Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: David O. Selznick and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek

Posted on October 21, 2019 by lmharnisch

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Madame Chiang in a film clip at the Hollywood Bowl, beginning at the 4:22 mark on a newsreel posted on YouTube.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

Seventy years ago, film producer David O. Selznick staged an over-the-top extravaganza April 4, 1943, at the Hollywood Bowl honoring Madame Chiang Kai-Shek and China Relief, the likes of which will probably never be seen again. Featuring high showmanship and a cast of thousands, this stage show celebrated a woman as beautiful and tough as Selznick’s Scarlett O’Hara.

Selznick served as one of Hollywood’s most prominent supporters of China Relief, a cause championed by his friends Henry and Clare Luce. He agreed to organize two prominent Los Angeles events to publicize and raise funds in support, desperately needed after the vicious attacks by Japanese soldiers for more than six years. These events would occur near the end of Madame Chiang’s 1943 tour of the United States.

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Scotty Bowers 1923 – 2019 | Liar to the Stars

Posted on October 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Full Service

Scotty Bowers has left the building. Reminder: Everything he said is a lie.

An encore post from 2018.

Scotty Bowers’ mountain of lies is not the hill I care to die on. But be assured that he has told a mountain of lies. Have you seen even one photograph of him with one of his alleged amours? Scotty and Spencer Tracy? Scotty and Katharine Hepburn? Scotty and, well, any A-list celebrity, really? Rin-Tin-Tin? Trigger? Flipper? Nellybelle?

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Posted in Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, Hollywood, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Villa Elaine Courts Tenants

Posted on October 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Google Street View The Villa Elaine via Google Street View.

Still stylish after 94 years, Villa Elaine has reigned as one of Hollywood’s most popular apartment/hotels in its location on Vine Street just blocks from Sunset Boulevard. Courtly and regal, the building has attracted tenants whether known as the St. George Court or under its current name, Villa Elaine.

On January 4, 1925, the Los Angeles Times announced that Mrs. Edna Henderson had purchased 1241-1249 Vine Street to construct a five-story, Class C arcade store and apartment building in Spanish Revival style featuring four stores and sixteen studio shops beyond its 64 apartments. Some papers estimated the structure to cost $250,000, with architect Lewis (L.A.) Smith designing the building and the Arthur Bard Co. to serve as contractor.

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

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 14, 2019 by lmharnisch

Oct. 19, 2019, Mystery Photo

This week’s mystery movie was the 1942 Twentieth Century-Fox film “The Man Who Wouldn’t Die,” with Lloyd Nolan, Marjorie Weaver, Helen Reynolds, Henry Wilcoxon and Richard Derr.

Executive Producer Sol M. Wurtzel. Screenplay by Arnaud d’Usseau, based on a novel by Clayton Rawson and the character Michael Shayne created by Brett Halliday. Director of photography Joseph P. MacDonald, art direction by Richard Day and Lewis Creber, set decorations by Thomas Little, edited by Fred Allen, costumes by Herschel, sound by Joseph E. Aiken and Harry M. Leonard, technical advisor Detective Lt. Frank L. James, musical  direction by Emil Newman. Directed by Herbert I. Leeds.

“The Man Who Wouldn’t Die” is available on DVD from Amazon as part of a Michael Shayne set. It will air on the Fox Movie Channel on Oct. 28-29.

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Posted in 1942, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 25 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Bryson Apartments ‘The Finest Apartment Building West of New York City’

Posted on October 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

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The Bryson Apartments, via Google Street View.

Note: This is an encore post from 2014.


Considered by many to be one of the most attractive apartment buildings in Los Angeles, the regal Bryson Apartment Building at 2701 Wilshire Blvd. stands as a lovely example of 1910s high end apartment living, a stately survivor reflecting the optimistic, go-getter attitude of early Los Angeles residents. Combining superb construction, elegant looks, and luxurious decoration, the Bryson stands as a glorious monument to its builder, Hugh W. Bryson.

Community leader Bryson believed in constructing affordable large scale residential developments filled with beauty and taste. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, August 1, 1868, ambitious Bryson strove for excellence from a young age. After graduating from high school, he worked as clerk for a cotton brokers, working in banking, and selling real estate, before arriving in Los Angeles in 1902. Bryson joined leading contractor, F. O. Engstrum Co., and within a few years, married the owner’s daughter, Blanche. He was named a general manager and director of the company in 104, focusing on major projects. Recognizing the large migration of East Coast and Midwest residents to sunny LA, Bryson began financing and his own projects under his Concrete Appliances Company.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.
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Posted in Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on October 7, 2019 by lmharnisch

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This week’s mystery movie was the 1959 Twentieth Century-Fox film “The Man Who Understood Women,” with Leslie Caron, Henry Fonda, Cesare Danova, Myron McCormick, Marcel Dalio, Conrad Nagel, Edwin Jerome, Harry Ellerbe, Frank Cady, Bern Hoffman and Ben Astar.

Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson, from the novel “The Colors of the Day” by Romain Gary. Music by Robert Emmett Dolan, photography by Milton Krasner, art direction by Lyle R. Wheeler and Maurice Ransford, set decorations by Walter M. Scott and Paul S. Fox, special photographic effects by L.B. Abbott, edited by Marjorie Fowler, executive wardrobe designer Charles LeMaire, makeup by Ben Nye, hairstyles by Helen Turpin, assistant director Hal Herman, sound by Charles Peck and Harry M. Leonard. Song “A Paris Valentine” by Paul Francis Webster and Robert Emmett Dolan, orchestration by Earle Hagen. Color by De Luxe, color consultant Leonard Doss, CinemaScope lenses by Bausch and Lomb.

Produced and directed by Nunnally Johnson.

“The Man Who Understood Women” has never been commercially released on VHS or DVD. Gray market copies are listed on the Internet.

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Posted in 1959, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

L.A. Philharmonic Opens 2019 Season With Some Modern American Chestnuts

Posted on October 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall

The Los Angeles Philharmonic warms up for its 2019-2020 season. Photograph by Larry Harnisch / LADailymirror.com

Under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic opened the 2019-20 season last night with a concert of familiar light classics. The music was all sufficiently modern, if mostly last century, but also sufficiently nonthreatening to audiences intimidated by more angular, dissonant, less accessible works. This was an all-American concert, though a meal of side dishes without a main course.

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Correction: The Philharmonic, founded in 1919, began its centennial season in September 2018 and ends the celebration this month. A previous version of this review said last week’s concert opened the centennial season.
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I went in part because Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times keeps cheering about the Philharmonic as “the world’s leading orchestra.” (Spoiler: It’s not). And because The New York Times recently referred to “the orchestra’s daring programming.” (Spoiler: It’s not, at least not last night.)

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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 30, 2019 by lmharnisch

Oct. 5, 2019, Red Lily
This week’s mystery movie was the 1924 MGM picture “The Red Lily.” The new credits list “an original story written and directed by Fred Niblo.” Modern credits: Ramon Novarro, Enid Bennett (note: Niblo’s wife), Frank Currier, Mitchell Lewis, Risita Marstini, Sydney Franklin, Wallace Beery, George Nichols, Emily Fitzroy, George Periolat, Rosemary Theby, Milla Davenport, Gibson Gowland and Dick Sutherland.

Scenarist was Beth Meredyth, photography by Victor Milner, scenic architect was Ben Carre, edited by Lloyd Nosler, assistant director Doran Cox. Original score by Scott Salinas.

The 1924 New York Times review provides the following credits: Enid Bennett, Ramon Novarro, Wallace Beery, Frank Currier, Rosemary Theby, Mitchell Lewis, Emily Fitzroy, George Periolat, Milly (cq) Davenport, Dick Sutherland, Gibson Gowland and George Nichols, adapted from Anatole France’s story, directed by Fred Niblo; overture, introduction and march from “Le Coq d’Or”; “Neapolitan Fancy”; “I Am a Parisian” by Frank Moulan.

“The Red Lily” is available on DVD from Warner Archive.

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Posted in 1924, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Yamashiro

Posted on September 30, 2019 by lmharnisch

Bernheimer House
Photo: A postcard of the Bernheimer house, listed on EBay at $6.

Note: This is an encore post from 2011.

In Japanese, Yamashiro means castle on the hill. Standing in its original 1914 location, Yamashiro restaurant, the elegant dowager at the top of Orchid and Sycamore, still preens in all her exotic beauty over Hollywood. The building and grounds have served as a home, clubhouse, scenic garden, military school, and restaurant for just under 100 years. Long may it continue its reign.

Brothers Adolph and Eugene Bernheimer, New York importers of Oriental goods, began constructing a Los Angeles winter home in early 1914, one that would stand out in the conservative little burg of Hollywood. After buying the land from Mr. Whitley in 1912, the brothers conceived a beautiful Oriental mansion to reflect their interest in all things Eastern. As the Los Angeles Times described it in the Jan. 11, 1914 paper, 110 feet square, and “designed after the mansions of lordly Chinese mandarins.” It was arranged around an interior, tiled court.

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Black Dahlia: Halloween Is Coming – Rethink Your Choices

Posted on September 27, 2019 by lmharnisch

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Seriously. Dressing up like the victim of a grotesque murder doesn’t honor Elizabeth Short – or you.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 23, 2019 by lmharnisch

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This week’s mystery movie was the 1966 Proteus Films release “The Shooting,” with Will Hutchins, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Warren Oates, Charles Eastman, Guy El Tsosie, Brandon Carroll, B.J. Merholz, Wally Moon, William Mackleprang and James Campbell.

Photography by Gregory Sandor, music by Richard Markowitz, production manager Paul Lewis, sound mixer Frank Murphy, assistant cameraman Gary Kurtz, art direction Wally Moon, script supervisor Walter Phelps, assistant to producers John Shaner, wardrobe consultant Bill Milton, technical consultant Maurice Seiderman, key grip Russ Namarillo, sound boom Art Names, music editor Igo Kantor, sound effects Edit-Rite and re-recording by Producers Sound Service.

Written by Adrien Joyce (Carole Eastman). Produced by Jack Nicholson and Monte Hellman. Directed by Monte Hellman.

“The Shooting” is available on DVD from TCM, with its companion “Ride in the Whirlwind.”

Note: “The Shooting” aired at 11:30 p.m. March 31, 1968, on New York’s WNBC. (This will be important later).

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Posted in 1966, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — A. L. ‘Whitey’ Schafer Simplifies Portraits

Posted on September 23, 2019 by lmharnisch

Whitey Schafer "Thou Shalt Not"
“Thou Shalt Not,” “Whitey” Schafer’s most famous image.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

In the very early days of the motion picture industry, stills photographers meant nothing to the moving picture companies. They asked their feature cameramen to work double duty, shooting scene stills after completing filming that very same scene. These companies also hired local photographic studios to shoot portraits of their stars, or allowed the stars themselves to hire photographers to shoot images that could be employed in advertising.

When stars’ names and faces became important tools to sell product, stillsmen became integral in shaping a motion picture company’s or star’s brand that could be sold to consumers. Studios hired their own photographers to shoot scene, production, off-camera and reference stills that could be employed in advertising, while major stars Mary Pickford and William S. Hart signed their own personal cameramen like K. O. Rahmn and Junius Estep to capture their on- and off-camera pursuits. By the middle of the 1920s, each studio established stills departments to shoot, process and manufacture the thousands of stills required for product-hungry newspapers, magazines and consumer tie-ins.

Mary Mallory’s latest book, “Living With Grace: Life Lessons from America’s Princess,”  is now on sale.

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Posted in Books and Authors, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Black Dahlia: Halloween Costumes – Rethink Your Choices

Posted on September 17, 2019 by lmharnisch

Black Dahlia Halloween

Time for my annual reminder: Dressing up like the victim of a gruesome murder isn’t cool. It isn’t hip, not even ironically. Reconsider your choices; you still have time to be Harley Quinn or Mad Moxxi. Or for a change, Rainbow Dash.

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, Homicide | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

Sept. 21, 2019, State's Attorney
This week’s mystery movie was the 1932 RKO picture “State’s Attorney,” with John Barrymore, Helen Twelvetrees, Jill Esmond, Ralph Ince, William Boyd, Albert Conti, Mary Duncan, Frederick Burton, C. Henry Gordon, Paul Hurst and Oscar Apfel.

Associate producer James Kevin McGuinness, screenplay and dialogue by Gene Fowler and Rowland Brown, from a story by Louis Stevens. Art director Carroll Clark, photography by Leo Tover, recorded by George Ellis, edited by Charles L. Kimball. Directed by George Archainbaud, executive producer by David O. Selznick.

“State’s Attorney” is available on DVD from Warner Archive.

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Posted in 1932, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: North Hollywood Federal Savings and Loans Funds Business and Housing

Posted on September 16, 2019 by lmharnisch

North Hollywood Federal Savings
North Hollywood Federal Savings and Loan, 1961, Valley Times Collection, L.A. Public Library.

Originally designed to serve as a combination bank and office building, the former North Hollywood Federal Savings and Loan building at Riverside Drive and Lankershim Boulevard in Toluca Lake will be integrated into a proposed apartment/commercial development, thus saving the building through adaptive reuse. The tallest structure in the San Fernando Valley when it opened in 1961, the building has continually operated as a financial institution since its construction.

As the San Fernando Valley, and North Hollywood in particular, saw their populations expand from the 1920s into the 1930s, new financial institutions were established to serve the needs of these incoming residents. The North Hollywood Federal Savings and Loan, established in 1923 as the Lankershim Building and Loan Association, functioned as one of the first savings and loan facilities in the area. Originally located at 5213 Lankershim Blvd., the company expanded its building and updated its name over the years, eventually gaining the new address 5226 Lankershim.  By the late 1950s, the company was cramped and in need of larger space.

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

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Posted in 1960, 1961, Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Preservation, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: North Hollywood Federal Savings and Loans Funds Business and Housing

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 9, 2019 by lmharnisch

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This week’s mystery movie was the 1933 (copyright 1934) Universal picture “Counsellor at Law,” with John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon, Isabel Jewell, Melvyn Douglas, Onslow Stevens, Thelma Todd, Clara Langsner, J. Hammond Dailey, Mayo Methot, Bobby Gordon, Malka Kornstein, Vincent Sherman, Marvin Kline, T.H. Manning, John Qualen, Angela Jacobs, Richard Quine, Barbara Perry, Elmer H. Brown, Conway Washburn and Frederick Burton.

Screenplay by Elmer Rice, art direction by Charles D. Hall, photography by Norbert Brodine, edited by Daniel Mandell. Directed by William Wyler. Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.

“Counsellor at Law” is available on DVD from Amazon.

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Posted in 1933, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Cinecon 55 Gets Hep to Fun Entertainment

Posted on September 9, 2019 by lmharnisch

cinecon_hep
A post for “Get Hep to Love,” listed on EBay at $17.98.

The recently concluded 55th Annual Cinecon Film Festival featured a little something for every type of film lover, playing everything from silents to documentaries, television kinescopes, Vitaphone shorts, and sound films, while also saluting classic film actresses in one of Los Angeles’ most beautiful film theatres. The weekend ironically featured such current topics as sexual harassment, #metoo, immigration, while featuring multiple looks at such stars as Victor Jory. An entertaining treat from start to finish, Cinecon focuses on screening the rare and unique, providing quality films and entertainment at an affordable price.

Festivities kicked off  August 29 with hors d’oeuvres and conversation in the Egyptian courtyard before the screening of the witty and peppy 1928 silent film “Bare Knees.” Hot to trot, vivacious flapper Virginia Lee Corbin visits her staid sister and brother-in-law (Jane Winton and Forrest Stanley) and sets off fireworks and fire alarms, exposing the repressed hypocrisy of the town. Corbin’s irrepressible spirit helps break down barriers and shorten hemlines and attitudes, helping town women gain independence and breathing new life into society.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Committee for the First Amendment Defends Free Speech

Posted on September 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

Herbert Biberman
Herbert Biberman, one of the Hollywood 10, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Note: This is an encore post from 2014.


In times of social uncertainty and economic malaise, those in fear often turn to discriminating, finger pointing, blame and stonewalling, claiming “the other” is destroying livelihoods, ways of life, and social beliefs just by speaking out. These “others” become the scapegoats for all that is wrong: drought, job insecurity, national security concerns, discrimination, etc.

After the conclusion of World War II, when the Allies defeated the Nazis, Japanese and Axis, thus bringing to an end annihilation, genocide, starvation and imprisonment to so many, everything seemed to turn for a short time to hope, peace, freedom, welcome and acceptance. Unfortunately, demagogues quickly saw the bogeyman again with the Soviets’ takeover of Eastern Europe, which the Allies had allowed in order for a quicker end to World War II. Anyone questioning the role of government, demanding free speech and asking for social justice, was suddenly judged a turncoat, evildoer, overthrower. Many in the United States government would soon ape the policies of totalitarian countries they claimed to abhor by scapegoating those deemed “different,” blocking free speech, destroying lives and careers.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in 1947, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on September 2, 2019 by lmharnisch

The Fan
This week’s mystery movie was the 1949 Twentieth Century-Fox picture “The Fan,” with Jeanne Crain, Madeleine Carroll, George Sanders, Richard Greene, Martita Hunt, John Sutton, Hugh Dempster, Richard Ney and Virginia McDowall.

Screenplay by Walter Reisch, Dorothy Parker and Ross Evans, based on Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan.” Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof, director of photography Joseph LaShelle, art direction Lyle Wheeler and Leland Fuller, set decorations Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox, film editor Louis Loeffler, wardrobe direction Charles LeMaire, costumes designed by Rene Hubert, orchestral arrangements Edward Powell and Maurice dePackh, makeup Ben Nye, special photographic effects Fred Sersen, sound E. Clayton Ward and Roger Heman. Directed and produced by Otto Preminger.

“The Fan” is available on DVD from TCM.

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Samuel S. Hinds, Pasadena Playhouse Founder, Movie Actor

Posted on August 26, 2019 by lmharnisch

Samuel S. Hinds


Samuel S. Hinds, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Note: This is an encore post from 2014.


Some people are lucky enough to work in a profession doing something they love, offering both pleasure and satisfaction. Others work at jobs that allow them to make a living while pursuing hobbies and passions. Samuel S. Hinds ended up doing both, performing in theatrical productions as a passionate hobby before turning it into his avocation and career.

Born on April 4, 1875, Hinds grew up in an educated, successful family. His father, Joseph, a lifelong friend of Mark Twain and Thomas Alva Edison, owned and operated a successful printing and lithography business in New York, later serving as president of the United States Playing Card Co. and the lithography company Russell-Morgan in Cincinnati. His New York printing company became the first business illuminated with electric lights by Edison in 1881. The senior Hinds proudly exhibited one of the three first lighted globes in his Pasadena house.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

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Posted in Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Pasadena, Stage | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments