Excellent story & photos about Anatol Josepho and his photomaton LAboomer52. I've never heard of him before your post.

Wilshire
 

This is my favorite book on Wilshire, the Boulevard and the Man:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...3L._SS500_.jpg Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Wilshire-Boule...2454447&sr=8-1

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post, and I found the forum last night after seeing "This Gun For Hire" for the first time, and doing LOTS of Google searches trying to find out where the walking bridge in the film was. Then I found this thread. Wonderful!

I'm wondering if any of you remember the film "Chinatown"....there is a page online that shows where some key scenes were done, but was wondering if anyone out there knows where they filmed the sequence where Jack Nicholson goes out to a dry riverbed, and there is some kind of overpass or bridge going over the dry bed. It's a scene that stuck in my mind for years for some reason...starts with him surveying the area with binoculars. Just wondered if anyone knew...

Thanks and great thread...super to see all the old landmarks in LA!

Tom

:previous: Hi Tom....welcome to the thread.

I'm not sure of the exact location of that particular scene. Our bridge expert sopas_ej probably could tell you though.


http://a.imageshack.us/img850/4612/chbinocsweb.jpg
http://blogs.indiewire.com/pressplay...own_Frames_and

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...2520PM.bmp.jpgParamount Pictures
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-a...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogleSV

My favorite movie. It's the Foothill Boulevard Bridge over the Big Tujunga Wash in Sunland...


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...2520PM.bmp.jpgParamount Pictures
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogleSVhttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogleSV

I read a few years ago that it had been rebuilt, but retains the same design. Note the V-shaped formation in the hills behind Jake. The lamps and their detail seem to be more or less the same.

:previous: You're quite a sleuth Gaylord_Wilshire. Good job!

____




I found these great snapshots of the 1400 block of Miramar near Witmer, circa 1944.


http://a.imageshack.us/img696/2013/1...amarnearwh.jpg
ebay




http://a.imageshack.us/img684/2013/1...amarnearwh.jpg
ebay




http://a.imageshack.us/img94/2013/14...amarnearwh.jpg
ebay




http://a.imageshack.us/img819/741/14...amaratwhit.jpg
ebay


below: Reverse side of one of the photos with the location and date (sorry, I'm not sure which one exactly).

http://a.imageshack.us/img191/2013/1...amarnearwh.jpg
ebay




Here is a map of the Miramar & Witmer area. It's up near the top where it says Emerald Drive.

http://a.imageshack.us/img803/2168/aamapmiramar.jpg
1947 map



This must have been quite a prestigious neighborhood back around the turn of the century. Today not so much.
Only one home in those four photos has survived. :(


Here is the survivor.

http://a.imageshack.us/img196/8576/1...amaraerial.jpg
google street view





Notice the HUGE palm tree that used to be on the left side of the front yard is gone.

http://a.imageshack.us/img109/3538/1...ramartoday.jpg
google street view



below: Here's a larger view to see the many details. The tall chimney is missing on the right side.

http://a.imageshack.us/img191/8004/1...amartodayh.jpg
google street views





below: This is the quality of 'architecture' on Miramar Street today....this is right next to the home.

http://a.imageshack.us/img62/4712/1400blocknmir1.jpg
google street view

Can you imagine tearing down one of those fine homes and replacing it with something as banal as this.




below: Across the street is a property that has not one but two fences.

http://a.imageshack.us/img220/3486/1...amaracross.jpg
google street view


At first I thought this was just a bunch of trees, then I realized it was a little bungalow court. Since the trees were in the way I thought I would view it from above.



I was right that it was a bungalow court but wrong that it was little. The place is huge and judging by the green roofs and architecture it once might have extended all the way to 3rd Street! Interesting property.

http://a.imageshack.us/img819/3486/1...amaracross.jpg
google street view

____

"My favorite movie. It's the Foothill Boulevard Bridge over the Big Tujunga Wash in Sunland..."

Wow super! Exactly what I meant..yeah one of my all time favorites as well. So cool that it looks nearly the same after all this time!.

OK one final one for you guys....I've always read that the caves near the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers" were real...anyone ever go out there for any shots?

This is great stuff. I'm going to have think of all the other great films shot in LA that might have some landmarks surviving and ask up here!

Thanks so much for the shots from "Chinatown"...

Tom

Those photos are absolutely GREAT finds, e_r--I don't know who the architects were for the lost houses, but we are lucky to have the survivor, the Lewis house at 1425 Miramar--attributed to Joseph Cather Newsom, one of the great L.A./Calif architects of the late Victorian era. He's known for, among other L.A. places, the well-known Sessions house on Carroll Avenue...


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061750.jpgLAPL


Back to Miramar Street for a second--it looks like the Lewis house might have an interesting carriage house behind it...
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogleSV

Say what !? The very top photo is a view towards the Larronde house on No.Hope-Bunker Hill-- Nicely including 2 of 3 apt houses immediately north of it as well- Arnold Hylen has all these -Ever scoured the California State Library Photo catalog ?-nearly 550 of his images to be studied there-And I might add that all the extant William Fletcher LosAngeles stuff too-- HOT TIP--

oops___my bad. computer hiccup

:previous: I think you're right G_W. I missed that.

http://a.imageshack.us/img696/2013/1...amarnearwh.jpg
ebay

Wow! You're absolutely correct rick_m. Thanks for the correction.

below: The Pierre Larronde House at 237 N. Hope Street.

http://a.imageshack.us/img140/228/aa...se237nhope.jpg
http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=66068

Notice the finial is missing in the 1944 photograph.

____

Is this the same Larronde that built the Larronde Block (lower right) in downtown L.A.? I imagine it is but I don't have any of the details.


http://a.imageshack.us/img38/7244/aa...ck1890susc.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1332470834395
___

Been enjoying this fine thread for many months, my thanks to you posters for all of your great insights, stories and excellent detective work.

Today, I noticed there have been a few more old process projection plates made available for viewing at Archive. org

Hope this link works:

http://archive.org/details/56DF_40030-414_A_LA

If you look around, there are a couple other projection backgrounds, along with a nice 1935 aerial film view of Hollywood, and the Burbank Warner's studio.

I don't think there was, but today the Gold Line is elevated through here, and runs just about where these tracks are.

According to several websites, the caves in Invasion of the Body Snatchers are the Bronson Caves in Griffith Park:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3448/3...c774efca6e.jpg
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by T Hoffarth, on Flickr
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2607/3...9593f900_b.jpg
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by T Hoffarth, on Flickr

Hey kids! Dig the first ten minutes of Key Witness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x05wmHcnHKg

Where do y'all posit that opening scene was shot?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0...2520AM.bmp.jpgyoutube.com



Hmmm very interesting footage... Jeffrey's Plymouth with the toilet seat on the trunk (not my name for Chrysler's version of a continental kit, but a good one)... the cast (Hunter's eyes, Pat Crowley, and badass Dennis Hopper... cute dog... odd characters like the old man, the pretty tramp, the guy in the t-shirt with the excellent guns.... I guess it's somewhere near Chavez Ravine, or in East L.A....


Edit: I went ahead and looked at all four parts of Key Witness... it's really pretty good...a great movie to see in between The Desperate Hours (1955) and Lady In a Cage (1964). The car chases are terrific--the Mercury full of punks pushing the Plymouth is harrowing...

As for the murder location--in part 4, it is mentioned in a courtroom scene as being "East L.A.", not that that means that's where the opening scenes were actually done. The suburban streetscapes of L.A. seemed at first to have been filmed in the Valley, but the only street sign I saw was "California Ave."--unless there's one in the Valley that doesn't turn up when googling, the only California Ave. I see is on the west side toward Venice. Not sure what the neighborhood is called, but the houses all look more or less interchangeable with Valley houses of the era. Anyway, I'm going overboard... but here are some more screenshots to tide you over until you watch the movie.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...extras1021.jpg
It looks like they used real East L.A. residents as the zip-lipped witnesses to murder...

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...2520AM.bmp.jpg
Near the chop shop...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z...2520AM.bmp.jpg
Jeffrey's house...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L...2520AM.bmp.jpg
Note the "toilet seat"...

And various location shots...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H...2520AM.bmp.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...2520AM.bmp.jpghttps://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G...2520AM.bmp.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b...2520AM.bmp.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I...2520AM.bmp.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...2520AM.bmp.jpghttps://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-M...2520AM.bmp.jpglatimes.com


At first I hadn't realized that the post you (TWS) were referring to was one of e_r's from a year ago... I knew there had been plans for elevated transit in L.A. in the '20s, which, it turns out, sopas had outlined in a post answering e_r (see below). Anyway, at top is a Times article from July 7, 1907, describing an earlier proposal. I know we've seen other posts here about downtown transit....


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...2520AM.bmp.jpg
A late '50s shot of the tracks behind the PE Building... (this shot appeared here on the Noirish
thread at some point, but I couldn't pin down when).

I lived in the area few years ago and learned from the locals that, yes, it's not only the IBS cave, but also the very same cave where original TV Batman exited from when leaving his, well, cave. To me, so far, this is just a rumor. Haven't seen it confirmed anywhere.

Edit: In a case somebody didn't already know, the cave runs thru the mountain. It's just a short run, perhaps 35ft. The tunnel is Y -shaped, if I remember correctly, so basically there's two backdoor exits. The cave opening seen in film/TV is not necessarily the "one."

There you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronson_Canyon

I was watching the Hollywood aerial and eventually noticed the cars were driving on the wrong side of the road. Unless in the 1940s in Hollywood cars were driving on the left experimentally, that film is reversed. It was definitely strange for a split second watching that vid before I realized what I was watching. Very cool video nonetheless.

This hilly n derelict deadend also in confrontation scene in This Rare Breed --betha WAS up in Chavez Ravine ---

Let us not overlook the utterly remarkable setting for ROBOT MONSTER FROM THE MOON ---GEO.NADER is the beefcake hero !

:previous:
I was thinking Chavez Ravine area too; or the Elysian Park area, the hills west of Chinatown...

Those suburban shots, I'm thinking could possibly be Glendale or Burbank; there's a California Avenue in Glendale and a California Street in Burbank. In the San Gabriel Valley, there's also a California Avenue in Monrovia. There's a California Avenue in Pasadena, too, but those shots don't look like how California Avenue in Pasadena looks.

EDIT: My bad, the street in Pasadena is actually called California Boulevard. I should know better than that. :P

"Key Witness" looks interesting, I'm gonna have to watch it.

A view towards downtown Los Angeles from Point Grand View in Elysian Park. If you look closely you can see one of the
Arroyo Seco Parkway tunnels.


http://imageshack.us/a/img26/2362/aa...dviewpoint.jpg
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca2764.photos.382750p/

Yes....Lorimar was filming two series on the MGM lot.....Dallas and Knots Landing. Falcon Crest was filmed elsewhere.

Absolutely fascinating, Kelton. Bravo, and thanks.

:previous: I agree! Thanks for providing the link Kelton Verugo.

I know we have a plethora of Bunker Hill photographs on this thread, but this could possibly be a new one.

The photo is dated October 1960 and is from the Library of Congress. The location they give is vague...
just a listings of various streets located in the Bunker Hill area.


I left the photo LARGE to better see the details. Remember to pan right---->

http://imageshack.us/a/img204/1671/a...ibraryofco.jpg
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca0214.photos.012012p/

Unless you recognize these mid-size homes, you might have to rely on the large commercial buildings at far right for clues. The tallest is quite odd looking with it's small windows...it almost looks industrial. Also notice the odd water tanks the likes of which I have never seen before (that type anyway)...and of course the corner of the bldg with the ornamental details.

Some of you might be surprised I don't recognize these homes, but my memory....well.....how do I say it?...sucks! :(

I love this graphic with the Los Angeles skyline...notice the artist included the revolving Lindbergh Beacon* atop City Hall.

http://imageshack.us/a/img716/4368/s...lllindberg.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79761301@N00/

I was only aware of Chicago's famous Lindbergh Beacon atop the Palmolive Building/Playboy Building.

____

Botwin's was located at 1911 Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park. If you look closely, the artist even included Glendale Boulevard
(there is a bridge over Glendale Blvd. at this point on Sunset).


http://imageshack.us/a/img24/8849/sd...bridgeover.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79761301@N00/

I can't quite figure out the people.
Are they on break from the 'Babes in Toyland' set or is some mobster going to throw them into the Los Angeles River?






Here is a marvelous matchbook.....very streamline moderne at this point.

http://imageshack.us/a/img820/8012/smbjericlcat.jpg
found on ebay



I've heard rumors that the Botwin building is still there under the guise of TAIX french restaurant...but I wasn't sold on the idea.
The dimensions were too far off in my opinion.


below: TAIX at 1911 Sunset Boulevard.

http://imageshack.us/a/img826/5853/ssitetodaytaix.jpg
google street view




below: That is...until I came across this later illustration.

http://imageshack.us/a/img822/3567/sm1r.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79761301@N00/

FINALLY the building has the same dimensions as TAIX.....but the give away is that strange 'wall' to the right of Botwin's.



It's still there!

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/2396/ssite2oddwall.jpg
google street view

I am now in agreement.....TAIX is in the old Botwin's!


_____



We've covered the original TAIX restaurant several times on this thread. It originated in the 1920s at the Champ d'Or Hotel in Los Angeles' french quarter.

A wonderful noir photo (seen before on this thread) when TAIX was located near downtown L.A
.....look closely and you can see the sign.

http://imageshack.us/a/img195/2450/s3degreesofsep.jpg

For other images of the old TAIX you can click on the following link.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=5079

____

Another Illegal Alien in LA
 

OMG. I have Robot Monster on video....in 3D no less! An extraterrestrial gorilla with a bubble machine! Can anything be better???? :jester:
http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/9...botmonster.jpg
http://desukomoviespot.com/2011/02/0.../robotmonster/

These Tudoresque apts were slightly below the Ems Apts -but across the lane @ 324 thru 336 So.Olive- I got to walk past them when I was on a 1962schooltrip (in 4th grade) to see the kiddie XMAS show @ the old Philharmonic- sparking a thought they kinda resembled my granpa's - an engraved B.Hill memory of my own-Our bus parked across frm Angel's Flight in a lot next to the Casa Alta apt bldng--Image frm Architectural Survey by Boucher--

Pretty certain old Pierre built this block--- Larronde Bldng near First St

Bronson Canyon (especially the tunnel/cave) has appeared in so many movies and TV shows, it should have its own star on Hollywood Blvd. Here's a couple of frame grabs from two more 1950s sci-fi movies:

It Conquered The World
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-X.../Bronson-1.jpg
[source: RCA Columbia Home Video]

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P.../Bronson-2.jpg
[source: Republic Pictures dvd]

KTLA used to air Invasion of the Body Snatchers fairly frequently, and for a period of time in the 1970s every time it aired some local prankster would sneak around Echo Park Lake late at night leaving home-made alien seed pods. Anyone else remember that?

I love BRONSON CANYON. Remember THE SEARCHERS with John Wayne? Or that stinker INVISIBLE INVADERS? Both filmed there as were countless other movies and TV Shows. Check this for a partial list. There are hundreds more.

http://imdb.to/GMiR6W

"It Conquered The World" led to one of the apocryphal "Corman's Laws." The first version of the monster was supposedly half the size of the final one. Star Beverly Garland (who later owned and ran Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn at 4222 Vineland Avenue) went up to it in an early scene and kicked it over. At which point Roger Corman supposedly coined the Law: "The monster has to be bigger than the leading lady."

Cheers,

Earl

Pan right >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pa...0/6a18075r.jpg
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pa...0/6a18062r.jpg
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pa...0/6a19896r.jpg

Three Hollywood panoramas...

(We may have seen these before, but I couldn't find them by searching "Hollywood panorama" or "panorama"...)

All from the Library of Congress.

The first picture is captioned "Hollywood - Los Angeles, N. from Carleton Way and Van Ness Sts--1929" I couldn't find any such intersection, and it looks earlier than 1929 to me.

The second picture is captioned "Hollywood from heart of Orange, Ca." Huh? It is also dated 1929--also looks earlier than that to me.

The third is captioned "City of Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif--1912"

Gorgeous panoramas of Hollywood, GW! I've only seen the third one previously. In fact I've got a beautiful print of it framed and hanging in my apartment.

I wonder if the "Hollywood from heart of Orange" image was taken from the northernmost point of Orange Drive? That's definitely Orange Dr. zigzagging just left of center. And I think you're right about it being earlier than 1929.

Carlton Way and Van Ness probably did intersect before the Hollywood Freeway was built. (Search your favorite online map for 1596 North Van Ness Avenue to see how close those two streets come to one another.)

When I lived on Harold Way (at Canyon Dr., south of Carlton, west of 101) my landlord lady, who lived in the very same building since late forties, told me that this building http://tinyurl.com/8acxtfw was originally standing where 101 was to be build. The building was moved to the current location. I know that large wooden structures can be moved, but a large multi-story building like this? I guess a man can do anything.

In the older days of L.A. moving buildings was fairly common. I think that back then, construction costs (and thus the value of the structures themselves) were relatively higher compared the land itself and so it was worth moving rather than demolishing one, if it was in the way of something. Here's a photo we've seen here before. This large building was being moved when it got stuck at Cahuenga and Whitley Terrace.

http://wwww.dkse.net/david/la0828moving2jjournal2a.jpg
http://photos.lapl.org/

Of course--that makes sense. From a 1921 Baist insurance map:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...tonvanness.jpghistoricmapworks.com

http://www.you-are-here.com/victorian/stimson.jpgyou-are-here.com

It looked to me like the Stimson house made a brief appearance tonight early in the premiere of Mad Men's season 5,
as the home of Betty and her new husband (whose name I forget). Don dropped his three kids off in front of it...

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.

Spectacular panoramas, GW.....And yes, I'm sure you're right on the dates.

If nothing else, consider that the Hollywood Roosevelt went up in '27. "Downtown" Hollywood was already getting pretty built up by then......and I doubt if there were any stray orange groves by that time.

Those are from the 'teens, for sure.

Either way..........those look like Willoughby to me :D (A Twilight Zone reference...somehow I think a lot or readers here already know that!)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4...2520AM.bmp.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...2520AM.bmp.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...2520AM.bmp.jpg

Fascinating, Frank--it appears to be 5-angle color process footage for Columbia's Down to Earth with none other than Rita Hayworth--
apparently her first big picture after Gilda and meant to capitalize on it. I guess the appearance of the RKO marquee advertising Gilda
was meant to be an inside joke. I was surprised to see so many 5-globe streetlamps still in place, along 8th Street. There are alot of
old favorites, including the Golden Gopher....

Screenshots via: Library of Congress

Great 35mm footage from Columbia. Must have been a heck of a strong light they were shining from their camera car to get any kind of an image like that in 35mm..

Monrovia
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...2520PM.bmp.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-U...2520AM.bmp.jpg
Library of Congress/GoogleSV


Usually, I like to stick to Los Angeles and maybe Pasadena...but today I'm motoring out to Monrovia...only because I like this classic SoCal house. The only notation on the Library of Congress photo was "Mosher house, Monrovia, Cal."... A little bit of poking around for Monrovia Moshers of the period turned up Merle and Margaret Mosher at 439 N. Myrtle Avenue. Best of all, it still stands, sans the awnings and curious exterior curtains (don't think I've never see those before). Merle was a partner in Mosher & Heth Dodge in Monrovia.

There's a harbor in LA?
 

A view of San Pedro Harbor by Detroit Publishing Co. taken sometime between 1880 and 1899. Two images from the Library of Congress stitched together with the freeware Microsoft Image Composite Editor.

https://i.imgur.com/v8yGmRy.jpg

Ye Cool and Shady Alpine Tavern - Mount Lowe
 

An image from the Library of Congress image bank.

https://i.imgur.com/yHwWnPu.jpg

on Mount Lowe Railway line, Mount Lowe, Calif. Another one from Detroit Publishing Co., date estimated 1900-1910.



Compare with another picture of the tavern (on Noirish Los Angeles) from another angle - same day?

https://i.imgur.com/N2D754F.jpg