These captures are from "Abandoned", a 1949 release starring Dennis O'Keefe, Gayle Storm, Jeff Chandler and Raymond Burr....the story is a tawdry affair of baby brokerage and murder, but it does feature several downtown locations....the film is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plPz...nnel=MovieLand
....early on O'Keefe and Storm are walking west in the 200 block of E. 5th St.....
....the awning of the Lorane Hotel at 241 E. 5th is visible....
....that's the left leg of O'Keefe as the couple enters an open-to-the-street pool room/shoeshine parlor....
.....we are looking south down Maple Ave......
I'm fairly certain the pool room was in the space with the blue and white sign, and the Plantation Cafe in the storefront adjacent on the right....the Lorane Hotel is now the "Lorraine".
I believe this stretch of E. 5th would have been considered within the confines of Skid Row in 1949, the Lorane was likely a $2/night flop....the area had no doubt gone to seed but appears in these images somewhat tolerable...
....now, it's descended into a dystopian nightmare, a scene of utter urban desolation.