noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

eBay

reverse



below: Another well dressed trio at Swing Club.


http://laheyday.blogspot.com/2009/02...as-palmas.html

Interesting history of Swing Club here:
http://laheyday.blogspot.com/2009/02...as-palmas.html

To see what the Swing Club location looks like today go here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=25353

__

[JScott]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

So if you ever have trouble putting an exact date to a photo of Second and Fort, check the
top of the First Presbyterian Church's steeple!

Great post! Highly amusing reporting there. Loved discovering this wonderful panorama of c.1890 Downtown, too. Particularly nice rear view of the probably very recently-completed 4-storey Millar Block on Fort.


"Panoramic view looking southeast from First Street and Hill Street toward Broadway, ca.1882-1895" (detail: cropped, rotated), C.C. Pierce & Co., USC Digital Library.

Where do you think might have been the vantage point? The Highland Villa, perhaps?

[ethereal_reality]

https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr91holl


Character actor Eddie Borden.



https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr91holl





In bold print! (at the Hillstreet Theater)



https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr91holl







https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr91holl

....why is he is NAKED!?

For a list of Eddie Borden's cinematic roles. (from "Foppish Nobleman" to "Berserk Victim" to "Guest Eating Sandwich") go here:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/eddie_borden/


__

[BDiH]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

eBay







I had no idea there was a sunken garden behind the fence (below). I wonder if the wishing well, the bubbly brook and footbridge are still in place?


gsv



__

I remember the lily ponds well. The wall that runs along the sidewalk is a new edition (circa 1970's). Many of the old apartments and hotels in Hollywood had exposed gardens that could be viewed by passersby. As a newspaper boy for the Citizen News and the Evening Herald, I had access to all the hotels and apartments. It is only in recent years that walls, hedges, fences and security gates have made it impossible to go inside these old building or walk in the exterior gardens. All the beautiful buildings on Whitley, Grace, Franklin, etc could be entered simply by opening the front door.

I took a walking tour last week through these neighborhoods from midnight until 4 a.m. with a friend. If we were lucky, we could peer through bushes or over walls to see what was once visible from the sidewalk. It was also good to see sections of the remaining concrete streets, such as Cherokee, with contractor's imprints that go back to the 1920's. Some of the sidewalks just off Hollywood Boulevard still have the same design that the Boulevard had before the Walk of Fame replaced the old sidewalks. Lot's of hidden treasures can be found on midnight strolls.

[ethereal_reality]

Two 1950s slides, Catalina Island ballroom.


eBay



eBay

__

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

https://archive.org/details/hollywoodfilmogr91holl

....why is he is NAKED!?

For a list of Eddie Borden's cinematic roles. (from "Foppish Nobleman" to "Berserk Victim" to "Guest Eating Sandwich") go here:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/eddie_borden/


__

Why naked? My guess is that photo was used to attract patrons...a gimmick. Don't you love the clown shoes he's wearing!!! Nice touch.

If you want to know more about Eddie, go here:
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_529_Eddie-Borden

I would say that he was a bit part actor with much experience in many movies but most of his work in film is uncredited.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by JScott

Great post! Highly amusing reporting there. Loved discovering this wonderful panorama of c.1890 Downtown, too. Particularly nice rear view of the probably very recently-completed 4-storey Millar Block on Fort.


"Panoramic view looking southeast from First Street and Hill Street toward Broadway, ca.1882-1895" (detail: cropped, rotated), C.C. Pierce & Co., USC Digital Library.

Where do you think might have been the vantage point? The Highland Villa, perhaps?

Hey thanks JS. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the photo was taken from just above and behind 1 S. Hill Street, which
later became 104 S. Olive Street (And, yes, I do have a soft spot for the Millar Block).

At the right edge of the photo above, we see the corner of the porch of 1 S. Hill Street, which we see a little more of here.
The landscaping in front of the house in this photo matches what's in the next photo:

CHS-2842 @ USCDL -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...coll65/id/3464

Here we are looking back at 1 S. Hill St., which is at the left. The hillside just behind/north of the house is where the above
two photos must have been taken. To the right of the house is the three-story Highland Villa, with First Street running
between it and the house. Above and between 1 S. Hill St. and the Highland Villa is the home of Mrs. Shepherd, subject of my
post on the First Street cut (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...tcount=26829):

CHS-6717 @ USCDL -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...oll65/id/17808

Now we're looking SW at 1 S. Hill Street, just above the roof of the Highland Villa. This is a little better view of the hill just
behind the house where the first two photos were taken:

USCDL -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...coll65/id/1740

In August 1893, due to work on the 1st Street cut, that home was moved west and turned around to become 104 S. Olive.
Here it is in a c. 1953 shot I recently came across, with the Gladden next door to the left:

LAPL -- http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091573.jpg

[JScott]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Hey thanks JS. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the photo was taken from just above and behind 1 S. Hill Street, which later became 104 S. Olive Street.

That's gotta be it!

[unihikid]

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

Not to be missed: "The Wrecking Crew," the brilliant documentary about the brilliant studio musicians working in Los Angeles in the 60's and 70's. Now streaming on Netflix. Some terrific street scenes from the era, and the soundtrack ... wonderful.

Cheers,

Earl

This is really a great doc! It took them years to get this off the ground,most of the musicians who are interviewed have passed on. So please please check it out!
This is the "Wrecking Crew" (see the little kid annoying drummer Hal Blaine)

photo spectorpop

This was taken at the same studio as the above but a few years later, My dad is rehearsing with the Johnny Otis Band for an oldies but goodies tour (this was around 1972, back in the late 50s dad was lead singer of The Robins and Johnny produced some of the later stuff for them)


photo me


photo me

Sorry if i have shared these before.
Charlie

[tovangar2]

Thank you! Fantastic post.

And thank you Earl for "The Wrecking Crew".

From an impaled Gabriel to the Miller Block to Chateau des Fleurs and so much more, this has been a great week on the thread :-)

(Bio and discography of the Robins is here)

[Slauson Slim]

The Wrecking Crew is a great doc, an incredible take on LA culture and music industry history. The breadth and depth of sessions the LA musicians played on is amazing. Pop, surf, movies, Rn'B, Motown, country, big band, etc. Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell is a perfect example of the beauty, sensitivity, and quality these folks could put out on a daily basis.

Unihikid, cool that your father was in the Robins. Great Rn'B and Doo-Wop came out of LA.

And Johnny Otis - producer, performer, singer, club owner, band leader, pianist, drummer, vibes player, raconteur, television show host, radio DJ...one of my heroes. The hippest Greek ever. He had an unbroken stream of Rn'B hits in the early '50s. Unique use of vibes, his trademark, as texture on records. I watched his LA television show - and remember The Mixtures, a mixed race band. My parents went to Otis's Club Alabam and Barrelhouse - in the good times after WWII and before I was born....

[HossC]

Continuing Julius Shulman's 1952 tour of Bank of America branches, here's one near Roscoe Boulevard on Van Nuys Boulevard. This is "Job 1385: Bank of America (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1952".



Looking north on Van Nuys Boulevard from just south of Roscoe Boulevard. Under the palm trees is Panorama Real Estate.



On the left, it looks like there's a funfair in the distance.



The third picture is looking south. The flags/banners across the street are advertising the grand opening of Kay's Children's Store at 8434 Van Nuys Boulevard.



All from Getty Research Institute

When I first parked the Googlemobile on Van Nuys Boulevard, I didn't think there was much left from the scenes above. Then I spotted a Bank of America sign and went to investigate. It's lost its pylon over the years, but looks virtually unchanged apart from that.


GSV

The Paramount Market building is a now part of a parking lot for Paramount Plaza, but I believe the old Thrifty sign now belongs to Rite Aid.


GSV

Looking for the funfair, I decided to visit Historic Aerials. The 1947 view shows no buildings at all on this section of Van Nuys Boulevard.


Historic Aerials

Luckily, there's a 1952 view to coincide with the Shulman photos. I've arrowed the bank. That might be the funfair just below Chase Street on the left.


Historic Aerials

The 1964 and 1967 views show nearly the same buildings, so I've gone for the 1967 image because it's clearer.


Historic Aerials

I'll finish with a current view which shows the large gap between Rite Aid and the Bank of America where Paramount Market once stood. As far as I can tell, it was demolished between 1989 and 1995.


Google Maps

[knites]

Everyone,
The Los Angeles Times has posted some sneak preview photos of the renovated Clifton's Cafeteria. The link is below...

http://www.latimes.com/food/la-dd-cl...togallery.html

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Two 1950s slides, Catalina Island ballroom.

eBay

__

"Excuse me sir, eyes over here."

[Martin Pal]

I love that word -- lagoon. It conjures up so many different moods.
(It was on the "Wild Animal Farm" postcard you posted yesterday, E_R.
I also love those nightclub photos you find and post.)

Speaking of that:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Birthday party at the Florentine Gardens, 1940s.



eBay / found last week.

[The title of the book is "Some of These Days," the autobiography of Sophie Tucker.

As an aisde to this photo, a friend and I were discussing documentaries yesterday and he told me he'd just seen a new documentary
called "The Outrageous Sophie Tucker." I mentioned seeing this photo and he laughed, saying that this was discussed in the documentary.

Apparently, Sophie was one of the first to promote her own book in any way possible. She would sing the song, which is the title of her
book, "Some of These Days" and then she'd run out to the lobby and sell copies of it to people and autograph them for them however
they wished. She also would never give anyone change. If they handed her a ten or twenty or fifty she'd just keep it and say the change
"is for Israel...it's going to Israel."

After she'd sing the song, she might have someone else come out to say something or whatever on stage, to keep people in their
seats a bit, while she would run out to the lobby and be ready for anyone to come out and there'd she would be promoting and selling
her book. Her force of personality would probably make you feel you HAD to have the book and/or feel guilty if you didn't! By all
accounts, she was a character!

[HossC]

Thanks for the Clifton's Cafeteria link, knites. For anyone who doesn't click on the links, here are a few of the pictures. All images are courtesy of Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times.

A giant fake redwood tree sprouts from the ground floor up four stories.



A stuffed lion stands guard. I hope Walter Palmer had nothing to do with it!



Walls are painted with gorgeous murals of California nature scenes.



A meteorite encased in bronze, an old church's interior elements -- all part of the decor at one bar.



There's even an image of the old file cabinet that contains every recipe from Clifton's history!

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I love that word -- lagoon. It conjures up so many different moods.
(It was on the "Wild Animal Farm" postcard you posted yesterday, E_R.
I also love those nightclub photos you find and post.)

Speaking of that:



As an aisde to this photo, a friend and I were discussing documentaries yesterday and he told me he'd just seen a new documentary
called "The Outrageous Sophie Tucker." I mentioned seeing this photo and he laughed, saying that this was discussed in the documentary.

Apparently, Sophie was one of the first to promote her own book in any way possible. She would sing the song, which is the title of her
book, "Some of These Days" and then she'd run out to the lobby and sell copies of it to people and autograph them for them however
they wished. She also would never give anyone change. If they handed her a ten or twenty or fifty she'd just keep it and say the change
"is for Israel...it's going to Israel."

After she'd sing the song, she might have someone else come out to say something or whatever on stage, to keep people in their
seats a bit, while she would run out to the lobby and be ready for anyone to come out and there'd she would be promoting and selling
her book. Her force of personality would probably make you feel you HAD to have the book and/or feel guilty if you didn't! By all
accounts, she was a character!

Here's Sophie Tucker on What's My Line 1957....

Watch here:....https://youtu.be/DKKmlBJnmbI


YouTube

[Earl Boebert]

For those who missed it, there's also last year's Collector's Weekly article on Clifton's:

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/arti...ale-cafeteria/

Cheers,

Earl

[JeffDiego]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

If anyone wants to cut and paste the list, in order to add updates, please do. I am in way over my head with this:

01. Steve Forrest
02. Pier Angeli
03. Debbie Reynolds
04. Louis Calhern
05. George Murphy
06. Cyd Charisse
07. Van Johnson
08. Vic Damone
09. Paul Douglas
10. Howard Keel
11. John Ericson
12. Lauren Bacall
13. Jose Ferrer
14. Leslie Caron
15. James Donald
16. Eva Gabor
17. Merle Oberon
18. Ann Francis
19. Walter Pidgeon
20. Stewart Granger
21. Jane Powell
22. Delores del Rio
23. Russ Tamblyn
24. Edward Purdom/Donald Woods
25. Robert Taylor
26. Elizabeth Taylor
27. Kurt Kasznar
28. George Raft
29. Janet Leigh
30. Grace Kelly
31. Fernando Lamas
32. Ann Miller
33. Lionel Barrymore
34. Donna Reed
35. Ann Blyth
36. Michael Wilding
37. Jeff Richards
38. Spring Byington
39. Joan Fontaine
40. George Sanders
41. Esther Williams

-------------------------------------------------------

Thank you e_r for the Cinnabar ad.

Adding my two cents to the fine-tuning of the MGM group photo from 1954.

The young woman #12 looks to me like Julie Newmar, who was one of the "Seven Brides" of the movie of that year. However she was very tall (the two men flanking here could be on risers), and was a minor starlet. It indeed could also be Doe Avedon, who was in the long-forgotten musical "Deep in My Heart," of which this photo is practically a publicity shot for, since so many of the people here were in that film. However, to my eyes, the young woman here doesn't resemble any of the photos of Doe Avedon at google images. I agree there is a slight resemblance to Lauren Bacall, but none of her dramatic demeanor or facial angularity.


No. 13 is indeed Jose Ferrer. Marge and Gower Champion are not in the photo.

No. 22 is indeed Tamara Toumanova, not Dolores Del Rio.

No. 24 is indeed Edmund (not Edward) Purdom, and not Donald Woods.

No. 38 is not Spring Byington. It is likely 55-year-old Wagnerian Opera star Helen Traubel, who had a prominent role in "Deep in my Heart." Since the photo is fuzzy, there is also a resemblance to character actress Isobel Elsom, the "epitome of the haughty British Dowager," who was also in the movie, although the hearty and darker-haired Traubel was the much bigger name at the time.


Other MGM group photos of the 1940's and early 1950's included starlets and lesser lights among the big names. The studio was on a downward trajectory when this picture was taken, and many of the people here, like Jane Powell and Esther Williams, to name just two, would soon be gone.

[Godzilla]

A good safety zone is hard to find,


1931 - Venice Boulevard meets Seventh Avenue
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co.../18630/rec/110


A










B








Ten hut!


California Military Academy, 4001 Venice Blvd. This institution seems to have moved quite a bit during its 58 year existence from 1906-1964. (Prior addresses include (1913) 1940 Lovelace. Looks like it eventually moved to 5300 Angeles Vista Blvd., (1936.)







C







D






E






F. Stairway to?









G.








H. Ouch

CALIFORNIA MILITARY ACADEMY IS ABANDONED
Commandant of School Says Funds Are Insufficient and He and Faculty Will Go to Coronado
SANTA MONICA, Nov. 19.— 1 California Military academy has closed Its doors on account of lack of sufficient financial support .Major Baker, commandant of the school, stated. this morning he with those who have served on the faculty will go to Coronado and open a similar school there, having received a flattering proposition from persons interested. * ' i At Coronado the school will occupy a building owned by the Coronado company and later will erect a building of its own.
The property here reverts to the Pacific Improvement company and It is stated the building will be taken down and the land subdivided. Los Angeles Herald, Vo. 36, No 50., November 20, 1908

California Military Academy's impressive Santa Monica Campus
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/losan...ards/calma.jpg

See also https://books.google.com/books?id=5F...monica&f=false







http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515OgFoFHUL.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=5516

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=5516

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...38#post5518138





http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/414hiL5iG2L.jpg