noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Here is an interesting ad from the Hollywood Filmograph, 1932. (I had never heard of Los Angeles Scenic Studios Inc.)


http://lantern.mediahist.org/






I was quite surprised to see that the building was still there.


GSV





The entrance is on Bates Avenue. (but why is there a sign saying Mack Sennett Studios!?)


GSV



.......but let's move on because the building is much more interesting in the back, which faces Effie Street.



GSV





There is a line of faux columns topped with ornate images of the smiling 'drama mask'. (10 of them!)


GSV






-and they seem to be mocking us


detail / GSV


-to help you get your bearings here is an aerial.


__






I finally figured it out......this is actually the old Mabel Normand Studio built in 1916.


http://looking-for-mabel.webs.com/2mabelsstudio.htm


http://looking-for-mabel.webs.com/2mabelsstudio.htm
___


http://www.macksennettstudios.net/



Here's their current web-site.



__

[tovangar2]

Thx e-r, that post was a beaut!

[sadykadie2]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Thank you HossC. The cemetery remained "remarkably unchanged" because the owner never spent a dime on it. Maybe, with hindsight, that's a good thing.

One can see the strip malls in the Google Maps aerial:


google maps

Here's a view of the shorter strip mall at Gower and Santa Monica Blvd built in front of the cemetery wall. There's a generous break for the cemetery entrance and then another, much longer strip running all the way to Van Ness. (And hey, check out those utility poles) I love your use of the word "scoundrel" Very Noirish!


gsv

The strips weren't built until after I'd moved. I'm kind of in two minds about this development. The lawns were much loved by dog-walkers, frisbee-players and kids. However, as ugly as the strips are, the neighborhood desperately needed more retail and services. Too bad the cemetery didn't benefit. The then-owner was using the cemetery as his personal piggy-bank. The guy was a complete scoundrel.

I love your use of the word "scoundrel" Very Noirish!

[alester young]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Rip-Van-Winkle Motel and Apartments


ebay

-it's still there, under it's new moniker....Grand Motel (yeah, right)


GSV


-on the far right there's even a 'port-corchere'.


GSV
__

Your home away from home?

This must be the rattiest looking motel, period. It gets some pretty interesting reviews. It is implied that some of its guests don't stay too long and are engaged in other activities than watching the color tv.

[HossC]

Here's the Belcrest Hotel at 637 Hauser Boulevard. The property websites indicate that it was built in 1948.



eBay

It survives as the Belcrest Apartments, although its neighbors are a little larger and closer than they once were. I wish they'd replaced the windows with ones that better resembled the originals. There are more current pictures on the property management company's website.


GSV

[oldstuff]

Huell Howser did a piece on Grosh Backdrops and Drapery. Some research reveals that the man that founded Grosh, formerly was a vice president of Los Angeles Scenic Studios, before starting his own business in 1932. Grosh is still in business and is located at 4114 Sunset Blvd. This is the original building where Mr Grosh started his business in 1932.

[ethereal_reality]

4114 Sunset boulevard.


GSV


The building looks much larger in the back. This view is from Myra Avenue.


GSV



-here's another view from Myra showing the Sunset Blvd. bridge. (the Grosh bldg. is on the right)


GSV



Mr. Grosh didn't move very far from one company to the other.(the red triangle highlights Los Angeles Scenic Studio)


google_aerial
__

[ethereal_reality]

I just came across a short video from 1928 that shows Edna Covey jumping over 12 beauties atop a building in downtown Los Angeles.

You can see the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU


Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what roof they're on. The best clue is a brief glimpse of a sign that is across the street. (see below)
I can't make it out, but I think it is the Orpheum sign on Broadway; but it could also be one of the Rosslyn Hotel signs.
(plus, it's hard to tell if it's the front or the back of the sign....which, of course, is very important in determining what rooftop the girls are on)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU

I'm outta' town til' tomorrow evening. I expect to have an answer when I get back.
__

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Some of the locations he has stories about are:
John Burroughs Junior High
Fairfax High School
Hollywood High School
The Airliner Lounge
Lucy’s Restaurant
Leroy Shoes
Melrose Grotto
Polar Palace
Spyders Pool Hall
Dave's Texaco Gas Station
The Beer Garden

Melrose Grotto

For a location that was around over 70 years, there's not a lot of detailed information about this place.

What I can piece together is that the Melrose Grotto was built sometime in the 1920's. It was purchased by a man named Nick Slavich in 1936. At some point along the way he remodeled, expanded and changed the name of it to Nickodell, a name derived from his and his wife's names.

I have yet to find a photo of the restaurant as the Melrose Grotto, but here are some items from the place:

Melrose Grotto Menu (said to be dated May 16,1942)


matchbook


ashtray


The address of the place has been noted in several places as 5507, 5509, and 5511, with the above menu noting it as 5507-09-11. The matchbook has a 5507-11 address.

In any case it was along Melrose to the south of Paramount Studios and RKO Pictures. To make things more confusing, there was a second restaurant located at 1600 Selma Ave. at Argyle, not too far from NBC's Radio City, one source saying it opened in 1928.

I noticed that people writing about the places tend to confuse the two locations and some don't seem to know there were actually two separate places. Because both locations were in proximity to radio, film and later television production studios, they both had a star-studded clientele through the years as memories and posts about the places attest to.

There are some photos of the locations after the name change to Nickodell, a place I have heard of, and am surprised there is no mention of on NLA so far!

NICKODELL RESTAURANT

Nickodell Postcard (Selma & Argyle location)
H.P.Oliver

Selma & Argyle 1951 (notice there is another large Nickodell roof sign that you can see part of on the right side)
Michael Ryerson/Flickr

Selma & Argyle today
GSV

Here is the Melrose location of Nickodell:

Nickodell's Melrose (notice the Paramount Studio arches in the photo to the right; the Melrose entrance)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/blkmarket/3999815930/

postcard

Rlizabeth Fuller/Flickr

great signage!

Flickr


There seems not to have been much concern about the Argyle location closing down and, in fact, I haven't even found a notation when that occurred, but the Nov. 30, 1993 closing of the Melrose restaurant had press and fans coming out to reminisce and lament. The Slavich family owned it until around 1979. By 1993 Paramount itself owned the restaurant and the land it was on. It doesn't appear that Paramount had a hand in the shuttering of the famous place, but rather a lack of clientele due to changing tastes and times.

Reposting this map for location reference:

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

usc c.c.pierce collection

I emailed Jay Boileau over at Hollywood Forever about "my" little house, something I should have done years ago (I think I just couldn't take anymore what-I-assumed-would-be bad news about yet another LA location). Anyway, Hollywood Forever caught on about the chapel seven years ago. They have rehabbed it into a not-too-displeasing venue. Jay very kindly and generously sent some pix to share with you. I've matched the first ones with details from the historic C.C. Pierce pix.

The south side (1904)

usc c.c. pierce collection (detail)

South side (now):



both:hollywood forever

North side (1903)

usc c.c. pierce collection (detail)

North side (now):

hollywood forever

Interior:

hollywood forever

New Map (notice "the Old Pump House" has been changed to "Historic Chapel":


hollywood forever

C.C. Pierce gets the last word. Pierce was married for over 50 years to John and Mary Gower's youngest child, Hattie. He's buried near her, her parents, her four siblings and their spouses, and also near his mother, a brother and extended Pierce family members on the Griffith Lawn (Section 7) at Hollywood Forever, once part of the historic Gower Ranch.


find a grave

[tovangar2]

Thx MartinPal for the post. I remember the Melrose Nickodell well.

[stanklem]

Introducing myself.

An avid history buff and architect, I have special interest in our lost built environment and the community it fostered. The world was vastly different fifty and one hundred years ago. Often, I feel something intrinsic to the human experience died as well. As architect, I was involved with over 100 renovation projects in New York over a four year period. Some in well-known and historic structures. Many just little dogs.

Born and bred in New York City, we arrived in the South bay 25 years ago. So, you may see posts related to this area. Some may parallel those that will be posted in a forthcoming blog focused on architectural wannabees in my area. Others may be related to my interest in architectural detail.

For now, just a lurker.

Thanks for all of the wonderful photographs. They have rekindled my interest in film noir, so don't be surprised if i post a few screenshots.

Have a good one.

[unihikid]

Originally Posted by stanklem

Introducing myself.

An avid history buff and architect, I have special interest in our lost built environment and the community it fostered. The world was vastly different fifty and one hundred years ago. Often, I feel something intrinsic to the human experience died as well. As architect, I was involved with over 100 renovation projects in New York over a four year period. Some in well-known and historic structures. Many just little dogs.

Born and bred in New York City, we arrived in the South bay 25 years ago. So, you may see posts related to this area. Some may parallel those that will be posted in a forthcoming blog focused on architectural wannabees in my area. Others may be related to my interest in architectural detail.

For now, just a lurker.

Thanks for all of the wonderful photographs. They have rekindled my interest in film noir, so don't be surprised if i post a few screenshots.

Have a good one.

Welcome Stanklem!
I just moved out to the south bay(hermosa beach) in may, so i hope to hear more about the area. We had a post a few weeks back about a local theatre in Manhattan, also a post about the local PE line.

Now this might be answered better by Wig-Wag, but can anyone tell me when the Sante Fe line got taken out..it runs along Valley and i cant find too much info on the route..i know at one time it hooked up to where the Frys Electronic store is on Sepulveda and Rosecrans...but then i thought that was a Southern Pacific line...

[stanklem]

Originally Posted by unihikid

Welcome Stanklem!
I just moved out to the south bay(hermosa beach) in may, so i hope to hear more about the area. We had a post a few weeks back about a local theatre in Manhattan, also a post about the local PE line.

Now this might be answered better by Wig-Wag, but can anyone tell me when the Sante Fe line got taken out..it runs along Valley and i cant find too much info on the route..i know at one time it hooked up to where the Frys Electronic store is on Sepulveda and Rosecrans...but then i thought that was a Southern Pacific line...

This photo is currently on eBay. Google Earth has the address 505 Crenshaw at the corner of Crenshaw and 208th Street. The track currently stops inside of the Mobil refinery. The Santa Fe line also runs across Crenshaw a bit further south but, at a diagonal and elevated.



This might be of interest as you are in Hermosa.

[C. King]

Originally Posted by unihikid

Welcome Stanklem!
I just moved out to the south bay(hermosa beach) in may, so i hope to hear more about the area. We had a post a few weeks back about a local theatre in Manhattan, also a post about the local PE line.

Now this might be answered better by Wig-Wag, but can anyone tell me when the Sante Fe line got taken out..it runs along Valley and i cant find too much info on the route..i know at one time it hooked up to where the Frys Electronic store is on Sepulveda and Rosecrans...but then i thought that was a Southern Pacific line...

Found a little info as to when the rails were abandoned. Hope this helps.

http://www.abandonedrails.com/Redondo_Beach_Branch

[unihikid]

many thanks C King and Stanklem...both post have helped a bunch!

[fhammon]

I'm gonna guess it's the the Ville de Paris department store roof again.
Remember the rooftop roller hockey and roller tennis?

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=24047

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=24048

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=24051

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just came across a short video from 1928 that shows Edna Covey jumping over 12 beauties atop a building in downtown Los Angeles.

You can see the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU


Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what roof they're on. The best clue is a brief glimpse of a sign that is across the street. (see below)
I can't make it out, but I think it is the Orpheum sign on Broadway; but it could also be one of the Rosslyn Hotel signs.
(plus, it's hard to tell if it's the front or the back of the sign....which, of course, is very important in determining what rooftop the girls are on)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU

I'm outta' town til' tomorrow evening. I expect to have an answer when I get back.
__

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just came across a short video from 1928 that shows Edna Covey jumping over 12 beauties atop a building in downtown Los Angeles.

You can see the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU

Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what roof they're on. The best clue is a brief glimpse of a sign that is across the street. (see below)
I can't make it out, but I think it is the Orpheum sign on Broadway; but it could also be one of the Rosslyn Hotel signs.
(plus, it's hard to tell if it's the front or the back of the sign....which, of course, is very important in determining what rooftop the girls are on)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWp-GmSTmVU

I'm outta' town til' tomorrow evening. I expect to have an answer when I get back.

Looking through the contemporary aerial shots, I got misled by the building behind the standing lady.


YouTube

Initially I thought it was the Pacific Mutual Building, which would have meant we were atop a building on 6th Street. Only when I realized that it was actually the 1925 Pacific Finance/Indemnity Building at the corner of Hope and Wilshire did things fall into place. You can see the whole post about that building here.


USC Digital Library

A bit of triangulation led me to discover that the roof in question was that of the Knickerbocker Building, seen here in 1930. Compare the small, sloping roof, the doorway and the other roof features to e_r's picture above.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

I thought that the rooftop sign mentioned by e_r was the one on the left of this detail view, just below the "BULLOCKS" sign. Looking again, I'm not sure it's at the right angle. In the video, I think we're looking at the back of the sign, and the letters are "...ink". Could it be part of the "ADOHR" sign just above Bullocks? Then the word might be "Drink". I ruled out the "I N VAN NUYS" sign at the top for being in the wrong place and not fitting the screengrab.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

Here's another screengrab of the video. The odd detail on the left convinced me I'd found the right place.


YouTube

It's the back of the Dewiler Building, and still has that chimney today.


Google Maps

Finally, here's the roof today. One Wilshire blocks the angle I wanted to use, but many of the 1928 details can still be seen. I assume the ducts that have been added near the rear are for air-conditioning.


Google Maps

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by HossC

I thought that the rooftop sign mentioned by e_r was the one on the left of this detail view, just below the "BULLOCKS" sign. Looking again, I'm not sure it's at the right angle.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

No, I think you are correct about it being the sign below the Bullocks sign. That building is the 1925 Harris & Frank Building at 635-639 S. Hill, which is still there as the Wholesale Jewelry Mart but no longer has a large sign on top. The sign is angled so as to be seen at least partially by travelers southbound on Hill, and I assume westbound on 6th before the buildings in that direction got tall enough to block the view. But today the taller (and very green) Sun Realty Building aka LA Jewelry Center is next door to the north, which would almost completely block the view of such a sign to anyone coming down Hill St. I would assume that this sign therefore wouldn't have lasted much past 1930 when the Sun Realty Building was built.

So, given your statement that the lettering kind of looks like "ink" at the end, I guessed that it was a sign for the building's original occupant, Harris & Frank.

And that led me to this 1931 photo, where the Sun Realty Building had apparently become the Bankers Building and the Harris & Frank sign's entire right side is obscured even from a vantage point on the opposite side of Hill and barely half a block away (my guess is the photo was taken from the William Fox Building, then under construction):


USC

There's the Knickerbocker Building hiding on the right:



A closer look at the sign reveals that it may already be getting dismantled, as there is no text on the bottom half, and there is planking along the bottom of the display area that appears to be temporary.

[HossC]

Thanks, ProphetM. I was beginning to doubt my own Adohr sign theory as every image I found showed the same text as the one below. What I hadn't done was find any other likely candidates. I think the Harris & Frank sign fits the bill perfectly .


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library