noirish Los Angeles

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by C. King

I am 99% sure that this is in Saugas in the Santa Clarita Valley, just north of the San Fernando Valley. The Milepost numbers on the signal mast seem to mesh with what was in effect back then. The screen grab is probably from a Frank Sinatra movie named "Suddenly". The Saugas Station would be at the photog's back.

''Suddenly'' was filmed in the Saugus area.

Filming Locations:

Saugus Train Depot, Saugus, California, USA

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Goldwyn Studios, Culver City, California, USA
(studio)

Newhall, California, USA

Saugus, California, USA

American Theatre, 24527 Spruce Street, Newhall, California, USA
(exterior scenes)

[Handsome Stranger]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Below: So what is that huge industrial building at the end of the street? It looks monstrous.


detail
__

It must be part of the massive Standard Oil refinery, which gave El Segundo its name (this was the second refinery Standard built on the west coast.)

El Segundo has a terrific little movie theater dating from 1921 (!) called the Old Town Music Hall. As a kid in the 1970s I saw many vintage movies there and developed an abiding appreciation for the art of silent film.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

To be fair, Abel Gance's 1927- "Napoleon" employing "Polyvision" may have beaten Fox's "Grandeur" to the punch by two or three years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvision
[...]
To tie this topic closer to Los Angeles, I recall the film being screened at the Shrine Auditorium sometime in 1981(?). The poster [...] only advertises NY, but I am confident there was an LA version too.

I can attest to this because I attended a screening of it at the Shrine Auditorium. 1981 sounds right. There was a full orchestra playing the score. My memory, however, of that night wasn't a good one. It had been a horrendously hot day. I can only speak from where we were sitting, but there was no air conditioning in a sold out Shrine. The film is loooooooooooong. Not a pleasant experience. (Kevin Brownlow and his further restoration and a new score of this film were shown at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival two years ago.)

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

__

For those interested, this film is a hoot! It's an early Universal film, in technicolor (two-strip), lots of great songs, a cartoon sequence, some fascinating production numbers, Bing Crosby and one of the first film recordings, perhaps, of Rhapsody in Blue, not to mention Paul Whiteman! It's a bit uneven, because it's more like a variety show than a film story, but if inclined, you can't help but enjoy it.

[Martin Pal]

Interesting photos; I was wondering what they might be doing in this picture.
In the panoramic view they appear to be quite far away from the buildings.

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Company calisthenics?

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

It must be part of the massive Standard Oil refinery, which gave El Segundo its name (this was the second refinery Standard built on the west coast.)

Thanks, being from Hermosa Beach I should have known this bit of info before. I'm glad I do now.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

It must be part of the massive Standard Oil refinery, which gave El Segundo its name.

If I ever need a drag name, I am going to call myself Elsie Gundo.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tMBJQM_GTEk.com/i/f0ZDnbGyj][/URL]



Thanks for the information AlvaroLegido!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tMBJQM_GTE







You can see the above images and hear his sound here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tMBJQM_GTE
__

"King of Jazz" Paul Whiteman

See the full movie here....link below. Lots of fun as ER has said. Be advised that the film really only gets interesting at the 1:00:00 hr mark. The final 30 minutes is the best part.
Overall the full film is a rather bizarre 90 minutes.


http://youtu.be/nlqT_BoLhj4


film won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction by Herman Rosse,

Here's the theme song "Happy Feet"...about a 6 minute clip from the above 1930 film. Link below...

http://youtu.be/1W1V_nsBaX8

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Interesting photos; I was wondering what they might be doing in this picture.
In the panoramic view they appear to be quite far away from the buildings.

May be unrelated to company. Reserves training or exercising? Local sports team?


So Cal has long been a bastion for health and clean living.

Undated - Exercise at the midnight mission.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics25/00047327.jpg




http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics25/00047328.jpg



1933 - Family stays fit at Venice Beach. (Pre Muscle Beach?)
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics41/00070382.jpg

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics41/00070381.jpg

August 4, 1954 reads, 'Husbands Approve. [M]ember's of J. Wilson Gregory's neighborhood body conditioning class, reports husbands happy over improvement in wives' health, posture and figures. Class specializes in easy, health building exercise.'

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00083/00083946.jpg

[Wig-Wag]

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;6928281] I appreciate the clarification Hoss. That aerial helps.



Thanks Wig Wag for digging up the information on the 1946 "sowbelly" street-car slide.


GSV

HossC, thanks for your supplement to my post.I should have spent a bit more time on Google maps as I did not realize that the house had been replaced by the Western Exterminator building with I am quite familiar and love for the neon rats that run along the bottom of the sign as seen in the GSV above. I don't think they turn them on any longer, but at one time they were sequentially lighted so as to appear to race across the sign.

ER, if my memory hasn't failed me I think we briefly discussed the rats a couple of years ago.

Cheers,
Jack

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

What the 1946 slide doesn't show is this nice Victorian on the southwest corner of Douglas & Kensington.


GSV


__

http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...residence.html

The Wicks residence, much info to be found on Big Orange Landmarks.

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Well if I sell out the 600+ theater, than kudos to me and hooray for the popularity of Bunker Hill! I know the box office will be open day-of, so there shouldn't be a problem. Tell you what, if you arrive and can't get a ticket, wave me down and I'll sneak you through the side door

Ah, it's good to know people in high places!

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by HossC

I found this picture of Saugus Station on the scvhistory.com (Santa Clarita Valley) website. It shows the station in 1970, and the view of the mountains looks like a pretty good match to me. The trackside signals and utility poles are also similar. Click the link below the picture for the full-size image.


scvhistory.com

I've mentioned this before in post #19919, but the reason I'm familiar with Saugus Station is that it appeared briefly as Hazzard Station in a season 2 episode of 'The Dukes of Hazzard'. The depot closed in 1978, the Dukes filming was probably done in 1979, and then there was a campaign to save the station. In 1980 it was moved a couple of miles down the road to its current location in the Heritage Junction Historic Park where it survives as the headquarters of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

Here's a current view from Drayton Street, a few yards north of the original station location (i.e. roughly where e_r's picture was probably taken from). Today it's very difficult to see the mountains for comparison.


GSV

HossC and C.King, you are both correct on the location. A still shot of photo 3appeared on eBay a while back where it sold for substantial dollars!

The train in the 3rd picture is Southern Pacific No.58, the LA bound Owl that ran between Los Angeles and Oakland. "The Owl's first run was as the Owl Limited on December 18, 1898. It ran under train numbers 25 and 26. It was renamed The Owl around 1900 and in 1946 was re-numberd as Nos. 57 and 58. The Owl's final run was on April 11th 1965, making it the longest continuously running train on the SP at almost 67 years." (SP Modelers Archive website - http://espee.railfan.net/owl.html) In the photo it is being pulled by one of SP's famous Cab Forward Locomotives.
Cheers,
Jack

[alanlutz]

Apologize if someone already noted this but I found a web page that explains the chronology of the Saugus station and how it was saved from the wrecking ball (cliche) and moved to the safety of its new home. http://www.scvhs.org/station.htm

Originally Posted by Wig-Wag

HossC and C.King, you are both correct on the location. a still shot of photo 3appeared on eBay a while back where it sold for substantial dollars!

The train in the 3rd picture is Southern Pacific No.52, the Oakland bound San Joaquin Daylight that ran between Los Angeles and Oakland and was the Central Valley counterpart to the Coast Daylight. It is being pulled by one of SP's famous Cab Forward Locomotives. It was inaugurated on July 4, 1941 and ceased operation with the formation of Amtrak in1971.

Cheers,
Jack

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A precursor to Cinerama in 1930? I had no idea.



https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr101holl
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John Wayne's first starring role was in Raoul Walsh's "The Big Trail", which was filmed in Fox Grandeur. Only at its NY and LA premiere engagements was it shown in that format, as no other theaters were capable of showing it. I suspect the showing of "Happy Days" at the Carthay was on a temporary setup. Filming of The Big Trail used both Fox Grandeur and regular equipment, sometimes simultaneously - in some cases the full frame version used a different take of the same scene, and in others a slightly different angle as the two cameras were recording at the same time next to each other.

In any case, the restored Fox Grandeur version has been released on a Blu-Ray set (along with the full frame) and it's well worth viewing for the amazing cinematography. The acting, not so much.

[jaco]

New website popped up this week that might be interesting, HistoricPlacesLA

http://historicplacesla.org

[C. King]

Originally Posted by Wig-Wag

HossC and C.King, you are both correct on the location. a still shot of photo 3appeared on eBay a while back where it sold for substantial dollars!

The train in the 3rd picture is Southern Pacific No.52, the Oakland bound San Joaquin Daylight that ran between Los Angeles and Oakland and was the Central Valley counterpart to the Coast Daylight. It is being pulled by one of SP's famous Cab Forward Locomotives. It was inaugurated on July 4, 1941 and ceased operation with the formation of Amtrak in1971.

Cheers,
Jack

I might be wrong here, but it looks like it might be Train #58 (The Owl). The number '58' is above the Engineer's windshield, and is inbound to LA, because the leg of the wye onto the Montalvo Branch is on the left side.

Looking at the link provided to the SCVHS, brought back some names from my past. Mike Shuman, which was a docent with the SCVHS was my Jr High Principal at Placerita JHS.

Thanks.

[Albany NY]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

''Suddenly'' was filmed in the Saugus area.

Filming Locations:
Saugus Train Depot, Saugus, California, USA
Santa Clarita, California, USA
Goldwyn Studios, Culver City, California, USA
(studio)
Newhall, California, USA
Saugus, California, USA
American Theatre, 24527 Spruce Street, Newhall, California, USA
(exterior scenes)

Suddenly is an interesting film, despite the monotone performance by Sterling Hayden! Not a classic, but an interesting look at a mobster's attempt to assassinate the US President from an elevation (with several eerie coincidences to the Kennedy assassination several years later). A highly entertaining film. Siskel and Ebert would give it....well, they're both dead....but I'd give it two thumbs up!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suddenly_(1954_film)

[C. King]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

''Suddenly'' was filmed in the Saugus area.

Filming Locations:

Saugus Train Depot, Saugus, California, USA

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Goldwyn Studios, Culver City, California, USA
(studio)

Newhall, California, USA

Saugus, California, USA

American Theatre, 24527 Spruce Street, Newhall, California, USA
(exterior scenes)

The American Theatre still stands. Still is the American Legion Hall, that I remember from growing up around the corner. There used to be a small rocket/missile on a stand in the parking lot that was on the side of the building.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/24...19b82264?hl=en

Also, the Sheriff's Office that Sterling Hayden is seen coming out of, was the actual Newhall Sheriff's Station at the time.

[Slauson Slim]

There is still a fire station on the site. In the older pictures the steeples of the old St. Patrick's Church are visible.

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Bravo. Interesting discovery. BLS'M Pondering this now. Base . . . line . . . standard. ???


Speaking of Fire Stations, what a difference a coat of paint and a few years can make.

1914 ?? (Still relying on Equine Power!) Station No. 14 3401 S. Central Avenue (Is it really '14? DWP suggests structure was used from 1900-02 as Chemical Engine Co. No. 2, and then from '02 to '19 as Company No. 14.
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...GJK4M5SV5I.jpg


Turn back the clock:

1900
http://www.lafire.com/stations/Chem0...tation_747.jpg


1902
http://www.lafire.com/stations/Chem0...tation_516.jpg


1910
http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS014...n_E14_1500.jpg

Included this shot because of the overhead incandescent street light.
1914
http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS014...14-02_1500.jpg

1915 - Modern Horse Drawn Equipment
http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS014...Ready_1500.jpg



1936
http://waterandpower.org/Historical_..._Co._No.14.jpg