noirish Los Angeles

[NoirNous]

European service - a waiter that insults you in French?

Nice photo, ER. Those suites were very nice and the residents often stayed for years. Some mobsters used them for monthly meetings. I believe that the hotel went into receivership, so somebody probably didn't pay his bill.

[Krell58]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just came cross this photograph again on eBay.


I remember posting this obscure snapshot a couple years ago, but we never figured out the location.
Tthe description on ebay simply says "Los Angeles 1920s, Auto Driving by Railroad".



http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOS-ANGELES-...item5671bbe254

Well, now that we have more 'sleuthing experts' visiting NLA , I thought perhaps someone might recognize this particular style of street lamp.
-the lantern shape on top, with twin globes below-

It wasn't the Hammel place where the palm trees came from was it? (Wild Guess).

[tovangar2]

Welcome NoirNous, but please, there are Europeans on this thread. I have an EU passport myself in my collection.

I assume "European Service" means the same as European Plan, in which one is charged the room rate only, meals being separate. The American Plan includes meals. But, in this case, I think it just means they will treat you well.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I've never noticed this large house with the Alligator Farm sign on the roof.


ebay

Good news! I finally found a photograph of the front side of the building with the Alligator Farm sign on top, and it's quite extravagant looking.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Postcard-RPP...item339ef8403f

It appears to have a soaring portico with Ionic columns. Pretty nifty for a Alligator Farm wouldn't you say?
___

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by Krell58

It wasn't the Hammel place where the palm trees came from was it? (Wild Guess).

Krell58, if I might follow your example, I'll climb out on a different limb and guess that we're looking north across Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles between the 20th Century lot and Westwood Blvd.

My source for L.A. street lighting options didn't make mention of the fixtures shown in the photo, but the railway right-of-way and ground contour look familiar.

I'll now await someone with a pruning saw...

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by KevinW

I don't know why this couldn't be Los Angeles. I'm assuming "cement is the clue", not "glue" was offered but there was plenty of cement in L.A. As for what these are doing in the middle of the street they're not. They are marking off a parking space. You can see the car parked in the space next to the cordoned off area. The streetcar is turning from a street dead ending into another.

There are two "tells" here, both relating to the streetcar in the photo. The first is the type of car, a Brill semi-convertable, which AFAIK never ran in Los Angeles. Street railway properties in California preferred the "California type" (or, if you'll permit me, the "Huntington Standard") car.

The second point is the dash sign on the front of the car, which reads simply "24". PE didn't use route numbers, and LARy's only went as high as "10". The dash signs of both companies featured destinations (and sometimes in PE's case, major stops en route).

So IMO, Los Angeles is one of the few places in the U.S. where the photo almost certainly wasn't taken. Of course, that's not much help in terms of discovering the actual location. I need to look at more photos to see if I can come up with a match for a Line 24 designated in that style of lettering. A lot of systems used these cars, so it'll be hard to narrow our focus that way.

Hope this helps, however little.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Sure Boss, like Duco cement. The stuff they make sidewalks out of is concrete. Of course one can cement things with concrete too.

Maybe you should ask Ruth Zartman. This picture, dated 1922 by the seller, comes with a claim that she was "believed to be the only woman cement worker in the United States". The 1921 and 1923 CDs list a Ruth Zartman residing at 117 Ellita Place. The current house at that address was apparently built in 1910.



eBay


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


Thanks to tovangar2 and CityBoyDoug for the follow-ups on the "SW" logo. Now we know!

[tovangar2]

OK, I need help again pls. I'm batching uscdl photos for corrections/additions and am doing the old Hall of Records ATM.

In this one, is that the tiered landscaping at the County Law Library in the foreground? I'm mystified.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/2737/rec/8



In the photo below, what is the Beelman-looking building on the SW corner of 1st & Broadway? The new federal courthouse is going up there now.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/2739/rec/6

Thx noirishers :-)

[ethereal_reality]

In this photograph of the Crocker Bank Tower construction, I've been trying to figure out what building is being demolished in the foreground.
As you can see there was a Lincoln Savings next door.



http://imageshack.com/i/e4constructionabcj

It looks like it was a fairly interesting building with arched windows.

__

[HossC]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

OK, I need help again pls. I'm batching uscdl photos for corrections/additions and am doing the old Hall of Records ATM.

In the photo below, what is the Beelman-looking building on the SW corner of 1st & Broadway? The new federal courthouse is going up there now.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/2739/rec/6

That's the nine-story State of California Office Building at 107 South Broadway. It was designed by Stanton & Stockwell with Anson Boyd, and constructed between 1958 and 1960. The parking garage was condemned following the Northridge quake in 1994, and the office building was vacated in 1998. It was eventually razed in 2006. More info at pcad.lib.washington.edu.

Here's a color picture of the shiny new building in 1960.


Huntington Digital Library

And here's a 1967 aerial shot which shows its full size in the lower right corner.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

I thought I'd add these screengrabs from 'CHiPs'. The first is from the pilot episode, and comes just after Jon and Ponch lose the stolen car they're chasing in DTLA. The State of California Building is on the right.


MGM TV/Rosner TV

In the second episode there's another chase through the Civic Center (even though they leave the freeway at the Fairfax Avenue exit). Here's the parking garage of the State of California Building as seen from the entrance of the 2nd Street tunnel.


MGM TV/Rosner TV

The chase ends when they pull over the drunk driver on 2nd Street between Figueroa and the Harbor Freeway. Just for fun I thought I'd include this shot looking south-west from 2nd. The view was completely clear to the far side of 4th Street. It's likely that this episode was filmed in early 1977, so the Westin Bonaventure Hotel on the left would have only been about a year old at the time.


MGM TV/Rosner TV

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by NoirNous

Previously, Michael Ryerson had posted an interior pic of the Bel Air Sands Hotel. Now known as the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel, it is located at the intersection of Brentwood and Bel Air on seven scenic acres.

Although not nearly as famous as its neighbor, the Bel Air Hotel, the old Bel Air Sands Hotel was also frequented by the rich and famous, and perhaps the rich and infamous.

When I had the privilege of working there for a short time after its sale in 1978, I heard stories from numerous sources about mobsters who lived there. (Tangentially, it was the site of a Godfather scene with actor Alex Rocco portraying Morris "Moe" Greene.) I believe that the history of this hotel would rate highly in the noir category.

So, if anyone has any photos or personal recollections of this hotel please share them.

P.S. Studying these pages has triggered many wonderful memories. Thank you, ER!

BEl AIR SANDS HOTEL

First, welcome to the forum. I hope you'll hang around. As I think I've mentioned, I grew up in and around the several grocery stores my father operated in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, primarily the original store at Burton Way and Doheny Drive. We delivered groceries and liquor all over the west-side and when I got my drivers license (1960) I was recruited to be the vacation relief and back-up driver. I vaguely remember the Bel Air Sands going in but I don't remember exactly when but sometime before I got my license. Here's a goofy publicity shot announcing the opening but it is not dated, but still interesting in a kitschy kind of a way. I remember a story that went around about this place in the old days. Someone pointed out to me there was virtually no sign on the exterior. From the freeway, you couldn't see a name of any kind. So, the story goes, the place was built by one of the big chains (Holiday Inn when I heard the story) and in a major faux pas they had failed to note Bel Air had a very strict sign ordinance and were going to be prohibited from having any substantial corporate signage. As this played against their hidebound branding culture the hotel was sold off (maybe even before it opened) to the Bel Air Sands interests. I have no way of knowing if it's a true story but I did hear it several times over the years (Holiday Inn was interchangeable with other chains in the retelling). I remember a murder there in maybe '62 or '63 but I think you might safely say that about any semi-high profile hotel.

BEL AIR SANDS HOTEL OPENING CHARLES COBURN & WEIBEL WINE

eBay

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

In this photograph of the Crocker Bank Tower construction, I've been trying to figure out what building is being demolished in the foreground.
As you can see there was a Lincoln Savings next door.



http://imageshack.com/i/e4constructionabcj

It looks like it was a fairly interesting building with arched windows.

That's the Univeristy Club of Los Angeles which stood at 614-622 Hope Street. There are some old pictures of the club in post #20363. Here's the demolition at a slightly earlier stage in a picture from 10/1/67.


Huntington Digital Library

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by HossC

That's the nine-story State of California Office Building at 107 South Broadway. It was designed by Stanton & Stockwell with Anson Boyd, and constructed between 1958 and 1960.

Thx, you're the best.

So this building was the annex to my lamented State of California Building diagonally across the street. I've always been a little annoyed that the current State of California Building is named after Reagan, but considering the former annex's name, I should count my blessings, something I sometimes forget to do.

[HossC]

I originally planned to post these pictures as a follow-up to my first post on the University Club. For some reason I never uploaded them. It was only when e_r posted the demolition picture earlier that I remembered them. The titles and dates are as they appear at HDL.

University Club. 10/15/65.


Huntington Digital Library

University Club, soon to go. 8/1/67.


Huntington Digital Library

University Club about to go. 9/1/67.


Huntington Digital Library

University Club coming down. 10/1/67.


Huntington Digital Library

Wilshire Boulevard and Hope Street. Sept 70


Huntington Digital Library

And finally, to bring things up-to-date, a Google Streetview image of the same corner.


GSV

[Ed Workman]

Originally Posted by KevinW

I don't know why this couldn't be Los Angeles. I'm assuming "cement is the clue", not "glue" was offered but there was plenty of cement in L.A. As for what these are doing in the middle of the street they're not. They are marking off a parking space. You can see the car parked in the space next to the cordoned off area. The streetcar is turning from a street dead ending into another.

Can't be all those places I listed in the west onnacounta none of the electric railways in the west had cars as shown in the photo, especially not Los Angeles.
Cement is powder, when mixed with water it glues aggregates {sand, rock of various sizes] into a material suitable for all that stuff concrete is good for.
If it were just cement and water it would be
a. expensive
b. not necessarily strong cuz it would shrink and crack, see a.

[Slauson Slim]

Friends:

While not LA Noir, have a look at this website - about The Sunset Strip, Hollywood and environs, music and club scene, and people, from the '60s. Fascinating, from the folks who were there, and interesting pictures.

Stuff about the Whisky, Pandora's Box, The Trip, Sea Witch, Body Shop, Largo, Classic Cat, Gazzari's, London Fog, etc., and musicians and music industry types, girlfriends, groupies, hangers-on, go-go dancers, strippers, and wannabees. And where-are-they now stuff.

You'll recognize lots of names.

Great first-hand LA history.

http://www.hollywoodhangover.com

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Ed Workman

Cement is powder, when mixed with water it glues aggregates {sand, rock of various sizes] into a material suitable for all that stuff concrete is good for.
If it were just cement and water it would be
a. expensive
b. not necessarily strong cuz it would shrink and crack, see a.

Thx, I couldn't get around to posting the recipe for concrete, so I'm glad you did. My contractor grandfather couldn't stand people referring to concrete as "cement". I gotta admit though, people do use the terms interchangeably. As long as they're not making the stuff, no harm done.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Slauson Slim

Stuff about the Whisky, Pandora's Box, The Trip, Sea Witch, Body Shop, Largo, Classic Cat, Gazzari's, London Fog, etc., and musicians and music industry types, girlfriends, groupies, hangers-on, go-go dancers, strippers, and wannabees. And where-are-they now stuff.

http://www.hollywoodhangover.com

Thanks for the link Slauson_Slim! Interesting indeed

Great slides of the University Club of Los Angeles HossC.
I always get it confused with the Athletic Club (of course that one is still standing).
_________



below: This 1931 photograph is currently on sale at eBay. I feel I should know this building, but I can't place it at the moment.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOS-ANGELES-...item2345f55a9d

reverse

[ethereal_reality]

I walked past this building practically every day when I lived in West Hollywood & had idea of its colorful past.



http://lantern.mediahist.org/?f%5Bco...nge_start=1911

Eugene Stark's Bohemian Café
8533 Santa Monica Blvd.

here's the building today

GSV





http://lantern.mediahist.org/?f%5Bco...nge_start=1911






and lastly.


http://lantern.mediahist.org/?f%5Bco...nge_start=1911

for search purposes:
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

[CityBoyDoug]

ER....The Bohemian Cafe looks like it was a cool place.

Back in 1959 Rockabilly singer Tommy Facenda recorded a series of popular songs about local high schools nationwide.
Here's his Los Angeles version... to play, click You Tube link:

https://youtu.be/aIaGA6k6E5Q


waybackattack