Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 11, 2021 by lmharnisch

Jan. 16, 2021, Cheers for Miss Bishop Main Title

This week’s mystery movie was the 1941 film “Cheers for Miss Bishop,” with Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edwin Gwenn, Sidney Blackmer, Dorothy Peterson, Sterling Holloway, Donald Douglas, Marsha Hunt, Lois Ranson and Mary Anderson.

From the novel “Miss Bishop” by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Screen adaptation by Stephen Vincent Benet. Screenplay by Adelaide Heilbron and Sheridan Gibney.

Music by Edward Ward. Assistant to the producer Grant Whytock. Photographed by Hal Mohr, casting director David C. Werner, art direction by John DuCasse Schulze, costumes for Miss Scott by Irene Saltern. Makeup by Don Cash, sound by Earl Sitar.

Edited by William Claxton, re-recording by Richard Heermance. Set decoration by Julia Heron. Assistant director Joseph C. Boyle. Production manager Sherman A. Harris.

Released through United Artists. Produced by Richard A. Rowland. Directed by Tay Garnett.

“Cheers for Miss Bishop” is available on DVD from TCM and via streaming at Amazon.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , | 53 Comments

Black Dahlia: My Annual Donation in Memory of Elizabeth Short

Posted on January 5, 2021 by lmharnisch

image

As longtime readers know, I always begin a new year with an annual donation in memory of Elizabeth Short to Heading Home, which works with the homeless in the Boston area. Partly because of my research on Elizabeth Short, I try to make the issue of homelessness a continuing theme of the Daily Mirror.

I donate to an agency in the Boston area because of Elizabeth Short’s connections there, but Los Angeles also has a severe, chronic problem with homelessness and there are many local agencies that welcome donations. I recently visited Hollywood and saw camps of homeless people along the exit ramp from the northbound 101 onto Hollywood Boulevard and along the Walk of Fame. Men pushing shopping carts. Women cowering in doorways of buildings that are boarded up or closed with roll-down shutters that are tagged.

I believe people will find helping the homeless more meaningful in the long term than, for example, leaving a bottle of liquor and some cigarettes at her grave, especially since Elizabeth Short didn’t smoke and rarely drank.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Mystery Movies 2020 in Review

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch
Roy D'Arcy in 'The Temptress'
Roy D’Arcy in “The Temptress,” one of 2020’s mystery movies.

I used a different method in selecting last year’s mystery movies, relying on the trade papers available on Lantern in a systematic fashion. The films might seem iffy now, but they generally got good reviews, and sometimes raves, when they were released. And in some instances, I chose movies for their historic value regardless of the reviews, notably “Native Son.”

In general, I had more movies from the 1930s (17 in 2020 vs. 13 in 2019) and more from the 1960s (nine in 2020 vs. 3 in 2019), fewer movies from the 1940s (11 in 2020 vs. 14 in 2019) and 1950s (12 in 2020 vs. 16 in 2019). And nothing from the 1970s, vs. two films in 2019.

MGM and Warner Bros. were the top mystery movie studios in 2020 at nine each, while 20th Century-Fox went from 10 mystery films (the leader in 2019) to five in 2020.  

On the jump, the mystery movie statistics for the year……

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Posted in 2019, 2020, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Paris Inn Sings for Its Supper

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

Paris Inn Postcard

From its beginnings, Los Angeles attracted dreamers and schemers looking to devise new, more successful lives. Early leaders practiced hucksterism and hyperbole to draw Midwesterners and others to the golden, promised land of sunny Southern California and its budding metropolis Los Angeles. Umberto (Bert) Rovere arrived in Los Angeles and fashioned a successful life through his own boosterim and branding promoting his restaurant, The Paris Inn Cafe.

Born in Turin, Italy, in 1890, young immigrant Rovere sailed to New York in 1906, finding work as a waiter and employing his singing to help pay the bills. Gradually, he ended up as a busboy at the Waldorf Astoria, where he claimed to make $20 a week. Rovere worked as a singing waiter on San Francisco’s Barbary Coast, performed with opera companies as a grand baritone, and sang occasionally in vaudeville acts preceding film screenings before arriving in Los Angeles in 1922. When not working, he found time to compete in running, wrestling, and swimming matches. During the summer of 1922, he even sang in a production of “Carmen” at the Hollywood Bowl.

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Posted in Architecture, Film, Food and Drink, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: The Paris Inn Sings for Its Supper

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on January 4, 2021 by lmharnisch

Jan. 9, 2021, The Sin of Madelon Claudet Main Title

This week’s mystery movie was the 1931 MGM picture “The Sin of Madelon Claudet,” with Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt, Marie Prevost, Robert Young,  Karen Morley, Charles Wininger, Alan Hale, Halliwell Hobbes, Lennox Pawle and Russ Powell.

From the play “The Lullaby” by Edward Knoblock. Dialogue continuity by Charles MacArthur. Recorded by Douglas Shearer, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, wardrobe by Rene Hubert, photographed by Oliver T. Marsh, edited by Tom Held

Directed by Edgar Selwyn.

“The Sin of Madelon Claudet” is available on DVD from Warner Archive.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1931, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Stage | Tagged , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Mary Astor’s Lost Film ‘New Year’s Eve’

Posted on December 31, 2020 by lmharnisch

mary_astor_charles_morton_new_years_eve
Note: This is an encore from January 2020.

Since TCM is featuring Mary Astor, here’s a brief post on her lost movie “New Year’s Eve.” (A tip of the hat to Lou Lumenick, who tweeted about the movie on — New Year’s Eve.) I also uploaded a version of this post to IMDB, in case you see it there.

Fox originally announced the film under the title “Strong Arm,” based on the story “$100” by Richard Connell, published in the August 1928 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. The film was supposed to star Lois Moran and George O’Brien in the leads, under the direction of J.G. Blystone. Fox initially planned the movie as a talkie, but released it as “New Year’s Eve,” a silent directed by Henry Lehrman with sound effects and music, designated “sound on film.”

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Posted in 1929, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — Pisco Punch

Posted on December 31, 2020 by lmharnisch

New York Sun, April 23, 1934

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Just in time for New Year’s, we’ll take a look at a “lost drink,” making a brief inquiry into San Francisco’s Pisco Punch, made famous by Bank Exchange saloon owner Duncan Nicol (often spelled Nichol or Nicoll), who  died in 1926 without revealing the recipe.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, 1934, 1939, Food and Drink, San Francisco | Tagged , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — Pisco Punch

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide – The Queens Cocktail

Posted on December 30, 2020 by lmharnisch

image
Note: This is an encore post from 2017.

Joe Vogel asks if there was a Queens Cocktail. The answer is yes.

According to the Jamaica Long Island Daily Press, Jan. 24, 1935, the Queens Cocktail debuted at the Hotel Commodore in a toast to President Roosevelt. Via Fultonhistory.com.

(No word yet on the Staten Island Cocktail — and boy that sounds like a straight line).

Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, 1937, Food and Drink | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Bronx Cocktail

Posted on December 29, 2020 by lmharnisch

Dec. 20, 1934, Holiday Cocktails

Dec. 20 1934, Holiday Drinks

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Dec. 20, 1934: In case you doubted me (but you wouldn’t, would you?), here’s a recipe for the Bronx Cocktail, from the Amsterdam Evening Recorder, courtesy of FultonHistory.com.

In case you plan to mix one up, a Bronx Cocktail is one part Italian vermouth, three parts brandy and a dash of orange bitters. Shake well!

Notice that there are also three variations of the Manhattan.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1934, Food and Drink, Suicide | Tagged , | 3 Comments

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Brooklyn Cocktail

Posted on December 28, 2020 by lmharnisch

March 5, 1937, Brooklyn Cocktail

March 7, 1937, Brooklyn Cocktail

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Yes, the Manhattan cocktail once had competition from drinks named for the other boroughs. Here’s a recipe for the Brooklyn Cocktail, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 7, 1937. The Brooklyn Cocktail as made by Brad Dewey consisted of

Two parts Jamaica rum
One part lime juice
Dash of grenadine

We won’t be toasting the new year with the Brooklyn Cocktail (we’re working) but if someone is brave enough to try one, let us know how it is.

And in case you are wondering, research shows that there was also a Bronx Cocktail. Evidently it, too, has fallen out of favor.

Posted in 1937, Food and Drink | Tagged , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide — The Brooklyn Cocktail

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 28, 2020 by lmharnisch

Jan. 2, 2021, Florentine Dagger Mystery Photo Title
This week’s mystery movie was the 1935 Warner Bros. film “The Florentine Dagger,” with Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, C. Aubrey Smith, Henry O’Neill, Robert Barrat, Florence Fair, Frank Reicher, Charles Judels, Rafaela Ottiano, Paul Porcasi, Eily Malyon, Egon Brecher, Herman Bing and Henry Kolker.

Screenplay by Tom Reed, additional dialogue by Brown Holmes, dialogue director Arthur Greville Collins. Edited by Thomas Pratt, art direction by Anton Grot and Carl Jules Weyl, photographed by Arthur L. Todd, gowns by Orry-Kelly and musical direction by Leo F. Forbstein. Directed by Robert Florey.

“The Florentine Dagger” has never been commercially released on VHS, DVD or Blu-ray. There are a few clips online, but that’s all. It was last broadcast on TCM in 2015.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Mack Sennett’s Rose Parade Gag

Posted on December 28, 2020 by lmharnisch

Sleuths at the Floral Parade
Photo: “The Sleuths at the Floral Parade.” Credit: Mary Mallory, the Collections of the Margaret Herrick Library.

Note: This is an encore post from 2011.

The Tournament of Roses Parade is going on its 122th year, and grows more elaborate and beautiful every year.  Bands, floats, cars, horses, and even celebrities take part in this festive annual event.  This year, Paramount Pictures is even entering a float celebrating its 100th anniversary, honoring “Titanic” and “Wings,” the first feature film awarded the Best Picture Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927/1928.

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Posted in 1913, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Comments Off on Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Mack Sennett’s Rose Parade Gag

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: The Harvey Wallbanger

Posted on December 27, 2020 by lmharnisch

Harvey Wallbagner

A vintage 1972 iron-on transfer of Harvey Wallbanger himself, on EBay for $12.

Note: This is a repost from 2013.

We have been looking at some historic drinks for this holiday season. To the millennials in the audience: This is what mom and dad used to drink (along with the Tequila Sunrise) when they went out in the 1970s.

Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear:

1 ounce of vodka
4 ounces of orange juice
half an ounce of Galliano.

Poured over ice in a highball glass.

Cue Grand Funk Railroad’s “Gimme Shelter” or Carole King’s “It’s Too Late.”

Posted in 1971, Food and Drink, Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: The Harvey Wallbanger

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Drinking Guide: A Brief History of the Tom and Jerry

Posted on December 26, 2020 by lmharnisch

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A recipe for the Tom and Jerry from the San Francisco Call, June 30, 1912.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Over on Facebook, Christopher McPherson asked whether the Tom and Jerry was named for the MGM cartoon characters. I said I suspected the opposite was true, rather like Disney’s Chip ‘n’ Dale being named for Chippendale furniture.

All the old newspaper stories give credit for the drink to bartender Jerry Thomas, who according to one account was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1825 (or Watertown, N.Y., in 1830).

Continue reading →

Posted in 1862, Books and Authors, Food and Drink | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: Dec. 23, 1949 — Jury Finds Dr. George Hodel Not Guilty of Molesting Tamar Hodel

Posted on December 23, 2020 by lmharnisch

Dec. 23, 1949, Mirror-News, George Hodel found not guilty of molesting daughter Tamar Hodel

The Los Angeles Mirror-News, Dec. 23, 1949.

Today is the anniversary of a jury of eight women and four men finding Dr. George Hodel not guilty on two counts of molesting his daughter Tamar. I’ll have more to say about this in the days to come, but I wanted to mark the day.

Steve Hodel is fond of quoting an incomplete transcript of defense attorney Robert A. Neeb Jr. interrogating Tamar.

On the jump, the entire exchange, which tells a different story.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1949, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Al Martinez, a Dying Boy and Some Peaches — A (Non) Christmas Story

Posted on December 21, 2020 by lmharnisch

Jim Romenesko

Note: This is an encore post from 2015.

Jim Romenesko, for those who aren’t in the news business, runs an essential blog that serves as a clearing house for information, gossip, bad headlines and assorted gaffes.

A Jan. 6 post dealt with former Times columnist Al Martinez, who died Monday, and the occasional columns Al wrote over the years about a dying boy who craved peaches.

John Russell of the Indianapolis Star wrote to Romenesko in hopes that some reader would verify Al’s story, saying: “After months of digging, I still can’t find any evidence of the original story, and too many questions to ignore.”

Russell elaborated on his skepticism in “Why I Have Trouble Believing the ‘Get the Kid His Peaches’ Christmas story,” noting that he had written to Al for help in finding the original.

We have some answers — and the story — with a not-so-gentle reminder for reporters: DON’T write from memory or bad things can happen. Use the clips. It’s what they are for.  Memory can compress time and erase crucial details, as we will see with Al’s story.

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Posted in 1949, 1958, Books and Authors, Columnists | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Al Martinez, a Dying Boy and Some Peaches — A (Non) Christmas Story

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on December 21, 2020 by lmharnisch

2020_1226_credits_01

This week’s mystery movie was the 1934 Warner Bros. film “I Am a Thief,” with Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez, Dudley Digges, Robert Barrat, Irving Pichel, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Arthur Aylesworth, Florence Fair, Frank Reicher, John Wray and Oscar Apfel.

Screenplay by Ralph Block and Doris Malloy. Dialogue direction by Frank McDonald. Edited by Terry Morse, art direction by Jack Okey, photography by Sid Hickox, gowns by Orry-Kelly. Vitaphone Orchestra conducted by Leo F. Forbstein. Directed by Robert Florey.

“I Am a Thief” has never been commercially released. It aired seven times on TCM in the last 20 years, most recently in 2014 and 2019.

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Posted in 1934, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Christmas House Offers Simple Family Joys of Holiday Season

Posted on December 21, 2020 by lmharnisch

Christmas House
The Christmas House in Boyle Heights, courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Note: This is an encore post from 2019.

Long before the inauguration of Instagram and trying to win social media by posting the most elaborate or flashy photo, George G. Skinner designed a homespun holiday light installation in the late 1930s meant as a simple opportunity to enjoy happy times and pleasures with friends and family. A popular holiday destination in Los Angeles similar to Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena, the Christmas House at 919 S. Mathews St. perhaps inspired later fancy holiday light displays throughout Southern California.

Born in Canada in 1912, George Skinner found himself in Los Angeles when his father Albert abandoned the family and took his son with him to sunny Southern California in 1920. The teenager developed a strong bond with his father, enjoying camping and beach trips. Though he yearned for his family, he remained with his dad, who told George that the warm weather better suited his health.

Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1938, Architecture, Film, Fire Department, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Nuestro Pueblo | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Christmas House Offers Simple Family Joys of Holiday Season

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 18, 2020 by lmharnisch

raymond_chandler_boxed_set

Many years ago, the editor of the Los Angeles Times book review section (yes, the really, really odd one) insisted that publishers send him advance review copies and unbound galleys rather than the final printed book. The ARCs and galleys often ended up in the trash, including the loose pages for the Library of America’s boxed set of Raymond Chandler—which, as far as I know, The Times didn’t bother to review. Several of us on the copy desk were in the habit of inspecting the book review trash and I felt that Raymond Chandler deserved better. And so for years, I have been getting by with a zillion loose pages of my rescue set of Chandler.

This year, as a present to myself, I ordered the Library of America’s boxed set. It lists at $100 and is available from Amazon for $80, but Library of America is selling it for $60 with free shipping and if you’re a bit resourceful you can score an additional 10% discount.

Posted in Books and Authors, Raymond Chandler, Retro | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 15, 2020 by lmharnisch

Big Picture Cover

Note: This is an encore post from 2011.

I picked up “The Big Picture,” Melba Levick and Stanley Young’s 1988 book about Los Angeles murals, not realizing what a terribly sad book it would be. As Young notes: “Most artists are aware that, exposed as it is to the elements, both human and natural, there is a limited life-expectancy for any mural.”

I wanted it for one picture, specifically.

“The Big Picture” is listed on Amazon and Bookfinder.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1988, Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Latinos, Photography, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Sports, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide