noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Tonight's episode, "Case of the 6 Missing Arched Windows".



A 'pristine' Bradbury Building, 304 N. Broadway at West 3rd Street.



http://www.glamamor.com/2012/01/out-...-building.html



The Bradbury Building in the 1950s.



http://www.glamamor.com/2012/01/out-...-building.html

Note that the six arched windows facing 3rd Street have been covered by signage.



Here's a closer look:


http://www.glamamor.com/2012/01/out-...-building.html



http://www.glamamor.com/2012/01/out-...-building.html
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Today, the plethora of signs are gone...but the 6 arched windows at street level remain missing.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradbury_Building


I thought the iconic Bradbury Building was pretty much unadulterated. So what happened to these six windows that so successfully mirrored the arched windows on the top floor?




gsv detail


Could there be visible evidence of the missing arched windows inside the Sprint store?

Flyingwedge, do you need a new phone?

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[GaylordWilshire]

credit

Have we seen this shot before? The sign at right appears to read "ARCADE"... was it behind the Arcade apartments once at 6061 Hollywood Blvd? Or outside of LA...a beach town? Santa Monica?

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Have we seen this shot before? The sign at right appears to read "ARCADE"... was it behind the Arcade apartments once at 6061 Hollywood Blvd? Or outside of LA...a beach town? Santa Monica?

Try Catalina Island. She lived there part of 1943 and into 1944. There's at least one other shot taken at the same location.

Cursum Perficio


Check this one out too


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Originally Posted by HossC

I found a 2011 article on blogdowntown.com titled A Thin Residential Conversion Proposed for Broadway. It reports that permits were filed to convert the top three floors of the "100-year-old structure" at 735 South Broadway into residential units. Does anyone know if this is what happened? .

It happened. See here, here and here


dlanc

Now the Rowley/Vail is 107-years-old.


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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Now back to the epicenter of 'Indian Alley', 118 Winston Street.


gsv

"Built in 1887, 118 Winston Street was one of L.A.'s premiere piano shops, a brothel, and the headquarters of a youth communist society and the International Labor Defense.
Sister Sylvia May Cresswell, once crowned 'Queen of Skid Row', ran her 'Soul Patrol' there during and after World War II. The building had a cameo in the film 'The Sting'."

"Then, starting in the 1970s, 118 Winston was the United American Indian Involvement Center, opened to provide a safe place for American Indians to clean up, get a hot meal, and escape the harassment they encountered."

"Since the center moved in 2000, the building has housed a yoga studio, art gallery and residence."

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Recall that Parkinson's Canadian Building (on the right in the photo above) replaced the old Federal Building/Post Office. In a photo in Flyingwedge's terrific post on that site, one can just catch a glimpse of 118 Winston:

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This is looking SE at the United States Government Building at the SE corner of Main and Winston, between 4th and 5th. It housed Federal courtrooms upstairs and the Post Office downstairs. Some sources, including the caption to this photo, say it opened in June 1893, but other sources say 1890:

LAPL -- http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018592.jpg

Looks as though it may have gained some height at some point (?):

lapl (detail)

(There were also some "The Sting" scenes filmed in that maze of alleys in the block bound by Union/Colorado & DeLacey/Fair Oaks (next to the Forever 21 block) out in Pasadena)


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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A 'pristine' Bradbury Building, 304 N. Broadway at West 3rd Street.

Pity the gallery above the cornice never got replaced. You think it's lying in pieces on the roof? Maybe MR would like to check?

Nothing to see here:

lapl / cc pierce (detail)

[Flyingwedge]

It required only from July 16 to September 6, 1885, to construct -- if not furnish -- the first home of the Boyle Heights Presbyterian Church:

December 25, 1886 Los Angeles Herald @ Library of Congress -- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...rRange&page=26

Here's the building on the 1894 Sanborn, on the east side of Chicago Street between East 1st Street and Michigan Avenue:

LAPL

According to a December 30, 1895, Los Angeles Times article that described the opening of the new Boyle Heights Presbyterian Church the
previous day, "The new church is built onto the old one, which is separated from it by sliding oaken panels, and used for a Sunday-school and class-
rooms." Here's the church on the 1906 Sanborn; apparently the old church was moved back and the new church built in front. The building on the left is
the church parsonage at 122 N. Chicago:

LAPL

The 1895 Boyle Heights Presbyterian Church, with the shaded parsonage next door. The church's cornerstone was laid on September 2, 1895, by
Mrs. Elizabeth Hollenbeck, who apparently put up a lot of the money for the church:

Beautiful Highlands of Los Angeles @ Hathitrust -- http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...iew=1up;seq=46

LAPL says this is an 1895 photo of the church and parsonage. The rear part of the church that we see may be the 1885 building:

LAPL -- http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics03/00011186.jpg

The parsonage, for which LA County gives an 1890/95 build date, looks to be in rather bad shape:

May 2014 GSV

I'm not sure when it stopped being the BHPC; some googling indicates it might not be Iglesia Bautista Unida anymore:

May 2014 GSV

# # #

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Tonight's episode, "Case of the 6 Missing Arched Windows".

Could there be visible evidence of the missing arched windows inside the Sprint store?

Flyingwedge, do you need a new phone?

__

You're going to jinx me!

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

MR

Please see below and GW's post right after your reply. Yep, it was Ms. Eggar and it was 1973. 1981 with Kathleen Turner would have been Body Heat, which is a lot more memorable!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070000/...f_=tt_ov_st_sm

My apologies. (But a TV movie? Does that count as having been 'remade'?)

[HossC]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

credit

Have we seen this shot before? The sign at right appears to read "ARCADE"... was it behind the Arcade apartments once at 6061 Hollywood Blvd? Or outside of LA...a beach town? Santa Monica?

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Try Catalina Island. She lived there part of 1943 and into 1944.

Someone on reddit.com was also tryng to figure out where this picture was taken. From the replies, it appears that the building on the right is the Atwater Arcade (below) on Catalina (as tovangar2 indicated). The Googlemobile hasn't visited Catalina yet, but the same reply gives the address in the photograph as "approximately 119 Sumner Ave".


Miss Shari on Flickr


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Thanks for the infomation and links about the Rowley/Vail, tovangar2. When the la.curbed article said the building "features a very handsome backside", I thought I'd clicked on a link to the Athletic Model Guild .

[ethereal_reality]

I came across this photograph last night on eBay.

'mystery' location.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOS-ANGELES-...item25a54b97b7

An especially large intersection.

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[ethereal_reality]

I love this gothic-revival church Flyingwedge. Thanks for the great post!


gsv
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[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' location #2.

The seller believes this is somewhere in Hollywood. The date is Dec. 29, 1952.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-SLI...item43dbac4715



I found this dude's boots.

http://circusnospin.blogspot.com/201...8_archive.html

They belong to Montie Montana.

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[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

My apologies. (But a TV movie? Does that count as having been 'remade'?)

Oh heavens, no apology necessary! And you're right, "remake" may not be the right word. A few years ago I bought a DVD of the original and it came with the 1973 version free. I could only watch the first 20 or 30 minutes. I think the house where Neff meets Phyllis for the first time was the high water mark of the movie. Some things should be left well enough alone

[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' location #3.

This biggest clue here is Art's Hot Dog Stand.----> far right.


eBay

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[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by HossC

Miss Shari on Flickr

That's it. A perfect match with the second photo:

pinterest (detail)

Thx

P.S. Current shops at the Atwater Arcade are listed here

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

The important item in this scene are those SOFTASILK cake flour boxes. The contrast is obviously noted and seen. Betty Crocker is so pure and wholesome, in contrast to Phyllis Dietrichson . Billy Wilder was always so clever with the symbolism.



noir106

Note also the Gerber baby between Fred and the flour boxes. To Fred's left, symbols of innocence and domesticity. To his right, the embodiment of carnality and evil.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location #2.

The seller believes this is somewhere in Hollywood. The date is Dec. 29, 1952.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-SLI...item43dbac4715

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Maybe Santa Monica Blvd at Westwood Blvd:

Originally Posted by tovangar2

The P.E. Red Car stop at Santa Monica and Westwood Blvds, 1941, looking west:
(the Pontiac dealership on the left is now a Cost Plus)

ucla libary - digital collection

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

I'm not sure when it stopped being the BHPC; some googling indicates it might not be Iglesia Bautista Unida anymore:

Loopnet says the 1885 church at 132 N Chicago belongs to "United Mexican Baptist Ch Inc" since 4/29/2011 and is tenanted by "United Baptist Church, East Los Angeles Barrio". Zillow says the 1890 parsonage is 5bd/2ba.

Nice post. Thanks.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location #2.

The seller believes this is somewhere in Hollywood. The date is Dec. 29, 1952.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-SLI...item43dbac4715

Lankershim and Chandler... North Hollywood. The picture below was taken slightly to the left of the one above, aiming more toward the right:


uncanny.net

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

That's a good point. It may have something to do with that era....1944. A lot of people were hoping to get married in those days. Wedding rings were selling like hotcakes.

Alan Ladd was another who refused to remove his wedding ring for a role. He had a collection of fake jewels and insignia and such to clip onto it when was in an unmarried role. Still wore it in his last role, as Nevada Smith in "The Carpetbaggers."

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

Note also the Gerber baby between Fred and the flour boxes. To Fred's left, symbols of innocence and domesticity. To his right, the embodiment of carnality and evil.

You are very correct John. To her right in the screen version of this photo we see the sign BABY FOOD. Was the food safe to eat after this scene?

John Maddox Roberts writes: Alan Ladd was another who refused to remove his wedding ring for a role. He had a collection of fake jewels and insignia and such to clip onto it when was in an unmarried role. Still wore it in his last role, as Nevada Smith in "The Carpetbaggers."

I wasn't aware of that. I would suspect that there were others also. Hollywood has some strange fetishes.

Remember that Hollywood was founded in the 1890s on the principals of clean living, sobriety and the Bible. Then came the movies and things changed....a lot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The seller believes this is somewhere in Hollywood. The date is Dec. 29, 1952.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-SLI...item43dbac4715

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Lankershim and Chandler... North Hollywood.

That ties in nicely with this promotional yardstick I found advertising Huffaker's Auto Parts. The store was at 5406 Lankershim Boulevard.


eBay

It looks like the owner of the store had another claim to fame. Whitley Van Nuys Huffaker was the first baby born in Van Nuys. This article is from the October 19, 1972 edition of Valley News from Van Nuys.


www.newspapers.com

I had a look for their original house at Sylmar and Sylvan, but I couldn't find it. That may be due to new Google Maps being horrendous to use compared to the classic version in terms of speed, features and interface! I'd use Bing Maps if their StreetSide images weren't such poor quality.


www.newspapers.com

The LA Times also ran an article about Whitley Van Nuys Huffaker in 1989 - it's titled The Valley Yesteryear : Whitley Van Nuys Huffaker: Van Nuys' firstborn.

[Martin Pal]

Just a thought about MacMurray's ring in Double Indemnity: Perhaps the insurance boys would wear them to discourage the women they dealt with? Though, why would they and it didn't work in this case anyway. Heh!
___

As for James M. Cain novels, does anyone have any opinion of them? I do.
I've read three of them: Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice
and Mildred Pierce. Cain has a lot of good ideas, but I feel his writing leaves
a lot to be desired. ALL of the films based on his books are way better than
slogging through his pulp prose.