films ended up with various odd themes reoccurring over the weekend, some in odd ways. The festival saw such diverse themes as family feuds, homilies, abandoned babies, blindings, doubling, dogs, performing on stage, mashers or harassment, child abuse, kidnappings, heirs forced into marriage for inheritance, train travel, fake sanitariums, and multiple performances of people like Regis Toomey, Fred Kelsey, J. Carrol Naish, or Claire Trevor. Many films also featured the work of unsung women behind the scenes who helped make silent film art. While there were a few so so films, most of the lineup was truly entertaining. Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment