Given my fascination with vanished Los Angeles movie palaces, I just had to go looking for more on the Figueroa Theater. Here are some interior photos from the LAPL site. They are dated 1945.

Lobby
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/525...eaterlobby.jpg

Mezzanine
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/9...ueroatheat.jpg

Auditorium
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/3...erauditori.jpg
All images LAPL


~Jon Paul

the maier brewery was on aliso. it is on the right, (out of view), and slightly to the west of the gasometer in the photograh

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics27/00048043.jpg
Source: LAPL

Ahh.......you beat me to it on the color pics, ER! LOL

I found Wetzel's site a couple days ago.......Gotta be fast around here!

Anyway......I seem to recall the Hotel Coliseum still standing around 1970. We'd come down to see a Ram game every few years, and even as a gradeschooler I was enamored with 5-story brick buildings and fire escapes......the type of thing you'd see in old movies but didn't have any of in my little town. So I would notice.

Wonder when they brought it down? When they widened the Harbor Freeway perhaps? The replacement (no surprise) is the dreaded 2-story L-shaped mini mall. Checked it out on Google Earth. The tenant list is also unsurprising. I ask only: How many nails need be done? How many donuts eaten? How many checks cashed?

Yes.....those SIGNS......

Can you imagine standing at the corner of Fig and Santa Barbara one night and looking up and seeing that giant sign in the sky all lit up!

Happy Thanksgiving to All
 

A card from 1908

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8594/postcard59f.jpg
personal collection

My Mom was enjoying the pictures of the Fox Figueroa Theater and recalled that her family would go there often. She says there was a man that was outside dressed in white with white gloves and he sold taffy. She says the taffy was very good. Thanks for the pictures.
JoeW

My old auto buff pal Ray told me these Dodge models referred to as " doctor's cars" as they would make housecalls with them- a very budget concious clientele of the time - no passenger seats worked just fine for this sole purpose..

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W...2520AM.bmp.jpgIMCDB
Speaking of '37 Dodge coupes, here's one--or possibly a '36--in the movie Cadillac Records of
2008 (at lower right). At first I thought that this movie must have had incredible art direction,
but then I realize that this has to be a vintage clip used in the movie. The streetlamps, the
semaphore, the streetcar tracks.... Or is it some sort of composite? Could the building line
down the east side of Main, including the Regent Theater, really be as intact as it appears to
be? The movie is set in Chicago, but in actuality we're looking south from Main and Winston in L.A.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-k...inwinston2.jpgGoogle Street View


Back to cars for a minute... the caption for this pic says it's Ginger Rogers posing with a new '36 Dodge coupe--not
sure it's her--but, anyway, the horn housings below the headlights seem to be one thing that distinguishes
the '36 from the '37.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d1ohhnWDPs...n-1937_opt.jpgCaught at the Curb


And as far as business coupes go, these were generally coupes that were marketed to traveling salesmen (or doctors)
in which the rear seat was removed, often replaced with a flat shelf for sample cases, etc. My favorites were the
Chrysler Corp. coupes with trunks that were longer than their hoods. I know that Ford was offering a business coupe as late as 1960.

That's a great thing for your Mom to remember after all these years. Everything was so civilized back then.

Did anyone mention yet that it has beatniks in it? Beatniks, I mean to say! Which in the world of early '60s television and film melodrama, meant jive talking thugs who liked a jazz soundtrack while spitting in the eye of contemporary values and victimizing the defenseless.

Yes, it's got some camp to it.

It looks like a 36 Studebaker they have a straight chrome molding on the side of the hood the grille matches and rad hood ornament,check the web site to be sure have a good day nice picture.

:previous: ooh la la.....now we're talking.

Cherie's was located on the 2nd floor of this beautiful building.

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/7...r6560holly.jpg
google street view


I wonder where residence GLadstone 9034 was? Is there a way to figure out a location by an old phone number?

Hey Larry,

Whilst they do have a great deal of similar ovreall design features, those are definitely 36 Dodges in the earlier posts.

1936-37 Studies were discussed way back in post #2709 on this thread and the most immediately discernable difference from Dodge is the split windshield and, our favorite design element, the batwing rear window!

1936 Studebaker
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/1684/36studie.jpg

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

~Jon Paul

It's so great that the little Hollywoodland Realty Co. cottage has survived all these years.


below: You can see it just inside the Hollywoodland gates on Beachwood Canyon Drive, circa 1923.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/153...ondrive192.jpg
LAPL




below: The quaint little cottage as it appears today.

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/1...ltycottage.jpg
google street view



below: Here's another 1923 photo of the gate, this time with the investors (and an even better view of the Hollywoodland Realty Co. office)


http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/800...onhollywoo.jpg
LAPL




below: The stone gate/entryway to 'Hollywoodland' still stands as well.

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/9...ondriveloo.jpg
google street view





below: I had forgotten that there was a clock on the reverse side of the gate. Why not both sides I wonder?
Perhaps they thought that time was more important for the commuters rushing off to work....less so on their return to their homes (and wives)

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/566...ondrivehol.jpg
google street view

There is also this attractive building just inside the gate on the west side (you can see the Hollywoodland gate portal to the left)
Next to this building around the bend is a small market with a modern facade (a portion of it is visible behind that old street light)

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2...idethegate.jpg
google street view





below: Next to the Hollywoodland Realty Co. cottage is this second cottage probably built at the same time but out of view in the 1923 photographs.


http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3...ttageneigh.jpg
google street view

The Hollywood Hills before the homes.


below: Road Building

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3...oadbuildin.jpg
LAPL






below: Two starlets helping to publicize the Hollywoodland Real Estate venture (notice the Hollywoodland sign)


http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9...arletsover.jpg
LAPL





http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9...arletsover.jpg
LAPL

Does anyone recognize these two steam-shovel nymphs?

The question came up as to why Fred McMurry was wearing a wedding ring in Double I. It was an error that wasn't discovered untill later so Wilder just let it ride.

Just came back from seeing "The Artist." Great film! I recommend it.

It's a French production, but shot entirely in Los Angeles, set in the period 1927-1932, is in black-and-white, and is a silent film. It was the darling of this year's Cannes Film Festival, and there's speculation that it might be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. If it is, it would be the first silent film to be nominated for Best Picture since 1928's "The Patriot."

They shot scenes in the Orpheum Theatre, the Bradbury Building, various Hollywood backlots, and from what I've read, they even used Mary Pickford's first mansion.

Here's the trailer:
• Video Link

A few screenshots from "The Artist" etc
 

:previous:



https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n...2520AM.bmp.jpgyoutube.com
This location is no mystery

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9...2520AM.bmp.jpgyoutube.com
This appears to have been shot in Fremont Place, though the house seen is not #56, the one
Mary Pickford and her mother rented at one time. Charlotte Pickford also apparently owned #129 Fremont Place:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-B...2520AM.bmp.jpgParadise Leased

#126 now:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...2520AM.bmp.jpgGoogle Earth

#56:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m...2520AM.bmp.jpgHouses of Hancock Park

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...2520AM.bmp.jpgyoutube.com
I'm thinking this is a set...can't think of an old L.A. theater that looks like this, can you? The
La Reina Theater on Ventura certainly doesn't....

:previous:
There were plenty of shots in the film where it looks like they used backlot sets, the "La Reina Theatre" being one of them.

I like that you posted pics of #56 and #126 Fremont Place, because I think they used both houses in "The Artist," one depicting the lead actor's house, the other being the lead actress'.

The film itself is basically the storyline of "A Star is Born." And it's not entirely silent; obviously there's a score, mostly original, and I say that because they use a borrowed one from another film--I won't give away which one, but I recognized it immediately. But near the very end, you hear a little bit of dialogue, which I thought was a cool, symbolic effect. It has a very Hollywood ending, and I really thought it was a nice homage to old, old Hollywood.

The Guardian Arms at 5217 Hollywood Boulevard.


http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/7...pt5217holl.jpg
LAPL






below: Today the graceful arches on the ground floor are gone. The small building to the left suffered a similar fate.


http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/530...dianarmsd1.jpg
google street view






http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/7...pt5217holl.jpg
google street view

:previous:

And for 12 days in 1946, in room 726, lived... LAKompany

In spite of LAKompany's address confusion--with its odd-numbered address, Hunley's was obviously down the street from the Guardian Arms, not across the street--having never heard of it, I thought I'd post a picture of the theater:

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014705.jpgLAPL

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...2520dahlia.jpgAmoeba

Rip off trade school
 

.

Oh that's an amazing photos...I've always dreamed of coming to this place..I have a cousin who is living here..

A couple photos from 1965 of the old Hall of Records building.


http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/8...in1965bylo.jpg
Lou Mack








http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/843...in1965bylo.jpg
Lou Mack

:previous:

e_r: I love that the beehives mimic the peaks of the wings of the Hall of Records building...

Check out these cool rides on the Pasadena Freeway/Arroyo Seco Parkway:
• Video Link

Freeways; yes, freeways are the solution. :-P
• Video Link

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...2520AM.bmp.jpgfanpop

There is an amusing new blog, apparently inspired, in part, by our work here and devoted to a single house: 21chesterplace.com

Go to a reference library (typically the main branch, not a neighbourhood library) and ask for the City Directory for the year that you think applies. Use the reverse phone number look-up table that the City Directory had. Libraries often keep many years of City Directories so you can look up occupants, etc., of locations years ago. Now that we are all so privacy-concerned the City Directories are no longer made - at least here where I live in Nova Scotia.

:previous:

A number of Los Angeles city directories are available online at the LAPL--25 or so from 1909 to 1987--but, unfortunately, none have a reverse-lookup section for telephone numbers. In fact, the ones from 1909 to 1942 don't list phone numbers at all, only addresses. The first directory available online after 1942--the 1956 issue--is organized by address and has phone numbers, but still has no way to look up by phone number.

As for GLadstone, I think this might have been a Malibu exchange.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Here's a Mullen-Bluett store I don't remember seeing a picture of before. It was at 6316 Hollywood Blvd near Vine.
To its left is R. H. Dyas, bought by The Broadway ca. 1931--the building which still has the iconic Broadway-
Hollywood sign on top. Pic is dated July 15, 1929.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics43/00071355.jpgLAPL


Another shot new to me--the shop of the famous Travis Banton at 6530 Sunset:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042124.jpgLAPL


This one, mercifully, is still there, as the Cat & Fiddle Restaurant.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogle Street View

Great Work Here!
 

Congratulations ethereal_reality and the entire noirish Los Angeles community; you have made this the most interesting thread on the SkyscraperPage Forum -- no small feat! I have spent countless hours in amazement at the detail and knowledge that you all have of this incredible city.

I have visited Los Angeles several times and was impressed each visit. Seeing these old photos makes me want to visit again and see some of the fantastic buildings, or at least their remains.

Once, with friends, we drove west on Mulholland and ended up on an unpaved stretch that had WWII missile lookout platforms up in the hills. We hiked up to great views of the Valley and Pacific. Where were we?

Any old pictures of John Lautner houses that you dig up would be great as well. I wish I could contribute something but am on the other side of the country. I have a dear friend in Long Beach that I plan on visiting soon...maybe I can schedule a camera day and make some posts.

Thanks again and keep up the great work!

Welcome, RudyJK!

Did you say Long Beach? ;)

Circa 1937, the Villa Riviera Hotel, Long Beach
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064758.jpg
LAPL

Thanks for the call out RudyJK!

I'm not sure where the missile platforms were located. I wish I knew.....it certainly sounds interesting.

Thanks for answering my question Engineeral. I appreciate it.

Don't you wish you knew where these 40,000 slides went?
 

:previous: My first thought was perhaps the stereoviews are hidden away in the basement of 213 South Broadway (I know....wishful thinking)
After checking google earth, I believe the building is gone. :(

A photo of Keystone Photograph Service in Los Angeles, circa 1948. Not too glamorous.

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/983...service194.jpg
Ralph Morris

Thanks for your explanation as well Gaylord_Wilshire.

I'm curious, do you some information on the Malibu exchange? The only connection I could come up with was 'Gladstones 4 Fish'.

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/363...onesmalibu.jpg
unknown

I was at a birthday party at Gladstones once. It was fine party except our honored guest didn't show up (turns out he hated birthdays).
The place (it was week night) was empty except for Burgess Meredith eating this enormous baked potato. So whenever I hear 'Gladstones'
I picture Burgess Meredith eating that damn potato. It's odd what our brains chose to remember.

_____





below: This is an interesting brochure. Note the addresses and phone exchanges.


http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/6660/guide1937.jpg
ebay




below: Telephone exchanges from 'This Gun for Hire', 1942.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7...thisgune4h.jpg
paramount


_____

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018933.jpgLAPL


Years ago--maybe even 15-16, when I had my first computer, I found a site called the Telephone Exchange Name Project; I just went looking for it, and it still exists. But for some reason it seems alot less accessible in terms of searching than it did back when I was a computer novice. Anyway, it seems that the GLadstone-4 exchange was more or less specific to Pacific Palisades. Apparently Malibu had a GLobe exchange--seems it was typical for extensions of an existing exchange to use the same first two letters but a different name. Gladstone's--the seafood restaurant--is actually in Pacific Palisades, and its phone number was an early example of the common use now of marketing via the telephone dial. (The number is still GLadstone-4-3474.) I do know that telephoning in Los Angeles evolved from the early days of using colors:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....on/s99_209.htm

to a single letter to exchange names, and from exchange-name-plus-4-numbers to exchange-plus-5-numbers, etc. Here's a fairly simple list of L.A. exchanges:

http://www.laalmanac.com/communications/cm01e.htm


And here is an interesting set of pictures of all the various exchange buildings around L.A., including the GLadstone in PP. Unfortunately, the creators haven't included the specific addresses of the buildings:

http://www.thecentraloffice.com/calif/LA/LAindex.htm



https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...2520PM.bmp.jpgGary's Antique Telephone Collection

:previous: Wow, thanks for researching the telephone exchanges and for including the various links Gaylord_Wilshire.
_________


And speaking of 'Bell System'

This summer I was 'exploring' the streets of L.A. via Google street views when I came across this spanish mission style garage on 15th Street
just east of Ardmore.

http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/3...atardmore2.jpg
google street view





below: I zeroed in on the elaborate/churriqueresque ornamentation and noticed, of all things, a bell.


http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/3...tatardmore.jpg
google street view








below: A closer look revealed that it was in fact a bell with the writing 'Bell System'.


http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/2...tardmorebe.jpg
google street view



It wasn't until later that I found out the garage was listed as a 'historic-cultural monument'.
I have to admit it was fun 'discovering' it on my own. :)








below: Aerial view of the garage in situ.

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/4...tardmoreae.jpg
google street view

________

below: Travis Banton with Carole Lombard.
The sequins on Miss Lombard's gown were made of mica.....unlike the plastic sequins that are used today.


http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9...ithclombar.jpg
paramount





http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7...aghisdaysa.jpg
http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/

Mr. Banton also designed gowns for numerous 'film noirs'.
This is Joan Bennett in 'Scarlet Street' directed by Fritz Lang, circa 1945.



http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/4...ennettscar.jpg
universal





http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/462...ennettscar.jpg
universal

______



Anna Mae Wong wearing a Travis Banton creation. Ms. Wong was discovered on the streets of old Chinatown.




http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6...nnamaewong.jpg
paramount

1941 Los Angeles Guide And Apartment Directory
 

James Lileks has posted some pages from a 1941 Los Angeles pamphlet. Here are some apartment addresses. (sorry, no Q to Z)

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/8696/47977775.jpg
www.lileks.com

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/4937/80266538.jpg
www.lileks.com

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9788/36393910.jpg
www.lileks.com

Here is a nice place:
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/7755/36446185.jpg
www.lileks.com

And its still around!
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6654/apt1d.jpg
Google Street View

:previous: Great stuff FredH! I love the before/after of the New Arlington Apts.

Pitfall (1948)
 

A film noir where Dick Powell plays a straight arrow insurance investigator who falls for femme fatale, Lizabeth Scott, and ends up killing her gangster boyfriend.

Here Dick Powell comes out of the Hall of Justice after confessing his sins:

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/6448/capture1om.jpg
Pitfall, Regal Films

In the Hall of Justice parking lot with City Hall and the Hall of Records behind him:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2872/capture2js.jpg
Pitfall, Regal Films

Current view:
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7421/capture4ha.jpg
Google Street View

Passing Eaton's:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/116/capture13q.jpg
Pitfall, Regal Films

Is it the one on Wilshire at Ardmore?
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5562/eatons.jpg
www.lileks.com

Dick Powell and his ridiculously forgiving wife, Jane Wyatt, ride
off into the sunset:
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/2539/capture3yy.jpg
Pitfall, Regal Films

Roadblock (1951)
 

A film noir where Charles McGraw plays a straight arrow insurance investigator who falls for femme fatale, Joan Dixon, and ends up killing her gangster boyfriend.

Wait a minute! That plot sounds awful familiar. Lets just cut to the chase (and a great chase it is). McGraw and Dixon are on the lam to Mexico.

Down Riverside Drive:

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/2415/roadblock20.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures

Through the Gas Works:

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/7513/roadblock4.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures

Down Spring Street past the Taylor Yards (great shot from the pedestrian bridge)

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/1609/roadblock5.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures

South on Mateo near 6th Street:

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2036/roadblock6.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures

Hey! Looks the same today.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/388/roadblock10.jpg
Google Street View

But the cops are waiting at Imperial Street. Actually McGraw and Dixon are in big trouble, because the police have implemented
their Plan "A", where they block off EVERY escape route out of Los Angeles. (I'm not kidding)

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/286/roadblock3.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures

So, its down the secret route to the L.A. River:

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3135/roadblock17.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures

Does this really get you down to the river?

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/324/roadblock16.jpg
Google Street View

Heading north (to Mexico?) through the river:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9782/roadblock7.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures

But, with Plan "A" in effect, they never had a chance. Charles McGraw is killed and Joan Dixon walks off to...who knows where?

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9259/roadblock9.jpg
Roadblock, RKO Radio Pictures