I found your '57' post extremely interesting and I'm not even fond of ketchup.

I wonder if anything was built on the site of the giant concrete numbers?
If not, it would be fun to traipse out there and snoop around.

I found this extremely interesting as well. I had no idea the original plans consisted of so many outlying buildings;
There was even a small lake...wow. Fantastic job Engineeral!



Does anyone remember what the name was before it became Barnsdall Park? I used to know but I can't think of it now.

____

Olive Hill, I think.

e_r, that's fantastic! Where in the world did you find it? This will be a wonderful addition to my collection of Barney's Beanery images.

G_W: Olive Hill! That rings a bell.

David: Sorry, I can't remember where I found the MM check...it was on a cd I made years ago (if I had to guess, it would be ebay).

___


below: Believe it or not, this is Stanley Kubrick filming a scene from 'Sparticus' above Cahuenga Pass in 1959.

http://imageshack.us/a/img18/8706/aa...us1959huge.jpg
found on ebay




Below: It doesn't mention Kubrick by name, but he was the director of Sparticus and it looks like the back of head. :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img15/2245/aasparticus1959r.jpg

Why film above a busy freeway?

___

Now this would have been an impressive place. A speedway slash aerodrome with stadium seating for 50,000 spectators!
...and that plateau on the horizon must be the artist's rendition of Baldwin Hills.



http://imageshack.us/a/img36/5236/aa...o1936redux.jpg
ebay






http://imageshack.us/a/img820/8844/aahugeauto1936a.jpg

Glamorous Hollywood Boulevard circa 1966.

http://imageshack.us/a/img268/6002/aahblvd1966huge.jpg
postcard found on ebay

Notice the blue Baker Brothers sign directly below the red Roosevelt Hotel sign. It looks like B.Bros. is located in the hotel
but it was actually in the El Capitan Theater building.

If anything exists there in the way of concrete fragments, it would be found among the trees dead center of this photo otherwise the sight is covered by houses now. The trail can be "legally" accessed through Kenneth Hahn Park, otherwise you'll be traipsing across private property.
Maybe from La Cienega Blvd...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ls-57view1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...winHills57.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...os/Borneo1.jpg

If the house in the Little Rascals still exist it might be found in this area near Helms St., Culver City.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ity-57view.jpg

Why the interest in this place? It's Madam Begón's corner store.
Three different photos of it at USC Digital Library taken at different times, years apart, judging by the condition of the building and the telegraph poll updates.

From Maj. Horace Bell's 'Reminiscence of a Ranger' 1881
http://archive.org/stream/reminiscen...lrich_djvu.txt

"Photograph of Madam Begón's corner store in Sonora Town, 1905. A man in a dark suit and hat stands against a telephone pole with his hand on his hip in front of the corner building of Madam Begón's store." - USC Digital Library

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...893A37D8E?v=hr

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-5152?v=hr

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-5152?v=hr
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1333590412734

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-7413?v=hr
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1333590412734

__________________________________________

The sign reads "Barker Brothers," which was a first class furniture store next to the Paramount Theatre (now, once again, the El Capitan Theatre). On the right, near the Stromberg clock (in front of Stromberg's Jewelry), is Mitchell's, a well known mens store from times past. Across the street, on the northwest corner, you can see part of another menswear institution, Matson's. Karl's Shoes, owned by Harry Karl, former husband of Debbie Reynolds, is on the southwest corner. On the southeast corner is See's Candy. In the distance is the Hollywood Inn, a restaurant in the old Drake Hotel (formerly the Christie Hotel and now owned by Scientology). The Coca Cola sign is sadly missing today, but the Kress sign has been returned to its former glory.

I love this postcard; all of the neon and the bustle...I wish someone would hurry up with a time travel machine.

So the Pacific Theater on the right (I assume the Cinerama sign is covering the sign on the marquee) is a church now. Any of you Angelenos been in it? What shape is it in?

Thanks all and keep up the great work.

Probably because it was cheaper than filming in Italy and this scene may have been a last-minute addition to the script. It comes after the climactic battle and in the scene, Crassus (Olivier) is telling Batiatus (Ustinov) that there will be no survivors to sell as slaves. I'll have to go look at my DVD of the movie again to see who well they cut the freeway out of the frame.

Fox Stadium Theater
 

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/1941/foxstadium1.jpg 1931
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7...xstadium4a.jpg 1938
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3961/foxstadium3a.jpg 1951
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/1507/stadium4.jpg 2011


It looks like architect Carl Boller was doing his own version of Bullocks-Wilshire here... 8906 West Pico....

oops....I meant to type Barker Bros.

below: Barker Brothers in the El Capitan Theater building. You can actually see the showroom windows. Pretty cool huh.
The entrance to the El Capitan Theater is on the opposite end of the building.

http://imageshack.us/a/img59/6251/ba...apitanthea.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/




below: You can barely make out the 'Barker Bros. Hollywood' sign on the El Capitan Theater Building.
This view was probably taken from the top of the Roosevelt Hotel.

http://imageshack.us/a/img854/8030/b...shollywood.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/




below: Here is a better view of the 'Barker Bros. Hollywood' sign on the west side of the El Capitan Theater building.
There is also another sign facing east that I hadn't noticed before. If you look closely you can see the metal tower atop the building.


http://imageshack.us/a/img801/6429/b...apitancolo.jpg
found on ebay



below: In 1942 the spanish revival style theater entrance was modernized and reopened as the Hollywood Paramount.

http://imageshack.us/a/img576/103/ba...lcapitanwa.jpg
http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...rolNumber=3478


There was also an El Capitan Theater at 1735 Vine Street. Today it is known as the 'Avalon Hollywood' Theater.
The El Capitan on Hollywood Bvld. is once again the El Capitan. It can all get a little confusing.

____

Bunker Hill serves as an unlikely backdrop for a 1965 fashion shoot:

http://latimesphoto.files.wordpress....oncombo970.jpg

[source: Los Angeles Times]

This was for sale on ebay.

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/8471/aahuge1962ebay.jpg

I should know, but what is the almost windowless building to the right of the Hall of Justice and Hall of Records?

Here's the view from City Hall. Kind of blocked by the Hall of Justice but isn't that the building at the top of that hill?

http://www.latimes.com/includes/soun...y_hall/03a.jpg
1951 Ellis R. Bosworth / Associated Press

:previous:

KevinW/e_r: That's the old Central Junior High School--

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/7958/cjhstop.jpghttp://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4567/cjhsbottom.jpg
Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1936


e_r: What you're seeing to the right of the Hall of Justice is the north wall of the school's auditorium.

:previous: Thanks guys, that explains it. I was confused by the lack of windows.
___

Here is an impressive photograph of the Hall of Justice I found while searching for the identity of the Central Junior High School (thx again G_W).


http://imageshack.us/a/img833/2232/a...usticeblog.jpg
http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/

above: The sheer size of this building tells me that there must have been a light court in the center. Does anyone know?
I'm going to dig up some aerials and see what I can find out.







below: I've never noticed this building 'squeezed' between the Hall of Justice and the tunnel.

http://imageshack.us/a/img443/2598/a...sticeblog2.jpg
calisphere detail