noirish Los Angeles

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Matt, your photograph of the Ennis-Brown house has inspired me to post some screen-grabs I took a few months ago while watching the late, late, late show.
Pretty much everyone knows the house was used, most famously, in 'Blade Runner' (1982), and as the exterior façade of the 'House On Haunted Hill' (1959), among others,
but I had no idea it was used years before, in a Ruth Chatterton movie called 'Female' (1933).

here's a better look. pretty impressive isn't it.

warner bros.


There's no trace of the Ennis house in the striking art deco interiors. Ennis is all blocks, squares and right-angles, so I doubt it would ever have a curved staircase.


warner bros.

What a gorgeous home ER. Thanks for posting those screen grabs. Most interesting how some art director added the pool sculptures and used a sound stage for the interior shots. Very striking....reminds me of David Hockney paintings.

Speaking of food, ER. When I was about 13 years old I had some restaurant fried trout and my father was furious. He said I was not supposed to spend his money on expensive adult meals while we were on vacation. BTW, that trout was delicious!

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

I don't really know. Perhaps my propensity for speculation has gotten the better of me (again).

The La Fountaine

lafontainewesthollywood.com

The Chateau Du-Val

gsv

The beautifully laid bricks of the Heinsbergen Studio. The faces of the bricks stand proud of the mortar which gives texture and visual interest

gsv

some of those bricks look loose.

[ethereal_reality]

I've been trying to located this building.


Joey Zanotti at https://www.flickr.com/photos/459586...aves-joeivory/

Joey Zanotti says Jack's Cafe was in the vicinity of Fifth & Main, and that the place is now closed.
Well, I've circled the area several times in the google-mobile and have yet to find the correct building.

You can read the various comments here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/459586...aves-joeivory/

[ethereal_reality]

Joey Zanotti also posted this neon-centric photograph.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/45958601@N02/12828942864

He wrote:
"Aged neon shimmering through the darkness of a Los Angeles night."

You can check it out here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/45958601@N02/12828942864

Is this the infamous Harold's 555 Club at 555 S. Main street?

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[ethereal_reality]

Here's an amazing view of the rotating beacon atop the 'Mutual of Omaha' Tower.


Kodachrome slide, found on eBay

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[ethereal_reality]

I just came across this daytime view of the Jack's Café sign from an episode of 'Hunter', original airdate: May 20, 1986.



http://hunter-and-mccall.tumblr.com/...-night-special

Frustratingly, it didn't include an address. (at least the building is retrofitted)



But wait, why don't I see the retrofit in the photograph below, which is supposedly more recent than 1986?

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I've been trying to located this building.

Joey Zanotti at https://www.flickr.com/photos/459586...aves-joeivory/

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I've been trying to located this building.


Joey Zanotti at https://www.flickr.com/photos/459586...aves-joeivory/

Joey Zanotti says Jack's Cafe was in the vicinity of Fifth & Main, and that the place is now closed.
Well, I've circled the area several times in the google-mobile and have yet to find the correct building.

You can read various comments here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/459586...aves-joeivory/

These pix are dated 2014 (or 2012 as he says later), yet I thought there was some "no alcohol" rule down on the Nickel since a long time ago (?) They may have been taken somewhere that's else (and/or at some other time).

Also, if there was great looking neon on the Nickel last year, one of us would have known about it (probably me). Something doesn't add up. Colorized?



P.S. I just saw your post e_r. I'm glad I'm not the only one with suspicions. (The retrofitting bolts are a huge detail I'd missed)]

P.P.S.:




screenshots above: dailymotion/Stephen J Cannell Productions

The only location IMDB gives for that ep is E 9th & S San Pedro

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

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

some of those bricks look loose.

I think it's just the way they're laid, with the mortar inset.

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...or dressed to the nines.


eBay

Los Angeles 1960s, Kodachrome slide.
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Ummm....are we altogether sure she is a she? She looks like she could smash a beer can on her forehead. And I mean a real beer can like Brew 102, not some sissy aluminum can.

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Maybe because we've had some interesting colorized photos posted recently, but I was sitting here pondering this photo and wondering--was it a cloudy, foggy and cool sort of day when this picture was taken (like it is today in Los Angeles) or was it a hot, sweltering smoggy day?

Southern Pacific engine number #604, Taylor Yards, 1963.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/HH119-RP-196...item5d5855f823


Martin Pal, this photo was taken in the early 1960s as evidenced by the 60 Pontiac and 60 Ford on San Fernando Road. During that time smog was rapidly becoming intolerable in the LA Basin. Yep, it is a sunny afternoon as evidenced by the shadows. In September of 1973 when I took this morning photo of Amtrak's Coast starlight from the same pedestrian bridge, the sun was also shining but the look of the other photo fills my frame as well as a still undiminished smog hangs over the city.



From the trivia department: The pedestrian bridge was used to provide access to workers at the Taylor Roundhouse and shops. In my youth it was a great place to watch and photograph trains Also, if you will look at the left hand number board on the lead unit in ER's photo you will note that it carries the number 1-831. The 1 designates that this is the first section of Coast Line freight train No. 831, with at least one more to follow. SP Coast Line freight traffic was brisk in those days! As to the locomotive units they were black with, aluminum lettering, a silver nose complemented by orange wings and a red stripe along the bottom of the carbody. The red stripe was responsible for the Railfan community nicknaming them "Black Widows".

Cheers,
Jack

[Handsome Stranger]

I spotted these photos on ebay a couple of days ago, purportedly showing Haymann's Apartments in Hollywood, CA (and a bungalow on the same property) as they appeared in 1919. Would anyone know where exactly in Hollywood this might have been?









[source: ebay]

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I've been trying to located this building.


Joey Zanotti at https://www.flickr.com/photos/459586...aves-joeivory/

Joey Zanotti says Jack's Cafe was in the vicinity of Fifth & Main, and that the place is now closed.
Well, I've circled the area several times in the google-mobile and have yet to find the correct building.

You can read the various comments here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/459586...aves-joeivory/

I found Jack's Cafe at 115 W 6th Street in the City Directories between 1956 and 1973. The picture below shows "6th & Main during Los Angeles Transit Lines strike. 5/1946."


Metro Library and Archive on Flickr

Here's an enlargement with the Jack's sign at the center.


Detail of picture above.

I'm not sure when the building was demolished, but there are no listings between Main and Harlem Place on that side of 6th Street in the 1987 CD. This is the view today.


GSV

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

I spotted these photos on ebay a couple of days ago, purportedly showing Haymann's Apartments in Hollywood, CA (and a bungalow on the same property) as they appeared in 1919. Would anyone know where exactly in Hollywood this might have been?




[source: ebay]

A Celia Haymann was living at 1954 Argyle Avenue according to the 1923 CD... if the house in the top shot was at that address, it's gone now, and may have been by 1923... the assessor gives a 1922 build date for the current structure. (The number of the second house appears to be 1424....) I thought maybe Ms Haymann might have replaced her house with a bigger building--or that maybe the house burned...who knows? The 'Celia Haymann' connection may be a red herring, but 1954 Argyle was part of the subdivision around Schloesser Castle called Schloesser Terrace...and interestingly, according to argylecivic.org, "One distinguished resident of the community was leftist playwright Bertolt Brecht, who moved into an apartment at 1954 Argyle Avenue when he arrived in Los Angeles after leaving Nazi Germany in the 1940s."

From post 8487

[Matt Maxwell]

The tense send-off/reception at the transit station is always a dependable setting for a mystery/thriller/noir.

Here's Union Station on an afternoon in 2003 (not quite a vintage photo yet, but getting there). Taken by me on my second digital camera, a Fuji FinePix. I will always shoot atmosphere over pure documentary, so apologies if this isn't what we're usually getting on this thread.

Union_Station_Desk.jpg by maxwellm, on Flickr

[ethereal_reality]

The scallop-shell moulding over the doorway is a nice touch. I've never noticed it before.


detail / Matt_Maxwell

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by HossC

I found Jack's Cafe at 115 W 6th Street in the City Directories between 1956 and 1973. The picture below shows "6th & Main during Los Angeles Transit Lines strike. 5/1946."


Metro Library and Archive on Flickr

I'm not sure when the building was demolished, but there are no listings between Main and Harlem Place on that side of 6th Street in the 1987 CD.

Originally Posted by tovangar2

dailymotion/Stephen J Cannell Productions

So it's an early 70s stockshot used in a late 80s show? I'm confused again by the retrofitting bolts. I thought that didn't happen until the 80s (?) See here

Urban Diachrony hints that the Jack's Cafe building came down with the Severance Building soon after 1979

[HossC]

That last piece of info ties in with this picture. It shows the block where Todd's used to be on the corner of 6th and Main (Jack's Cafe would be just off the left side). It looks pretty run down in this photo that's dated circa 1980. Harold's is on the right.


googlegroups.com/Photo: Gary Graver

Was this the Severance Building? The 1921 Baist map shows this location as the Severange Building, which turns up in a few listings in the Los Angeles Herald.

[Martin Pal]

I think this is the first time I've heard of TODD'S, too.
Lot's of first names down there. I wonder if Jack, Todd and Harold all knew each other?

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Joey Zanotti also posted this neon-centric photograph.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/45958601@N02/12828942864

He wrote:
"Aged neon shimmering through the darkness of a Los Angeles night."

You can check it out here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/45958601@N02/12828942864

Is this the infamous Harold's 555 Club at 555 S. Main street?

__

So, in HossC's photo above this is the Harold's?

[Matt Maxwell]

And while we're in Union Station:

Union_Station_Skylight.jpg by maxwellm, on Flickr

Here's the skylight above the atrium that leads to the bus terminals, at the end of the tunnel connecting to the trains. Not sure when this section of the terminal was built. Quick investigations (all I've got time for now) don't reveal a date either.

Sure, a little sun-shiny for noir, but you could see this in the backdrop of a dramatic up-shot or two, right?

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

gsv
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Love the name of this restaurant/bar. THE HUNGRY CAT.
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P.S.: Thanks for that evocative 1973 Taylor Yards photo, Jack.

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Also, for search purposes, the residential building on Fountain and Crescent Heights recently discussed here is the La Fontaine. As in Joan.