noirish Los Angeles

[MartinTurnbull]

Going by this eye-catching display from around 1950, it looks like the Carlin’s Cinema Sports Center on Hollywood Boulevard (near Cherokee Ave) offered something for everybody: cinema, bowling, pool, fountain café and juice bar, gift store (“Send a gift from Hollywood”), a public rumpus room (a games room with ping pong tables, dart boards, table top shuffle board, etc), and a barber shop. All that and free parking. Talk about your one-stop family entertainment destination.



In a different incarnation, it was the News-View theater that exclusively ran newsreels:



I didn't know that public rumpus rooms were a thing until I found this photo. Even our ol' pal, Mike Lyman had one when he ran his place on Hill Street in downtown L.A.

[HossC]

This 1957 video screengrab shows the same building on the right with the "BOWLING" blade sign. There's no mention of Carlin's, but the "SPORTS CENTER" signs match. This is east of Cherokee at 6624 Hollywood Boulevard, which was the Bert Goodrich Hollywood Gym and Cinema Sports Center in the 1956 CD (the cinema and a billiard parlor were on the second floor). It's been briefly mentioned on NLA a couple of times before - see here and here.


www.youtube.com

Surprisingly, the cinema isn't listed at Cinema Treasures.

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

I think the one on the left says "Ca??? Florist." And of course the Chevron Gas Station.

Cheers,

Earl

I also thought that sign said Chevron Gas Station but don't see anything resembling a service station. I believe I see a barber pole on the corner of one building.

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

I also thought that sign said Chevron Gas Station but don't see anything resembling a service station. I believe I see a barber pole on the corner of one building.

Good catch on the barber pole. At first I thought the service station was on now-gone street that ran at right angles to Washington, but now I'm not so sure, as the Chevron sign appears to be attached to the pole at the lane between the two buildings. Need an aerial from the period, for sure!

Cheers,

Earl

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by HossC

It's showing perfectly for me. In fact, I watched the video within my reply just to test it. Maybe you've got something blocked in your browser. Have you tried a different one? The video works on my laptop in Firefox (my default browser), Chrome, Opera and Edge, and on my phone in Chrome (my default) and Firefox. The only time I got a solid black box was in Internet Explorer, and I never use that, so it was the first time I'd opened it.

Is anyone else seeing empty boxes instead of videos? I see it works for Earl.

Seems to be a Firefox (70, my default browser) issue with unauthenticated scripts, which is the key to getting embedded YT to appear on my Chrome (78).

There are so many new security options between these two, it's frankly getting out of hand. At least I know others can see them (even if I don't).

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by MartinTurnbull

In a different incarnation, it was the News-View theater that exclusively ran newsreels:

old file

6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate, no sugar added
1 cup lowfat or skim milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10-12 ice cubes

Blend

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

old file

6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate, no sugar added
1 cup lowfat or skim milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10-12 ice cubes

Blend

^^^
I remember Orange Julius stands from the 1960s. There was one near my high school in Burbank. What happened to them? Did they go out of business? Did the beverage lose popularity? It was quite good. I can't remember if they also served hamburgers and fries--I think not. Maybe a one drink stand just wasn't enough. Is Orange Julius still around? I have no idea why they used the devil in their signs. That may have turned off some. They should have used God. A heavenly drink would sell better than a hellish one.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by HossC

This 1957 video screengrab shows the same building on the right with the "BOWLING" blade sign. There's no mention of Carlin's, but the "SPORTS CENTER" signs match. This is east of Cherokee at 6624 Hollywood Boulevard, which was the Bert Goodrich Hollywood Gym and Cinema Sports Center in the 1956 CD (the cinema and a billiard parlor were on the second floor). It's been briefly mentioned on NLA a couple of times before - see here and here.


www.youtube.com

Surprisingly, the cinema isn't listed at Cinema Treasures.

^^^
Ah, the 1950s. Brings back memories. Green MTA buses (I see one in the backround on the left). Smog alerts. Duck and cover drills in schools. The space race. Marilyn Monroe. Elvis. Girls in pony tails. Rabbit ears on klunky T.V.s that often didn't work right. Constant visits by repairmen replacing vacuum tubes. Funny looking cars. Ike and Khruschev. Mr. K throwing a fit when Disneyland wouldn't let him visit. Ah, the '50s. My youth. Best time ever.

[Otis Criblecoblis]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

^^^
Is Orange Julius still around? I have no idea why they used the devil in their signs. That may have turned off some. They should have used God. A heavenly drink would sell better than a hellish one.

Orange Julius is still around. It's owned by Dairy Queen now, and I've seen dual-branded outlets.

Orange Julius' slogan used to be "A Devilish Good Drink." The company dropped the devil and the slogan in response to threats of a lawsuit from Arizona State University. Apparently, the devil looked too much like the ASU mascot, Sparky.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Original 35mm slide, Sept. 1958. [Extremely Dark]

Looking west on Washington Blvd. towards the old MGM gate, Culver City CA.


eBay

I'm curious about the small businesses along the left side of the slide. I believe we've seen these small shops only once before on NLA but I can't find the post.

I lightened the slide but it's still difficult to read any of the signs on the shops.



The shops were torn down years ago to make way for a studio parking lot.

...

Back to the reason for this post:... Are any of you minions noirishers able to read the signs on the small shops in the 1958 slide?

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

I think the one on the left says "Ca??? Florist." And of course the Chevron Gas Station.

Originally Posted by Bristolian

I also thought that sign said Chevron Gas Station but don't see anything resembling a service station. I believe I see a barber pole on the corner of one building.

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

Good catch on the barber pole. At first I thought the service station was on now-gone street that ran at right angles to Washington, but now I'm not so sure, as the Chevron sign appears to be attached to the pole at the lane between the two buildings. Need an aerial from the period, for sure!

Here's an aerial view which is used to illustrate "1924" in Sony Pictures' timeline. However, the Thalberg Building didn't open until 1938, so I'll guess that this is from around 1940. We're concerned with the area to the right of the Thalberg.


www.sonypicturesmuseum.com

The 1953 view at Historic Aerials shows a virtually identical layout. Could the large open canope hide the Chevron gas station? I completely agree that the sign says "Chevron Gas Station", BTW.

FWIW, the buildings are still about the same in the 1964 view. It's a parking lot by 1972, which is a shame as this area was used for filming later seasons of 'CHiPs', and I'm sure that the small stores would've shown up if they'd still been there.

[Noir_Noir]

The parking lot happened in two stages. In 1959 a slice of the block adjacent to the studios was demolished for the first installment.


Here's that lot outlined (# 1) in 1956 before demolition. The white building left of center in e_r's picture is shown as # 2.



mil.library.ucsb.edu - Flight C_22555, Frame 16-22 July 1, 1956


This is the block in 1965 after the first demolition with building # 2 indicated.


mil.library.ucsb.edu - Flight C_25019, Frame 450 - November 27, 1965


This picture of that building is from sometime in the 1960's. It houses a new version of the Retake Room which came down in the first demolition.


Google Books - Culver City By Julie Lugo Cerra



By 1971 it's all gone for parking.



mil.library.ucsb.edu - Flight TG_2755, Frame 16-12 - March 1, 1971

[sopas ej]

Box... OFFICE... POOOOIIIISON!!!!


lapl.org

[Earl Boebert]

HossC said:

"The 1953 view at Historic Aerials shows a virtually identical layout. Could the large open canope hide the Chevron gas station? I completely agree that the sign says "Chevron Gas Station", BTW."

Yes, I think so. On the slide, there is a driveway entrance between the Dodge panel truck and the T-Bird. On the Sony aerial you can see the track where cars have turned in there. I think this was the entry to a fairly large gas station/service facility that stretched from the driveway to the corner. What do the city directories say?

Cheers,

Earl

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Lwize

I see an empty box in your reply...[...]
Something must have changed with YT embedding.

Just an FYI...
I'm having some computer issues and so I've been using a kindle for a few days and am getting the "empty box" as Lwize did. ?

[HossC]

Even if a few people are getting empty boxes for various technical reasons, the embed method should still give a direct "Video Link" under the video to take you straight to YouTube with a single click.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

box... Office... Pooooiiiison!!!!


lapl.org

"I thought I told you---NO WIRE HANGERS!!!!!"

[ethereal_reality]

Wow. There have been so many interesting relevations about the parking lot in front of the Thalburg Building. Thanks so much, everyone. ....*puts whip down*

I had never heard of the Retake Room until Noir Noir posted this phtotograph.

Originally Posted by Noir Noir

culver city / julie lugo cerra

Here are some additional tid-bits of information.

"The Retake Room is a small restaurant-bar across the alley from MGM Studios. One side of the place is a dark room plasted in posters from MGM pictures past and present. The other side has portraits of football players and and action photos from great games. The place has red leather booths and a gaudy chrome-and-glass juke box that blare out at the customers."
...MOTION PICTURES, VOL. 44. 1955


"There were two bars near MGM film labs - The Retake Room and The Backstage - and a third bar, Dear John's, a little way down Culver Boulevards."...Misty May-Treanor



"One of the very popular Southland racetracks at the time was in our own backyard, the Culver City Stadium at Washington and Lincoln Blvd’s.
A fellow named Ferris Webster was a Film Editor for MGM Studios in Culver City and also owned a very popular bar and grill called the "Retake Room” right across from the entrance and exit to the studio. Ferris was a real nice guy with a lot of dough and he sponsored our Track Roadster. It was a ’23 Ford “T” body with a ’39 Ford flathead V8 with all Edelbrock Racing equipment. It was nicely painted in red and white with the “Retake Room” painted on the sides and it was fast. A couple of famous drivers (for the time) drove it but I can’t recall who they were."
...THE NEST BLOG....[condensed]

...........


A free bowl of Mama Mayer's Chicken Soup [MGM Commissary] for the person who finds a photograph of the red roadster with "Retake Room" painted on its sides.

.

[Noir_Noir]

Some more Retake Room.



picclickimg.com



Report on the demolition of the original building at 3918 Ince Way.


news.google.com - Reading Eagle - Jun 9, 1959




With the mention of Jim Stacy's, I found this.



tessa.lapl.org



That's appears to be just a liquor store and was around the corner at 10144 W. Washington Blvd. Maybe Jim had the bar in Ince Way as well ... or combined
premises with two entrances. You can just see the end of the block in a detail from a 1937 picture. The "liquors" blade sign is there at the left edge.



culvercityhistoricalsociety.org



The Retake Room at 10138 W. Washington makes a brief appearance (5min:56 secs) in the 1960's public information film Dead Right. There's even a shot in the direction of
where the Chevron Gas Station would be ... but I can't spot any signs.




The film has quite a few Culver City streets scenes and another gas station to scout ... if by any chance you're into that sort of thing.

The uploader has mistakenly dated the film as the 1950's.

• Video Link

[HossC]

That video's a great find, Noir_Noir. It looks like newspapers once posed the same dangerous distraction to pedestrians that cell phones do today (see around 5:45).

[Bristolian]

That is a great video and solid, timeless advice for sure. I worked in Culver City back in the 80s and recognized some of those locations. At first, I thought that looked like James Dean in those screengrabs but this was five years after his death and I was positive he only made three films. So I guess Dead Right is not his long lost mystery picture.
As for the Chevron station, I caught this sign showing up around 8:15. I don't recognize the location and have no idea if it may be the same mystery gas station. The area looks too residential compared to what surrounds the studio property. It does look to me like the intersection in the background is not at 90-degree angles.