noirish Los Angeles

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Glad you liked the video! Did you catch the guys at the beginning putting up handbills with their big brushes and buckets of glue?

As for the shack-like digs, yeah, I raised an eyebrow at that too. Here's what I came up with: there was a house there next to the Shasta, at 114. Next door is the empty lot 116, though apparently it had an old garage in back, and in 1922 a permit is filed to convert said garage ("one story and a basement") to a residence, 10x20, and that looks about 10x20. The owner lived at 4th & Hope so it's safe to assume she rented this out, but I think banking on the area being ripe for new development is iffy—on the other hand, they built the Witmore/Clift not soon after, and the big garage across the street, so I suppose the area was booming!

Capture from vid:



In the image below, 114 against the Shasta, a bit of that Van de Kamp's billboard at far right, and behind, steps running up to the converted garage at 116:

historical society

One other thing: I took a look at the Shasta, which turns out was built by George P. Upp, and was designed in 1910 by none other than Train & Williams. Wasn't expecting that. Of course it disappears in '39-'40 for the First Street Viaduct. Here's a coupla Shasta-shots from the same collection at the Historical Society.





Adding this: the Norfolk, 1909, was also erected by Upp, also Train & Williams.
getty "Fremont Ave., Figueroa St., 1955 September 16" > "BH2-7 (negative 9)"

Looking at these old Bunker Hill pics, starting to realize why they leveled the hill in the early 1960s. This was no Nob Hill. The forest of boxy towers that replaced the slum could have been done better, for sure. Some of the Victorian neighborhoods should have been left in place. A city works best when it is a mixture of old & new. This is why L.A. is fortunate to have so many pre-1930 buildings to the east of Hill--on Broadway, Spring & Main. Mix in a few modern towers, and you have a real city with history. A streetscape finally seems to be returning to Bunker Hill as residential towers, Disney hall, museums, etc. proliferate. They carted off some of the old Vics to "Heritage Square" north of DTLA--is that still there? They also should have done a better job of providing housing to the displaced poor. I guess most of them drifted into skid row to the east.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's another view I just found of McDermott's house.


http://wikimapia.org/20297067/The-Spiderpool

He took his life here on July 21, 1946.
__

The guy thought he was living in Fez or Tatoine apparently. Didn't we see this house in "Star Wars"?

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Pretty convenient to both the Shasta and the Norfolk would have been Edie's Bar--or a version of it-- Edie's being owned by a woman who killed her rich twin sister, assuming her identity...figuring into the late-noir film Dead Ringer that we've discussed here before....






Views looking south on Figueroa... the apartment houses would have been a block or so over the hill or under the Temple Street overpass. The arrow in the image below indicates the door bar-owner Edie is about to enter...her sister's chauffeur has just dropped some crucial information.... Cranes for the DWP building, under construction during filming, rise above the driver's head in the shot above. The controversial DaVinci apartments are now on the site of the bar.






The hotel building housing Edie's bar was built in 1924; it was called the Civic Center Hotel when the movie was made; there doesn't seem to have been a real cocktail bar there then. But in addition to the murder of Margaret de Lorca, other noirish things took place in the building:



LAT Jan 7, 1940



LAT May 24, 1949

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Isn't that a mule? (I'm no expert)

.............................................................




Thank you! Fascinating


picsofcelebrities.com

.

Corinne reminds me of Ione Skye from "Say Anything".

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

The house was owned by Dave Somerville, he explains how Lee Majors said they wouldn't be going there often after discovering the only way to the house was up 135 steps. The Spider Pool appears in the video, and seems to be on the same property.

I was under the impressive there wasn't a house on the property, just the ruins of the pool.

I liked the video though. I wonder if what Dave says are remnants of old movie sets on former Universal land, are actually remnants of McDermott's house (which was constructed with movie sets) -just a thought.

video




Several websites say the young lady is Tura Satana. (but I'm not entirely convinced)
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Originally Posted by Beaudry

Did you catch the guy at the beginning putting up handbills with their big brushes and buckets of glue?

Yes, I saw him! I was mesmerized....like traveling back in time.

Thanks for answering my question about the wooden structure. I really appreciate it.
_

[HossC]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

The hotel building housing Edie's bar was built in 1924; it was called the Civic Center Hotel when the movie was made; there doesn't seem to have been a real cocktail bar there then.

I don't know about a cocktail bar, but the hotel was once home to the Montezuma Inn.

Originally Posted by HossC

California Malt Supply Company, Montezuma Inn and Hotel Mindein, intersection of Figueroa, Flower, and Temple. Part of Park Tract.
I couldn't find any of these businesses in the CDs. I think the hotel is a typo, because I did find the Mindlin Hotel at 403 N Figueroa in 1927-1932 CDs. It seems to have become the Civic Center Hotel according to the 1936-42 CDs.


Los Angeles City Historical Society

[CityBoyDoug]

Wow....The Spider Pool...!!

Bettie Blue baby!



pinkcollar life

[ethereal_reality]

Walt's Park & Valet Company working an event at the Capitol Records Building on April 6, 1956.


Photograph by Frank J. Thomas / flickr






Photograph by Frank J. Thomas / flickr




Let's take a closer look shall we- I see Little Lulu is shilling for Kleenex.



And the couple pulling up in their car forgot to take the bong out of their back window.







detail

No, seriously...what the hell is that thing?
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[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Walt's Park & Valet working an event at the Capitol Records Building, April 6, 1956.
Let's take a closer look.

detail

No, seriously...what in the hell is that plexiglass-cylindrical thingy. For the life of me I can't figure out what it is.
__

I'm glad you asked that, ER. The car is a '56 Lincoln Premiere (appropriately enough), and that plexiglass tube--
there is another of the driver's side-- is part of the car's factory air conditioning. There were still several makes
using a trunk-mounted evaporator--the tubes brought cold air up into ductwork on the ceiling of the car. Lincoln
would use this setup in 1957 as well, but Cadillac and Buick went to the more modern all-up-front system after '56.

[tovangar2]

Walt's staff shoulda swept that gutter

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Wow....The Spider Pool...!!

Bettie Blue baby!



pinkcollar life

Vavavoom!

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I was under the impressive there wasn't a house on the property, just the ruins of the pool.

I liked the video though. I wonder if what Dave says are remnants of old movie sets on former Universal land, are actually remnants of McDermott's house (which was constructed with movie sets) -just a thought.

video




Several websites say the young lady is Tura Satana. (but I'm not entirely convinced)
__


Yes, I saw him! I was mesmerized....like traveling back in time.

Thanks for answering my question about the wooden structure. I really appreciate it.
_

Back when topless was exciting. The noir era.

[ethereal_reality]

I'm pretty sure we haven't seen this early morning view of the Fort Moore Hill Pioneer Memorial taken from 1963.


Alberta Mayo / flickr

It gives you an idea of the lighting design.

and I believe the waterfall is running! -Does anyone know...did it run all night?
____________________________


At first I thought this was twilight, but with the lack of traffic I've decided it's early morning.
What do you all think?

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Otis Criblecoblis

Do you have a citation for John Wayne's saying Andy Devine was his favorite sidekick? I'm very curious, because I'm a big fan of both and have never heard that.

Andy moved to Wayne's home base of Newport Beach in '57. Before that, Andy was the unofficial "mayor of Van Nuys", and a big property owner in the Valley. When I saw him in the Van Nuys Chris'n'Pitts restaurant in the early '60s digging into an enormous platter of BBQ ribs with a side of cole slaw, baked beans & corn on the cobb slathered in melted butter (and he croaked at me "get lost kid--can't you see I'm eating?") , he must of been back to check out his properties in the Valley, or maybe on a film shoot.

In Newport, Wayne & Devine had houses closeby. Devine went out on fishing trips on Wayne's boat "Pilar", named after Wayne's wife. Both were staunch conservatives, always griping about high taxes and "pinkos" in Hollywood.

Wayne & Devine were in at least 3 films together, the best known being "Stagecoach" in '39 and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" in '62, which also starred arch-conservative and retired Air Force general Jimmy Stewart.

Devine and Wayne both died in the late 1970s, best friends forever apparently, and they now sit at the (extreme) right side of the Lord I'm pretty sure, with Jimmy Stewart and director John Ford right with them.

If you haven't seen it, Wayne's last film "The Shootist" is very good. About the last days of gunman dying of cancer, and his platonic romance with a widow woman that rented a room to him (Lauren Bacall, Ms. Bond). Andy wasn't in it, but it is a good film. Stewart has a bit part in it as Wayne's doctor.

[ethereal_reality]

...and while we're in the Fort Moore area.

Have we seen this photograph on NLA?

"Construction of the Hollywood and Harbor freeways required crews to cut an artificial canyons – now known as the Downtown Slot – through Fort Moore Hill."


https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/t...=0%2C0%2C1%2C1

lol. I thought the man was standing next to three backyard incinerators that had been dug up!


here's a closer look.

detail

[CityBoyDoug]

Come on guys....is this spider girl Tura Satana or not. I feel that NLA should get to the bottom of this mystery.

Does anyone know?


ER

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Walt's staff shoulda swept that gutter

Yes T2....any guess as to what that is in the gutter? I thought they might be dead balloons...paper from flower bouquets or corsages. What a mess.!!!



ER

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I'm pretty sure we haven't seen this early morning view of the Fort Moore Hill Pioneer Memorial taken from 1963.


Alberta Mayo / flickr

It gives you an idea of the lighting design.

and I believe the waterfall is running! -Does anyone know...did it run all night?
____________________________


At first I thought this was twilight, but with the lack of traffic I've decided it's early morning.
What do you all think?

Until the energy crises of the 1970s, the Dept. of Water & Power headquarters across from the Music Center was lit up brightly all night. Could see it a long way. They made the power & they sure did use it.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Come on guys....is this spider girl Tura Satana or not. I feel that NLA should get to the bottom of this mystery.

Does anyone know?


ER

I think I saw her working in a Hooters.

[ethereal_reality]

OK, let's not over do it with the boobs.