noirish Los Angeles

[GaylordWilshire]

PS More neighborhood noir (from the Herald, Oct 27, 1911)...

[Earl Boebert]

Re: the unfortunate Mr. Fogel: $490 in 1913 is the equivalent of about 12 grand today, so this was no small mugging.

Earl

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

Wonder if this could be at or near the light rail tracks at Santa Clara Ave.? Upper right in second image appears to have a lookout tower of some sort. Note the wire or cable tethered to it.

_________________________

The Metro Gold Line was built on the former Santa Fe right-of-way through Arcadia, so the answer is "yes". The line crosses First Ave. at its intersection with Santa Clara Ave. Hope that helps.

[GaylordWilshire]

AND, as the old neighborhood moves into the modern era...


Soon to rise across the street from the Darby:



urbanize.la



What was there:




243 West Adams Boulevard


In an image we've seen here before, with the Darby at right, the old house is barely seen above the word "PUBLIC" on a commercial addition to the property, made by its owners:

USCDL


The photograph is dated Jan 16, 1928, although the BP for the new Taylor building is dated May 2, 1928.... Hmm

[CityBoyDoug]

L.A. Noire art.....


https://www.walldevil.com/wallpapers/a17...ine-packs-gallery-mafia-mafia2-neues.jpg


https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3a/a7/7e/3aa77...c9--rockstar-games-built-environment.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

As most of you know we have had a mild obsession with 'Monkey Island' over the years.

Yesterday, Hadley Meares at KCET posted an informative article titled

'Monkey Business: The Lost Monkey Islands of Los Angeles'

She mentions some interesting details.

"In the fall of 1938, a new Monkey Island opened at 3300 Cahuenga Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley. William-Ross at LAist believes that a B-movie producer named Louis Weiss, known for films including “Jungle Menace,” was the owner of this newest Monkey Island. This theory is supported by the fact that in November of 1938, Weiss imported 500 Asian monkeys, the “largest single collection of monkeys ever to arrive in America,” through the Long Beach Harbor."

I never knew Weiss imported 500 monkeys through Long Beach Harbor. No wonder he built monkey island. What else was he going to do with 500 monkeys!


"During the Depression, these attractions were a cheap way to entertain the masses. Unlike other animals, monkeys were easy to get and could be taken care of at a relatively low cost. Monkeys, in many respects so like humans, were personified in the media and became local celebrities. Fluff pieces in the Los Angeles Times ran charming stories about Nellie, the Los Angeles Monkey Farms’ simian “school teacher,” who taught baby monkeys new tricks so that they could be rented out for film shoots. When Rowdy, a baby dwarf chimpanzee, turned two, keepers at the Farms dressed selected monkeys in human “gala attire,” and sat them at a long banquet table reminiscent of the Last Supper. At Monkey Island in the Valley, the simians were joined by four goats- Sneezy, Marie, Cecile, and Yvonne. During one particularly hot September day in 1939, it was reported."

Sneezy, Marie, Cecile and Yvonne are news to me.




This paragraph is a bit sad.

"Life wasn’t easy on depression-era monkey islands. Eager for little rivalries, brawls, and comic belly flops into moats, zoos crammed far too many monkeys onto their islands. Animals fought. Some died. Others drowned…To visitors, especially kids, fights over dominance on the crowded monkey islands seemed like games of “capture the castle.” In the midst of the Great Depression, zoos presented heartwarming stories that turned monkeys into miniature children-only funnier, cuter, and with fur and tails. Of course, for the monkeys, squabbles were hardly cute." Daniel Bender



Ms. Meares ends with this:

"The phenomenon of monkey islands would not last long. By the mid-1940s they were no longer the rage. It is unknown when exactly the Los Angeles Monkey Farms and the Cahuenga Monkey Island closed. Also unknown is what became of the hundreds of animals in their care. There was at least one other Monkey Island in the area: F. Dewey Lockman’s Monkey Island in La Habra, which opened in the late 1940s. Today, not a trace is left of these bizarre attractions in L.A. – no more monkey business."

This is the first time I've heard of the monkey island out in La Habra.

All I was able to find out is that it was located on the northeast corner of Imperial Highway and Idaho Street.


google_earth
__

[ethereal_reality]

Here's a rare glimpse at the interior of the Mullen & Bluett store in 1897.






The Mullen & Bluett ad is from The Land of Sunset magazine, October 1897.


ebay

__

[MartinTurnbull]

I was recently sent this amazing photo of the view from the stage of the Earl Carroll theater.

Usually we see photo of the stage from the audience, but this gives us a sense of how big the house was. HUGE!

I wouldn't want to be one of the suckers stuck up the back!



Below is a link to a much larger version. Click on the photo for a super-large view. The clarity of the individual faces is impressive.

https://martinturnbull.com/wp-content/up...r-Sunset-Blvd-Los-Angeles-1947-4.2MB.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

That's such an amazing photograph Martin! Thanks for posting it here on NLA.

_

[ethereal_reality]

Flyingwedge's recent post on Not Wanted [1949]



piqued my curiosity in Ida Lupino's protege Sally Forrest.



Here she is relaxing in her library.


inkabinka



Ms. Forrest was in another film noir, Fritz Lang's 'While The City Sleeps' [1956] (Ida Lupino has a part in the film too)


imdb


It concerns a lipstick murderer played by a rather handsome John Barrymore JR. (that's him below)


dark lane creative



Sally in her babydoll jam-jams.


The story takes place in New York City (mostly fake looking sets),

opening shot




But the climatic subway chase at the end was filmed in the Los Angeles subway. (while watching I caught one mistake and have one question)

The first shot of the subway (lipstick murderer at the bottom of the ramp)





here comes Dana Andrews in hot pursuit.


the murderer misses the train & runs into the tunnel.



here's Dana again, still in hot pursuit.




A train is coming!





As it whizzes by you see the conductor at the back of the train (note the number 5153)





the two men briefly wrestle on the ground - almost immediately another train is coming.





the second train coming





as it approaches, the murderer throws Dan Andrews in front of the train, narrowly missing him.


let's take a moment and look at the number on this second train. Yep...it's 5153, the same number as the train that just went by moments earlier.

[this is the mistake]




next the murderer catches his breath. note the exit sign





he runs towards the exit and enters.




inside he climbs metal spiral stairs




at the top he lifts a manhole (prob. fake. he lifts it with ease) and exits. --the next scene is the studio set.



I know the subway tunnels are still intact, but what about this exit with the cool spiral stairs?

Do you think the stairs are still there but closed off?

From topside, it would be interesting to figure out which manhole cover leads down into the subway (via the spiral stairs)

Let's explore people!
__



You can watch the entire film on VIMEO.



The subway scene starts around 1:22:06

__

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Ms. Forrest was in another film noir, Fritz Lang's 'While The City Sleeps' [1956] (Ida Lupino has a part in the film too)


imdb

After having gotten vastly sidetracked after seeing a mislabeled image that turned out to be spaghetti-western
actor Terence Hill/aka Mario Girotti...Venice's (Italy) answer to Alain Delon...I found what I was looking for.
Not to be overlooked in the cast of While the City Sleeps is James Craig. Thought we'd seen him on NLA
before...but couldn't dredge anything up. Craig had a good long career. Remember I first noticed him in
The Human Comedy with Mickey Rooney....


imdb

Said to be a successor to Gable, he could definitely wear a 'stache well

[BDiH]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

That's such an amazing photograph Martin! Thanks for posting it here on NLA.

_

I sat in the audience of Queen for a Day in the late 1950s, when the theater was Frank Sennes Moulin Rouge. It was a huge venue, all done in red with small cocktail tables for guests. Jack Bailey was great, a real showman: "How would you like to be Queen for a Day?"

I used to see Jack Bailey, Willard Waterman (Gildersleeve), a young Bob Barker, Dick Whittington and all the great disc jockeys from KFWB around Sunset and Vine. After all, once upon a time, that area was known around the world as Radio City.

And down Vine Street, next to the Greyhound bus depot, was the Grape-Vine, the gathering place for the upcoming television writers, but that's another story...

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by BDiH

And down Vine Street, next to the Greyhound bus depot, was the Grape-Vine, the gathering place for the upcoming television writers, but that's another story...

Do tell!

I knew I posted a pic of that and had trouble finding it because everyone wrote Grape-Vine and who remembers to search with a hyphen? (I changed my post.)

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

E_R, I didn't see any follow up posts to your Grape Vine Cocktail Lounge inquiry, and I haven't found any
information to add about it, but I did find this photo, dated 1979, showing this place:

Bruce Torrence

E_R enlarged it here;
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=7328462&postcount=33528

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Flyingwedge's recent post on Not Wanted [1949]



piqued my curiosity in Ida Lupino's protege Sally Forrest.
_______________________________________________________________

Keefe Brasselle again, heh!

As a SIDEBAR: I was watching an episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In very recently and in one of Dan & Dick's monologues Dick Martin made a very inside joke to Dan Rowan while he was talking about attending the Keefe Brasselle School of Flying which turned out bad pilots.

I was curious. I did not know who that person was so I decided to look him up later on and read the Wikipedia entry. I doubt most anyone hearing that name on Laugh-In, even back then, would know who that was, but if you read the Wiki entry you'll know that's who Dick was referring to and it turns out his joke was quite amusing.

[CityBoyDoug]

1974 era...Martin Pal

I have the dubious distinction of actually being inside the Grape-Vine Room. I walked in the backdoor and out the front. Very dingy and dark. I have no memory why I entered the place....probably
larking about the town.
Its next door to the bus station in Hollywood, so it had a degree of notoriety for whatever dark reason.


hollywoodphotographs.com/photos/lrg/VINE

BDiH

Inside the bus station or the airport?...The Killing 1956


https://i.pinimg.com/736x/46/4d/68/464d6...a69--sterling-hayden-stanley-kubrick.jpg

[BDiH]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

1974 era...Martin Pal

I have the dubious distinction of actually being inside the Grape-Vine Room. I walked in the backdoor and out the front. Very dingy and dark. I have no memory why I entered the place....probably
larking about the town.
Its next door to the bus station in Hollywood, so it had a degree of notoriety for whatever dark reason.


hollywoodphotographs.com/photos/lrg/VINE

You can catch a long glimpse of the Greyhound bus depot in the 1956 noir classic, The Killing, written by Jim Thompson and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It stars Sterling Hayden, Coleen Davis, Vince Edwards and Marie Windsor, with an outstanding performance by Timothy "God" Carey.

I visited that depot lobby, with a corner entrance to the Grape-Vine many times. The buses would come down Vine Street, turn right at DeLongpre Avenue, turn right again into the bus area behind the depot and drive up to the boarding space, facing Vine. Lots of would-be starlets and other hopefuls trudged through that waiting room. Good memories.

[jg6544]

[QUOTE=GaylordWilshire;7944960]AND, as the old neighborhood moves into the modern era...


Soon to rise across the street from the Darby:



urbanize.la

Just butt-ugly.

[BDiH]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

1974 era...Martin Pal

I have the dubious distinction of actually being inside the Grape-Vine Room. I walked in the backdoor and out the front. Very dingy and dark. I have no memory why I entered the place....probably
larking about the town.
Its next door to the bus station in Hollywood, so it had a degree of notoriety for whatever dark reason.


hollywoodphotographs.com/photos/lrg/VINE

BDiH

Inside the bus station...The Killing 1956


https://i.pinimg.com/736x/46/4d/68/464d6...a69--sterling-hayden-stanley-kubrick.jpg

I think that is the L. A. International Airport. No?

[Tehmeh]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Keefe Brasselle again, heh!

As a SIDEBAR: I was watching an episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In very recently and in one of Dan & Dick's monologues Dick Martin made a very inside joke to Dan Rowan while he was talking about attending the Keefe Brasselle School of Flying which turned out bad pilots.

I was curious. I did not know who that person was so I decided to look him up later on and read the Wikipedia entry. I doubt most anyone hearing that name on Laugh-In, even back then, would know who that was, but if you read the Wiki entry you'll know that's who Dick was referring to and it turns out his joke was quite amusing.

Keefe Brasselle, whew.
He wrangled the leading role in the biopic "The Eddie Cantor Story," despite his being a good head taller than Cantor. Brasselle made a guest appearance on "The Colgate Comedy Hour" in 1953 to promote the film, and gave an overwrought singing performance and one of the worst Jimmy Stewart impressions you'll ever see.

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q8L0sSVYcg

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Keefe Brasselle, heh!
I was watching an episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In very recently and in one of Dan & Dick's monologues
Dick Martin made a very inside joke to Dan Rowan while he was talking about attending the Keefe Brasselle School of Flying
which turned out bad pilots.

I checked out the wiki page Martin, and thought the flying school joke was about bad 'television' pilots,
when actually it was about Brasselle selling three shows to CBS without having to make pilots.

(wouldn't the joke have been funnier if Brasselle had actually produced three bad pilots) or am I still not getting the joke?

_

It was quite a scandal back in the day:

"Brasselle had a close friendship with CBS executive James Aubrey. Brasselle started his own production company
and Aubrey granted Brasselle's company three television series without any previous script, pitch or pilots.
The insider-chicanery resulted in a lawsuit against Aubrey and Brasselle launched by CBS shareholders.
There were rumors that Aubrey had no choice in the matter due to threats from the Mafia, with which Brasselle
was known to be connected.
wiki

Brasselle produced three new series -- all of them bombs -- without ever making pilot episodes.
The shows were The Baileys of Balboa, The Cara Williams Show and The Reporter
WP
_