noirish Los Angeles

[HossC]

Can anyone fill in the background to this story? The car appears to be a 1950 Cadillac. The full photoset has six images, but I think these capture the important angles. No location is given - the images come from the Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection.

Car over cliff in police chase, 25 October 1951.



The incident drew a small crowd.



A close-up of the car.



All from USC Digital Library

[corriganville]

Originally Posted by SHERIFFPAUL

From:whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com

Re the Griffith Park Zoo and the year 1912. It is amazing how many sources quote 1912 as the start of the Griffith Park Zoo when in fact it was after 1922 when it began. In late 1922, my great grandfather and several others began an association for many different area concerns (Los Feliz area) and one of them was the selection of Vermont Canyon for the zoo. Because of their concerns regarding traffic and noise, they were able to convince city officials to build the zoo where it was finally built (the old zoo).

[robeach11]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

A few follow-ups re 241 N Figueroa...





Here's an image of the original configuration of ER's Figueroa Street mystery building. After assuming at first that it was a new structure going up ca 1970, I think I then wrote that it was a remodeling of an earlier building...here is that building, built in 1951, in a photo dated Dec 13, 1959... just as foreign cars were really getting popular (I spy an example of our old friend, the uberlemon Renault Dauphine, and two Volvos).

(I wish they'd left it alone):


LAPL



And some sad Wong noir, right in front of the laundry:


LAT Nov 12, 1930

Geez... they didn't even note her mom's real name (Lee Toy Wong).

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

Can anyone fill in the background to this story? The car appears to be a 1950 Cadillac. The full photoset has six images, but I think these capture the important angles. No location is given - the images come from the Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection.


A close-up of the car.



All from USC Digital Library

Appears to be a '50 or '51 Cadillac.....totalled.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' theater [I figured out the theater toward the end of the post / I decided to leave the post as is because these slides are quite exceptional.]

I think the banner might hold some clues. (but KRNT is a radio station out of Des Moines Iowa )


This is Des Moines. -not Hollywood. sorry.
___________________________________________________________________

Yes, thanks for leaving the photos, they are quite good!
___

Come to think of it, in the Mona Freeman photos...I noticed the machine in this photo has an Iowa license plate...

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

ebay
___________________________________________________________________

Maybe Mona Freeman wasn't at the Chinese Theatre. I just looked up on wikipedia a list by decade of Chinese Theatre Handprint Ceremonies and Mona Freeman is not listed.

???

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...int_ceremonies

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' theater [I figured out the theater toward the end of the post / I decided to leave the post as is because these slides are quite exceptional.]

Here are more slides taken by the man that was stationed at Camp Pendleton in the 1950s. [the same man that took the Mona Freeman / Grauman's Chinese Theater pics].
His daughter [the seller] says he visited Hollywood and Los Angeles numerous times while on leave.



__

Thanks or whatever ER....your photos brought back old memories.

Eddie Fisher made an "appearance" at my high school assembly in 1959 [Alhambra, CA] and got a very chilly reception. He was involved in several marital scandals at the time. I think he was even booed while on stage. I remember the girls were whispering and their eyes were rolling. [Actually there was no stage...he was just standing at one side of the lunch patio.] He was always a sleazy second rate personality. Greatness eluded him.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Come to think of it, in the Mona Freeman photos...I noticed the machine in this photo has an Iowa license plate...

Maybe Mona Freeman wasn't at the Chinese Theatre. I just looked up on wikipedia a list by decade of Chinese Theatre Handprint Ceremonies and Mona Freeman is not listed.

If anyone has access to newspapers.com, there's a mention of Mona visiting Newton, IA in April 1956 in The Des Moines Register. From what I can gather from the OCR text, 29-year-old Mona flew in to the municipal airport and signed 500 autographs. She was in Iowa for Mona Freeman day at Newton, which included a parade and leaving behind her foot prints in cement. The purpose of the visit was to promote a shipment of Maytag merchandise, valued at nearly 3-million dollars, to the west coast.

[Martin Pal]

Also, the license plate in that photo is dated 1956, not when the seller says her Dad was in California. (1951-1953.)
___

HossC, the car over the cliff photos reminded me of the scene in The Postman Always Rings Twice when they try pushing the car down the cliff. I thought I could find a youtube video of that, but I haven't. It's one of the best scenes like that ever, the way the car slides down and tumbles with it's lights on.

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Eddie Fisher "performed" at my high school assembly in 1959 [Alhambra, CA] and got a very chilly reception. He was involved in several marital scandals at the time. I think he was even booed while on stage. [Actually there was no stage...he was just standing at one side of the lunch patio.] He was always a sleazy second rate personality. Greatness eluded him.
___________________________________________________________________________

I was watching am early first season Laugh-In episode with Cher in it a day ago and in the party segment she had a joke something like: "Who says Hollywood marriages don't last, there are a lot of them...Eddie Fisher and Liz Taylor. Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Eddie Fisher and Connie Stevens...

If you don't know who he is, here's an Oct 19, 1952, episode of What's My Line? where he is the "mystery guest" at 13:30. He signs in as PFC Eddie FIsher as he was in the military at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxOQpAd-YTw

If you search youtube he was also on What's My Line? as the mystery guest with Debbie Reynolds on April 15, 1956, and by himself on March 25, 1962, and December 6, 1964.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Thanks or whatever ER....your photos brought back old memories.

Eddie Fisher made an "appearance" at my high school assembly in 1959 [Alhambra, CA] and got a very chilly reception. He was involved in several marital scandals at the time. I think he was even booed while on stage. I remember the girls were whispering and their eyes were rolling. [Actually there was no stage...he was just standing at one side of the lunch patio.] He was always a sleazy second rate personality. Greatness eluded him.

Fascinating memory, but...greatness didn't elude him earlier in the decade.... "Mr. Fisher's clear dramatic singing voice brought him a devoted following of teenage girls in the early 1950s. He sold millions of records with 32 hit songs including "Thinking of You," "Any Time," "Oh, My Pa-Pa," "I'm Yours," "Wish You Were Here," "Lady of Spain" and "Count Your Blessings." --SFGate

Those must have been some kinda uptight girls you were in school with-- that instead of being fascinated they rolled their eyes at the man who was marrying Elizabeth Taylor that year...was this a Catholic school? I guess not--what Catholic school would have invited such a notorious libertine, all that sex, divorcing Lil' Debbie, etc, on to its campus anyway? But maybe you were at some sort of western Putney. Anyway, I'd say Fisher must have been hard-up for gigs if his bookings were down to high schools...in Alhambra...but he would be doing ok for the next five years or so...at least until RB came along.


Double dipping
NYTimes


And at Chasens the same year he slummed it in Alhambra....

UCLADL

[Handsome Stranger]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

HossC, the car over the cliff photos reminded me of the scene in The Postman Always Rings Twice when they try pushing the car down the cliff. I thought I could find a youtube video of that, but I haven't. It's one of the best scenes like that ever, the way the car slides down and tumbles with it's lights on.

[source: Warner Home Video]

By the way...in another appearance on What's My Line, Debbie Reynolds as the "Mystery Guest" pretending to be Zsa Zsa Gabor is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[HossC]

"Who do you think I is?"

• Video Link

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by HossC

Can anyone fill in the background to this story? The car appears to be a 1950 Cadillac. The full photoset has six images, but I think these capture the important angles. No location is given - the images come from the Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection.

Car over cliff in police chase, 25 October 1951.



The incident drew a small crowd.



All from USC Digital Library

Based on the rocky shoreline, I would guess the location is somewhere in the Palos Verdes area. There are a lot of cliffs for cars to tumble down in that area.

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

Based on the rocky shoreline, I would guess the location is somewhere in the Palos Verdes area. There are a lot of cliffs for cars to tumble down in that area.

The upper picture, when "washed out" with gamma adjust, shows a narrow rocky beach and surf.

Cheers,

Earl

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin_Pal

I noticed the machine in this photo has an Iowa license plate. Maybe Mona wasn't at the Chinese Theatre.

Originally Posted by HossC

Mona Freeman was in Iowa for Mona Freeman Day, which included a parade and leaving behind her foot prints in cement.

You mean, Mona wasn't at Grauman's!? Well I'll be...a..monkey's uncle.

Okay, I'll try one more time with these ^#*?!% "Father on leave from Camp Pendleson" slides. 1951 - 1953.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

EBAY asking $249.99
EBAY

NOT Iowa.








The seller's father?


EBAY (sold?)












EBAY asking $199.99







His buddy?


EBAY (sold?)











same buddy


EBAY (sold?)









EBAY asking $149.99









EBAY (sold?)

There's one more of the gate I'll post when I return to Lafayette.





__

[ethereal_reality]

Oh, and this......


EBAY asking $124.99



Wilshire Theater, How to Marry A Millionaire [1953]

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Fascinating memory, but...greatness didn't elude him earlier in the decade.... "Mr. Fisher's clear dramatic singing voice brought him a devoted following of teenage girls in the early 1950s. He sold millions of records with 32 hit songs including "Thinking of You," "Any Time," "Oh, My Pa-Pa," "I'm Yours," "Wish You Were Here," "Lady of Spain" and "Count Your Blessings." --SFGate

Those must have been some kinda uptight girls you were in school with-- that instead of being fascinated they rolled their eyes at the man who was marrying Elizabeth Taylor that year...was this a Catholic school? I guess not--what Catholic school would have invited such a notorious libertine, all that sex, divorcing Lil' Debbie, etc, on to its campus anyway? But maybe you were at some sort of western Putney. Anyway, I'd say Fisher must have been hard-up for gigs if his bookings were down to high schools...in Alhambra...but he would be doing ok for the next five years or so...at least until RB came along.


Double dipping
NYTimes


And at Chasens the same year he slummed it in Alhambra....

UCLADL

Thanks GW for your usual and predictable comments on one of my posts.

What I'm really waiting for is ER's comment on your efforts.

Thanks again for the attention and deep thinking.

Yeah, that bubble gum crooner was quite the lecher.

[GaylordWilshire]

As Eddie sang it, Doug, "Thinking of You," "Any Time," "I'm Yours," "Wish You Were Here," and.... "Count Your Blessings."

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

As Eddie sang it, Doug, "Thinking of You," "Any Time," "I'm Yours," "Wish You Were Here," and.... "Count Your Blessings."

1928 - 2010 Looking for a port in any storm. Very much a fizzled and fading star.

[Handsome Stranger]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

Based on the rocky shoreline, I would guess the location is somewhere in the Palos Verdes area. There are a lot of cliffs for cars to tumble down in that area.

That came to my mind too. There are still incidents of cars plunging over roadside cliffs in Palos Verdes just about every year.

My best guess is we're seeing an incident that happened at (or very near) Sacred Cove, just a bit south of Portuguese Bend. The road there is always very rough because the land is slowly but steadily sliding toward the ocean. Palos Verdes Drive is continually being patched in that area; if you check the satellite view of Google Maps you can see numerous patches made to the road.

If there was a car chase happening, the Cadillac was likely driving much too fast to handle that very rough road, and the driver lost control. I've driven through there several times and I know how drastically one must slow down.

Incidentally, Sacred Cove offered the only nude beach in Los Angeles County for many years.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Incidentally, Sacred Cove offered the only nude beach in Los Angeles County for many years.

Funny you should mention that. Over the weekend, while I was looking for pictures of the Santa Monica incline railway, I tried searching www.californiacoastline.org. It's a great resource, but only goes back to 1972, which is after the 101 Ocean Avenue condominiums were built. Anyway, my search for "santa monica san vicente" was met with the following:

No images were found with matching captions
Try a simpler search, without any punctuation or special characters, for example, "beach" not "nude+beach".

It never occurred to me to use the site to search for nude beaches, and I can't image the results would be that rewarding (I haven't checked), but each to their own!