Wonderful thread, keeps me coming back. :)

Ever since I saw Mulholland Drive, L.A. to me has this noirish quality that I cannot shed, even through daylight pics. I've only visited once (when I was about 7), so a visit in the near future is very much in my plans.

I actually wish you were here to go along with me. As enthusiastic you and I are about LA and noir, I think we'd have a lot of fun. ;)

Great pics you posted, too; I drove through downtown LA tonight after seeing the Bendix photos, and saw the Bendix tower lit up in all its red neon glory. Very noirish indeed, it made me wish I brought the camera with me.

To be honest sopas_ej,
I didn't realize, until recently, that the Bendix building was still there.


It's great that the tower is functional again.
And it's in red?? You need to get a shot of that. :)

I recently learned that the Los Angeles Police Department
has 940,000 negatives stored in anonymous warehouses throughout the city.
A HUGE project is under way to digitalize ALL the photographs.

Below is a small sampling of the photographs.
Hopefully, the new project will scan the LAPD negatives MUCH larger.


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4351/lapd1knife.jpg
knife. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4...2holes1942.jpg
dual bullet holes. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...victim1944.jpg
assault victim. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...victim1951.jpg
assault victim 1951. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6...esinpainti.jpg
body on floor, bullets in painting 1932. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4...dbybed1931.jpg
dead by bed 1931. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4...gmarks1937.jpg
bloody drag marks 1937. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7...holdup1932.jpg
jewelry hold up 1932. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7...inyard1930.jpg
John Doe in backyard 1930. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8...mobhit1933.jpg
mob hit 1933. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...vationtest.jpg
observation test 1930s. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5...driver1955.jpg
los angeles river 1955. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5...tickupnote.jpg
stick up. don't move. smile. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2...oodead1945.jpg
tattoo nipple 1945. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8...trenchcoat.jpg
trench coat 1926. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1...ooroom1935.jpg
VooDoo room 1935. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9...falcon1945.jpg
Thanks the falcon 1945. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8...anging1951.jpg
lady hanging 1951. lapd



These photos are from the following website.
http://www.fototeka.com/lapd/index.html

LAPD
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/3...dissuicide.jpg
Carole Landis' suicide July 5, 1948. An overdose of Secondal.



below: Carole Landis was found in her apartment in Brentwood Heights (Pacific Palisades).
The police are kneeling by her body in the farthest room.
Notice the film script in the center room.
A mink coat is draped over a chair in the bedroom.
The hair dryer is by the window.



http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/8...elandisapt.jpg
latimesblog.com



below: The film script.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/5...thearneloa.jpg


For further analysis of this intriguing photograph go to
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-2.html


And here
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-4.html


And here
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-5.html


And here (sorry, I didn't realize there were so many links involved)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-6.html





below: A glamour shot of Carole Landis.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/8827/lapdlandis1.jpg
unknown




below: Carole Landis poolside.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2800/lapdclpool3.jpg
unknown


It isn't all sunshine and beaches.

Looks like Bud White got to her,

If you're still interested in the Carole Landis saga, here's one last link.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-7.html

Below is a great noir photo.
Looking north on Vine toward Sunset and Vine.
Notice NBC Radio City Studios on the right.


http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9...ndvinenort.jpg
usc digital archives



below: NBC Radio City in daylight.

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/620...ocitystudi.jpg
postcard

below: Tom Breneman's on Vine between Hollywood & Sunset Blvds in Hollywood, circa 1947



http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/693...brenemansn.jpg
usc digital archive


Notice the banner hanging at the entrance. Who is Pinky Tomlin?


http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7...inkytomlin.jpg

Here's another photo of Tom Breneman's dated April 1945.
It looks like mostly ladies waiting to get in.


http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3...emansapril.jpg
LIFE magazine

Tom Breneman's in daylight.


http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/586...indaylight.jpg
unknown

Those crime scene photos are all kinds of awesome, especially this one which is a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 on the noir meter.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5...driver1955.jpg

Notice the 2 small children in the photo observing the death scene. The little blond boy to the right, plus the little girl in the background. Guess they didn't feel the need to protect kids from such things back in those days.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9...thstreetan.jpg

I also noticed the little blonde boy on the right.
All kinds of things raced through my mind.

Why is he so close to this horrifying scene?
Does he know the jumper?
Is 'violence' a normal occurrence in this neighborhood?
How will this effect him later on in his life?


It's an extremely thought provoking scene.

Hmm... wartime workers getting off from the swing-shift, maybe? Or maybe it was Ladies' night?

Ethereal, when I first saw your photos of the drive-in restaurants, it made a light bulb go on in my head-- particularly the Simon's Drive-ins, those photos reminded me of a structure in Alhambra. It made me wonder if it used to be a Simon's Drive-in; something about the blade sign. It probably wasn't a Simon's, but I wouldn't be surprised if the building dates from at least the 1930s:
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6281/p1060367x.jpg
Photo by me

The current business serves Cajun food. Cheesy I know but I played with the photo I took, made it black-and-white and tried to make the contrast higher; noir films seemed to always have a high contrast. I didn't do too great of a job...

This is how it really looks:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2002/p1060374.jpg
Photo by me

I also went out tonight and tried to take pictures of the Bendix tower lit up. It didn't come out so well, considering it was late and I didn't wanna stay too long outside of the car, the neighborhood being somewhat sketchy late at night. The building is in the Fashion District, BTW. And the sign looks like it says "Bendi."
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/1363/p1060382.jpg

Here's the Furniture Mart with the Bendix Building, courtesy USC digital archive:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/659...andbendixb.jpg

^^^sopas_ej, that certainly looks like it could be an old Simon's.
Even if it wasn't, it's a fine example of deco.

Thanks for taking the time to photograph it.

Also it's great to see the Bendix sign in RED, despite the missing X.
I like that last pic you posted from the usc archive.
One question, is the Furniture Mart still there?

below: Vermont and 81st Street circa 1940.



http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6...and81ststr.jpg
usc digital archives

Actually, that is most likely an early morning photo (around 5am). Tom Breneman's Restaurant was the home of a morning radio show called Breakfast in Hollywood which aired on the Blue Network (Blue later became ABC) from 1941 to 1948. The show originated daily from Tom Brenneman's restaurant in Hollywood and featured Brenneman walking through the restaurant, chatting up the mostly female, and frequently tourist patrons. The show aired nationally and started at 5am Pacific Time. Those are fans waiting to get in.