noirish Los Angeles

[Graybeard]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

The Vanderbilt was originally the Roosevelt; here's an image of her from an old tourist booklet—note the Wiesendanger name there above the door. Her architect was A L Haley and she was erected in 1901.



An ignominious end:



usc usc usc

Read all about it here.

Obviously pre OSHA days. There are people standing on the sidewalk across the street. All the cars in the last photo are covered in dust. Kinda like modern day Russia...

[HossC]

This is the Polito House at 1650 Queens Road, as photographed by Julius Shulman in 1940 (the year it was built). It's "Job 0155: Polito House (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1940".



There are only two shots in this set, the second shows the exterior from the road at night.



Both from Getty Research Institute

Mr Shulman returned to the Polito House in 1977 to photograph the interior. This is "Job 5501: Polito House (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1977".





Both from Getty Research Institute

Here's the Polito House today.


GSV

The description below is from redfin.com, as are the recent pictures.

The Polito House, Raphael Soriano Architect. Restored three level Bauhaus cube resting on street-to-street lot in lower Sunset Strip. Urbane kitchen, living and dining zones are surrounded by a continuous band of well proportioned horizontal steel casement windows and doors leading to the outside. Master suite and adjacent office or additional bedroom with select city views. 20' x 10' opaque glass wall washes light - threading the staircase through each volume. Master bathroom with steam shower. Swimmers pool, sunning platforms and bridge to terraced gardens lend to seamless entertaining. Dual HVAC systems, fireplace and electronic gated entry. A rare example of International, pre mid-century architecture in Los Angeles.

I think that these first two images show the same areas as the 1977 shots above.





It looks like a pool has been added since the house was built.

[Diamond-X]

Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana was established in 1797. There are two palm trees which were originally located near the mission.
I've read, but forgotten where, that these trees were planted as a reference to where the mission should be constructed. It's possible
that Fr. Crespi planted them.

Are they still there? What's their history? Noir-ish minds want to know.

After scanning Google earth and looking at the mountain ridge-line, I think they were somewhere in the triangle created by the 405 - 5 - 118,
possibly between the 118 and Brand.

From Pinterest, date unknown:



Another from Pinterest, 1886:



From the San Fernando Valley Historic digital library, dated 1912:



From Water and Power dot org, dated 1887:

[unihikid]

Merry Christmas everyone. I had to go all the way back to page 359 to find my post of the Wilshire Bullocks Christmas Tree. Hope everyone has a safe holiday.

Photo by Me

[HossC]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

The Tap Room may have been a chain. I remember a very similar one in the San Francisco airport in the '60s. You see its entrance briefly in the movie "Bullitt," (1968) when Steve McQueen shoots a bad guy in the airport.

I had a quick flick through my DVD, and I'm guessing that this is the bar you're referring to, JMR. The exterior is mainly finished in stone, but the interior looks suitably brown. I couldn't see any name, just the word "Cocktails" over the door.


Warner Bros

[Diamond-X]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Now, this page says they shot in the Sunshine Apartments. Hell, Wikipedia says they shot in the Sunshine Apartments. But you heard it hear first, folks: they didn't.

And I'm about to tell you why. Now, not that they didn't shoot at the Sunshine Apartments. To wit:

So the bad guys arrive on Bunker Hill. Trudge trudge trudge.






This is without doubt the Sunshine. There's the McCoy House below. The whole bit.


(California State Archives)

But the first thing they do is go to see Finchley (Alan Napier -- while he was camping it up as Batman's butler, Yvonne De Carlo was Lily Munster, that is, fifteen years later -- hmm) and Finchley lives in the Astoria. That's my guess -- check out the angle.



I think he's in the Astoria looking back at the Belmont with the Hillcrest or Sunshine on the right (above) --

Back from page #69.

Who should I spot? Why it's Alan Napier, Alfred the butler for you Batman fans, but also a classically trained actor from many movies and a good friend of my father.

In 1945-46 at the age of 15 my father Peter Strudwick (sound familiar?) hitch-hiked from New York to Los Angeles. When he arrived he was hungry, out of money had a festering tooth-ache. He was in a unknown diner in Malibu when actor Alan Napier noticed he needed some help. Alan took my father under his wing and cleaned him up, fed him and got him in touch with my grandmother. Due to my fathers trouble with his Mom, Alan suggested that he stay and continue school. My father lived with Alan and his family in Pacific Palisades for a few years, finished school and went on to get his college degree and eventually his PhD.

Imagine me as a boy of 10 having 'Alfred' from the Batman series sitting at my dinner table! Alan was a great guy. My father told me stories of how Alan, who was a classically trained Shakespearean actor, would read him Shakespeare! Alan had a booming baritone voice and English accent. Dad came home from school in 1948 and there was Boris Karloff sitting in the front room with Alan, Karloff had won an Oscar 9 years earlier and later was also the narrator of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'.

Alan lived at 17919 Porto Marina Way in Pacific Palisades. The home burned down in the 80's and I've been unable to locate any pictures of it and it's signature circular tower.

Here we are on Google Earth:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151345...posted-public/

and a street view of the foundation remains:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151345...posted-public/

[HossC]

I hope this is what you were looking for. I found this picture in 'Not Just Batman's Butler: The Autobiography of Alan Napier' by Alan Napier with James Bigwood.


books.google.com

[Diamond-X]

Originally Posted by HossC

I hope this is what you were looking for. I found this picture in 'Not Just Batman's Butler: The Autobiography of Alan Napier' by Alan Napier with James Bigwood.


books.google.com

Wow, Excellent find! That is the house.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Diamond-X

Back from page #69.

Who should I spot? Why it's Alan Napier, Alfred the butler for you Batman fans, but also a classically trained actor from many movies and a good friend of my father.

]

D-X....Wonderful memories and thanks so much for posting. There's a lot of fascinating family history on NLA.

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by HossC

I had a quick flick through my DVD, and I'm guessing that this is the bar you're referring to, JMR. The exterior is mainly finished in stone, but the interior looks suitably brown. I couldn't see any name, just the word "Cocktails" over the door.


Warner Bros

That's it, Hoss. Thanks. I had a few beers with my brother waiting in that place for a plane to take me back to the Army and Ft. Bragg. We both got a huge kick out of seeing it in the movie. I don't remember if it had the shields and arms and family names, but the decor was definitely "Old English".

[sdmichael]

This is really a great thread. Every time I read it, I just get lost in the past of Los Angeles. It has gone through so many cycles... especially downtown. I had a request, something I've been seeking for a while. US 66 and US 99 may have gone through Downtown Los Angeles prior to their "pre-freeway" routing. I've never seen photos with a highway shield visible. I'm looking for a photo showing US 99 in particular along Broadway, Ave 20, Ave 26, Daly St, Marengo St, and/or Macy St from 1928 to 1934. Has anyone here found anything that may show these?

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

The Vanderbilt was originally the Roosevelt; here's an image of her from an old tourist booklet—note the Wiesendanger name there above the door. Her architect was A L Haley and she was erected in 1901.



An ignominious end:



usc usc usc

Read all about it here.

I knew you guys wrote about on OBH - don't know why I couldn't find it. I've seen those photos of the Vanderbilt demolition and they are pretty amazing. Am I mistaken, or did they just tie the building to a bunch of trucks which all simultaneously drove in different directions?

[haiku99]

...

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Diamond-X

A side note: The Los Flores ranch has an old horse track, now crossed by interstate 5 with a WWII airfield in it's middle.
You can see this on Google Earth north of the Las Pulgas exit. I've never seen any documentation on this track. It predates
WWII and was probably constructed in the mid to late 1800's.

I thought I'd add an aerial view to this comment in case it helps someone dig up some information about the track.


Google Maps

[Tourmaline]

Several makeshift airstrips are in the area. http://members.tripod.com/airfields_...ndletonhighway

Although the size and shape of the area around the strip in question suggests horse track, it could have other (less obvious) uses.


http://members.tripod.com/airfields_..._CA_67May8.jpg


http://members.tripod.com/airfields_...CA_topo_68.jpg

[HossC]

It's Christmas Eve, so I'm taking it easy with just a single Julius Shulman photograph . The Picwood Theatre at 10872 W Pico Boulevard was previously written about by tovangar2 in post #12495, but I thought I'd add this larger image. This is "Job 474: Picwood Theatre (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1949".


Getty Research Institute

You can read more about the Picwood at cinematreasures.org. The aerials below show how empty the area was in 1947 (the year before the Picwood was built), and how is was still fairly lonely in the lower-left of the 1952 image.


Historic Aerials

The Picwood Theatre was demolished to make way for the Westside Pavilion. Here are a couple of LAPL views from 1965 which show what else was lost.

Aerial view of the Picwood Theatre (mid-photo) located at 10872 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles; view is looking southeast. Midvale Ave. is at lower left; Westwood Blvd. is middle left to top right; Pico Blvd. is upper left to bottom right corner; Ayres Ave. curves from top left to middle right. Photograph was taken for Pacific Drive-In Theaters. Photograph dated June 20, 1965.


LAPL

Aerial view of the Picwood Theatre (mid-photo) located at Pico Blvd. and Westwood Blvd. in Los Angeles; view is looking southwest. Westwood Blvd. is middle left to bottom middle; Pico Blvd. is bottom left to middle right; Ayres Ave. curves diagonally at middle. Photograph was taken for Pacific Drive-In Theaters. Photograph dated June 20, 1965.


LAPL

[tovangar2]

Thank you so much HossC. It's good to see the Westland mall again (upper left). That's where Hennessey and Ingalls, the art and architecture bookstore, now on Third Street promenade, started out in 1963 (the store will close at the end of the year and reopen in the Arts District in February). I've spent a ton of money there over the years.

Before Westland there was the Pico Drive-In (1934), California's first:

Westland opened in 1949, the same year as Culver Center. They were Los Angeles' first malls.

Westside Pavilion, built in 1985, was extended across Westwood Blvd in 1991, wiping out S Charles Lee's Picwood (closed since '85). The Landmark Theaters replaced that in 2007.

The 1949 parking structure (upper left corner) is still there.

Originally Posted by HossC

Aerial view of the Picwood Theatre (mid-photo) located at 10872 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles; view is looking southeast. Midvale Ave. is at lower left; Westwood Blvd. is middle left to top right; Pico Blvd. is upper left to bottom right corner; Ayres Ave. curves from top left to middle right. Photograph was taken for Pacific Drive-In Theaters. Photograph dated June 20, 1965.


LAPL

P.S.

Shulman also shot the interior of the Picwood.


ucla/s charles lee archive


ucla / s charles lee archive

More.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

The Vanderbilt was originally the Roosevelt... Her architect was A L Haley and she was erected in 1901.

But, hey, at least she got fire escapes before she fell.

Do you know what ever happened to A L Haley Beaudry? He was over the place and then...nothing. There's a story there I'll bet.

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by HossC

It's Christmas Eve, so I'm taking it easy with just a single Julius Shulman photograph . The Picwood Theatre at 10872 W Pico Boulevard was previously written about by tovangar2 in post #12495, but I thought I'd add this larger image. This is "Job 474: Picwood Theatre (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1949".


Getty Research Institute

I used to go to the Picwood theatre, and bowled next door at the Picwood Bowl (really, I played pinball and later video games there until its demise).

Too bad the local homeowners association castrated the Westside Pavilion expansion project. It could have been a decent mall.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Lwize

Too bad the local homeowners association castrated the Westside Pavilion expansion project. It could have been a decent mall.

Whoa