The photos in this thread are really amazing. even though they're from a time before most of us were----or at least before I was----born, they still give me a feeling of nostalgia, melancholy & wistfulness. They're like taking a trip in a time tunnel & then becoming shocked at how different & yet similar things were a long time ago, & just how fast time is moving.
I last posted to this thread some time ago, on a scene from the movie Chinatown, which had a segment shot in the alleyway next to the biltmore hotel looking towards Grand Ave. It was supposed to be dt in the 1930s, but the filmmakers didn't conceal a bldg in the background that was clearly from the 1960s.
I don't have anything similar to that to insert here right now, or something close to the time & theme of "noire". I'm instead going to slip in a brief segue related to LA from 40 yrs ago, post noire, post counter culture 1960s, but pre disco mid 1970s.
This vid----from the 10 to 27 second mark----shows dtla right around 1971, a few yrs following the tragic demolition of the landmark atlantic richfield bldg
. It was replaced by twin towers that originally were the headqrtrs of Atlantic richfield, which had just been topped off before this scene was filmed.
this is relevant to "LA" in other ways, since it was produced by the one TV network that eventually moved its headqrts to LA (or burbank).
So while this isn't noire, it's a look back at a time when many of us still had yet to be born or were very young. It's a bit of old technology & culture (pre cable TV! pre internet!), a wedge of cheesiness & a layer of bad polyester....
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returning to "noire", this fits my mood when looking through the pics of old LA in this thread....
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