noirish Los Angeles

[Beaudry]

Ray Luna's Near N' Far, 7823 Sta Monica Blvd

And then there is Cooper's Donuts, 316 E 5th:



And those shots of the A-1 Cafe next door at 320 are pretty priceless!

Cooper's, 316 E 5th, is not to be confused with the Cooper's from The Exiles:

...and NLA
--which was at 441 South Hill Street. According to this site, Cooper's as pictured here, the one of riot fame, was "smack dab in between Harold's and the Waldorf Cellar." The Waldorf was at 521 S Main, Harold's at 555 S Main. So, not sure how they got that!

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

The Melody Room was a fairly well-known jazz club, reputedly oft-trafficked by mobsters like Siegel and Cohen
(it later became The Central, and is now the Viper Room).

Next door was Turner's United Cut Rate Stores:

_____

I see that Terner's is still in business at Sunset and Larrabee. (I'm not sure when Turner's became Terner's)


gsv




I was surprised to see an entrance to the Viper Room, behind Terner's on Larrabee. I've never noticed this before.


gsv
__

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

For all of you reminiscing about Star Wars, I am only posting this because I have never understood why this film (and sequels etc. ad infinitum) has become so much more than a good film, an enjoyable evening's entertainment.

I suppose some people could ask the same of those of us who frequent this site. What's the fascination with looking into the past at a city that no longer exists, or never really existed except in our memories? For me, it was the thrill of being 17 and seeing the inside of a real movie studio for the first time, of winning a radio contest, and of seeing a movie that was somehow different from all the others out that year.

Does Star Wars make my top 10 list now? Nope. That list covers a lot of ground, from The Godfather to Double Indemnity and Singing in the Rain. But I don't obsess about any of them the way some people do about the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings franchises.

If there's one thing that's never changed about Hollywood, its that it'll wring the last dollar out of a franchise before it lets go. For every Godfather I and II, there's a Godfather III; even Double Indemnity was redone in the early 1970's with Richard Crenna and Samantha Eggar--anybody remember that? But that does nothing to diminish the charge many of us got seeing any of these movies, including Star Wars, for the first time. I can't speak for others, but one of the reasons I visit and comment on this site is that it helps me shed some of the cynicism of modern life. I'm not trying to escape from anything, but sometimes its nice to just take a breather and think about a time when, at least through the lens of hindsight, the greatest thing in the world was driving west in the 10 on my way to 20th Century Fox

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

I suppose some people could ask the same of those of us who frequent this site. What's the fascination with looking into the past at a city that no longer exists, or never really existed except in our memories? For me, it was the thrill of being 17 and seeing the inside of a real movie studio for the first time, of winning a radio contest, and of seeing a movie that was somehow different from all the others out that year.

Does Star Wars make my top 10 list now? Nope. That list covers a lot of ground, from The Godfather to Double Indemnity and Singing in the Rain. But I don't obsess about any of them the way some people do about the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings franchises.

If there's one thing that's never changed about Hollywood, its that it'll wring the last dollar out of a franchise before it lets go. For every Godfather I and II, there's a Godfather III; even Double Indemnity was redone in the early 1970's with Richard Crenna and Samantha Eggar--anybody remember that? But that does nothing to diminish the charge many of us got seeing any of these movies, including Star Wars, for the first time.

Delicious noir scene from Double Indemnity...1944.


Paramount

[John Maddox Roberts]

Since we're on this odd subject, I first saw Star Wars (which it will always be to me, never Episode IV) when it premiered in Albuquerque in '77. But I was one of the few people with a glimmering of what we were about to see. The year before I'd sold my first book, a sf novel, and joined the Science Fiction Writers of America. That year the World SF Convention was in Kansas City and I went to meet my Doubleday editor. In the program book I saw several presentations about something called Star Wars but I'd never been to a con before and had no idea what was going on or where anything was. On the last day, shortly before the convention closed, I was wandering about the con hotel (the Muelbach, which would make a great noir setting) when I stumbled upon the Star Wars exhibit. I saw the fabulous McQuarrie concept art work hanging on the walls and the displays of props and costumes, including the jaw-dropping Darth Vader outfit. I chatted with the staff and was told the music would be by a guy named John Williams. Then Mark Hamill walked in. He was on his way to the airport, schlepping his suitcases, and had come by to say goodbye to the staff. I shook hands and stammered out inanities. Of course I'd never heard of him. Hardly anybody had.

When the movie premiered even all that did nothing to prepare me for Williams's immortal fanfare chord followed by the greatest opening hook in the history of film. For me, the first three films are the true canon. But I'll see the new one with everybody else. Never get back that frisson from almost 40 years ago, though.

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Delicious noir scene from Double Indemnity...1944.

I drove by that house on Quebec Street several years ago when I was in L.A. It was good to see it still being cared for. Billy Wilder liked the house so much he created an exact replica of the foyer and living room in the studio for the interior shots. The space inside the actual house was too tight for the camera and equipment.

I read somewhere Barbara Stanwyck wore that brassy blonde wig to her audition to make herself suitably trashy-looking for the part. I guess it worked! I also read the sunbathing scene gave the Hayes people fits.

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

Since we're on this odd subject, I first saw Star Wars (which it will always be to me, never Episode IV) when it premiered in Albuquerque in '77....
When the movie premiered even all that did nothing to prepare me for Williams's immortal fanfare chord followed by the greatest opening hook in the history of film. For me, the first three films are the true canon. But I'll see the new one with everybody else. Never get back that frisson from almost 40 years ago, though.

I do agree with Martin that the first movie had a certain seat of the pants charm. In an interview a few years after the first one came out, one of the production designers said they went out and bought hundred of 1/35nd scale plastic tank and military models to detail the space ships. If you were a modeler in your younger days like I was, you can recognize some tank frames on the Empire's battle cruisers. Positively prehistoric compared to CGI!

[tovangar2]

Thanks Beaudry for the rundown on the addresses in e_r's interesting post on the "Wild Party" (1956) title sequence.

The bit with the burger bar, A-1 Cafe, Cooper's Do-Nuts and Harry's was filmed at the building that fell for San Julian Park at E 5th and San Julian in the heart of the Nickel. Right at the end of the sequence another bar is shown with a "cold EASTSIDE beer" neon sign. That one's in the extant S.C. Dodge Building.

Burger bar, corner of E 5th and San Julian (looking south):

united artists

Bar in the S.C. Dodge Building:

united artists

Today:

gsv

San Julian Park is run by SRO. It was owned by the CRA until that got disbanded. Ownership and funding are now more than a little confused.

1921 Baist:

histortic mapworks

Thx too for the link to the Main St. Cooper's riot article. That address is now a parking lot :-(

[ddyment]

I posted a week ago, looking for films or television shows set on the Sunset Strip, and told myself I would post again until I had something to contribute myself. And now I can:

Turner’s Liquor has been at the corner of Sunset Blvd and Larrabee Street since the 1930’s, with the same neon thunder bolt logo. It was purchased in the early 80's by Tony Nassimi who promptly swapped out the ‘u’ for an ‘e’.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

_____

I see that Terner's is still in business at Sunset and Larrabee. (I'm not sure when Turner's became Terner's)


note the Viper Room at right.




I was surprised to see an entrance to the Viper Room, behind Terner's on Larrabee. I've never noticed this before.


gsv


It was there back in 2009 as well.

gsv
__

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

I suppose some people could ask the same of those of us who frequent this site. What's the fascination with looking into the past at a city that no longer exists, or never really existed except in our memories? For me, it was the thrill of being 17 and seeing the inside of a real movie studio for the first time, of winning a radio contest, and of seeing a movie that was somehow different from all the others out that year.

Does Star Wars make my top 10 list now? Nope. That list covers a lot of ground, from The Godfather to Double Indemnity and Singing in the Rain. But I don't obsess about any of them the way some people do about the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings franchises.

If there's one thing that's never changed about Hollywood, its that it'll wring the last dollar out of a franchise before it lets go. For every Godfather I and II, there's a Godfather III; even Double Indemnity was redone in the early 1970's with Richard Crenna and Samantha Eggar--anybody remember that? But that does nothing to diminish the charge many of us got seeing any of these movies, including Star Wars, for the first time. I can't speak for others, but one of the reasons I visit and comment on this site is that it helps me shed some of the cynicism of modern life. I'm not trying to escape from anything, but sometimes its nice to just take a breather and think about a time when, at least through the lens of hindsight, the greatest thing in the world was driving west in the 10 on my way to 20th Century Fox

1981. Richard Crenna? Check. Kathleen Turner? Check. Samantha Eggar? Not so much.

[GaylordWilshire]

Weren't we just talking about philistine Paul Allen having bulldozed Fred Thompson's "Enchanted Hill"?



Instead of Fred MacMurray and his Dodge or Plymouth as in the '44 version of Double Indemnity, Richard Crenna's Walter Neff is doing well enough in the '73 version to be driving a 280SL....









Maybe Samantha Eggar needed a bad blond wig...






B&W's from Steve Vaught's great Paradise Leased story on Enchanted Hill: https://paradiseleased.wordpress.com...rances-marion/


The '73 movie is on youtube--very Steven Bochco, and all dreary '70s beiges and browns, but it's a good print:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAYddvyH0Qs


A few more shots:

Seems to be the house's actual interior, but I didn't investigate very far--







Maybe someone remembers this--


All screenshots Universal Studios

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

Star Wars production designers bought hundred of 1/35nd scale plastic tank and military models to detail the space ships.
If you were a modeler in your younger days like I was, you can recognize some tank frames on the Empire's battle cruisers.

Positively prehistoric compared to CGI!

I have to admit,I prefer the days before CGI. It's so disappointing that CGI effects are being over-used in movies.
Today, if a production calls for a 1,000 person crowd scene, the CGI effects team will say,
"Why stop at 1,000, when we can make it a 100,000 person crowd scene!"
It's just bloated over-kill without any of the charm......like watching a 90 minute video game.

I see a day when a movie might advertise...
No CGI effects used! Real Explosions! Real Crowd Scenes! Real Sets! Real Models!

Now that's something I would go and see.

__

[GaylordWilshire]

The Old Motor

The colorizing of black & white is sometimes controversial, but I do like this...apparently taken in El Monte...

It reminds me that I read somewhere recently that CBS is colorizing some if not all of 'I Love Lucy'...supposed to be on this month. Wonder if the Hollywood episodes will get the treatment?

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Maybe Samantha Eggar needed a bad blond wig...

http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/film-...ble-indemnity/

Not even close.
__

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Here's one dated 1980, when they were showing x-rated films.
Notice at least one of them is in 3-D, too!

Flickr

For those interested, I believe the marquee says:

3-D HIT "HEAVY EQUIPMENT'
"BOYNAPPED" (then ?)
AUG. 29 AL PARKER "INCHES" (which is being advertised on the banner above the marquee)

I believe the name after "BOYNAPPED" is "JOHN HOLMES". In case anyone doesn't know the name, he was one of the most prolific adult film actors of the 1970s and 1980s, friend of drug dealer and nightclub owner Eddie Nash, and one-time suspect in the Wonderland murders.

[ethereal_reality]

Here's an interesting article from April 14, 1988 on the Wonderland Killings.
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-..._sharon-holmes







http://articles.latimes.com/1988-04-..._sharon-holmes


murder house

https://www.flickr.com/photos/steved...ream/lightbox/

8763 Wonderland Avenue, Los Angeles


https://wonderland1981.wordpress.com/2013/08/page/5/


__

[unihikid]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

The Old Motor

The colorizing of black & white is sometimes controversial, but I do like this...apparently taken in El Monte...

It reminds me that I read somewhere recently that CBS is colorizing some if not all of 'I Love Lucy'...supposed to be on this month. Wonder if the Hollywood episodes will get the treatment?

First off...Great piece on Fire Station No.23, ive always wondered about that building, I hope it gets restored. I didnt know it was the ghostbusters station at all!

As far as the above pic ...are you sure thats a colorized picture GW.. I mean i never needed to doubt you but if it is they sure did an excellent job with it..ive been looking at it for the past 20 mins. I wonder how many ILL episodes they will be doing.

[unihikid]

Maybe someone remembers this--


All screenshots Universal Studios[/QUOTE]

Pretty sure thats the All American Burger on Westwood...we use to go there after summer school(Emerson Jr High)..I think its a Coffee Bean now.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/film-...ble-indemnity/

__

Oh man, that "Double Indemnity" grocery store set was so terrible and fake. It always breaks the spell of the film for me.



I'll take an actual location anytime:

RKO Pictures "Cry Danger" (1951)


Paramount Pictures "The Turning Point" (1952)


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally Posted by unihikid

Maybe someone remembers this--


All screenshots Universal Studios

Pretty sure thats the All American Burger on Westwood...we use to go there after summer school(Emerson Jr High)..I think its a Coffee Bean now.[/QUOTE]

Yes. Westwood and Ohio:

gsv

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by unihikid

First off...Great piece on Fire Station No.23, ive always wondered about that building, I hope it gets restored. I didnt know it was the ghostbusters station at all!

As far as the above pic ...are you sure thats a colorized picture GW.. I mean i never needed to doubt you but if it is they sure did an excellent job with it..ive been looking at it for the past 20 mins. I wonder how many ILL episodes they will be doing.

Yes, that's a colorized old photo. As in most things, it all depends on who and how the colorized photo was done. Some are better than others.

See more at this reference.

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=143499