Welcome to 'noirish Los Angeles' AlvaroLegido!
I am amazed that you have been working your way through the thread since last January (almost a year!).
I forget sometimes how enormous this thread has become. Your dedication is admirable.
__

:previous:

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1531/afcompl.jpgLos Angeles Times April 5, 1960


I second that welcome, AlvaroLegido.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...2520PM.bmp.jpgJon Proctor
An Air France 707 at the TWA hangar on Avion Drive, 1961

Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo were actually engaged to be married when he was shot and killed at age 26
(she was in the process of converting to Catholicism at the time).

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/3610/1...carolehuge.jpg
http://cinemafan2.livejournal.com/25...l?thread=43474






below: The handsome couple enjoying a polo match in Santa Monica/Pacific Palisades.

http://imageshack.us/a/img827/7687/a...epolomatch.jpg
http://cinemafan2.livejournal.com/25...l?thread=43474




The affair began in 1933, not long after Ms. Lombard divorced William Powell.

http://imageshack.us/a/img42/6946/11...esleptinth.jpg
http://thedirtythirties.tumblr.com/p...o-their-affair


http://imageshack.us/a/img855/9518/a...eonthetown.jpg
http://thedirtythirties.tumblr.com/p...o-their-affair






Not only did Russ Columbo have a hauntingly beautiful voice, he had a rather impressive physique.


http://imageshack.us/a/img5/6122/111...botennispl.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-RUSS...10959262596%26




http://imageshack.us/a/img10/7614/11...hingtennis.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-RUSS...10959262596%26






Russ Columbo studio portrait. Rumor has it, they both preferred to sleep in the nude.

http://imageshack.us/a/img10/798/111frusshandsome.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Columbo

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Alas, a bullet to the brain ends the hopes and dreams of Ms. Lombard & Mr. Columbo.

http://imageshack.us/a/img145/8634/1...bofuneralc.jpg
http://carolelombard.org/gallery/dis...album=51&pos=8





The crypt directly below Mr. Columbo's, intended for Ms. Lombard, remains empty to this day.

http://imageshack.us/a/img607/4584/1...cryptbelow.jpg
http://cinemafan2.livejournal.com/2514.html







So where did Ms. Lombard end up?

http://imageshack.us/a/img23/3861/aa...fan2livejo.jpg
http://cinemafan2.livejournal.com/7511.html

Just down the hall from Russ Columbo. This is so very sad to me. :(

__

Colonial Corners - Barrington & National
 

Thx so much again GW. The info on Colonial Corners was most welcome. I had previously thought the 1947 Trousdale homes were built in bean fields. Colonial Corners is still a landmark in West LA. The 1950's federal-style buildings were built on all four corners of Barrington and National. Three are left:
http://www.oakesarchitects.com/colonia3.jpg
oakesarchitects.com

And I'm assuming Paul J. Howard was also the noted landscape architect who designed gardens for Ambassador College and Rancho Los Alamitos.

Thank you too for the ad with the rendering of Vaugh's Buick. Breathtaking. I'd give something to have that back.

The correct name for the wagon was Padded Wagon then morphed to Paddy Wagon. If you have ever been in a Paddy Wagon (hope not), even a modern one on modern roads you will understand why they padded them in the early 1900's. I remember an Irish music program host named Tom McConvil spotting about the terrible use of Paddy on his program. It had nothing to do with Irish Cops. I come from a long line of Irish Cops and never heard the term referred to Irish.

Here is the Handcock Park home where Russ was 'accidentally' shot in the head by Lansing Brown. Brown served in the military during World War II as a photography instructor. He died of a stroke at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Hospital.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...lillianway.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...06/lillian.jpg

On Sept. 2, 1934 Russ Columbo left his home on Outpost Circle Drive to visit his friend, “Lansa,” photographer Lansing Brown, age 34. Brown resided at the home on 584 N. Lillian Way with his parents. Lansa's father was in the back part of the home whilst Lansa was entertaining his friend Russ in the den which is in the front of the house. While in the midst of a casual conversation in the front room or den of the house, Lansing, sitting at a desk, struck a match on a pair of Civil War-era dueling pistols. Lansing was a collector of such armaments and, unbeknownst to him, ignited a long forgotten shot which ricocheted off a nearby cabinet and struck Columbo in the right eye killing him instantly. He was taken first to Hollywood Receiving Hospital, then transferred to the Hospital of the Good Samaritan.

The time was 1:45 PM. The question is, who was 'Lansa' Brown [August 24, 1900 – February 16, 1962] and why was Lansa playing around with an antique gun? There is a rumor that loud voices were heard by a servant coming from the den just prior to the shot. There is something 'noir about this.

I'd like to know more about photographer Lansa Brown Jr., the young man with the gun.

Lansing Brown in later years. He was known for photo portrait work for the studios.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...nsingbrown.jpg

Thank you, GW, for getting to the bottom of my little mystery at 3rd and La Brea as I knew you would!

Back to more Vintage Los Angeles finds......here's Franklin and Radio Streets in Los Feliz looking west in 1938:

http://imageshack.us/a/img217/6679/l...8hollyfrom.jpg

Cahuenga Pass some time in the 1940s:

http://imageshack.us/a/img152/7843/l...0scahuenga.jpg

Family on Vine in the '50s:

http://imageshack.us/a/img84/8422/lo...0shollyvin.jpg

Looking towards Hollywood and Vine from a rooftop:

http://imageshack.us/a/img145/8422/l...0shollyvin.jpg

Ventura near Laurel Canyon Blvd in 1962:

http://imageshack.us/a/img521/5093/l...2valleyven.jpg

Girl, car, deco sculpture at the Hollywood Bowl, 1941:

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/7845/l...1hollybowl.jpg

Here's a set of shots taken from the tower at Wilshire and Stoner in Brentwood in April 1963....looking east towards Westwood and UCLA:

http://imageshack.us/a/img191/7571/l...ial196304b.jpg

The Veterans Campus:

http://imageshack.us/a/img833/7571/l...ial196304b.jpg

Looking north:

http://imageshack.us/a/img203/7571/l...ial196304b.jpg

Santa Monica:

http://imageshack.us/a/img585/7571/l...ial196304b.jpg

And looking down from the tower:

http://imageshack.us/a/img443/7571/l...ial196304b.jpg

And more Christmas scenes from VLA, starting with this wonderful shot of Flower Street in 1928:

http://imageshack.us/a/img824/1451/l...812dtflowe.jpg

Broadway and 7th...check out the ghosts!

http://imageshack.us/a/img248/8456/l...0sdtbway7t.jpg

Exposition Park all lit up in 1932:

http://imageshack.us/a/img17/6634/lo...212expocol.jpg

Hollywood Boulevard in 1948:

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/8016/l...812hollybl.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img51/1629/lo...812hollyvi.jpg

Close-up of the old metal Christmas trees:

http://imageshack.us/a/img811/3097/l...0shollyblv.jpg

The Santa Claus Lane parade in 1950:

http://imageshack.us/a/img833/6004/l...01122holly.jpg

And from the street in 1952:

http://imageshack.us/a/img19/5485/lo...21128holly.jpg

Thought the Braverman Bros photos were wonderful - especially given the recent focus on this area of La Brea. Now many of the USC Digital photo links are no more.:( Wish I knew how to retrieve 'em. Can't locate the same photos using their revamped site.:shrug:
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...cqGkQ60lFCQg5c

1978 5301 Wilshire Boulevard. The former Tilsons becomes the former Aames
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00090/00090381.jpg http://jpg1.lapl.org/00090/00090382.jpglapl

^ love the token balustrade they threw up on the old Tilfords.

And if I could make a quick public address, I'd like to once again say that Vintage Los Angeles on Facebook is an amazing resource for old pics of our beloved town. It's now up to over 50,000 followers and at this point people are contributing 50+ pictures a day to the site, almost all of them being original, unseen shots.

For instance, everything you see here was uploaded in the last 16 hours:

http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/5343/vlah.jpg

It should be noted that the focus there is less on noir and architecture and more on the baby boom years, but that doesn't mean the pictures and recollections (TONS of firsthand stories! Way more than here) are any less compelling.

And I say all this because I think the audience here is a bit older and perhaps a bit less inclined to get involved in the world of Facebook, and to that I would say don't be afraid! Sign up if for nothing else than to "Like" Vintage Los Angeles and soak up all the wonderful memories being shared there. I'll step off my soap box now :)

Thanks for this image and your recent color finds!

The manicured outdoor space is interesting. The landscaped configuration struck me as being a memorial. I thought it would be depicted on period maps, but it seems to have been omitted (due to strategic significance?:cool:) or I haven't found the right map - yet.

This 1940 aerial shows a dark rectangular image that appears to be the same 200 block of La Brea. Whatever it was, this image suggests lots of foliage.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045205.jpg Lapl

Lynn Bracken /Lansing Brown
 

Coincidentally, the Brown house is just a couple of blocks from Lynn Bracken's
L.A. Confidential home, played by 501 Wilcox Avenue:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_drWzhPB-n1...s+2010+097.jpg
it'sfilmedthere.com

They're both in that odd, little isolated enclave surrounded on two sides by the Wilshire Country Club,
pretty much capped on the north by the LA Tennis Club and hidden behind the long line of apartment houses on Rossmore.

Here is a rare view of the Santa Fe Station from across a flooded Los Angeles River

http://imageshack.us/a/img822/1425/a...indistance.jpg
ebay

I would love to know the story behind the excised person.

__

Flower at 7th
 

Thx, this one's a beaut. Flower at 7th looking south with the Barker Bros Bldg on the right. The older building Martz Flats on the near left is great, much better than the Broadway (now Macy's) Plaza's blank wall we have now (there were many 19th century bits throughout DTLA right through the 70's. Mostly gone now.) The little two-story, frame house beyond Barker Bros. looks very brave but doomed. The Ritz Hotel is still with us, but not much else. Bit of a wasteland now of empty lots and parking structures.

The base of Barker Bros (Curlett & Beelman, 1925) is so similar to the Roosevelt Building (Curlett & Beelman, 1926), diagonally across the intersection, that I got turned around for a moment.

Triangle/MGM/Lorimar signage
 

A shot of the Triangle Studios signage:
http://www.sonypicturesmuseum.com/up...o/ince1_03.jpg
SPE

Long shot of Triangle signage:
http://www.sonypicturesmuseum.com/up...otos12_big.jpg
SPE

The first of many (although I've never seen the "Goldwyn Pictures" or "Metro-Goldwyn" signage. Dunno if they had rooftop signs)

http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/im...0633377631.jpg
LAT

The Aitkrn Bros started Triangle and brought in Ince, Griffith & Sennett as their producers & partners. Griffith & Sennett worked at other locations. Griffith at Christie on Sunset & Gower in Hollywood and Sennett at Keystone, Edendale. Only Ince, of the three, worked on the Triangle lot in Culver City.

Christie Studios:
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...qhCWvScaXbfwQg
eBay

Keystone Studios, Edendale
http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com/.../STU-107-1.jpg
hollywoodphotographs.com

P.S.
Metro Pictures rooftop sign, 1918, 846 N Cahuenga, Hollywood
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tudios1918.jpg
johnnydeppzone.com.com

Goldwyn Pictures logo, 1917:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3...u0ewo1_500.jpg
tunblr

Metro Goldwyn logo, 1924:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3432/3...24a9144e_m.jpg
alexanderaustin79/flickr

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1...2520AM.bmp.jpgGoogleSV


There are indeed a lot of fantastic random snapshots on the VLA page but, unfortunately, I have to say, not a lot of context and little chance for discussion. The b&w photo in the quote above is a Herman Schultheis shot from the LAPL (not sure why we struggle with photo credits here, even to include links, when there is rarely anything ever credited on facebook). I look at facebook occasionally but would never have a page under my own name... not that I'm the least bit interesting, but I have to say, I've never met an interesting facebook devotee, of any age--(what is this weird, insecure obsession with "likes"?) Although they do serve the purpose of making me feel as though I'm not the one with too much time on his hands.... ok, I'm done.

:previous:
Oh my, this looks like a good neighborhood for me to explore--maybe today? I wanna walk up and down those stairs. This is just east of what is now called the Prospect Studios on Talmadge Street, where ABC's former west coast studios/headquarters was (they moved to Glendale in 1999). Of course this studio was built in 1915 as the Vitagraph Studio; you can see it there in the 1938 photo.

Trying to work with USC's latest digital library. Can't make out the rooftop decoration, but subject building appears in this aerial image marked '57. (Because the image also includes a fully built Lee Tower, one suspects the photo is probably from a later date.)

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...rea&DMROTATE=0
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...coll65/id/3727

wow a color shot of uni! what you see is the old shop areas of uni,the lower field and the girls gym.whats out of the shot is the "classroom building" or as some of the older teachers called it "the new building".Ive never seen this view of uni ever..not even in older yearbooks!sometime after the sylmar earthquake they tore down a bunch of building including this one.thanks again!

And looking down from the tower:

http://imageshack.us/a/img443/7571/l...ial196304b.jpg[/QUOTE]