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https://i.ibb.co/8NL9ndy/Screen-Shot...2-37-29-AM.png |
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Good morning, Bodin. :) I respectfully disagree. The lettering in the 'bank' portion of the Union Bank sign is too thin. (but the mystery 'ank' lettering, that we see in muller's polaroid, does match the 'Union' portion of the Union Bank sign. . .so there's that. I think odinthor's Great American Bank is a good possibility. Quote:
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I think the style/shape of the "a" is wrong in the Great American Bank logo - a vs a. |
I could be wrong but I thought Union Bank's logo still looked like this in the 1980s:
https://cdn2.lamag.com/wp-content/up...04/union_h.jpg Los Angeles Magazine |
Reviewing old aerial photos from 1980 shows the buildings that were there, and there is not a lot to go on. The far left corner of the photo shows that there is an ally or driveway because thee building next to green has high windows though. But.... while looking around I found a nice 14 min helicopter tour of LA from 1961just for fun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoSWAq8MvU0 |
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https://i.postimg.cc/HLTBYF2T/en.jpg Initially I thought I was part of the building in the background. Now I believe it's a pole on top of the green building. There aren't many buildings in Los Angeles like that black/dark gray one. I can only think of two similar buildings and neither match up. |
Is it time yet for a public appeal? :help:
https://i.imgur.com/XAbdukX.jpg .... Or are we gonna have to hand it over to the SF Historians Agency on Twitter? :D |
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There is a very slight shade variation between the pole and building. It must be on the building in the foreground or another structure to the right. It is also too thick to be on the roof - totally out of scale. Not a flagpole as it would be tapered and probably whitish/aluminum in color. |
Look at the reflections in the windows. Some are dark implying there are tall buildings opposite this elevation of the building.
My guess this elevation is south facing. |
Noir_Noir, LOL!
Très amusant! _____________________________________________ The things one starts thinking about when you're grasping for straws: I was just thinking about that "Parallel Parking Only" sign. That street doesn't seem like any parking would be warranted at all, but to have a sign that says Parallel Parking Only implies somehow that somebody thinks you could park there head in? |
I don't know if it's been mentioned but the photographer was Robbie Muller, a Dutch born cinematographer who shot films like REPO MAN, DOWN BY LAW, BARFLY, BREAKING THE WAVES and TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA. I wonder if it was a test for a film he was shooting.
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My Two Cents
My thinking is that the only direction we can't be looking is to the south. As pointed out before the sun is high in the sky but if this is looking south, the sun would be slightly behind the camera, in the north, which doesn't happen here. All other directions are possible slightly before or after high noon.
This might have been pointed out before but it looks like there are three lanes of traffic in one direction and no center divider visible so is it a one way street? |
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Hi everyone--I have been an on again, off again lurker here. Just happened to visit last week and got swept into this "green building" mystery obsession. I have a few observations about this photo. But rather than solve this mystery, they just add more wrinkles. Also, just learning the ins and outs of posting here---so please excuse any mistakes made! 1. There have been some who questioned why there is no driveway ramp in front of the green building. But I can make out the shadow of an edge of the ramp on the right side just before the biker's front wheel. And through the spokes of the motorcycle, you can make out a yellow curb that begins. And along the front of the ramp, which spans the entire photo, you can make out the lip of the ramp where the street meets up. https://i.postimg.cc/KKtQ1hSR/ramp-01.jpg 2. The bank building. When you zoom in you can make out that the corners have a single pane. So technically, this building is 8 sided. That coupled with odinthor's Great American Bank image, where 1801 Century Park East, Century City, CA address was present, led me to check out the actual building, and it definitely has the same 8-sided look. They recently renovated the building, but it remains similar. https://i.postimg.cc/N5PdVxkf/bank-building-01.jpg 3. And lastly, the dark building. When you zoom in, you can make out the tall thin glass pane gridding. This grid configuration is identical to William Pereira's Larry Flynt building. Did Pereira design this building also, or was it a copycat architect?? https://i.postimg.cc/21s2j8ts/Window-Grid-01.jpg The problem is, like everyone else, I don't see where these buildings in close proximity exist in LA. Unless one was demolished or extensively remodeled since 1984. The problem with Century City is that while there are dark buildings behind 1801 Century Park East, the angles and positions of the buildings don't pan out. Especially when configuring that a crusty old green building is nearby. Most of that surrounding area is residential or a golf course. So probably a dead end?? Was hoping my images would be larger, but they are clickable-sorry just a noob. |
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This will help. posted by RyeRyeLA. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/gvfWDT.jpg posted by RyeRyeLA https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/x4uxeF.jpg posted by RyeRyeLA https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/1vwcYf.jpg Refer back to RyeRyeLA's post for the text. |
Here's a bit of good news.
The old monolithic ice storage building at Central Ave. and 4th Street is going to be incorporated into a new architectural project. (it would cost a fortune to tear down so perhaps they took that into consideration) https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/gylb45.jpg https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/GzplsT.jpg designboom/adjaye It's the building directly above where it says 'studio one". . . .just for fun here's the Los Angeles Ice & Cold Storage Co. back in the day. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/pcZGdk.jpg lapl . . .for comparison. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/AVBP25.jpg google earth One last view of how it looks today. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/7Htl21.jpg I think this is excellent news. . |
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Thanks . . . and welcome! :cheers: |
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The Larry Flynt Productions building (originally HQ of Great Western Savings) doesn't fit the black building. The black building is taller than LF building, at least 20 stories (LF only about 15 stories), and is rectangular (LF is oval). Also, the bank building might be a Union Bank. I wouldn't rule that out necessarily based on font. I still quite sure the buildings in the backround will be in one of 4 places, 3 on Wilshire: 1. Wilshire Koreatown 2. Wilshire Miracle Mile 3. Wilshire Westwood 4. Century City All of these locals have or had streets nearby back in the 1980s with somewhat rundown buildings. For example near CC there was little Santa Monica with fairly rundown areas as late as the 1990s. I'm quite sure the black 20-25 floor building is not a 1984 building in downtown L.A.-- I know my 1980s downtown buildings, and the closest in appearance would be Broadway Plaza, but that is taller (33 floors) and looked somewhat different. in windows etc. Betting on one of the four areas in the list above. Perhaps someone with time on their hands could go through the building diagrams for L.A. in the city links pages and narrow down the possibilities for the black building and the adjacent bank building. They are drawings in the diagrams pages, not pictures though. Some drawings are better than others. Let's hope the street scene is really in L.A., and not San Diego or some other burg. There are buildings in SD that look a bit like the black building, and they were there in 1984. That would be a real curveball :yes: |
I think we have to consider the possibility that the Muller image is simply misidentified, not in L.A. at all....he took over 2,000 Polaroids, so it could be a cataloging error.
The green building appears to be of unreinforced masonry construction, I believe that by 1980 or so all such buildings required seismic retrofit, I don't see any evidence of that. Also, as has been noted the "parallel parking only" signage is curious....I can't recall ever seeing this in the city. Muller was in Austin TX. in 1979 filming "Honeysuckle Rose", a Willie Nelson vehicle....here's a 1978 photo of downtown Austin, the dark high rise is the Austin National Bank Tower (now known as the Bank of America Center)..... https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
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Great work riichkay :worship: :tup:
The two mystery(no longer) towers. https://i.imgur.com/R5Hxcvn.jpg Google Maps Both have had makeovers since the mid-1980's. An Austin postcard from back in the day shows the Chase Tower in it's original golden splendor. https://i.imgur.com/lkf7ZyT.jpg austin.towers.net btw riichkay, for ongoing product feedback purposes, did my uncanny patented reconstruction tools assist you in any way in your findings? https://i.imgur.com/ydvBF8V.jpg :D :runaway: |
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:previous: Dayum! Fantastic sleuthing RiichKay. .with an assist by Noir Noir. :) -and everyone else! I wonder how many collectors were mislead by the title, Los Angeles, 1984. (Price: € 2.800)...I'd want my money back. This reminds me of one of our best NLA discoveries. Does anyone remember this photograph by Garry Wingrand? Sailor, New York 1950 https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/AZzG8z.jpg Our in-house sleuths figured out that the location was incorrect. Instead of New York this is actually Los Angeles! Here. . .and Here. . .and Here . . .and, finally, Here. (complete with a terrific annotated aerial map by Martin-Pal) But the location is still listed as New York, 1950. :( https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/YvNtOK.jpg artblart If I remember correctly, we contacted them. Update: I just looked it up. Martin Pal contacted the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco. Here's their answer. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/hnCEL7.jpg We're changin' the world noirisher! . |
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I appreciate that you contacted them.
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Yes! Applause applause to you! Debunking Los Angeles photos in Texas, LOL! This was pretty remarkable. Just to put a coda on the photo that captured our attention: This is a c.1970 photo of Austin. The street in the center leading to the statehouse is Congress Ave. The Austin National Bank Tower (now known as the Bank of America Center) would have been (will be) located to the right of Congress Ave. almost exactly center of this photo. That building and the gold Chase Bank Tower were the tallest buildings in Austin at around the time of the photo we were discussing. That means the photograph was probably taken on one of the streets in the lower left quadrant. South of that is a park along the Colorado River and area designated now as Lady Bird Lake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...age-asset.jpeg Now: (!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...ge-tx-8266.JPG And: Yes, there is a Colorado River in Texas. (I wasn't aware of that.) It's not the one we usually think of when we hear Colorado River: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Watershed.png Of further interest is an article about that "Golden Bank Tower." The author writes about it in ways that are reminiscent of people writing about the Richfield Tower. Though this building is still there, but it's exterior was removed. The glass panes, infused with real gold, weighed three hundred pounds each and were carted away to a landfill, except for a few designers that rescued a few of them. There's also this interesting 1985 photo from the southern side of the Colorado. It always amazes me that southern Texas occasionally gets snow. (Like we know about this year.) A view of downtown Austin during a 1985 snowfall, with the golden exterior of the American Bank Plaza building circled in red: https://austin.towers.net/wp-content...985_snow-1.jpg The article, and other photos, HERE. ____________________ Okay, moving on to the next mystery! :) |
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Just for fun how 'bout we dive into a Robby Müller mystery location. Here is a still from William Friedkin's 'To Live and Die in L.A.' (1985) in which Robby Müller was the cinematographer. I am almost certain this is the interior of a real apartment. (as opposed to a movie set) https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/tgVjUA.jpg IMDB Outside the window we can clearly see the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro as well as a red watertower. I thought it would be fun to try and figure out the location of this apartment building. (& if we're really good, which window in the apartment building) Of course we're totally screwed (pardon my French) if the view out the window is a back-screen projection. I'm off to a slow start because I haven't even located the watertower yet. :mad: There is a list, a looong list, of the filming locations used in To Live and Die in L.A. at IMDB. You can view the list Here. . |
My guess is the water tower is Todd Pacific Shipyards. There's a diagram of their layout on Wikipedia.
Cheers, Earl |
Appreciate the kudos on resolving the Muller photo puzzle....I've been wrong as often as right on these, most recently on the Amos Aspey treehouse where I was way off, as you recall Flyingwedge nailed that one.
When I browsed the Muller images I noted he had several Austin photos taken in '79....I then pulled up whatever '70's-'80's skyline pictures I could find of the town, and the black tower jumped out of that '78 photo. Here's a '79 Polaroid that Muller took from his Austin hotel room....is that our bad boy?.... https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
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Knowing now how these Robby Müller polaroids work, I'd say that one is somewhere in Los Angeles. :tup: |
Hi,
The Todd PS looks like you nailed it, I used to live in Longbeach in 70's and 80's. But a word of caution to you great sleuths : From the 80's and 90's I was a scenic carpenter for movies and commercials and "pick ups". We would transform any interior or place into another in less than a day or hours for shooting scenes. Herald Examiner Building becomes a regular office, ( because it was cheap rent), the Biltmore Hotel into a regular hotel ( because it really does have a secret bar behind a panel in the Pres. Suite), old DWP 1930's offices became dingy hotel rooms, and Point Fermin interior barracks became just backgrounds, just a few of 100's I worked on. So look at the point of view and it might end up not being an apt. but could be an office, or barracks, or any other "place". Notes: 1. The steel casement windows look like from 1930's onward , but the window cranks are 1970's retrofits. 2. The towel bar is from the 1970's to 80's . Just remember that what you see in film and TV may or may not be real - I loved that job! and I never watched another movie or TV show ever the same after I started working in Scenery. Directors and location scouts ... It doesn't mean that the same building exterior was the same building interior, or location, or ... anything. We could turn an office into a hotel room in less than an hour, a hotel room into a newsroom in the same. It was all about the visual. This was shot on tight budget so I doubt a soundstage set up. Best of luck ! |
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It wasn’t the first time film crews had found the area an inviting location. Portions of William Friedkin’s 1985 neo-noir crime classic “To Live and Die in L.A.” also were filmed on Knoll Hill. The character played by Darlanne Fluegel, Ruth, has a hilltop house in the film that was located on Viewland Place, on a portion of the street that no longer exists. The film also features scenes filmed at the Vincent Thomas Bridge, the old location of Utro’s Cafe and many other locations in San Pedro and Wilmington.Most of the buildings on Knoll Hill were demolished about 20 years ago, and today it's home to little league pitches. |
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And for final closure...that elusive green building located in the middle of the block on W 2nd St. and Congress Ave. (seen behind Goodrich's sign poles). https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/M6rBiX.jpg https://texashistory.unt.edu/ |
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I have to laugh. I drove up that bridge from San Pedro in 1982 and my car came to a stop near that tall green pole. Out of gas and I had to back down to the entrance and call a friend to bring me some gas....this was before cell phones. :D |
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That photo was taken December 21, 1956. I noticed what I thought looked liked Christmas decorations on the pole on the left of the photo, so I took a look at the link. The mystery no longer building was on 2nd street, so that means in the c.1970 aerial below (the dark road in the center being Congress Ave.) this building is on the northwest corner of the second street from the bottom. And the B.F. Goodrich sign looks to still be there, too. Quote:
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P.S.: The first photo riichkay posted dated 1978 was looking up Congress Ave. from 1st street!
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fcfd6bbf_b.jpg_9140138.jpg by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr |
^^^
That's a beautiful photograph! That area doesn't always feel beautiful when you're there because it's so industrial. If that's the right word. Is that white light above the bridge a star, or from last December during the conjunction, when Jupiter and Saturn were so close together? |
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The Austin SSP forum is very active, and if you’re interested you’ll find a lot more historic and current photos there — we’re not exactly competing with LA architecturally speaking, but we’re working on it. ;) |
Isn't the photo of downtown Austin designated as "now" rather outdated?
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ETA: I checked my star map app, that star isn't Jupiter, probably Markab in Pegasus. |
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Thanks for introducing yourself, Max Tower. I did enjoy your article very much! Quote:
I guess you two Texans know your city really well! I didn't post the link to where I got that photo (which I should have), but it was from an Austin based company named Red Wing Aerials, and they have this photo on their home page. It wasn't dated; I assumed it was rather current since this is the business they're in. :shrug: How much "out of date" do you think it is? https://www.redwingaerials.com/austi...ography-austin |
The stairstep building under construction on the lower left in downtown Austin was topped out in September 2015, so the photo may be from about late 2014. A great deal has changed since then. Also, there are talls to the left and right of the photo, most notably to the left, where the tallest in the city is located (The Independent). The real experts post in the Austin forum, particularly KevinfromTexas. I don't want to get into it too much since this is an L.A. forum, but if anyone is interested, the Austin forum is one of the best at SSP. It contains lists of talls being constructed and prosposed, and it's mind boggling.
Edit: I just realized that Max Tower posted something similar to mine! Someone mentioned snow. We have had snow here many times in my 50 years here, although it's not common, and is usually light when it does occur. I've seen single digits several times regarding temperatures (around zero in 1989 in the valleys within the city). I haven't seen anything like the storm we had in February, with regard to snow depth and persistence of very cold temperatures. Since this is the L.A. forum, I'll mention that relatively few Americans know that there has been snow in L.A. (not just in the mountains nearby). |
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Spotted a trailer for a 1980 film called "On the Nickel" about Skid Row. There was a great shot of the Hard Rock Cafe at 5th and Wall Streets (300 E. 5th St.) and other locations in the area. Here's a then and now.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d0e851bf_b.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMys8GO7WXc http://www.onthenickeldvd.com/ https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...86214013_z.jpg GSV |
Interesting that the bar would be advertising Color TV in 1980, no?
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Or, maybe because well into the 1970s, many little portable TVs were black-and-white. My experience having been born in 1970, my family had a "big" TV in the family room that was in color, and in the mid and late 1970s, when my dad was watching sports on that TV but my sister and I wanted to watch Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Little House on the Prairie or Donny & Marie (haha!), we had to watch it on the "little" TV in my parents' bedroom, which was a 12-inch portable that was black-and-white. When I was in the 5th grade (1980-1981 school year), my teacher said that she only had a little black-and-white TV in her apartment, so she couldn't tell that the Incredible Hulk was green, hehe. |
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Two new images on ebay today:
http://www.califaztlan.org/LANoirPics/placita1900.jpg https://www.ebay.com/itm/40284950491...IAAOSwoWdgoT9C http://www.califaztlan.org/LANoirPic...townLA1900.jpg https://www.ebay.com/itm/18484121684...p2047675.l2557 In the first image of the Plaza church, I am wondering if the house on the hill is Banning's old place on Bunker Hill, but probably not since there are two houses and Banning's place stood alone, as far as I remember from images seen. In the second image, the Boyle Heights Sisters of Charity Orphanage is clearly visible ( https://boyleheightshistoryblog.blog...ns-asylum.html ) |
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