I love this postcard; all of the neon and the bustle...I wish someone would hurry up with a time travel machine.

So the Pacific Theater on the right (I assume the Cinerama sign is covering the sign on the marquee) is a church now. Any of you Angelenos been in it? What shape is it in?

Thanks all and keep up the great work.

Probably because it was cheaper than filming in Italy and this scene may have been a last-minute addition to the script. It comes after the climactic battle and in the scene, Crassus (Olivier) is telling Batiatus (Ustinov) that there will be no survivors to sell as slaves. I'll have to go look at my DVD of the movie again to see who well they cut the freeway out of the frame.

Fox Stadium Theater
 

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/1941/foxstadium1.jpg 1931
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7...xstadium4a.jpg 1938
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3961/foxstadium3a.jpg 1951
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/1507/stadium4.jpg 2011


It looks like architect Carl Boller was doing his own version of Bullocks-Wilshire here... 8906 West Pico....

oops....I meant to type Barker Bros.

below: Barker Brothers in the El Capitan Theater building. You can actually see the showroom windows. Pretty cool huh.
The entrance to the El Capitan Theater is on the opposite end of the building.

http://imageshack.us/a/img59/6251/ba...apitanthea.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/




below: You can barely make out the 'Barker Bros. Hollywood' sign on the El Capitan Theater Building.
This view was probably taken from the top of the Roosevelt Hotel.

http://imageshack.us/a/img854/8030/b...shollywood.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/




below: Here is a better view of the 'Barker Bros. Hollywood' sign on the west side of the El Capitan Theater building.
There is also another sign facing east that I hadn't noticed before. If you look closely you can see the metal tower atop the building.


http://imageshack.us/a/img801/6429/b...apitancolo.jpg
found on ebay



below: In 1942 the spanish revival style theater entrance was modernized and reopened as the Hollywood Paramount.

http://imageshack.us/a/img576/103/ba...lcapitanwa.jpg
http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...rolNumber=3478


There was also an El Capitan Theater at 1735 Vine Street. Today it is known as the 'Avalon Hollywood' Theater.
The El Capitan on Hollywood Bvld. is once again the El Capitan. It can all get a little confusing.

____

Bunker Hill serves as an unlikely backdrop for a 1965 fashion shoot:

http://latimesphoto.files.wordpress....oncombo970.jpg

[source: Los Angeles Times]

This was for sale on ebay.

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/8471/aahuge1962ebay.jpg

I should know, but what is the almost windowless building to the right of the Hall of Justice and Hall of Records?

Here's the view from City Hall. Kind of blocked by the Hall of Justice but isn't that the building at the top of that hill?

http://www.latimes.com/includes/soun...y_hall/03a.jpg
1951 Ellis R. Bosworth / Associated Press

:previous:

KevinW/e_r: That's the old Central Junior High School--

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/7958/cjhstop.jpghttp://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4567/cjhsbottom.jpg
Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1936


e_r: What you're seeing to the right of the Hall of Justice is the north wall of the school's auditorium.

:previous: Thanks guys, that explains it. I was confused by the lack of windows.
___

Here is an impressive photograph of the Hall of Justice I found while searching for the identity of the Central Junior High School (thx again G_W).


http://imageshack.us/a/img833/2232/a...usticeblog.jpg
http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/

above: The sheer size of this building tells me that there must have been a light court in the center. Does anyone know?
I'm going to dig up some aerials and see what I can find out.







below: I've never noticed this building 'squeezed' between the Hall of Justice and the tunnel.

http://imageshack.us/a/img443/2598/a...sticeblog2.jpg
calisphere detail

I also learned today that the massive Hall of Justice Building sits empty. I thought there was still activity in the building. Built in 1925,
the Hall of Justice was red tagged after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.



below: A haunting photograph of the sleeping behemoth.

http://imageshack.us/a/img17/1830/aa...cefotobysc.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slh_pho...09/5147871790/

___

I leave for a few days and wow! i lived down the street from the stadium thatre and ive always known it as a jewish temple,kinda close to it was a very nice gingerbread 2 story building that housed david pharmacy,i think it was on robertson.it got damaged real bad in the northridge quake and they tore it down.as far as the hall of justice,i was in downtown la 2 weeks ago and i saw heavy construction on the place,i read somewhere maybe ladowntownnew.com that they were restoring the building for mix use.
so yes it is empty but it wont be for long

Just to add a couple notes to these photos:

The house in the left photo was located at 241 S. Bunker Hill Ave. The photo below from 1957 also shows the Earl-Cliff Hotel which had been next door:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg864...pg&res=landing
LAPL

Behind the model, you can also see the DWP building and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.


The house in the right photo was the ill fated "Salt Box", located at 339 S. Bunker Hill Ave. The "Salt Box" was moved to Heritage Square
in 1969 and subsequently burned down by vandals.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg714...pg&res=landing
LAPL

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg688...pg&res=landing
LAPL

Also, Bunker Hill Avenue no longer exists.

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;5656225]Here is an impressive photograph of the Hall of Justice I found while searching for the identity of the Central Junior High School (thx again G_W).


http://imageshack.us/a/img833/2232/a...usticeblog.jpg
http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/

above: The sheer size of this building tells me that there must have been a light court in the center. Does anyone know?
I'm going to dig up some aerials and see what I can find out.

Ethereal_Reality:

You are correct about the light court:

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7...lofjustice.jpg
Google Maps

By the way, they are actually restoring the place! :banana:

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_18679047?source=rss

:previous: Hey FredH, thanks for the aerial of the Hall of Justice. It looks like there are two light courts!
From the outside it looks like a massive solid cube. We often forget about the dynamics of a building, especially one that was built in 1925.

I'm so pleased that they are retrofitting the building.

___

Wow. In the photo at left, I think they are pretty much in the middle of current day Disney Hall. (They may be a bit south) Whenever I go there, I imagine Bunker Hill Ave running thru the place.

I've always liked the idea of the corner drugstore. The 1927 city directory lists over 590 such places in Los Angeles that year, not counting the large retail chains like Owl or the Court Drug Co. Here are four pharmacies that operated over the years, chosen because the buildings still exist although the last sodas have long since been jerked.

First is Mr. Alphonso Bley's store, located at 936 W. 23rd st. These black and whites were taken in 1895

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/3020/bleys.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Mr.Bley with the stogies

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/884/mrbley.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

No soda fountain here, but it looks like he could fill any script you could bring in

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/6890/bley3.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Bley lived here at 126 S. Westlake Ave.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/913...6swestlake.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Alphonso's store today

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/3605/bleys2012.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Next is Aquila's at 700 N. Broadway. He ran this as the Union bar before prohibition. According to the city directory, the family lived above the store. That's Joseph Aquila behind the soda counter.

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/1...a7broadway.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Aquil's today:

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/585/aquila2012.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Here is Nathan Simon's Sureway Pharmacy located at 8539 South Vermont

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/944/surewaydrug.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Inside
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/2782/surewayint.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

And Today:
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/5268/surewayb.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

This last one is Sontag Drugs located at Whilshire and Cloverdale:
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/5908/sontag1939b.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Today:
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/8250/sontag2012.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
All B and W photo's LAPL. Color, Google maps

Great photo's of the Hall of Justice. Lots of history took place in that building, I'm glad it's being saved. For all the drama that the building has witnessed over the years, it hasn't been without a few humorous moments.

One night in 1974 two inmates kicked off the lock on a door leading up to the roof. They found a roll of heavy electrical cord and used it to decend the side of the building. The problem was the cord only reached as far as the tenth floor ledge. They were discovered around 1 a.m. sitting on the ledge in about 14 inches of pigeon dung.
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/8181/00042924.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Of course the inmates probably didn't see the humor of it right away, if at all.
Photo LAPL

Wonderful posts Mayor Shaw! I love the drugstores. It's great that the buildings are still there....lots of history within those walls.
I'm out of town for a few days...see you all when I get back.

Breaking the current lull in posts, I'd like to thank everybody here who has contributed to 'noirish Los Angeles'. There has never been anything exactly like it on the internet and for me it's as important and vital as it is enjoyable. A major contribution and salute to Los Angeles history.
I'm very appreciative for the dedication, time, energy, personal memories, obsessions and detective work that goes into making this happen. Rest assured that more people are following, learning and enjoying than are posting.

...and we ain't even done yet!

[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/095.jpg[/IMG]

I hope i did it right,here is a photo of the bullocks wilshire lobby christmas 1945. I found it in my grandmothers things,she worked for Kate Winnet Candy,who's dad was one of the founders of Bullocks and whos husband became the president in the early 50s,if this works ill upload more on the Candy's


Photo by Me

great it works! ok so here is Mrs Candy with the hat and my Grandmother at her "Beeach House" we have all the keys to the house still which im not sure where it is,or if the spelling is right.

[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/037.jpg[/IMG]

This photo is of Mr Winnet(her dad) and Mrs Candy,sometime after the sale of Bullocks to Federate
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/045.jpg[/IMG]

and here is Granny and the butler.Her role was as the executive housekeeper,which meant she was in charge of the staff of 12 for the candys 3 houses,they had a house at 1111 san vincente bl in santa monica,a high rise on wilshire,and the beeach house.
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/032.jpg[/IMG]

she was also in charge of going "shopping" with Mrs Candy,keeping Mrs Candy to 3 drinks a day,Vacationing with her...pretty much a paid friend.

photos by me

Since im on a roll...not really norish but here is The Sheen family,my dad is the only boy singer(he later became a member of The Robins,The Coasters and was in the Phil Spector Group Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans),my aunts and lassie are with him too(1948).This was taken in front of the family house at 2642 Kenwood Ave,the Pontiac was grannys first car,she didnt know how to drive but the Candys paid well,so she and my aunt Dolores took the yellow line to Felix Motors,and she paid for the woody in cash and drove it back to the house,Granddad was a doctor so he only drove Cadillacs(in the second picture notice the plate topper with the MD logo)
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/033.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/057.jpg[/IMG]

1947

photos by me

ok honest last photos,but kenwood was such a great street,these are all from the late 40s.The Mills Brothers,Nat King Cole,and many other artist lived in the area and did alot of fundraising for my grandfather who was one of the few black doctors to own his own practice,dad did shows with Marylin McCoo when they were kids way before she joined the 5th Dimension.
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/056.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/048.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/026.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/051.jpg[/IMG]

photos by me

Great posts the last few days!

unihikid, those are really great photos! Vintage photos are one thing, but personal family photos of life in Los Angeles are really very special. Thanks for sharing them!

Yes, amazing stuff, thanks!

unihikid:

Wow! Great pictures, great stories, and great cars!

You must have been very proud of your grandfather, grandmother, and your dad. They all accomplished a great deal in very different fields.
I see your dad sang under the name Bobby Sheen. Great career. Here is a website which lists his professional history. Sorry to see he died so young.

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Bobby%20Sheen.html


And check out this youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLYSdxibf6Y


By the way, your old house on Kenwood still looks pretty good.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg402...pg&res=landing
Google Street View

Mayor Shaw, I greatly enjoyed your corner drugstore photos, especially Sontag Drugs. I pass by that building daily and enjoy the fact that a little art deco architecture survives at the east end of the Miracle Mile. I've long been baffled by the large empty recessed area at the front; now I know it was designed to showcase a large sign.

I also want to say kudos to unihikid for your posts! We don't often see personal family photos showcasing vintage Los Angeles here, and I'm always grateful when they do show up. I think they bring Los Angeles history alive in a very immediate and satisfying way. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Thanks everyone, dad was a great guy and we miss him.Here is a dinner at cliftons,im pretty sure its the one on broadway,this looks to be around 1947
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/085.jpg[/IMG]

Unihikid, you are posting some great pictures. Please keep it coming. Thanks.

Did a search and didn't find this photo so thought I'd post it since it was in
the paper about a week ago. It's part of an exhibition of photos by Pedro E.
Guerrero, who was Frank Lloyd Wright's personal photographer, that runs
April 5 to 25 at Woodbury University Hollywood Gallery, 6518 Hollywood Blvd.

George Sturges House
449 N. Skyewiay Rd
Brentwood
Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
built 1939
L.A. Historic Cultural Monument #577

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...45dd969970b-pi
Pedro E. Guerrero, 1947
Silver gelatin print courtesy Edward Cella Art + Architecture.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home...tographer.html

The house is currently privately owned by Jack Larson, who played the reporter
Jimmy Olsen in the TV series The Adventures of Superman.

will do,:banana: here are shots of the various parties in the back yard of kenwood[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/054.jpg[/IMG] my aunt dolores is on the right

[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/087.jpg[/IMG] granny in the grey dress,and aunt eugenia in the yellow

[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/058.jpg[/IMG] and aunt mildred aunt eugenia and granny getting ready for some party

i just love mid 50s color shots so here are a couple in front of kenwood
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/002.jpg[/IMG] aunt mildred holding my cousin trena, dad talking to cousin tony and the bowtie outfit is my uncles first wife,i want to figure out what kind of red convertable that is

[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Candy/028.jpg[/IMG] dinner on me at little joes to the person who figures out where the "Beeach" house was,granny is with aunt dolores at the candys house in 1961,hopefully the mountain range will help

now that i think about it lets make it dinner at little joes and coffee at ships,we went to ships on lacienega and olympic on my 10th birthday and the only thing i remember about it was i had the chance to toast my own toast at the table,they had toasters at every table which i thought was super cool.

Really nice personal pics, thanks so much!

thanks steve,i think i sold a couple of predictas to you and a rca flip top b/w tv set along time ago(the one that looks like a coffee table)

Love this picture! I have a book about Bullock's-Wilshire. It was past its prime when I moved to L.A., so I never got to see the interior - great regret.

Say E.R.-- building squeezed in next to Broadway Tunnel was the Alhambra Hotel- see the image on LAPL site where it got moved across the street prior to Justice Bldng's existence--using horses!

I've never owned a Predicta but I do have an RCA Flip Top that I bought from another Steve (lives in Ventura area). You might have sold it to him and he to me! It's in my living room.

i think he (the other steve) told me the same thing,i found it at Nicks Metropolis on LaBrea and the only thing wrong with it was the cord was getting worn down,but it worked just fine,i hope your enjoying it.

I am enjoying it. It's a real conversation stopper. I ask people to try and guess what it is. When I open the thing and the TV comes out on springs, jaws drop open. Steve fixed it up so it works like the day it was made.

Here is a picture of the Alhambra Hotel. According to LAPL it was shot in 1923.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb1/00017403.jpg LAPL

The Alhambra Hotel is moved across the street by the Kress House Moving Co. A sign explains the move. The hotel was 6 stories high, and weighed 11,000 tons.

I couldn't tease anything out of the sign at this resolution.

Hi All!

I stumbled upon your page recently while doing some research and have been thoroughly enjoying making my way through the (now) 360 pages of it (you were at 354 when I started). I wanted to thank you for all the amazing images you’ve posted, and plan to keep visiting regularly in the future. I’ll admit that I haven’t had time to read all your conversations yet, but I’ve bookmarked a few dozen pages that I want to re-visit as soon as I can. While it is disappointing to know that so much of Los Angeles’ architectural legacy has been torn down, it’s equally wonderful to see both a then AND now picture.

As part of my introduction of myself, I thought I’d also tell you a bit about the project some friends and I are working on -- tracking down and mapping all the filming locations of the 1980’s CBS TV show “Scarecrow and Mrs. King”. In many ways it’s a much more narrow focus than you have here, but we also get to identify the sprinkling of footage from D.C. and stock footage from various times and places. We’ve found more than 300 locations now, with lots more left to find. Once we get the 4th and final season on DVD (presumably next March) we should be able to locate everything, just in time for the show’s 30th Anniversary in October 2013. That’s the plan, anyway. ;)

SMK did quite a bit of filming in Hancock Park, at Griffith Park, and down by the Santa Fe train yards/warehouses/bridges, along with visiting numerous places surrounding Los Angeles (they liked Marina Del Rey and Pasadena, in particular). Once we’ve got S4 we’ll have some nice interior shots of The Biltmore and an episode that featured Chinatown as well. Yes, lots of variety. :) If you’d like to see our full Filming Locations thread, here’s the link (we’re only on page 31): http://scarecrowandmrskingforum.yuku...1#.T33Zi47lXbk

Many of the locations SMK used you have already discussed here, and I thought you might like some mid-80’s reference images to add to the collection. So I’ll post some screencaps with the episode titles and original airdates…starting with a couple that are no longer with us….


Perino’s

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...m/Perinos1.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...adiesRoom1.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...adiesRoom2.jpg
:previous:“Service Above and Beyond” (Nov. 21, 1983)


http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...nos_lobby1.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...nos_lobby2.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...m/Perinos2.jpg
:previous:“Welcome to America, Mr. Brand” (Oct. 21, 1985)


The Ambassador Hotel

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...mbassador4.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...mbassador5.jpg
:previous:“The Triumverate” (Feb. 10, 1986)

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...mbassador2.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...mbassador3.jpg
:previous:“Dead Men Leave No Trails” (Mar. 31, 1986)

All credits for the images go to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. :)

unihikid, I really enjoyed your recent posts -- especially this photo inside Cliftons. What a great looking family, and it's nice to get an inside look at Cliftons from back then. Thanks for joining the thread!

I dug up an L.A. Times article from March 25, 1923 that talks about moving buildings in general and has a lot of details about the Alhambra Hotel move. Resolution isn't the best, but there's a lot of interesting info, if you read through it.

http://wwww.dkse.net/david/Moving/Ambassador.move.1.jpg

http://wwww.dkse.net/david/Moving/Ambassador.move.2.jpg

thanks david,we had one of the south seas,they were at a long table,im trying to find that one,but i love this pic too,esp the color or lack there off lol. l-r aunt mildred,aunt eugenia,granny,aunt dolores(birthday girl),dad,and papa.this was right before my uncle who is not pictured found my grandfather making out with my grandmothers half sister....they divorced in 1953.Also papas(granddad) first wife was zora neale hurston.

I found the original Times article that accompanied this photo, dated March 14, 1951. Was really glad to find it, as I have been wondering just what the story was behind this odd photo. Though the backup itself is not seen in the image, this was biggest traffic jam in L.A. to date, according to the article.

http://wwww.dkse.net/david/Moving/Cahuenga.move.jpg
http://www.latimes.com/

I love the clothes your family is wearing, especially the women. It is so picture perfect early to mid 1950s. That was when I grew up and I remember when women took the time and trouble to dress so neatly in such pretty clothes. I guess that is not likely to happen again any time soon.

Thanks to WS1911 here are some pictures of the Alhambra Hotel shortly after it decided to move around LA.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-36546?v=hr USC Digital Library

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-43832?v=hr USC Digital Library

Photograph of an birdseye view of the Alhambra Hotel after it was moved, 1924. The six-story hotel can be seen in the background and rests on a series of metal girders. In the foreground, workers can be seen near where the hotel used to be. Utility wires can be seen at right. A sign on the bottom story of the hotel reads: "This 6-story re-enforced concrete building 60 x 123 feet, weighing 11,000 tons - was moved 130 feet sideways by the Kress House Moving Company of Los Angeles."

I don't recall these pictures of City Hall (Oops, lousy memory, we had visited this photos last in 2009, time for a revisit):

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-31220?v=hr USC Digital Library

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-36632?v=hr USC Digital Library

Photograph of an exterior view of Los Angeles City Hall under construction, showing framework for the entire building, 1928. City Hall sits at center, with all but its lowest stories defined by an open framework of beams. A white facade has been applied to the ground level of the building, as well as to portions of the right side. Other buildings of downtown can be seen in the foreground and to the left, including the "Bank of Italy. International Branch" and the "[L]os Angeles [Dai]ly Journal".