noirish Los Angeles

[Tehmeh]

Hayward (CA) Daily Review, July 11, 1971

Keefe Brasselle in Shooting

Actor Keefe Brasselle, left, who played the lead in "The Eddie Cantor Story" during the 1940s, left a Los Angeles police station on bail yesterday after being booked for assault to commit murder. The charges stem from a shooting in a Studio City inn. Witnesses told police that Brasselle, who also is known for "The Keefe Brasselle Show" on TV and the 1949 movie "Not Wanted" with Ida Lupino, allegedly shot Richard B. Crawford, 29, in the chest with a .33 caliber automatic revolver. Crawford was in serious condition at Valley Doctor's Hospital. Brasselle was arrested five hours after the shooting at the apartment of a friend. He listed his current occupation as "novelist."

Newspaper Archive Link
https://https://access.newspaperarchive.com/us/california/hayward/daily-review/1971/07-11/page-7?tag=Keefe+Brasselle&rtserp=tags/?pf=keefe&pl=brasselle&ndt=by&py=1970&pey=1979&ndt=ex&py=1971,1972

[GaylordWilshire]

Variety, July 13, 1971

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by HossC

The photoset also includes this wider view looking down Fremont from 3rd Street.


USC Digital Library

The apartment building at left was moved to 251 S Fremont St from another lot in the same tract, one just around the corner at 927 W Third St. (relo BP issued May 10, 1923). Presumably it disappeared from Fremont around the time that its neighbor, 245, was moved to the 1800 block of W Third in 1948....



A little noir follows from the Times, July 9, 1924:

[Sun Belt]

This is a gem.

I will be spending my free time analyzing these posts and photos.

Keep doing what you're doing. Thanks to all contributors for all of the research you're doing.

[CityBoyDoug]

Nice to meet you Sun Belt and welcome to noir town.

I don't believe we've seen this home on NLA before. Anyone here remember it?

This is a lovely home at 1105 Attica Street, Southern California, 1925. Is this the new home of Mr. Hammond W. Dwight or he's the agent. I bet a few friends
called him Ham.

I don't know what later went on inside but it could have been very much a scandal. You never know what's behind those lace curtains or roller shades and neatly
trimmed bushes. They're so neatly trimmed they aren't even there yet. Anyway it could be guns, blood, bigamy, a stabbing....could be anything in NLA.

I wonder if its still there?



https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4500/37346087700_207b01a57d_o_d.jpg

[Tehmeh]

Keefe Brasselle's hometown newspaper, the Elyria (OH) Chronicle Telegram, ran a series of articles on his life after his passing in 1981. Here's one of the articles, dealing with the CBS debacle...

Elyria (OH) Chronicle Telegram, December 15, 1981

He Reaches for TV's Brass Ring, Fails

Keefe Brasselle went from Elyria to stardom and headlines in Hollywood. He died in July at age 58. California free-lancer Jim Trombetta wrote this story of Brasselle's stormy career for the Los Angeles Times. This is the third of a four-part series excerpted from Trombetta's article.

When Keefe Brasselle began producing three television shows for CBS network in 1964, the productions caused problems before they were aired. Brasselle's new prominence set off a furor of industry gossip.

"Keefe never did too well as an actor and to my knowledge he was never an executive until recently," columnist Sheilah Graham cattily observed. "I must catch up with him and get the secret to his success."

Others had also become interested in that secret -- notably the Federal Communications Commission, which demanded an investigation of Brasselle's friend, CBS network president James T. Aubrey, and his programming policies in the spring of 1964.

The FCC was mainly responding to charges published in Close Up, a weekly industry newsletter that waged a campaign against Aubrey. The paper hinted darkly at kickbacks to Aubrey from production companies. Part of Close Up's ammunition was provided by the contracts which Brasselle's company, Richelieu Productions, had with CBS.

Richelieu received much higher fees for "unbudgeted expenses" from the network than other companies. The Richelieu comedies were allotted $6,000 per episode for such expenses, as opposed to the more usual figure of $2,000.

"The Reporter," one of Brasselle's three productions for CBS, got $5,000 per week in production fees, while unbudgeted expenses were billed directly to the network.

Brasselle denied the kickback stories in a Life magazine article about Aubrey published in September 1965. But Brasselle confirmed that Richelieu had owned and maintained a chauffeured Chrysler for Aubrey's personal use - a fact that didn't appear on the report CBS sent on to the FCC in the late summer of 1964.

More at this link...

Newspaper Archive
https://access.newspaperarchive.com/us/o...=brasselle&pci=7&ndt=by&py=1980&pey=1989

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by Tehmeh

Hayward (CA) Daily Review, July 11, 1971

Keefe Brasselle in Shooting

Actor Keefe Brasselle, left, who played the lead in "The Eddie Cantor Story" during the 1940s, left a Los Angeles police station on bail yesterday after being booked for assault to commit murder. The charges stem from a shooting in a Studio City inn. Witnesses told police that Brasselle, who also is known for "The Keefe Brasselle Show" on TV and the 1949 movie "Not Wanted" with Ida Lupino, allegedly shot Richard B. Crawford, 29, in the chest with a .33 caliber automatic revolver. Crawford was in serious condition at Valley Doctor's Hospital. Brasselle was arrested five hours after the shooting at the apartment of a friend. He listed his current occupation as "novelist."

Newspaper Archive Link
https://https://access.newspaperarchive.com/us/california/hayward/daily-review/1971/07-11/page-7?tag=Keefe+Brasselle&rtserp=tags/?pf=keefe&pl=brasselle&ndt=by&py=1970&pey=1979&ndt=ex&py=1971,1972

If nothing else, use of a ".33 caliber automatic revolver" should earn Brasselle points for originality, since no such bizarre weapon has ever existed.

[Tehmeh]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

If nothing else, use of a ".33 caliber automatic revolver" should earn Brasselle points for originality, since no such bizarre weapon has ever existed.

And to show how obscure Brasselle was by this point, they misidentified him in the photo accompanying the article -- he's actually the person on the right.

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Is there documentation of bodies discovered during excavation for the subway tunnel beneath old Fort Moore Hill Cemetery?


uscdiglib (I couldn't find plan 26002) mentioned in the illus above

The last bodies weren't removed until May 1947.
___




Obviously they missed some. Bones were found during freeway construction.


LAPL

"Arrow points to bones of pioneer California soldier unearthed as Hollywood Freeway excavation cuts into the old Fort Moore Hill Cemetery.
Soldier had been buried in full uniform, including silver spurs. Several caskets have been exposed. Photo dated: April 2, 1951."

& if I remember correctly, bones were also found during construction of Los Angeles High School #9 in 2006!

so just imagine how many bones would have been there when they built the subway tunnels. (hopefully they didn't just cart them off without documentation)


_

Set your mind at ease, e-r. PE's subway tunnel ran pretty deep below the surface through that area, so I doubt that any remains were disturbed. Freeway grading and related excavations were done from the surface, which is why those construction forces encountered graves.

[Flyingwedge]

This Los Angeles Cold Storage Company facility is on the NE corner of Central Avenue and E. 4th Street:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I finally located a vintage photograph of the Los Angeles Ice & Cold Storage Company. -circa 1900



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15799coll65/id/1946/rec/53

Compare the two photos and you can see that the building was doubled in size (to the east) at some point in time.
__


If you look closely you can see the 'two' buildings joined as one.

google earth

__

Just to the north, on the east side of Central Avenue, was the U. S. Post Office Arcade Annex:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

ebay



United States Post Office
Arcade Annex

__

This undated aerial view looks north at both buildings. The cold storage building is just below center on the NE corner
of Central and 4th. On the same block, up Central Avenue a bit, is the Arcade Annex Post Office. Alameda Street is
parallel to and one block east of Central:



00047225 at LAPL


This is a contemporary aerial view looking south. The post office building appears to be gone, but the cold storage
building is at right center (with E 4th St on the roof). In the upper left corner is 400 S. Alameda:



Googlemap


This is "Alameda Street from Arcade Post Office" on June 25, 1926. We're looking south from the rear of the post office.
You can see the corner of the cold storage building at far right. At left center is 400 S. Alameda. The sign on the square
brick structure in the foreground says NO DUMPING:



Islandora/UCLA


Here's a closer view of 400 S. Alameda:




This is a February 2017 GSV look at 400 S. Alameda:




The November 11, 1910, building permit for 400 S. Alameda shows it was designed by R. B. Young & Son:



LADBS


There are other building permits, including:
5/5/43 repair roof
8/21/46 fire damage
3/2/71 and 2/8/88 earthquake damage


This November 2, 1971, Certificate of Occupancy shows 400 S. Alameda lost its top story:



LADBS

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Nice to meet you Sun Belt and welcome to noir town.

I don't believe we've seen this home on NLA before. Anyone here remember it?

This is a lovely home at 1105 Attica Street, Southern California, 1925. Is this the new home of Mr. Hammond W. Dwight or he's the agent. I bet a few friends
called him Ham.

I don't know what later went on inside but it could have been very much a scandal. You never know what's behind those lace curtains or roller shades and neatly
trimmed bushes. They're so neatly trimmed they aren't even there yet. Anyway it could be guns, blood, bigamy, a stabbing....could be anything in NLA.

I wonder if its still there?



https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4500/37346087700_207b01a57d_o_d.jpg

It's still there...1105 Attica in Altadena was renumbered to 1023 at least by 1943...then the street name was changed to Wapello. So, here's 1023 Wapello, née 1105 Attica:





Ferdinand Eberz, a deputy sheriff (and later chemicals consutant) had moved into the house by 1930 or so with his wife Rosa.
They left to spend a few years in Long Beach in the late '30s, apparently renting the house, but were back in Altadena at
1023 Attica by 1943. Their address by 1947 was 1023 Wapello. They were there at least until 1954.


W. Dwight Hammond was an LA auctioneer who took out many display ads in the LAT, many with images of houses. I haven't
yet culled through the 1925 & after ads yet to see if 1105 Attica/1023 Wapello might be in one of them.

[Tourmaline]

Images of So Cal Plating's 1935 Ford Phaeton are interesting on many levels, not the least of which is the rakish Ford and the history of the towed midget racer and Gilmore Stadium, discussed here: http://theoldmotor.com/?p=129197


Of potential NLA interest, J.J. Mill's Shell Station (in the background) was located at 4627 Hollywood Blvd. and operated through the early '40s. Apparently, the pictured structure started out at 1626 W. Vermont Avenue. It was moved in 1924 to the Hollywood Blvd. location by the Richfield Co. and Western Auto Electric Stores (Not to be confused with George Pepperdine's "Western Auto Supply Stores"). The structure and adjoining properties went though different iterations over the decades and demolition permits were issued in 1968.




https://images44.fotki.com/v1644/photos/2/223020/1931856/SoCalPlatingTruck1080x638-vi.jpg


Unk. location, but the colonial facade looks familiar.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uEMl1...AAAAAAU_Q/Ecg0vLpEJB0/w1080-h629/t11.jpg

[GaylordWilshire]

Apparently not the ancestor-worshipping Dames, but rather a beauty supplies concern? A little on the Colonial Dames Co building...still (sort of) at 4652 Hollywood Blvd....




LAT Oct 4, 1931



Feb '09, July '14, and Dec '16 GSVs:

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

If nothing else, use of a ".33 caliber automatic revolver" should earn Brasselle points for originality, since no such bizarre weapon has ever existed.

Could have been a minor typo. The Webley-Fosbury automatic revolver was made in .38 caliber. That was the weapon that Brigid O'Shaughnessy used to shoot Miles Archer in "The Maltese Falcon." According to Wikipedia, the screenwriter erroneously changed the caliber to .45 in the movie from the .38 in the book. The .38 was an eight-shot and the .45 was six. Who can forget Humphrey Bogart's pronunciation of "Webley-Fothbury?"

Cheers,

Earl

[Tourmaline]

Nicely done GW.

I could have been driving aimlessly looking for it and the Muller Bros. station on Sunset.


Sunset and Cahuenga - date unk.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/38/aa/6e/38aa6ec5139dfcb8429221d1727d6bfb.jpg


Downs' Market, San Fernando - Late '70s (Paraquat Kelley?)

Clearly, a typical/average day at the Texaco Station. Presence of what appears to be a light-colored first-generation-Mazda RX7 parked in front of Downs, leads to a conclusion that the date is approximately 1978 or later.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/d0134fd81618e012ca5ec0dea7e9cbff/tumblr_mig1j5ffL81s1f10do1_1280.jpg



Easy to get lost. LA is a great big freeway. Put a hundred down and before you know it you are in San Jose.

http://79hbm1979mg58bnh1fp50y1bry.wpengi...uploads/2015/10/LAPD53_p169-1024x809.jpg


Directions?
https://www.lapd.com/sites/default/files/styles/gallery_image/public/1-106.jpg?itok=23PJ19h-

[Krell58]

Here's a page on the Signal Products Tarzan Club.

www.erbzine.com/mag1/0169.html

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by Krell58

Here's a page on the Signal Products Tarzan Club.

www.erbzine.com/mag1/0169.html

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7061721&postcount=29106


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6484342&postcount=20021

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

Could have been a minor typo. The Webley-Fosbury automatic revolver was made in .38 caliber. That was the weapon that Brigid O'Shaughnessy used to shoot Miles Archer in "The Maltese Falcon." According to Wikipedia, the screenwriter erroneously changed the caliber to .45 in the movie from the .38 in the book. The .38 was an eight-shot and the .45 was six. Who can forget Humphrey Bogart's pronunciation of "Webley-Fothbury?"

Cheers,

Earl

I suspect that the real weapon was a .32 automatic, which was very popular at the time, as opposed to the W-F, which was exceedingly rare. The reporter may have made the common mistake of thinking that any handgun was some sort of "revolver."

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

It's still there...1105 Attica in Altadena was renumbered to 1023 at least by 1943...then the street name was changed to Wapello. So, here's 1023 Wapello, née 1105 Attica:
.

Found!
The little house appears to be in good condition for being almost 100 years old.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

Sunset and Cahuenga - date unk.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/38/aa/6e/38aa6ec5139dfcb8429221d1727d6bfb.jpg
_______________________________________________________________

If I'm not mistaken, it looks like the movie playing at the Cinerama Dome is "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" which was the first movie to open/premiere there on November 7, 1963.