noirish Los Angeles

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by rbpjr

You guys DO realize that that photo was taken while the Theme Building was undergoing restoration, right? It now looks like it's always looked on the outside; I was just at LAX last month, incidentally. Its restoration was completed a while ago.

A joke gone awry? In attempt to clear things up...

KABC-TV
LAX webcam shot taken a few minutes ago...

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

I suppose we'll get used to the new Mayan-Igloo design, the four glass-enclosed staircases, and the glass-atrium dome observation deck under the intersection of the arches, but I think the black snakelike sculptures are in questionable taste.

Was this really that convincing?

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

I realize that I probably should have waited until Sunday to post that....

[ethereal_reality]

The Fuller Paint Warehouse on San Fernando Road in Lincoln Heights.


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=50565




below: The Fuller Paint Co. Warehouse by Morgan, Walls & Clements 1925


http://www.you-are-here.com/building/fuller_paint.html






The Fuller Paint Co. Warehouse reinvented as Alta Lofts. My mouth dropped open when I saw this make-over. At first I thought it was photoshopped.. but it isn't.


http://www.livealta.com/blog/tag/alt...s-now-selling/

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[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Mayor Shaw

I found an interesting piece of stock footage over on the internet archive website. It is 11 minutes of color film shot at night in 1946 while driving around downtown. I don't know how to post the clip here. but here is the link:
http://archive.org/details/PET0981_R-2_LA_color . I found it fascinating on so many levels. We can see the theaters on Broadway, Cliftons, cops directing traffic, newsboys on the corners, and man those cars! Also interesting to note, we see many of those traffic lights with stop signs attached that were discussed a few posts back. I suggest right clicking on the video and choose to slow the speed to half or even quater, but as I say it's 11 min. long at full speed.

Here is a nice companion piece to the 1946 35mm film of downtown Los Angeles (link above).
It is an amateur video filmed in 1988 with music...so be sure and have your speakers turned up.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR03EX20cDw


I wonder if Ridley Scott filmed something akin to this before filming 'Blade Runner'?
Add some mist & rain and people scurrying with neon lit umbrellas and you pretty much come close to his remarkable vision
of Los Angeles in the near future*.

*note at 2:14 Asian music from the street blends in with the jazz...this truly gave me a 'Blade Runner' moment.

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[kznyc2k]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Fuller Paint Co. Warehouse reinvented as Alta Lofts. My mouth dropped open when I saw this make-over. At first I thought it was photoshopped.. but it isn't.

Symmetry is for pussies!

[so-cal-bear]

.

[GaylordWilshire]

I just became aware of Paul Revere Williams's design for Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, a four-bedroom, four-bath house at 1196 West 36th Place.




Sadly, Bojangles only got to live in his new house for a short time after he moved in with his wife in 1943--six months later, Mrs. Bojangles kicked him out and kept the house after the divorce. Robinson died broke in 1949. Full story here.


Color: Google Street View; all others except last: Maynard Parker/Paul R. Williams Project; last: Archive Americana

[ethereal_reality]

...from paradise to sketchy neighborhood.

originally posted by Gaylord_Wilshire




The anti-theft fence speak volumes about the neighborhood.
I'm actually amazed this home has survived at all...it looks to be surrounded by apartment buildings.

[ethereal_reality]

I know we've covered film actress Barbara Payton previously....but here are photos that I've found recently that haven't appear in the noirish Los Angeles thread.



Barbara Payton died in 1967 at age 39 after years of alcoholism, drug abuse and prostitution.



http://lisaburks.typepad.com/home/20...ography_c.html




http://www.nndb.com/people/430/000043301/


I thought I would start off with these dazzling studio portraits. Now for scenes from her real 'noirish' life in Los Angeles.



http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...Number=5049680

above: Ms. Payton preparing to testify in the Franchot Tone vs Tom Neal fight affair in 1951.
Franchot was her fiancee at the time and Tom Neal was her lover. This is one of her statements. "It was like this Mr. D.A., I turned around just in time to see Franchot flying through the air." Mr. Tone was in a 18 hour coma.






below: Barbara Payton arrives at the hospital to visit Franchot Tone circa 1951. (this is my favorite photo of the bunch)
I wonder if that's a script in her hand?


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/



below: The year is still 1951 and Ms. Payton is now preparing to testify in the murder trial of a narcotics peddler.
She testified about the alibi of the suspected murderer Stanley Adams


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...Number=5049681

Notice the flashbulbs littering the floor.





below: Franchot Tone and Barbara Payton.


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/




below: Ms. Payton is beginning to look a little 'rough' in 1952. Here she is in divorce court (her marriage to Mr. Tone lasted 53 days...at that point she walked out and took up with Tom Neal again)


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/




below: Ms. Payton's hard drinking begins to take a noticeable toll. Here she is with her attorney in 1955.


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/




below: Ms. Payton sans makeup and wearing a fur coat 1955. I'm not sure why she's in court again...the caption at LAPL says something about having her purse stolen.


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...Number=5049682




below: Barbara is looking better in 1958. Here she is preparing to testify in divorce court. She is divorcing her fourth husband George aka 'Tony' Provas. I would love to have that map behind her.



http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/





below: In 1962 Ms. Payton walked into Hollywood Station with bruises and scars.


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/






http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/

Barbara Payton will be dead in five years.



These two photographs are almost always labeled as booking photos. They're not.
So I'm including this excerpt from UCLA.


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/
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Here is the link to Jon Paul's excellent post on Barbara Payton.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=5112

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[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...from paradise to sketchy neighborhood.

originally posted by Gaylord_Wilshire

Yes, I was saddened if not surprised by the aesthetic decline of the neighborhood, which includes what you'd see parked on the streets. Not that you would have seen a 1935 chauffeur-driven Duesenberg in the area very often even in its prime.... As it turns out, Bill Robinson's Duesy, seen in front of his house in the vintage shot, still exists. It's a part of the Petersen collection:

Kansas Sebastian

[GaylordWilshire]

Wow, Barbara Payton is as noirishly trashy and tragic as they come...


Silver Screen Oasis

[Steve Hoffman]

Just a note, that is not Franchot Tone in those photos.. Just an FYI.

[ethereal_reality]

It's Tom Neal...says so in the newspaper headline, but who is the dark hair woman boarding the airplane with him?

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[GaylordWilshire]

That is definitely not Mr. Tone... as for the woman on the boarding ramp--well, she's identified in the pic info as Babs, but she doesn't really look like her, I'll agree--

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/

That dress... I guess I was averting my eyes when I noticed over her right shoulder, through the window...


Los Angeles Times

[ethereal_reality]

I caught that too...I was still looking for a Earl Scheib sign to post. You're TOO fast for me G_W.

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I searched early photos of Ms. Payton to see if she ever resembled the lady boarding the plane.
I didn't find any that resembled the lady at the airport but I found this great photograph of Ms. Payton in 1949.



http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=38442

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[ethereal_reality]

http://blogs.hotrod.com/earl-scheib-...tions-347.html

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[GaylordWilshire]

I can't get enough of Barbara Payton...or is it Tom Neal?

LAPL
After the famous fight: I don't think that was Franchot's dumbbell. Speaking of
Franchot...it seems he had a thing for tough Texas babes. Remember Joan?


HSBP
Nip slips?


HSBP
There's that trampy dress again...

HSBP

___________________
e_r: Upon further inspection, I think maybe that is Barbara on the boarding ramp--could that be some sort of odd hat?

[midge]

I just wanted to thank everyone for contributing to this beyond-awesome thread. It's been keeping me entertained during my long night shifts for the past few months, and I'm almost sad to finally be caught up!

Although I'm a canuck, I spent some time growing up in the LA area (Sunset Mesa neighbourhood in Malibu, to be exact), and I have many fond memories of it. I'll be returning for the first time in almost 20 years this July for my honeymoon. I can't wait!

I got very excited when I saw this poster:

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...rb03078-01.jpg

When I was a kid someone gave me this on a t-shirt, and I remember being in love with it. Of course, I had no idea that it was an actual burger place at the time, I just thought it was a really edgy t-shirt.

[RudyJK]

___________________
e_r: Upon further inspection, I think maybe that is Barbara on the boarding ramp--could that be some sort of odd hat?[/QUOTE]

I think that it is her wearing a hat/scarf combo; you can see some blond hair peeking out on the right.

[ethereal_reality]

Welcome to the thread midge! It's cool you chose L.A. for your honeymoon.