noirish Los Angeles

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Here's the permit for Simon's Drive-In (?):



ladbs



There was a real estate office on the site previously. It was moved around the corner to 547 S Fairfax and is now gone.

Johnie's went up in 1956 as Ram's Restaurant (per the permit) or maybe it was just owned by Ram Restaurant.

"Johnie's opened in 1956 as Romeo's Times Square. Romeo's was in business a few years, becoming Ram's in the early 1960s, and Johnie's shortly thereafter"
-per wiki

...here's the link from wiki re the quoted LAT article: http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul...surroundings15


PS


franklin ave (detail) <--- more pix at the link


__

Has anyone seen the 1988 film "Miracle Mile" mentioned in the L.A. Times article? It was filmed at various locations in the area. I recall in one scene filmed inside Johnie's a customer can be overheard reciting the history of the restaurant, noting that it was originally called Romeo's Times Square. Anyone familiar with this area will surely recognize many of the locations.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I could use some help in deciphering the messy fountain pen writing on this snapshot.


eBay

The X is the Gunby Apt where I live now and(?) you know me on the _ _ _ _ _ _

It is five story high



detail from above



This one's a bear e_r. I'll look at it again tomorrow.


____

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I could use some help in deciphering the messy fountain pen writing on this snapshot.

The X on the second story (left) window could possibly mark the apartment of one, or both, of the women.


eBay

described on eBay as:

"1920s Photo California Long Beach Apartment Building Mrs. Satrang Automobile"

I am pretty sure the shield/cartouche on the entrance marquee has a G in the middle of it (below)


detail

325 W. 3rd St., Long Beach:

GSV March 2015


1936 Long Beach City Directory @ Ancestry.com

Today, 315 W. 3rd St. is the large building to the east, part of which is visible in the GSV photo above.
Maybe the building was renumbered, or maybe the Gunby's owned both properties.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

325 W. 3rd St., Long Beach:

GSV March 2015


1936 Long Beach City Directory @ Ancestry.com

Today, 315 W. 3rd St. is the large building to the east, part of which is visible in the GSV photo above.
Maybe the building was renumbered, or maybe the Gunby's owned both properties.

This building looked familiar to me but I did not remember the street....I've been inside it one time [approx. 1990]. I knew someone who lived in one of the condos.
Thanks FW for finding the location!

[tovangar2]

Feb 2, 1956:




ladbs

1959:

miracle mile la/la conservancy

[ethereal_reality]

I've never heard of Romeo's Times Square or Ram's t2. -Good research.

And thanks for deciphering the word Gunby on that old sepia photograph, which assisted Flyingwedge in finding the location.

-did ya'll notice the little cartouche with the G in the center is missing---
I wonder if it fell off and conked someone on the head?

[ethereal_reality]

I don't believe we've seen this postcard on NLA


eBay

"Victory Memorial Viaduct," Entrance to Glendale, Calif.

The topography is quite interesting. -especially that brown sheer cliff on the left, with the small house below/beside it.
_

*I am not completely sure which viaduct is considered the "Victory Memorial." -I'll have to do me some googlin'.

[ethereal_reality]

Metro's West Coast Studios, Hollywood Califormia. Mr. Joseph W. Engel, General Manager. circa.1920


from "Who's Who in Hollywood" copyright 1920

To be honest, I don't know what streets we're looking at here. (or which direction we're looking)

If that empty area is the studio backlot, their carpenters need to get busy



below: I believe this must be the front entrance. -note the "globe" & flagpole.


detail


I think the two similar buildings to the left of Mr.Engel might be "twin" school buildings. (if you look closely there is a small turret on the one nearest the street)


detail

Speaking of street, what street would this be? (I also like that two story residence/duplex across the street)



one last detail.

detail

Do you think this is part of the studio as well?

_

[HossC]

This is Providence High School at 511 S Buena Vista Street in Burbank. Julius Shulman visited in 1956, soon after it opened. It's "Job 2274: Verge and Clatworthy, Providence High School (Los Angeles, Calif.),1956". The complete set contains over 20 photos, so I've picked out nine to give a representative impression.



This side would have originally faced Riverside Drive, but the road seen here soon became an on-ramp for the Ventura Freeway, with Riverside taking a slight detour to the south.



Here's a better look at the auditorium.



The back of the classrooms and auditorium.



Now a look at the side of the auditorium which faced the other buildings. The sunken garden was behind the stairs in the second picture above.



After all the external shots, here's the inside of the auditorium. The triple doors at the back of the wall on the left at the same as the ones in the picture above.



The book shelves are only just visible on the right, but I'm pretty sure that this is the library.



A music lesson.



I assume this last picture shows a home economics room. I tried to read the recipe on the board at back, but even at full resolution I couldn't make it out.



All from Getty Research Institute

From Wikipedia:

On September 19, 1955, Providence High School officially opened its doors to 81 female students. A recent cement strike had resulted in a shortage of building materials, and construction on the school was not completed in time for the students' arrival. Under the guidance of the school’s first principal, Sr. Mary Gleason, SP (Maria Theresa), the first classes were taught in donated circus tents in the parking lot. On November 2, 1955, classes were able to move into the first floor of what is now known as the "A" building, but only three rooms were accessible to students at that time. By the end of the year, students and faculty alike had settled into a comfort-able routine, the first uniforms were chosen, and construction was completed. In the spring, 135 prospective freshmen took the entrance exam.

...

In May 1973, school officials began to discuss with the Archdiocese the possibility of making the school coeducational. It was decided in January 1974 that the school should indeed include boys in its educational mission. In order to accommodate the increased student body this decision would create, the school undertook several large construction projects.

The original buildings are all still standing, and the school's name is still on the end wall, although it's hidden by a tree in this view. I was glad to see the open staircase still intact, but the buildings are now surrounded by fences.


GSV

Looking from above, it appears that a single story extension has been added at the front of the auditorium (the red brick building in the center). The curved sunken garden has also been filled with another building, and new structures have been added at the rear. I wonder if the area behind the original buildings that's covered with colored fabric is a homage to the circus tents .


Google Maps

[tovangar2]

I've been kinda lax about the noir, so I hope the Heideman case hasn't come up before. I did search.

In 1955 Leonard Heideman, 27, an up-and-coming television writer ("Lassie", "Have Gun - Will Travel", "Bonanza", etc), married school teacher Dolores ("Dorrit") Hearn, 24.

Dorrit looks a little apprehensive, as well she might:

classic tv history(detail)

By 1963, the Heideman's were leading a comfortable life with their two boys, Richard (born 1957) and Kenneth, a year younger. Their $50,000 home in Tarzana was the picture of American-Dream normalcy. However, Leonard suffered from mental problems. He sought, and received, treatment from three different doctors. Dorrit was patient and kind, nursing her husband through the bad days and worse nights.

In early February Leonard was bitten on the face by the expensive dog, a Basenji, he'd bought for his sons.

Then, during the early morning hours of February 23, 1963, Leonard was awoken by bad dreams (a symptom of his mental illness). Dorrit tried to help but an argument ensued. As Leonard turned violent (not for the first time) Dorrit tried to escape the house, but Leonard pulled her back in and stabbed her through the heart with a pair of kitchen shears. He also stabbed her with a butcher knife (until it broke), a steak knife (until it bent) and a kitchen chopper. Dorrit's heart was pierced seven times. There were many other wounds.

Dorrit's screams had awoken her sons. The older one ran outside after surveying the scene (the four-year old cowered in his room). The neighbors called the police in response to the commotion.

The blood-covered, naked husband was taken into custody. Because he told officers he'd ingested some pills, he was taken to have his stomach pumped before being booked.

“I lost my head,” Heideman told his interrogators. “I went out of my mind. If only I could turn back the clock."

Dorrit's body, the shears still protruding from her chest, is removed from the home. The family Basenji looks on:

lapl

The home (including the front walkway), has not changed. 5060 Shirley Ave, Tarzana:

gsv

The boys are taken away. They were adopted by their maternal grandparents and raised in the east:

lapl

Leonard in the clink:

lapl

Leonard was judged to be unfit to stand trial, by reason of insanity, and sent to Atascadero State Hospital for the criminally insane.

Fourteen months later he was pronounced cured and released by the court.

Heideman went back to his career without noticeable difficulty ("Mission: Impossible", "Dynasty", "Murder, She Wrote", etc).

He wrote a book about his case, "By Reason of Insanity". It was published in 1966.

By 1967 he'd changed his name to Laurence Heath for his writing credits (he soon after changed it legally).


"How does a man kill his wife, avoid criminal punishment, and go on to become the primary creative force behind some of the most popular entertainment on television? In some fields, Laurence Heath’s backstory would make a person unemployable. In Hollywood, it was just another good story."
-classic tv history


Also in 1967, Heideman/Heath married again. His bride was 24, he was 39. They had two children, making their home at 151 Tigertail Road, before divorcing in 1974. His ex didn't want custody of his children.

151 Tigertail Rd, also a former home of Marlon Brando and Anna Kashfi:

gsv

Showing a fellow dubious character around the "Mission: Impossible" sets at Paramount, 1971:

classic tv history

Heath married his pregnant mistress in 1975. He was 47, she was 24 (I'm detecting a pattern here).

After a 1991 mental breakdown and hospitalization, Heath's third marriage ended.

In 1992 he saw his sons from his first marriage for the first time since their mother's murder.


Anyway, this was the very short version of the case of Leonard Heideman/Laurence Heath. A very well-written and gripping account may be found on the Classic TV History website , including many more details and the somewhat surprising denouement of Heath's life.


Leonard Heideman/Laurence Heath IMDB page

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I don't believe we've seen this postcard on NLA


eBay

"Victory Memorial Viaduct," Entrance to Glendale, Calif.

The topography is quite interesting. -especially that brown sheer cliff on the left, with the small house below/beside it.
_

*I am not completely sure which viaduct is considered the "Victory Memorial." -I'll have to do me some googlin'.

We've visited this area before, but under the name "Glendale Hyperion Viaduct" (or similar):

Originally Posted by HossC

Glendale-Hyperion viaduct, looking northeast on Hyperion Avenue from bridge at Waverly Drive. Lange and Bergstrom construction equipment. The Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct and bridge completed in 1928 is 56 ft-wide, 1,340 feet long and features a series of thirteen concrete arches. Designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1976, the bridge was designed by Merrill Butler who was the city’s chief bridge engineer during the 1920s and was responsible for construction of most of the city’s historic bridges still standing. (09/14/1928)


Los Angeles City Historical Society

From the Big Orange Landmarks article, here's an up-to-date view from the Waverly Avenue bridge.


Floyd B. Bariscale, on Flickr

There are several other posts on the subject, including:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=9455

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=14224

And more recently:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=28330

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=28331

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Metro's West Coast Studios, Hollywood Califormia. Mr. Joseph W. Engel, General Manager. circa.1920


from "Who's Who in Hollywood" copyright 1920

To be honest, I don't know what streets we're looking at here. (or which direction we're looking)
_

This studio covered four blocks (and a bit), not all the same size. The eastern boundary was Lillian Way from Eleanor south to Waring.
The western boundary was Cahuenga, again from Eleanor south to Waring EXCEPT between Romaine and Willoughby,
where it bumped out to Cole on the west, making a double-wide block there. Also, the top of the block bound by Willoughby/Waring, Cole/Cahuenga was used.

Red Studios "History" web page is here

Metro Studios Wiki page is here

Metro Studios, Eleanor (foreground) at Lillian Way (left)

water and power

This block was later abandoned as the studio retreated down to a single block.
(Notice the school in the background)

Same bungalow. 1931, the year it was demolished. Notice the change in the stage behind the bungalow.
It went from rag-top to hard-top:

hollywoodphotographs


This is the grand Administration Building from your photo:

hollywoodphotographs

Notice the Metro sign, painted on the fence, at Romaine and Cahuenga, to the left (the fence is in your photo too). This will later be the site of a second, architecturally matching, administration building
(see third from last photo below and also the shot immediately below)

Romaine looking east (mid-block, between Cole and Cahuenga) with the 2nd Admin Building in place:

hollywoodphotographs

Red Studios today:

gsv

In this aerial Metro is shown to cover 4+ blocks , two with sound stages and two backlots:

hollywoodphotographs


The two neo-Georgian-style administration buildings face on Romaine between Lillian Way and Cole,
with Cahuenga running between them n/s. The second, southern backlot (Lot #3) runs between Cahuenga
and Lillian Way, with Willoughby on the north and Waring on the south (I don't know if Waring has actually
been graded through yet, hard to tell, the image is too small). It's on the same general site as the current
Red Studio.
The Melrose/Gower corner of RKO is in the upper, left corner.
The Vine Street School has been rebuilt.

So, I think your photo is looking slightly NE. Romaine runs diagonally through the left half of the photo
(lower left to near-upper right), continuing into the right side of the photo.
Willoughby runs diagonally across the lower , right corner of the right side of your photo.

The horizontal (north/south) streets, from the top, are El Centro, Vine, Lillian Way, Cahuenga and Cole.

The Eleanor/Romaine/Cahuenga/Lillian Way block (with the famous "Metro Studios"-signed bungalow, later abandoned)
appears in the left side of your photo (since you asked).
The big sound stage on that block still only has a muslin roof in your photo. It will later get a "barn" roof.

The double-wide block (Romaine/Willoughby/Lillian Way/Cole) bridges both halves of your photo.

The Vine Street School (built as the Colegrove School) is to the lower left of Engel's cameo.

The second, southern, backlot, now Red Studios, does not appear in your photo, except for a tiny corner on the right margin.

(maybe, if you agree, you'll mark up a copy of the photo for me.
I don't know how to do that)

The studio carpenters did "get busy" e_r. A view of the standing sets on the backlot, over the roof of the rebuilt Vine Street School, 1928:

uscdl (detail)


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

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

And thanks for deciphering the word Gunby on that old sepia photograph, which of course, led to Flyingwedge finding the location.

I would in no way assume that. FW has powers

__

[CityBoyDoug]

Taken somewhere over Los Angeles in 1945. That's all I know about this picture.


CD file

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

I've been kinda lax about the noir, so I hope the Heideman case hasn't come up before. I did search.

In 1955 Leonard Heideman, 27, an up-and-coming television writer ("Lassie", "Have Gun - Will Travel", "Bonanza", etc), married school teacher Dolores ("Dorrit") Hearn, 24.

I read part of the backstory....most interesting TV2.

The scenario: Man takes doctor prescribed psychotropic pills - has hyper reaction to the meds - argues with wife over sexual issues - kills her - pleads insanity - goes to mental hospital for 14 months - gets released.

Bottom line...he gets away with murder.

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

I read part of the backstory....most interesting TV2.

The scenario: Man takes doctor prescribed psychotropic pills - has hyper reaction to the meds - argues with wife over sexual issues - kills her - pleads insanity - goes to mental hospital for 14 months - gets released.

Bottom line...he gets away with murder.

To quote my Missouri farmer father:

"Jesus Christ and General Jackson"! the 1940's equivalent of WTF?!?

[ethereal_reality]

re: Metro Studios, Hollywood.

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Maybe, if you agree, you'll mark up a copy of the photo for me.
I don't know how to do that.

I don't know how to do that either t2, bu it would certainly help. My head is spinning.

Here is the 1920 photograph again, if anyone wants to place the names of the streets on it. (if not, I understand)


"Who's Who in Hollywood" copyright 1920

It's so difficult keeping the early film studios straight with all the mergers, buy-outs, consolidations and relocations.
_______

Oh I almost forgot, it's so cool you found the school in the background of this photograph t2!



I thought the front of the school was facing the other street.



Thanks for your excellent research tovanger2.

__

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

re: Metro Studios, Hollywood.
I don't know how to do that either t2, but it would certainly help. My head is spinning.
__

OK, again, the streets north to south (left to right) are:
Santa Monica
Eleanor
Romaine
Willoughby

The streets from east to west (top to bottom) are:
El Centro
Vine
Lillian Way
Cahuenga
Cole

Landmarks:

The bungalow building (with the "Metro Studios" sign) is at Lillian Way and Eleanor (SW corner).

The fancy Administration Building is on Romaine between Cahuenga and Cole (facing north).

The Vine Street school faces east on Vine Street between Romaine and Willoughby (it was built as the "Colegrove School").

The SE corner of Cahuenga and Willoughby (right margin), once the second backlot block, is the only bit of the current Red Studios block that appears in your photo.
(The Boys and Girls Club actually has the corner building)

The camera is looking NE

I didn't mean to make your head spin.

Does a map help? It's been rotated to match you photo:

google maps


"Who's Who on the Screen" copyright 1920 Hathitrust, previously posted by e_r

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I thought the front was facing the other street.
__

I don't understand what you mean (?)

[sadykadie2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I don't believe we've seen this postcard on NLA


eBay

"Victory Memorial Viaduct," Entrance to Glendale, Calif.

The topography is quite interesting. -especially that brown sheer cliff on the left, with the small house below/beside it.
_

*I am not completely sure which viaduct is considered the "Victory Memorial." -I'll have to do me some googlin'.

My husband works in Glendale and this is Hyperion Avenue. Some people call it the Hyperion Bridge

[HossC]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

(maybe, if you agree, you'll mark up a copy of the photo for me.
I don't know how to do that)

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here is the 1920 photograph again, if anyone wants to place the names of the streets on it. (if not, I understand)

Here you go. I've cut out the margins and added the street names - I can add the landmarks if it would be useful.

[HossC]

Following on from yesterday's Providence High School post, I have another school for you. I've decided to make this Julius Shulman post a two-parter. It spans two photosets and two years, and I thought it might be an image overload if I posted all the pictures at once. The first part concerns the construction of Palisades High School. A note in the information says it was "Also known as Temescal Canyon High School." This is "Job 3133: Adrian Wilson and Associates, Palisades High School (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1961".









All from Getty Research Institute

Hopefully, I'll post part 2 tomorrow .