July 4, 1944: Uncle Sam in a cartoon by Edmund Waller “Ted” Gale for the Los Angeles Examiner and republished in the Milwaukee Sentinel.
Note: This is an encore post from 2014.
Here’s a look at how Los Angeles has celebrated Independence Day over the years.
Alden Besse, photographed by Asahel Curtis, Wikipedia Commons.
Surviving tempests, fires, illness, auctions, lawsuits, and salvages, the old whaling ship Alden Besse saw many an exciting adventure over more than 59 years. A magnet for disaster, accidents, and adventure, the ship even served as a set for many an early Hollywood silent film. The history of the Alden Besse seems as exciting as any adventure story or film.
Built in Bath, Maine, out of stout oak by the company Goss and Sawyer in 1871, the 840-ton, narrow-hulled, slender clipper Alden Besse was named after sea captain Alden Besse of Wareham, Massachusetts. Upon completion, the ship hit the high seas, sailing around the Horn of Africa to California, to the Orient, and every place in between. Besides serving the whale trade, the Alden Besse carried all manner of cargo, including lumber, rice, scrap iron, bricks, coal, sugar, beer and coffee.
Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,” is now on sale.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1957 film “The Black Scorpion,” with Richard Denning, Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas, Mario Navarro, Carlos Muzquiz, Pascual Pena, Fanny Schiller, Pedro Galvan and Arturo Martinez. Screenplay by David Duncan and Robert Blees from a story by Paul Yawitz. Photography by Lionel Lindon, edited by Richard L. Van Enger, art direction by Edward Fitzgerald, sound by Rafael L. Esparza, orchestrations by Bert Shefter, electronic music by Jack Cookerly. Special effects supervised by Willis O’Brien, animation by Peter Peterson, assistant directors Ray Heinze and Jaime Contreras, sound effects by Mandine Rogne. Music composed and conducted by Paul Sawtell.
Produced by Frank Melford and Jack Dietz. Directed by Edward Ludwig.
“The Black Scorpion” is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Warner Archive.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1940 MGM film “I Take This Woman,” with Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, Verree Teasdale, Kent Taylor, Laraine Day, Mona Barrie, Jack Carson, Paul Cavanagh, Louis Calhern, Frances Drake, Marjorie Main, George E. Stone, Willie Best, Don Castle, Dalies Frantz and Reed Hadley.
Screenplay by James Kevin McGuinness from a story by Charles MacArthur.
Musical score by Bronislau Kaper and Arthur Guttmann, recording by Douglas Shearer, art direction by Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse, set decorations by Edwin B. Willis, gowns by Adrian, photography by Harold Rosson, edited by George Boemler.
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke II
“I Take This Woman” is available on DVD from Warner Archive.
Georgia Hale is The Girl in “The Salvation Hunters.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2012.
From the very beginning of his career, director Josef von Sternberg possessed an extraordinary vision for the art, look, and feel of his films. They were as much or more about design and and art than about story or character. Nowhere is this more true than in his very first film, “The Salvation Hunters.” Shot on a shoestring budget, the motion picture revealed the discriminating pictorial eye and talent of this young man.
Oh dear. HBO Max’s Perry Mason origin story is set in 1932 Los Angeles, which you would never know by looking at this photo of Shea Whigham and Matthew Rhys. IMDB lists a huge number of costumers, so I can’t be sure who is the hat wrangler, but please. This is not how anybody wore a hat in 1932. This may surpass “Boardwalk Empire” in ridiculous costuming, which is an achievement.
Good grief. Shea Wigham’s costume and newsboy cap look horrible. Nobody dressed like this in the 1930s. No one. That jacket looks like a horse blanket.
Why do films and TV shows set in the 1930s and 1940s have to be so wretched when it comes to costumes? (For reference on good period costuming, see “Chinatown” and “L.A. Confidential.”)
For reference: Proper men’s outfits from 1931-32.
Edward G. Robinson, “Little Caesar” (1931). Note the angle of the brim. Note the height of the crown. Note the width of the hatband. Note the lapels on the jacket, with matching vest. The hat isn’t stuck on Robinson’s head like a baseball cap. It’s meant to convey style and class.
On Nov. 11, 1939, Liberty magazine began a six-part series by Dwight F. McKinney and Fred Allhoff on the Harry Raymond bombing and the reform movement of Clifford E. Clinton. Liberty also published a response by Dist. Atty. Buron Fitts. The series made an enormous impact in its day, but Liberty is only available on microfilm. So here’s the entire series, uploaded from my files to Archive.org.
In the early 1900s, most women in the United States lacked the right to vote. Groups such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association organized to actively campaign for enfranchisement. Winning the vote would lead to other reforms regarding child rearing, property ownership, fiduciary matters, and most importantly, independence. Women could gain control of their lives and bodies, following their own dreams and career paths, moving beyond roles of mother, wife, teacher, shop clerk or secretary.
Motion pictures aided their mission, making films about the suffrage movement before producing films featuring strong and independent women, particularly in such serials as “Perils of Pauline,” “The Exploits of Elaine,” and “The Adventures of Kathlyn.” Heroines in these films confronted dastardly villains, wild animals, and dangerous adventures, investigating and solving crimes and mysteries.
Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,” is now on sale.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1962 Universal release of the Joel Productions picture “Lonely Are the Brave,” with Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau, Michael Kane, Carroll O’Connor, William Schallert, George Kennedy, Karl Swenson, Bill Mims, Martin Garralaga and Lalo Rios.
Photography by Philip Lathrop, filmed in Panavision.
Art direction by Alexander Golitzen and Robert Smith, set decoration by George Milo, sound by Waldron O. Watson and Frank H. Wilkinson. Edited by Leon Barsha, makeup by Bud Westmore and Dave Grayson, hairstyles by Larry Germain, assistant directors Tom Shaw and David Silver.
Music by Jerry Goldsmith, musical supervision by Joseph Gershenson.
Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, based on the novel “Brave Cowboy” by Edward Abbey.
Produced by Edward Lewis.
Directed by David Miller.
“Lonely Are the Brave” is available on Blu-ray from TCM.
I have a longstanding aversion to podcasts, especially “true crime” podcasts and particularly when it comes to “true crime” podcasts about the Black Dahlia. “The Murder Squad,” with Billy Jensen and retired Detective Paul Holes, released an episode earlier this week on the Black Dahlia and I thought that Holes, given his outstanding work on the Golden State Killer, might have some worthwhile insight on the case. I won’t make that mistake again.
Executive summary: Lots of bad information from Billy Jensen scraped off the Internet. Paul Holes scans the incomplete medical report included in the inquest, looks over some morgue shots from the Internet and comes up with the wild claim that Elizabeth Short’s mouth was slashed so she could perform oral sex on the killer and that she asphyxiated while performing oral copulation. Don’t waste your time on this or risk your head exploding .
Caveat: I got through the ad for hair dye, but quit listening at the 46-minute mark when Holes got into the “asphyxiated while performing oral copulation” stuff. I am also not linking to the podcast because I don’t want to spread its misinformation any further.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1947 United Artists release of Benedict Bogeaus’ “The Macomber Affair,” with Gregory Peck, Joan Bennett, Robert Preston, Reginald Denny, Jean Gillie, Carl Harbord, Earl Smith, Frederic Worlock and Vernon Downing.
Screenplay by Casey Robinson and Seymour Bennett from an adaptation by Seymour Bennett and Frank Arnold. Adapted from “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” by Ernest Hemingway, a Cosmopolitan magazine story.
Production associate Arthur M. Landau, photography by Karl Struss, production manager Ken Walters, art direction by Erno Metzner, set decorations by Fred Widdowwson, edited by George Feld and Jack Wheeler, sound by William Lynch, women’s wardrobe by Greta, men’s wardrobe by Jerry Bos, makeup by Otis Malcolm, Miss Bennett’s hairdresser Meryl Reeves, assistant director Joseph Depew.
African photography by O.H. Borraldaile, John Wilcox and Fred Francis, through the courtesy of the Kenya Game Department.
Music by Miklos Rozsa.
Assistant to producer Carley Harriman. Produced by Benedict Bogeaus and Casey Robinson. Directed by Zoltan Korda.
“The Macomber Affair” has never been commercially released in the U.S. There is a Spanish version on a Region 2 DVD. It last aired on TCM in 2016, according to an online database, however, TV logs show that it also aired on TCM in 2017.
Douglass Dumbrille, photo courtesy of Mary Mallory.
Note: This is an encore post from 2014
Classic Hollywood studio films employed actors with striking faces and mannerisms as recognizable character types from the 1930s to the 1960s, giving a shorthand to understanding the story as well as a way to add color and spice to films. One of Hollywood’s most outstanding conniving villains during this period was Canadian Douglass Rupert Dumbrille, an often unctuous, forceful presence. Whether attempting to manipulate politics, business deals or romantic relationships, Dumbrille was plotting his rise at the expense of others, usually earning his comeuppance in the end.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on Oct. 13, 1889, Dumbrille married his wife, Jessie, on Jan. 21, 1911, and worked in a bank, dreaming of a life on the stage. The family entered the United States in 1913, with his younger son Douglas born in Cleveland in 1914. Dumbrille worked in a variety of stock companies and theatrical productions supporting himself and his family.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
The headline and map by Charles Owens from The Times.
Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Reposting to fix some broken links.
June 6, 1944: Complete radio coverage of the D-Day Invasion. This was pool coverage using correspondents from various news organizations. By 10 a.m., CBS had resumed regular programming with news bulletins, so I’ll only post up to noon. The full day is at archive.org.
It’s worth noting that German radio was the source for most of the information in the early hours of the invasion. The eyewitness accounts are vivid and it’s worth listening to Quentin Reynolds’ analysis on how the Allies learned from disastrous surprise invasion at Dieppe in 1942.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1918 film “Mickey,” with Mabel Normand, George O. Nicholls, Laura La Varnie, Lewis J. Cody, Minta Durfee, Wheeler Oakman and Tom Kennedy.
Written by J.G. Hawks, production manager Hampton Del Ruth, photographed by Frank D. Williams, Hugh C. McClung and Fred Jackman, edited by John O’Donnell.
Directed by F. Richard Jones and James Young.
“Mickey” is available on DVD from TCM. It is also on YouTube, though the quality is questionable. The Cinemuseum planned to released “Mickey” in Volume 2 of its Mack Sennett box set, originally planned for the spring of 2020, but evidently not available yet.
El Rancho Super Mercado Carniceria, 960 Vine St., via Google Street View.
Los Angeles has led the way in the evolution of shopping and markets, thanks to its fascination and acquisition of vehicles. Originally simple stores in the heart of a community allowing either easy pedestrian access or location adjacent to streetcar routes, popularity of automobiles transformed the very concept of markets. 960 Vine St., a grocery/market for virtually all of its 93 years, reveals how businessmen chased car owners to sell their wares.
For several decades in the early 1900s, acreage south of Fountain Avenue along what is now Vine Street remained mostly agricultural with small farms gradually giving way to small bungalows or the occasional apartment building. As Hollywood’s main arteries like Cahuenga and Vine grew more commercial and automobile ownership increased, the area gained larger, more diverse businesses catering to these people. Grocery stores evolved as well.
Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,” is now on sale.
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
Memorial Day, 1947, was a spectacle marked with a parade from Westwood to the veterans cemetery, services for Spanish-American veterans in Pershing Square and even a tribute at Hollywood Memorial Park to 21 Times employees killed in the 1910 bombing, as well as those who died in World War II (Tommy Treanor, RIP).
The largest gathering was at the Coliseum, where the multitudes sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” recited the Pledge of Allegiance and listened to Ronald Reagan read the Gettysburg Address.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
May 31, 1907
Los Angeles
In one Memorial Day observance, Col. James H. Davidson of Pasadena addresses the crowd at Memorial Hall.
He says, in part: “Another decade or two and taps will have sounded and lights will be out for the entire muster roll of Civil War veterans. Let us see who made possible the perpetuity of the Union, who fought its battles and upheld the flag, who filled the ranks, who rushed to the rescue, who died on sea and land that our great nation might survive.
“It was the men behind the guns, the private soldiers and sailors of the Civil War. Their valor, their heroism, their endurance, made possible those brilliant names of generals and admirals that blaze on the pages of our country’s history.”
A postcard showing Venice’s miniature railway, courtesy of Mary Mallory.
Note: This is an encore post from 2015.
In the early 1900s, Los Angeles and environs were booming. Ballyhoo from groups like the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, railroads, the Automobile Club, realtors, and civic groups promoting Southern California as a promised land to Midwesterners and easterners stuck in cold climates drew thousands to the area. Slogans such as “the Land of Sunshine” and “Sunlit Skies of Glory” described the area as a new Eldorado for more than sixty years.
The expansion of streetcar lines by people like Henry Huntington, Eli P. Clark, and M. H. Sherman opened new areas of Los Angeles and environs to possible subdivision for all the new immigrants to the golden land. Real estate promoters rushed to fill these needs with multitudes of housing developments. One of these, New Jersey transplant Abbot Kinney, envisioned an elaborate recreation of romantic Venice, Italy, south of Ocean Park and Santa Monica as both theme park and community, from the Rancho La Ballona land he and partners had purchased.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
This week’s mystery movie was the 1930 First National Pictures film “Road to Paradise,” with Loretta Young, Jack Mulhall, Raymond Hatton, George Barraud, Kathlyn Williams, Fred Kelsey, Purnell Pratt, Ben Hendricks Jr., Dot Farley, Winter Hall and Georgette Rhodes.
Adaptation and additional dialogue by F. Hugh Herbert. Photographed by John Seitz. Edited by Edward Schroeder. Art direction by John J. Hughes. Vitaphone Orchestra conducted by Leo F. Forbstein.
Directed by William Beaudine.
“Road to Paradise” is available on DVD from Warner Archive, paired with “Week-End Marriage.”
The Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel in an undated photo from the Security Pacific Collection, housed at the Los Angeles Public Library.
A little run-down today, the Knickerbocker Hotel at 1714 Ivar has survived scandal and notoriety to endure as one of Hollywood’s grand old hotels from the booming 1920s. Beginning life under another name, the Apartment Hotel stood as one of Hollywood’s grandest residences in its heyday.
Though known today as the Knickerbocker, the structure actually started life under the name Security Apartments. After a home was moved from the lot in early 1923, construction began on the project. The Los Angeles Times reported August 29, 1923, that B.E. Harrison and E.A. Powell, managers for the Hollywood-Own-Your-Own Company Inc. announced the day before that architect E.M. Frazier had drawn up plans for the Italian Renaissance-style building, with Richardson Building and Engineering Co. to serve as contractors.
Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,” is now on sale.
ladailymirror.com 