noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

This snapshot of Joan Crawford is now one of my favorites.

Originally posted by JeffDiego

Joan Crawford, 1946/47
the best of everything - Joan Crawford Encyclopedia



I've been trying to figure out where she would have been when someone snapped her picture.


detail

I could be wrong, but I believe the letters to the right of the blade sign spell 'Bank of America'. (same font)

Even though the vertical blade sign appears clearer, I'm not sure what it says.
Does it also say 'Bank of America', or maybe 'Hollywood'? (my eyesight stinks)

Anyway, I'm just curious where Joan just parked her car!

__

[Jungmann]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This is quite an interesting mystery BifRayRock.

Obviously the death certificate would have the correct location of the accident.

That said, I love that original photograph captioned 'Signal Hill'.
Like Bif asked, did the La Brea Oil Field have tanks as shown in the sepia photo? (near a row of eucalyptus trees)

The simplest answer would be that the penciled in location on the back of the photograph is incorrect. (but I don't think that's the case in this instance)




Here's Ormer Locklear's death certificate again.

Originally posted by BRR

Locklear died in a nighttime crash in an oil field near 3rd Street and Fairfax (Gilmore?). It was just a few blocks up from the two airfields, Rogers and De Mille, at the time at Fairfax and Wilshire. He took of from De Mille with a passenger, a pal, Skeets Elliot. IIRC, it was to be the final climactic scene for The Skywayman.

A line of five or so searchlights were pointed skyward up Fairfax. The stunt was for Locklear to put his Jenny into a spin inside the line of lights. He would, of course, pull out in time--a cut would be made to a shot of a crashed wreck with his character's body lying alongside it.

As he kicked the Jenny into the spin, he ignited ten magnesium flares along the trailing edge of the wing. For reasons never determined, he never pulled out of it.

Universal did not want Locklear flying the stunt, according to legend, but he insisted, saying "my public demands it, " or some such.

The bit about his love affair with Viola Dana was true enough, not just studio PR fluff. Pilots were like NBA All-stars in 1919. The two had an aeronautical romance--Locklear would fly low and slow along Hollywood Boulevard and Viola, in the front seat, would throw compacts and other things to onlookers below. She mourned him all her life.

I wrote and directed a play about them at the Mark Taper Forum Lab at the Anson Theater in 1981 and again in 1982. The show turned out fine, but it hasn't been seen since.

[ethereal_reality]

Fantastic information Jungmann!



Viola Dana and Ormer Locklear in love.






https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth355225/

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This is quite an interesting mystery BifRayRock.

Obviously the death certificate would have the correct location of the accident.

That said, I love that original photograph captioned 'Signal Hill'.
Like Bif asked, did the La Brea field have tanks near a row of eucalyptus trees as shown in the sepia photo?

The simplest answer would be that the penciled in location on the back of the photograph is incorrect.




Here's the death certificate again.

Originally posted by BRR

"Crushed and Mangled and Burned" (This Coroner was thorough.) The witness's address was the "Superba Theater Building."

The different handwriting may provide a clue or two. As you suggest, the penciled "Signal Hill" may have just been an honest mistake by someone familiar with both areas and inadvertently confused the two. The storage tanks don't seem like they belong to the DeMille Airport area, but we really do not know when the photo was taken, let alone, exactly where. With all of those wells, there must have been some storage tanks - nearby. One account of the tragedy mentions crashing into a pool of oil which I took to mean oil pooled on the ground and not necessarily a storage tank. It is also possible that the scrivener meant Signal Hill and was referring to an entirely different accident but no one corrected the mistake. Long Beach airport is nearby. We know, for example, that Calbraith Rodgers lost his life in 1912 when his craft struck a flock of birds in Long Beach. Much later, in 1954, a fighter jet crashed at Signal Hill. http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65...olished-houses

In addition to the tragic loss of life, it is also sad that no print of the film evidently exists. It supposedly contained the actual filmed accident which might have been fascinating to those interested in the area's history.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Vin_Fiz%22.jpg




[Quinn's] Superba Theater Building
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...os_Angeles.jpg


We've seen it before.
https://calisphere.org/clip/500x500/...244d5891a61bb5

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This c. 1900 aerial shows some of the same area as the 1910 map. Hoover ends at 32nd and Kingsley at the red dot.
Jefferson runs horizontally across the center. The green dot again marks today's intersection of Royal St. and 30th St.
(You can see Engine Co. No. 15 at the left margin of the full photo):



CHS-9923 at USCDL

FW, refresh my memory.

What are the two interesting buildings at lower left?

One definitely looks like a school. (with the tall flagpole in front)

I believe we have seen the lower one with the diagonal sidewalk....but I can't remember it's name. (they're both part of USC, right?)
__

[rick m]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's the Young Korean Academy in 1916. (different house)

"Hung Sa Dan (Young Korean Academy) in front of the Kungminhoe house on Temple Street, 1916."


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../16585/rec/327





I love the kids in the second story windows.

detail

note the Y.K.A. above the porch.

I don't have an exact address for this house.
__

This was at 106 No. Figueroa - on the 1906 Sanborn map-- Library of Congress has original photo--

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by Jungmann

Locklear died in a nighttime crash in an oil field near 3rd Street and Fairfax (Gilmore?). It was just a few blocks up from the two airfields, at the time, at Fairfax and Wilshire. IIRC, it was the final scene for The Skywayman.

A ring of ten or so searchlights were pointed skyward. The stunt was for Locklear to put his Jenny into a spin inside the column of lights. He would , of course, pull out in time--a cut would be made to a shot of a crashed wreck with his character's body lying alongside it.

For reasons never determined, he never pulled out of the spin.

Universal did not want him flying the stunt, according to legend, but he insisted, saying "my public demands it, " or some such.

The bit about his love affair with Viola Dana was true enough, not just studio PR fluff. Pilots were like NBA All-stars in 1919. They had an aeronautical romance--he'd fly low along Hollywood Boulevard and Viola, in the front seat, would throw compacts and other things to the onlookers below. She mourned him all her life.

I wrote and directed a play about them at the Mark Taper Forum Lab at the Anson Theater in 1980 and again in 1982. It turned out very well, but it hasn't been seen since.

Different accounts are offered by several sources regarding Locklear's motivation to shoot the night scene. It is questionable what was captured in 1920 - on film of an airplane at an altitude of two miles at night. Of course, lower altitudes would have made the airplane more visible, but without seeing it, it is hard to imagine why some of the stunt could not have been performed and photographed as day for night.

The final scene of The Skywayman was to be filmed at an airfield in Los Angeles on the night of August 2, 1920. The plan was for arc lights to be trained on the plane carrying Locklear and Elliott as they flew over in the dark sky. Elliott would light flares to simulate flames as Locklear spun the plane down, seemingly out of control, from an altitude of ten thousand feet, waited as long as he safely could at two thousand feet, and then regained control of the plane and landed. The cameras rolled, the flares burned, the plane spun into a dive. But something went wrong. When Locklear should have begun pulling out of the dive, he did not. Not until two hundred feet off the ground did he try to pull out of the dive. By then it was too late. The plane crashed, and the two men were killed instantly. One theory is that the arc lights, which were supposed to have been doused as the plane approached the ground, remained trained on the plane, blinding Locklear. The released movie retained footage of the very real crash. No copy of the movie is known to survive.http://hometownbyhandlebar.com/?p=3663

The last stunt scheduled for filming was a nighttime spin, initially to take place in daylight with cameras fitted with red filters to simulate darkness. Locklear, under a lot of pressure, with not only his family life being in upheaval but also learning that studio head William Fox was not going to extend his contract beyond one film, demanded that he be allowed to fly at night. The studio relented, and on August 2, 1920, publicity surrounding the stunt led to a large crowd gathering to witness the filming of the unusual stunt. Large studio arc lights were set up on DeMille Field 2 to illuminate the Curtiss "Jenny", to be doused as the aircraft entered its final spin. The dive towards some oil derricks was to make it appear that the airplane crashed beside the oil well. As arranged, Locklear had forewarned the lighting crew to douse their lights when he got near the derricks so that he could see to pull out of the dive, saying that "When you take the lights off, I'll know where I am and I can come out of it." After completing a series of aerial maneuvers, Locklear signaled that he would descend.

In front of spectators and film crew, Locklear and his long-time flying partner "Skeets" Elliot crashed heavily into the sludge pool of an oil well, never pulling out of the incipient spin. The crash resulted in a massive explosion and fire, with Locklear and Elliot dying instantly. After the accident, speculation revolved around the five arc lights that had remained fully on, possibly blinding the flight crew.

With the entire film already completed except for the night scene, Fox made the decision to capitalize on the fatal crash by rushing The Skywayman into post-production and release. With notices proclaiming "Every Inch Of Film Showing Locklear's Spectacular (And Fatal) Last Flight. His Death-Defying Feats And A Close Up Of His Spectacular Crash To Earth," the film premiered in Los Angeles on September 5, 1920. The advertising campaign that accompanied the film was very similar to that of Locklear's first feature film, focusing on his earlier exploits and combining model displays and exhibition flights across North America to coincide with the film's release. Upon the film's release, Fox Film Corporation publicly announced that 10% of the profits would go to the families of Locklear and Elliot.

Locklear is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ormer_Locklear

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by rick m

This was at 106 No. Figueroa - on the 1906 Sanborn map-- Library of Congress has original photo--

Thanks for your help rick m.
----------------------




Here's another intriguing Y.K.A. photograph.


www.Dosan.org

1924 Hung Sa Dan in front of the old F.W. Robinson building on 7th Street, downtown Los Angeles."

You can see the glass squares in the sidewalk to permit light into J.W. Robinson's basement. (I wonder if they're still there)

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by HossC

I'm sticking with privates homes for today's Julius Shulman post, but moving out to Pasadena. This one is "Job 4404: Carl Maston, Chiat House (Pasadena, Calif.), 1968". There are 24 images in this set, and, although there's some duplication between color and black & white, I could have easily posted four or five more.



USC Digital Library

Of course Jay Chiat was kind of an advertising legend...






NYT obit: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/24/bu...ead-at-70.html

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's the Young Korean Academy in 1916.

There's some interesting info on Dosan Ahn Chang Ho (1878-1938) here and here. His wiki page is here. He founded the Young Korean Academy in 1913 to train people for an independent Korea in anticipation of the end of the 1910-1945 Japanese occupation. Dosan, his wife and three of their five children are pictured in your last YKA photo.

The Dosan Ahn Chang Ho family's last home still stands on W 34th St (it was relocated), on the USC campus, a bit west of Trousdale Parkway. It now houses USC's Korean Studies Institute.


gsv

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

FW, refresh my memory.

What are the two interesting buildings at lower left?

One definitely looks like a school. (with the tall flagpole in front)

I believe we have seen the lower one with the diagonal sidewalk....but I can't remember it's name. (they're both part of USC, right?)
__

The building with the flagpole in front is the 1887 USC College of Liberal Arts, later known as the Old College. I think you are
referring to the newer, south-facing "wing" of that building as a separate structure; it's definitely not as old but looks connected
to the 1887 building. If it had a different name, I don't know it.

The building cut off at the left edge is the Widney Alumni House. You can see them in my post here and read a bit about them here.

This is a c. 1938 photo looking at the front of that south-facing wing of the Old College, with the diagonal sidewalk you mentioned.
I think the lettering over the entrance says UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:



00065698 @ LAPL


After having again looked at photos of the Liberal Arts/Old College building, I realized I'd seen another photo of it where
the building was unidentified. This is that photo, which shows the Liberal Arts building before the southern wing was built:



Islandora (undated; link not always available)

[HossC]

Here's another private home from Julius Shulman. It's "Job 2370: Troxell House (Santa Monica, Calif.), 1957". I've picked seven of the 18 images.



This one shows off the stilts that support the house.



The curved driveway with steps.



Small, ornamental pools seem to have been popular in designer houses of this period.



It's another house with a great view.



This is the only glimpse of the kitchen we get.



I was going to finish with a shot of the bathroom, so I thought I may as well use the only color shot in the set.



All from Getty Research Institute

The description says that this is another Richard Neutra design. It also lists the address as 760 Paseo Miramar, although it's actually 766 Paseo Miramar. The swimming pool isn't in the vintage shots, so I assume it was added later. The ornamental pool seems to have gone.


Google Maps

An article at la.curbed.com says that the house sold for $3.55m in 2013, after being on the market for two and a half years. The image below (which I've enlarged slightly) is one of 25 recent pictures in the article.


la.curbed.com

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Fantastic information Jungmann!



Viola Dana and Ormer Locklear in love.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth355225/
_________________________________________________________________

Is there any way to read your play, Jungmann?

I recall that in Kevin Brownlow's great documentary series about Hollywood in the silent film days, that Viola Dana was interviewed about this incident and it was quite touching as tears came to her eyes recalling the events.

_________

I found the episode on youtube.

HOLLYWOOD, Episode 5 - Hazards of the Game. The segment about Ormer Locklear and interviews with Leatrice Joy and Viola Dana, starts at 34:40 and runs to 41:10 and is worth watching. The whole episode is worth watching. Rather, the whole series is worth watching. It was on VHS at one time, but Brownlow has had trouble getting the rights for a dvd edition. As he says, "the rights holders are more interested in money than their own history."

I also love the theme music. It somehow captures the excitement of what once was and then a melancholy nostalgia for what can be no more.

• Video Link

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's another private home from Julius Shulman. It's "Job 2370: Troxell House (Santa Monica, Calif.), 1957". I've picked seven of the 18 images.


This one shows off the stilts that support the house.



]

Back in the 1950-60s when I studied architecture in college, this style was called Post & Beam [vertical posts and horizontal beams - the epitome of simplicity]. The architect of this home, Richard Neutra, was a local god of design. Post & Beam was uber hot at that time but for some reason it seems to have fallen out of favor. Maybe all that wood tended to deteriorate over time if the builder used cheap wood for the beams and roofing.

Nevertheless this is a gorgeous home.

[A local church that was built in 1960 using laminated wood beams to support the roof has experienced serious wood rot *photo below*. Recently they had to spend over a million dollars to replace the beams and most of the roof.
Yet another nearby church built in 1955 using the same method is in perfect condition. Moral: be careful from what source your contractor buys beams and roof wood.]

226 W Colorado Blvd Arcadia, CA 91007

yelp

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

The building with the flagpole in front is the 1887 USC College of Liberal Arts, later known as the Old College. I think you are
referring to the newer, south-facing "wing" of that building as a separate structure; it's definitely not as old but looks connected
to the 1887 building.

This photo shows the Liberal Arts building before the southern wing was built:


Islandora

Thanks for clearing that up Flyingwedge.

And you're correct, I didn't notice the two buildings were connected.


below: I enlarged it a bit more to suit my feeble eyes.


detail

It appears there might have been wings added to both sides.

(and even the back perhaps?) -where the roof height is lower.

__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

The Dosan Ahn Chang Ho family's last home still stands on W 34th St (it was relocated), on the USC campus, a bit west of Trousdale Parkway.
It now houses USC's Korean Studies Institute.


gsv

Thanks for the additional information tovangar2...quite interesting.


Here's a closer look at the former Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Family House . I really like it's simplicity.


gsv




And there's a somewhat similar house on the opposite side of the church.


gsv

Do you suppose this one was moved there as well?

It's address is 823 W. 34th St.
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[tovangar2]

I don't know. There's only a couple of permits, nothing about construction or relocation.

"College House (CLH), located at 823 W. 34th St., is home to the East Asian Studies Center, the Office of Overseas Studies and the Center for Active Learning in International Affairs (CALIS) – an outreach program of the School of International Relations." - flickr

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks for checking t2. I tried to find out as well....without success.
---------



Here's a very nice cabinet card of a young girl and her bicycle from the 1890s.


ebay, found several months ago

Best & Co., 505 1/2 W. Spring St.





On the reverse: simply "An Orange Tree"



and Los Angeles Cal.
_

[ethereal_reality]

Here's another...

Manhattan Beach, Calif. [1890s]


found back in Sept. 2016 on ebay

Does anyone recognize this area?

At first I thought that was a mile marker in the foreground. On closer inspection, I think it's just a plain ol' ordinary post.
__

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Best & Co., 505 1/2 W. Spring St.
_

John and Robert Best were partners in Best & Company at this address from 1895 to 1898, so that at least narrows the date of your "Orange Tree"