Photographs by Larry Harnisch / LADailyMirror.com
Mural in the Los Angeles Times Globe Lobby, dated July 19, 1934, by Hugo Ballin
Note: This is an encore post from 2011.
Hugo Ballin is one of the greatest muralists in Los Angeles history, creating monumental murals in the 1920s and 1930s celebrating the city, California, and the arts that still bring awe today. His talents extended to other creative areas as well, such as filmmaking and novel writing.
Note: In honor of Harry Houdini’s birthday, we are reposting this interview from 1925.
We have been collecting issues of Haldeman-Julius Monthly for several years, but one issue was particularly elusive: The October 1925 number featuring an interview with Harry Houdini, written by Marcet Haldeman-Julius, which was published a year before his death and is apparently keenly desired by collectors.
A copy of this issue was recently added to the archives and we are pleased to present the interview, which appears nowhere else online, refuting the argument that “everything is on the Internet.”
The paper is old and brittle and would not stand up to a scanner, so I photographed the article (Pages 387-397) instead. The images are watermarked because of prevalent practice of swiping pictures on the Internet without attribution or acknowledgement of a source. Pinterest and Skyscraperpage.com, this means you.
Haldeman-Julius Monthly was published by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius with the motto “Make the World Unsafe for Hypocrisy.” It changed names to “The Debunker” in 1928 and apparently ceased publication about 1931.
Emanuel Haldeman-Julius loved to debunk charismatic religious figures of the day and Louis Adamic wrote a series of articles for the magazine about Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson’s mysterious disappearance and miraculous return in 1926. In this vein, the bulk of the Houdini interview is devoted to the charlatans of the day posing as mediums who could communicate with the dead and frequently duped grieving and gullible survivors. There is also a detailed of description Houdini’s New York brownstone, which was crammed with books and memorabilia, and a cameo appearance by Mrs. Houdini.
Previously in the L.A. Daily Mirror
Aimee Semple McPherson’s Fight With Satan
C.B. DeMille: Movie Evangelist
Enjoy.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1946 Twentieth Century-Fox film “Three Little Girls in Blue,” with June Haver, George Montgomery, Vivian Blaine, Celeste Holm, Vera-Ellen and Frank Latimore.
Screenplay by Valentine Davies, adapted by Brown Holmes, Lynn Starling and Robert Ellis and Helen Logan from a play by Stephen Powys.
Lyrics by Mack Gordon, music by Josef Myrow. “This Is Always” music by Harry Warren.
Photographed in Technicolor. Photography by Ernest Palmer, Technicolor director Natalie Kalmus. Associate Richard Mueller.
Musical direction by Alfred Newman. Vocal arrangements by Charles Henderson. Orchestral arrangements by Maurice de Packh and Edward Powell.
Art direction by Lyle Wheeler and Joseph C. Wright. Set decorations by Thomas Little, associate Walter M. Scott. Edited by Barbara McLean. Dances staged by Seymour Felix. Ballets by Babe Pearce. Costumes by Bonnie Cashin. Makeup by Ben Nye. Photographic effects by Fred Sersen. Sound by E. Clayton Ward and Roger Heman.
Produced by Mack Gordon. Directed by Bruce Humberstone.
“Three Little Girls in Blue” is available on DVD from Amazon. It aired a year ago on TCM, introduced by Dave Karger and Michael Feinstein.
Tsuru Aoki, in Sunset magazine.
Note: This is an encore post from 2017.
Though long in the shadow of her more well known husband, Tsuru Aoki achieved just as great a fame as Sessue Hayakawa, with a life story as fascinating as any novel. Born in Japan though raised in the United States, the beautiful Aoki functioned as a crossroads of the East and West, blending together the best attributes of both nations into a wonderful hybrid, though never fully embraced by either. Brought to this country as a child, she was never able to apply for American citizenship thanks to Anti-Asian laws and sentiments, and was often forced to depend on the kindness of others as she was shunted to and fro. Aoki’s life story also reveals America’s changing viewpoints and knee-jerk reactions about and to the Japanese, often during times of trouble in which the “other” became the villain to make up for other groups’ sins.
The vast majority of books and articles mentioning Aoki then and now blend together fact and fiction into her biography, not digging for the true facts. She was not born with Aoki as her name. In fact, she was probably born December 24, 1891 or 1892 in Hakata, the daughter of a poor Japanese fisherman Kahara Isekichi and his wife, Taka Kawakami, which she discovered when her father sent her a letter years after she became a star.
Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.
With a background as mystifying as any Hollywood whodunit, modiste Clare West exploded on the scene as a film costume designer in the mid-1910s, the first person credited as a movie costume designer. Working with film greats for just over 10 years, West and her lavish designs established Hollywood as a fashion leader, trendsetting looks appealing to American women, before she disappeared from the design scene…
Little is known of the early life of West until she magically appears in Hollywood. IMDB claims she was born January 30, 1879 in Missouri, but 1930 census records list her birth date as 1889, with other records appearing to show May 10, 1889 in Kansas as her actual birth date. under the name Clara Belle Smith. One newspaper listing reveals a Clare West opening a millinery/dressmaking shop in what is now the Quad Cities area of Illinois in 1899, while a few New York papers report on a Maison Clare couture shop in New York City around 1911. Film historian Allie Acker claims she attended college before studying fashion design in Paris.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1944 Twentieth Century-Fox film “Tampico,” with Edward G. Robinson, Lynn Bari, Victor McLaglen, Robert Bailey, Marc Lawrence, E.J. Ballantine, Mona Maris and Tonio Selwart.
Screenplay by Kenneth Gamet, Fred Niblo Jr. and Richard Macaulay. Original story and adaptation by Ladislas Fodor.
Photography by Charles Clarke, art direction by James Basevi and Albert Hogsett. Set decorations by Thomas Little and Al Orenbach. Edited by Robert Fritch. Costumes by Yvonne Wood. Makeup by Guy Pearce. Photographic effects by Fred Sersen. Dances staged by Geneva Sawyer. Sound by W.D. Flick and Roger Heman. Music by David Raksin. Musical direction by Emil Newman.
Produced by Robert Bassler. Directed by Lothar Mendes.
“Tampico” is available on DVD from Amazon. TCM lists it as “backorder.”
This week’s mystery movie was the 1915 film “Hypocrites,” written and produced by Lois Weber, photography by Dal Clawson and George W. Hill. With Courtenay Foote as Gabriel, the Ascetic; Myrtle Stedman as the Woman; Herbert Standing as the Abbot; and Adele Farrington as the Queen.
“Hypocrites” is available on DVD from TCM.
Photo: Aileen Pringle, photographed by Ruth Harriet Louise, listed on EBay at $49.99.
Note: This is an encore post from 2012.
Motion picture production jobs both on and off the set have mostly been held by men throughout history, and those for still photography are no different. Early stills men were mostly cameramen who also acted as photographers of scene stills, like Alvin Wyckoff for Selig Studios. D. W. Griffith hired James Woodbury to assist and take stills for “Intolerance,” and others started following suit. Studios created key books for each film, with photographs organized by scene number, and with each film assigned its own code. These images could be then be referenced and duplicated, to be sent out as publicity for the picture.
The studios soon realized that portraits of the stars could more easily sell films to consumers. These photographs were sent en masse to hundreds of magazines and newspapers, which required a never ending stream of material for publication. Portraits also were numbered in each studio’s own code system, and organized in key books as reference for approved shots of each star.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1935 film “The Ghost Goes West” with Robert Donat, Jean Parker, Eugene Pallette, Elsa Lanchester, Ralph Bunker, Patricia Hilliard, Everley Gregg, Morton Selten, Chili Bouchier, Mark Daly, Herbert Lomas, Elliot Mason, Hay Petrie and Quintin MacPherson.
Based on a story by Eric Keown by permission of “Punch.” Screenplay by Robert Sherwood.
Photographed by Harold Rosson, sets by Vincent Korda, production manager David B. Cunynghame.
Musical direction by Muir Mathieson, scenario by Geoffrey Kerr, musical compositions by Michael Spolianski, costumes by Rene Hubert, Robert Donat’s costumes by John Armstrong.
Special effects by Ned Mann, recording by A.W. Watkins, assistant directors Imlay Watts and Albert Valentin, edited by Harold Earle-Fischbacher, supervising editor William Hornbeck.
Directed by Rene Clair.
“The Ghost Goes West” is available on DVD from TCM.
Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Most people today probably haven’t heard of motion picture musical conductor Constantin Bakaleinikoff, but he was instrumental in setting up theatre orchestras around Los Angeles in the 1920s, before he became music … Continue reading
Richard Wright as Bigger Thomas in “Native Son.”
Black writer Richard Wright chronicled racial and class prejudice in his intense, best-selling novel “Native Son” in 1940. The work remains a lightning rod, still timely and confrontational as well as profane, graphic and violent to many who seek to ban it from libraries. “Native Son’s” powerful theme boldly covers America’s race divide, making it fertile material for stage and screen. Adapting it for both mediums challenged many, offended by the overt condemnation of racism or what they considered obscenity, but these visceral productions provided potent food for thought to audiences.
Born 1906 on a plantation near Natchez, Miss., Wright experienced hardship similar to his Bigger Thomas character, living with his illiterate father, teacher-trained mother, and strict grandmother, a former slave. After his father abandoned the family, Wright’s mother struggled with poverty. When his mother was stricken by paralysis, he was raised by an uncaring uncle and then shipped around between family members. Wright felt ignored and rebuffed by whites, while blacks warned him to conform and not rock the boat, leading him to accept whatever crumbs he was offered. Once he began reading at the age of 15, a rebel was born.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1953 MGM picture “Confidentially Connie,” with Van Johnson, Janet Leigh, Louis Calhern, Walter Slezak, Gene Lockhart, Hayden Rorke, Robert Burton, Barbara Ruick and Marilyn Erskine.
Screenplay by Max Shulman, from a story by Max Shulman and Herman Wouk.
Photography by Harold Lipstein, art direction by Cedric Gibbons and Leonid Vasian. Edited by Fredrick Y. Smith. Assistant director Dolph Zimmer.
Music by David Rose. Recording by Douglas Shearer. Set decorations by Edwin B. Willis and Ralph Hurst. Montage by Peter Ballbusch.
Produced by Stephen Ames. Directed by Edward Buzzell.
“Confidentially Connie” is available on DVD from Warner Archive. It last aired on TCM in 2016. It’s also available for streaming on Amazon.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1951 Paramount picture “The Mating Season,” a Mitchell Leisen production, with Gene Tierney, John Lund, Miriam Hopkins, Thelma Ritter, Jan Sterling, Larry Keating, James Lorimer, Gladys Hurlbut, Cora Witherspoon, Malcolm Keen, Ellen Corby, Billie Bird and Mary Young.
Screenplay by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Richard Breen, suggested by a play by Caesar Dunn.
Photography by Charles B. Lang Jr. Art direction by Hal Pereira and Ronald Anderson. Process photography by Farciot Edouart. Set decoration by Sam Comer and Ray Moyer.
Edited by Frank Bracht. Costumes for Miss Tierney executed by Oleg Cassini. Makeup by Wally Westmore. Sound by Don McKay and John Cope. Music score by Joseph J. Lilley.
Produced by Charles Brackett. Directed by Mitchell Leisen.
“The Mating Season” is not generally available on DVD or streaming. There is a funky low-resolution version on YouTube.
Note: This is an encore post from 2019.
Recognized for playing Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and Latinos in “King Kong,” “The Mummy,” “The Ten Commandments” and many others throughout his long film career, African American Noble Johnson achieved greater renown for establishing Lincoln Motion Picture Company in 1916, the first company making and releasing films strictly for African American audiences. Almost forgotten today, Johnson strove to make what were called “race” films emphasizing the intelligence, talents and success of black Americans as a counterpoint to the often racist and off-putting portrayals of African Americans in contemporary films.
Born 1881 in Missouri, Johnson moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colo., where he worked with animals before he began appearing in silent films in 1914, including Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Squaw Man.” His athletic, tall frame and dramatic features helped land him many acting jobs at major studios, and his talent for performing gained him good notices in almost everything he portrayed, even in small roles. Not only did he act, but he also wrote scripts.
Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,” is now on sale.
Sorry, Netflix. But once again. There is no connection between Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia and the Hotel Cecil. This is Arty, 634 S. Main St., former location of the Dugout Cafe, where bartender C.G. Williams said thought he might have seen Elizabeth Short – and no, he didn’t.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1950 Paramount film “The File on Thelma Jordon,” with Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Paul Kelly, Joan Tetzel, Stanley Ridges, Richard Rober, Minor Watson, Barry Kelley and Laura Elliot.
Screenplay by Ketti Frings from a story by Marty Holland.
Photography by George Barnes, art direction by Hans Dreier and Earl Hedrick, special effects by Gordon Jennings. Process photography by Farciot Edouart. Set decoration by Sam Comer and Bertram Granger.
Editorial supervision by Warren Low. Costumes by Edith Head. Makeup by Wally Westmore. Sound by Harry Lindgren and Walter Oberst. Assistant director Francisco Day.
Music by Victor Young.
Produced by Hal B. Wallis.
Directed by Robert Siodmak.
“The File on Thelma Jordon” is available on DVD from TCM. It’s also available from Amazon on Blu-ray and streaming.
Jan. 11, 1934: “Convention City” opens at the Warner Bros. Hollywood and Downtown.
Note: This is an encore post from 2012.
The early days of the talkie film industry saw plenty of life situations covered realistically and explicitly on celluloid, ranging from nudity, extramarital or sexual relations, addictions, sexual identity, and so on. These films are often now called pre-codes, in that they were produced before the creation of the Production Code Administration in 1934, which regulated what could be shown on screen. This office was created by the film industry in reaction to the Catholic Church’s attempts to organize audience boycotts of films.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1945 Universal film “The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry,” with George Sanders, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ella Raines, Sara Allgood, Moyna MacGill, Samuel S. Hinds, Harry Von Zell, Judy Clark, Coulter F. Irwin and Craig Reynolds.
Screenplay by Stephen Longstreet, adaptation by Keith Winter. From the play by Thomas Job, as produced on the stage by Clifford Hayman.
Photography by Paul Ivano, special photography by John P. Fulton. Edited by Arthur Hilton, art direction by John B. Goodman and Eugene Lourie. Set decoration by Russell A. Gausman. Costumes by Travis Banton.
Music direction by H.J. Salter, sound by Bernard B. Brown, technician Glenn A. Anderson. Makeup by Jack P. Pierce. Assistant director Melville Shyer.
Produced by Joan Harrison. Directed by Robert Siodmak.
“The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry” is available on DVD from TCM. It’s also available on Blu-ray from Amazon.
Silent film lover and superstar Rudolph Valentino commanded the screen with his intense magnetism and sensuality. His untimely, tragic death in 1926 at the age of 31 gave him instant immortality, with thousands descending on the funeral home, church, procession, and funeral of their beloved star.
Upon his death, many clamored for ways to memorialize this worldwide icon. Chicago residents announced the first proposed memorial for Valentino within days of his death on Aug. 23, 1926. Judge Francis Borrelli, Assistant State Attorney Michael Romano and lawyers Ellidoe Libonati, Stephen Malato and Michael Rominia filed articles of incorporation for a Rudolph Valentino Memorial Association with the intent of constructing a memorial for the star in the Windy City.
Mary Mallory’s “Living With Grace” is now on sale.
Executive summary: A story in Entertainment Weekly looks at the 1949 disappearance of bit actress Jean Spangler. The author lists purported suspects, including Dr. George Hodel, whom Steve Hodel has accused of countless unsolved killings, including the Black Dahlia, and of being Zodiac. Newspaper accounts from the time show that when Jean Spangler disappeared, George Hodel had just been arrested on charges of molesting his daughter Tamar and held in the County Jail on $5,000 bond pending his preliminary hearing.
Interested? Read on, as I expose even more of Steve Hodel’s lies…
ladailymirror.com 