noirish Los Angeles

[Martin Pal]

I guess before the internet you had to actually GO OUT and get your fill of salaciousness or lubriciousness.

[mrfredmertz]

I used to order mine over the phone. From ads in flyers. Didn't everyone?

[jerry1656]

To Martin Paul and Mackern et el ;
Most excellent job of sorting out the Phone Booths and Extension(s), !
I guess I was easily seduced into thinking that the Rainbow Bar with a similar roof was actually an Extension, when it was really down on La Cienega, and of course it had some history with the Doors.
To the Most Order of the Excellent Sleuths
my salutes to all ye'

Just when I think I know my history and landmarks well , I always find that there is so much more in depth that I didn't know, and am happy to find out all of the sordid details, gambling , topless, music and all of the other darker things that existed such a short time ago..

I love this page.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Those are some great stories, odinthor. Thanks for posting them.





a mystery location


This building seems somewhat familiar but I don't remember anything about a "Double-Cola & Kist" Bottling Company.



eBay




Here's how it appeared on eBay.


eBay


But where in W. Covina?

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This is 642 E. Edna Place in Covina.


Google Maps

-JScott

PS: Not my ID, actually. That credit goes to Yolanda Montellano on the WEST COVINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY page on Facebook.

[ethereal_reality]

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Thanks, JScott. ..I appreciate it.






There's a possibilty we've seen this carte de visite before but I don't think so.

Los Angeles - Hill street near Fifth - pre financial district c 1890


eBay


I Spy - a tiny little man.


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[JeffDiego]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

JeffDiego found this photograph of Nancy Kelly and a mystery woman (Crikey! another mystery woman....Oh no, not again! )


http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/025...g?v=1462872936


Here's a closer look at the elusive mole(s).


detail


detail

MOLEGATE has been solved.

The mystery woman in the Milton Kreis / William Eythe photograph is indeed, Nancy Kelly.
__

Here's a case of REALLY beating a dead horse - and maybe someone else long ago beat me to this punch. Way back in 2016, Ethereal Reality solved the mystery of "Molegate" when he identified the mole on the face of 40's & 50's actress Nancy Walker ("The Bad Seed"), who was with a "mystery woman" in a photo I'd found. We were trying to identify a woman in an earlier photo with actor William Eythe at a drugstore opening in Beverly Hills - and the distinctive mole proved it was Nancy Walker in both pictures. I happened to re-visit the posting, and am now quite sure the "mystery woman" is noted MGM acting coach Lillian Burns.
Here's a youtube interview with Lillian Burns in later years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJrx...PO_Mdy&index=1

[ScottyB]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Thanks, JScott. ..I appreciate it.






There's a possibilty we've seen this carte de visite before but I don't think so.

Los Angeles - Hill street near Fifth - pre financial district c 1890


eBay


I Spy - a tiny little man.


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You mean the little fella on the sidewalk, or the man on the roof?

[ethereal_reality]

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Are you referring to the woman in the long dress magically hovering down the sidewalk or the man peeing against the tree stump?




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


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[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

When I was searching the La Cienega and Santa Monica Blvd. intersection because of the recent posts, I happened upon a photo concerning Art Linkletter's La Cienega Lanes.


(Photo by Bert Parry/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

The caption: Art Linkletter on the left with a group of people, c.1955.
I think they might be notable people! Some guesses...agree?

1. Art Linkletter
2. Donald O'Connor
3. Shelley Winters
4. Lex Barker
5. ?
6. ?
Not to mention the guy with the bowling shirt: Linkletter's | La Cienega.
_________________________________________________________________

I found two more photos from the same link above, however they were separate and said to be c.1960, instead of c.1955, but they're obviously from the same time and same credits.

The caption for this one actually credits the subjects as Lex Barker and Shelley Winters.



The caption for this one only credits Art Linkletter, but we get a better look at the two mystery folks.



They look familiar, but I can't place them. Because of this second photo, Bristolian, I do not think the man is Jonathan Winters.
_________________

Some other photos of this location I found recently:

Let's start with this one:



I never thought about it before, but in Double Indemnity when Walter Neff is bowling, in the film he says it's an alley on 3rd and Western. Apparently it was filmed in the bowling joint at Santa Monica and La Cienega.

Source:
There's this great link from the L.A. Conservancy titled:

Double Indemnity
Self - Guided Move Location Tour
Compiled by Jean Laughton

This is a 14 page journey through the filming locations with side by side photos of then and now, with production facts and some trivia along the way. If you're a fan of the film, and NLA locations from a great "N" movie, you'll greatly enjoy it.

https://www.laconservancy.org/wp-con...eIndemnity.pdf

Other known movies filmed there, either inside or out or both:
Man in the Vault (1956)
The Careless Years (1957)
L.A. Story (1991)
Yesterday (2019)*
*(A scene was filmed in front of the CVS on the corner, but was deleted from the film. It is, however, one of the extras on the DVD release.)

________


Also found a couple more photos of the location as Flippers.

This is a screenshot of the back entrance to the place, near Holloway, from the Charlie's Angels episode filmed there.
The Alta Cienega Motel can be seen across the street on the right.

WeHoTimes


This is a photo that was on Allison Martino's Instagram.
(If anyone wants to enlarge it!)


Martino/Instagram

____


Then there's this photo of the building dressed up for the 1995 TV Movie -- The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise.


RockfordFilesFilmingLocations

The upslope of the road indicates it would've been filmed from the La Cienega side and the entrance to the club is actually a fire door exit.

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

This is a photo that was on Allison Martino's Instagram.
(If anyone wants to enlarge it!)


Martino/Instagram

She also has this one in that Instagram post.

[riichkay]

Re identifying this fellow....possibly Dick Shawn?.....it's the kind of goofiness he was known for....

[Martin Pal]

That's a plausible choice, riichkay; a name I haven't heard in quite a while!

________________

(((((( Noir Noir )))))) Thank you!

On this website: Forgotten Roller Rinks of the Past, I found this amusing, and prescient, tidbit concerning Flippers!

[Martin Pal]

I thought SCANDALS, referred to in that item, had been mentioned on NLA before but a search does not bring up anything.

SCMFT

Scandals lasted less time than Flippers, I recall. It was located on the west side of La Brea Ave. at Hollywood Blvd., the building corner where the P.E. cars would turn off from Hollywood Blvd. to make their way to Gardner Junction and beyond.

This was the back side of the building with a parking lot. It was probably used as the main entrance rather than La Brea Avenue.

SCMFT

Scandals opened three weeks later than originally scheduled, on August 15, 1978, and it wasn't even ready to open then. Six of the eight bathrooms were not working. Guests could still see paint cans, ladders and drop cloths in view. It was a mess.

This interior photo is dated August 16, 1978. The day after it opened! (?)

Calisphere

Calisphere

Photograph dated August 17, 1978. The day after the above photo. (Maybe these dates are just like the venue; a mess?)

Although Peggy Lee was scheduled to open the club, she was hospitalized with an infection and Della Reese performed that night.

From Peggy Lee's autobiography: [Peggy Lee] was booked as the premiere at Scandals, a Hollywood nightclub hyped as a Ciro's for the disco era. Scandals had a projected budget of over two million dollars and lofty intentions to match. Owner Leonard Grant, former agent of Ann-Margret and Liberace, had conceived a mini- Vegas style emporium that would encompass a dance floor and a tiered 350 seat showroom. Amid French brasserie décor, crystal chandeliers and red leather booths, Broadway and pop veterans of largely gay appeal, including Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera and Peggy Lee, would entertain, backed by an orchestra.

SCMFT

I would say, if you want your venue to be known as exciting and glamorous, paint it something other than the color of diarrhea.

Personal note: In 1978 I took buses to work every morning, one of them I caught at Hollywood and Highland and it turned down La Brea in front of Scandals. It doesn't look like it in these photos, ?, but the sign letters and the stars on the front sign (not the roof sign) had large red sequins that would flutter in the Santa Ana winds and glitter in the bright morning sunlight.

Too bad it didn't pan out, Hollywood could have used a successful club like that.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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There's a possibilty we've seen this carte de visite before but I don't think so.

Los Angeles - Hill street near Fifth - pre financial district c 1890


eBay


I Spy - a tiny little man.


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The little man's no longer there e_r, but judging by the attic dormer and chimney, the same house appears center right below:

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

I don't know about the brass foundry, e_r, but this is identified as probably the 1894 La Fiesta Parade, which had
a Mt. Lowe float. This photo looks north on Hill Street toward Fifth Street. Hazard's Pavilion is on the left, with the
Rose Mansion up behind it:



487143 @ HDL

[riichkay]

Re: the Scandals building on La Brea, when I got to town in '73 I would go by the place frequently, it was vacant but the signage was still up for this place....










Later in the '70's some enterprising wit riffed on the name and opened a dive bar (now closed) in Silver Lake called The Smog Cutter.

[JeffDiego]

Originally Posted by riichkay

Re identifying this fellow....possibly Dick Shawn?.....it's the kind of goofiness he was known for....

Hi Richkay & MartinPal:
Thanks for your interesting posts. I'm something of an old Hollywood buff...for whatever that's worth.
I think the pretty blonde woman with Art Linkletter & the mugging guy is Adele Mara. She was a very popular B movie actress (sometimes leading lady), mostly with Republic Pictures, from the early 40's to the early/mid 50's. My first thought upon seeing the photo was Mitzi Gaynor, but no, I think it's Adele Mara - and that would fit the very early 50's (1950-52?) time frame of the photo. She was naturally dark-haired but frequently her hair was bleached blonde.
I don't think the mugging guy is Dick Shawn, although there is a slight resemblance - but I can't identify the guy.
By the way, RE: the photo of the bowling alley dressed up as a nightclub for The Rockford Files...in 1952 Adele Mara married Roy Huggins, a huge name in the television industry: he was the creator & producer of - yes, "The Rockford Files," as well as "Maverick," "The Fugitive," and "Hunter."

[odinthor]

Miss Mara does indeed seem to have been interested in bowling:


LA Times, 3/15/1951

[ethereal_reality]

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Before we get too far removed from the strip clubs I'd like to remind everyone about The Pink Pussy Cat at 7969 Santa Monica Blvd.


I love this photograph from Alison Martino's blog.


martinostimemachine....(unfortunately no date




Here's another. (note the allusion to the 'Brat Pack') There was also Fran Sinatra and Samya Davis Jr.


martinostimemachine...(no date)

I see Penelope Pitstop is moonlighting again.



Starting in 1961 the club also included "The Pink Pussycat College of Striptease". (see side of building above)

Here's the course itinerary.


And get this. The dean of the Pink Pussycat College of Striptease was none other than Lenny Bruce's mother, Sally Marr.

Read more at martinostimemachine....
Thanks, Alison!




Go
here to see how the building looks today. I believe it's now the 7969 Theater.

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[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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[...]

Here's a striking color slide of cars driving past Signal Hill in the 1940s. (or 50s)


eBay

[...]

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e_r, did this from July ever get answered as to specific location? Based on the Signal Hill city limits sign and the lay of the land, I believe it's an area I was very familiar with a couple of decades after the above image was taken--to wit, I believe it's the southeast corner of Spring Street and California Avenue in Long Beach. Most of the oil equipment has been cleared long since.


gsv

[ethereal_reality]

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Originally Posted by odinthor

Most of the oil equipment has been cleared long since.

Thanks, odinthor.

Is the Horsehead Pump still pumping or is it gone too?


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