Yes, LAPAST, thanks for the trip down memory lane, Eastland Shopping Center style. I had an aunt in Glendora in the early 60's, and when visting her as a kid with my family, it was a treat to drive to Eastland for lunch or early dinner at Clifton's Cafeteria, where I believe a woman played twin organs simultaneously (get your mind out of the gutter), or was it an organ and a piano?. Also well remember gaping many a time at what seemed at the time the bizarre-looking "Huddle" restaurant' a real Googie monument.

:) In total contrast to the Huddle, our family ate at Clifton's all the time (it was both my and my grandmother's favorite restaurant). I had many birthday parties there from age 6 on, and I was eating at Clifton's the day I opened my college acceptance letter a decade later.

The organist I remember at the Eastland Clifton's was named Jimmy Rhodes. His organ had two keyboards, and he could simultaneously play a piano that was set at a right angle to the organ. I was taking piano lessons at the time, and that ability to play two keyboard instruments at once really impressed me! I actually have an LP of his organ music that they sold at Clifton's. (Which is why I still remember his name!)

-Scott

An Informative Website Indeed
 

This website has helped me understand what Los Angeles used to look like, and why so much (i.e. Bunker Hill) is gone. I've always thought that when the tracks of the Pacific Electric Railway ("Red Cars") were removed, it was as if Los Angeles' arteries had literally been ripped out of its body, because most of the city and the communities of Southern California were built around the Red Car. Now that I understand what happened to Fort Moore, etc., I wonder: if, for example, the City of San Francisco decided to slice off the top of Nob Hill, would its citizens allow it?

http://images.nypl.org/index.php?id=1640789&t=wNYPL http://images.nypl.org/index.php?id=1640789&t=w

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...53623%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View

The New York Public Library maintains a few vintage images of Los Angeles--the most interesting one I've seen so far is this undated one of a small Eastside park I'd never heard of: ELA Park. (It took me a minute to catch it... E.L.A. Park....) I'm getting more and more interested in Los Angeles east of Main Street--if you don't live there (in NY, for instance), it seems a parallel universe to the L.A. west of Main usually envisioned. The gang troubles there I also read about notwithstanding, it's been interesting to discover whole tidy neighborhoods to the east like this one around ELA Park.


P.S. Welcome Brother Bryson

^^^ LOL...I was going to ask if you two were related. :)
Welcome BrysonWilshire.





Demonstrating an anti-smog device in 1960.


http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/8...ratinganti.jpg
ucla


Can you imagine attaching this contraption to your Ferrari or Rolls Royce.

below: Originally posted by GaylordWilshire.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...53623%20PM.jpg
Google Street View


Why the hideous fence I wonder?

I've looked through past posts, and it seems we have skipped over the Pan-Pacific Auditorium.


http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/4...cific11955.jpg
usc digital archive





http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/1...fic1usc119.jpg
usc digital archive





http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/5...acificmtla.jpg
usc digital archive



This 1935 streamline-modern structure was located in the Fairfax District at 7600 W. Beverly Boulevard.

After years of decay, it burnt down in 1989.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke to a crowd of 10,000 people at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in 1952,
a month before being elected President of the United States.



http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/3...fic1952usc.jpg
ebay

Here is an earlier photo of the 1939 Auto Show in the Pan-Pacific Auditorium


http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/569...ficautosho.jpg
ucla

Back to downtown:

The Angelus Hotel at 4th and Spring St. in 1905.


http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/1...hotel4thsp.jpg
usc digital archive


I love the Angelus clock.
The expansive windows at street level are very impressive, especially for 1905.

I think someone posted a picture of this a few pages back, but here's a picture of the Pan Pacific Park restrooms that now reside at this spot. Kinda nice that they used the same design.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...10part2051.jpg

Get out your hanky
 

The Pan-Pacific was the first building I wanted to see on my first adult trip to L.A. It said everything to me about why I wished I'd grown up there rather than in New Orleans (I loved N.O., but after a certain point I guess I was ready to trade Quarter cast-iron filigree for Streamline). I was lucky enough to see it when it still looked like this...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...beforefire.jpg


...before this sad event on May 24, 1989:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...gqM/PANPAC.jpg
http://www.travelinlocal.com/pan-pac...-friendly-fun/

May 24, 1989


And if you really want to weep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4QAQchoWs8

And of course, when I see images of the Pan Pacific, I sometimes unfortunately think of:

http://noobcake.files.wordpress.com/...3-xanadu-1.jpg
noobcake.files.wordpress.com

I was 10 years-old when this movie came out, and even back then, I knew it was one of the worst movies ever made. Probably comes to close to "Can't Stop the Music." I actually saw it in a theater; and later at my friend's house, it was on their TV, via On TV or Select TV or whichever they subscribed to.

But even as a youngster, I recognized the Pan Pacific Auditorium. It was painful to watch it on the news burning down to the ground.

I also got to see it before it burned down.

I have photos I took shortly before it's demise.
I'll dig up the photos the next time I visit my parents (boxes in the attic).

I remember the area being overgrown with weeds and set back quite some distance from Beverly Boulevard.
It was quiet and surreal (and sad).

Was this documentary about movies filmed in LA posted yet?

Los Angeles Plays Itself (part one of twelve).
• Video Link

The Pan Pacific in its glory days appeared in some movies, of course.
One was a campy and entertaining Monogram Studios noir from 1946 called "Suspense," starring the long-forgotten blonde skating star "Belita." The auditorium was supposed to be the setting for lavish ice extravaganzas. It was a rare large-budget Monogram production.
I think there is also a shot of the Pan Pacific in "Johnny Eager" (1941) with
Lana Turner.
AND, mdiederi, THANK YOU for posting LA Plays Itself - which I've always wanted to see, and surely many others here feel the same.

I dunno, but I was able to see it at the Egyptian. Amazingly, it played at Filmforum (NYC) and UCLA BEFORE premiering in Hollywood. As far I'm concerned, all movies, especially those with the West Coast as their subject matter should premiere here.

Regardless, the movie was excellent, though the voice over was a bit laconic. I know they were trying to make it Noir-ish, but still seemed abit forced to me. Still, you can't beat not only the clips but the quick identifiers they put up.

edit: redundant post, never mind.

a 1940 view looking across the future park la brea site from wilshire boulevard.

the pan pacific auditorium is just left of center. to the left of the pan pacific is gilmore field, (baseball) then gilmore stadium, (football). The farmers market is just below and to the left of gilmore stadium.....(scott....hold your nose).

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...0-14-ISLA?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...0-14-ISLA?v=hr

a similar 1954 view. hancock park is now booming, park la brea has been built, Gilmore stadium has been replaced with CBS Television City. Gilmore field is still there, (now the home of the Hollywood Stars minor league baseball team). Pan Pacific Auditorium is on the far right above center.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...-3-4-ISLA?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...-3-4-ISLA?v=hr

a 1936 view looking across the entry plaza of the Pan Pacific Auditorium

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042482.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042482.jpg

dining cafe area inside the pan pacific auditorium

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012612.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012612.jpg

the folks who would be serving you in the dining cafe

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012585.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012585.jpg

the folks who would be parking your car at the pan pacific auditorium

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012588.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012588.jpg

a 1986 image of the entry facade

http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/ima...caleFactor=1.2
Source: UCLA Digital Collection http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/ima...caleFactor=1.2

some of the events held at the pan pacific;

basketball

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012601.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012601.jpg

Ice show

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042483.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042483.jpg

musical concerts

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012598.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012598.jpg

Auto shows

http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/ima...caleFactor=1.2
Source: UCLA Digital Collection http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012594.jpg

indoor track motorcycle racing

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012602.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012602.jpg

Ice Skating

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012599.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012599.jpg

radio show broadcasts - (queen for a day....the most depressing show ever conceived.....)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012584.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012584.jpg

Tennis

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012600.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012600.jpg

political fund raising events - 1952 dinner rally for IKE)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics28/00048797.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics28/00048797.jpg

Horse Shows

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...285-009~7?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...285-009~7?v=hr

oh... and here's a 1957 photo of some youngster playing music at the pan pacific

http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/...s/57/dog_6.jpg
Source: Elvis Presley Music Australia http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/...s/57/dog_6.jpg

a great article about the auditorium can be found by clicking here

^^^WOW, those Pan-Pacific photos are great gsjansen (esp. the interior shots)
Your post really brought the place back to life.

I didn't realize "Los Angeles Plays Itself" is on YouTube. Thanks for bringing that to our attention mdiederi.

:haha: LOL! I hated the smell of Farmer's Market worst of all. I'd rather have a babysitter than go to that place. :yuck: Not to mention it was a lon-n-n-ng, boring drive from Covina, especially before the Santa Monica Fwy. was built out that far...

Mom took me to a couple of Auto Shows at the Pan-Pacific back in the '60s, but I'm pretty sure that was just another excuse to go across town and get her fresh-butchered meat (P.U.!!!) at Farmer's Market and pick up some steak and kidney pies at Dupar's. ;)

Fantastic post, by the way! ethereal's right - it really brought the old place to life again. :)

-Scott

Great pics of the Pan Pacific Auditorium indeed! :tup:

Mmm, Dupar's. I love their pancakes.

Set your D V R for noir
 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...83004%20PM.jpgMGM/Alpha Video www.oldies.com

Loretta Young in.... TCM is playing Cause for Alarm! tomorrow at 5 pm. I've always thought this was a pretty bad movie, and yet have always loved watching it. There are some location shots of what seem to be streets within a block or two of West 1st--Loretta and Barry appear live in the 100 block north of a street somewhere between, say, Highland and Western; 116 N Van Ness would seem to be the most likely candidate, but the house is proving elusive. I'll stay on the case, as life depends on it, right? OK, anyway, Tay Garnett directed this short (74 min) film--he of The Postman Always Rings Twice. Cause has been termed noir--I've always thought this was stretching it a bit, but I've also seen it called "suburban noir", which I can see. It does hang together as it is, although I can't help but wonder if, given an extra, say, 45 minutes, it couldn't have been turned into something much more traditionally noirish. What exactly are Loretta and the handsome doctor up to? Their reactions to the fate of Barry are most curious.... are they just a watered-down version of Lana and John or Barbara and Fred?

Check it out.


Dinner on me at Perino's for the first person to identify the man in middle below. (Hint #1: TCM is running episodes of his star vehicle all day today, in which there are sometimes great location shots of developing L.A. Hint #2: He had a sad end--shot to death at 31.)
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...64948%20PM.jpgMGM/Alpha Video www.oldies.com

Cause For Alarm
 

Perino's.....


I'll put the Perino's dinner on your tab, Gaylord. Carl Switzer.

This story, from his Wikipedia entry (if true), is every bit as good as the Lana Turner/Schwab's Pharmacy one. Better, in fact - Lana had to hang out at Schwab's every day after school at Hollywood High, wearing the tightest sweaters she could find until she was noticed. :D

The Switzers took a trip to California in 1934 to visit with family members. While sightseeing they eventually wound up at Hal Roach Studios. Following a public tour of the facility, 8-year-old Harold and 6-year-old Carl entered into the Hal Roach Studio's open-to-the-public cafeteria, the Our Gang Café, and began an impromptu performance. Producer Hal Roach was present at the commissary that day and was impressed by the performance. He signed both Switzers to appear in Our Gang. Harold was given two nicknames, "Slim" and "Deadpan," and Carl was dubbed "Alfalfa."

PS - They just "happened" to end up at Hal Roach? And just "happened" to give an impromptu performance? Smells like a 1930's version of the Colorado Balloon Boy. LOL LOL LOL

i'm in the mood for love

http://www.hallowfreaks.com/articles/images/alfalfa.jpg
Source: Hallow freaks http://www.hallowfreaks.com/articles/images/alfalfa.jpg

The death of alfalfa is quite noir tale of it's own

Switzer as an adult bred hunting dogs and guided hunting expeditions. Among his more notable clients were Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (Switzer's godparents) and James Stewart.

Prior to a hunting guide job, Switzer had borrowed a hunting dog from Moses "Bud" Stiltz. When the dog was lost, Switzer offered a $50 reward for the dog's return. A man found the dog a few days later and brought it to the bar where Switzer was working. Switzer paid the man $35 and bought him $15 worth of drinks from the bar. Several days later on January 21, 1959, Switzer and his friend Jack Piott decided that Stiltz owed $50 paid to the man who found the dog. The pair allegedly arrived drunk at Stiltz's home in Mission Hills to collect the money Stiltz "owed" Switzer.

He banged on Stiltz's front door, demanding, "Let me in, or I'll kick in the door." Once Switzer was inside the home, he and Stiltz got into an argument. Switzer informed Stiltz that he wanted the money owed him, saying "I want that 50 bucks you owe me now, and I mean now." When Stiltz refused to hand over the money, the two engaged in a fight. Piott allegedly struck Stiltz in the head with a glass-domed clock, which caused him to bleed from his left eye. Stiltz retreated to his bedroom and returned holding a .38-caliber revolver, but Switzer immediately grabbed the gun away from him, resulting in a shot being fired that hit the ceiling. Switzer then forced Stiltz into a closet, despite Stiltz having gotten his hands back on the gun. Switzer then allegedly pulled a switchblade knife and screamed, "I'm going to kill you" and was attempting to stab him with it, but just as Switzer was about to charge Stiltz, Stiltz raised the gun and shot Switzer in the groin. Switzer suffered massive internal bleeding and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Cross your legs
 

:previous:

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028171.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028171.jpg
Picture it: 1951. Joan--Jennings--Walter


Speaking of guns and groins--gs, you've reminded me of one of my favorite Hollywood stories: Walter Wanger shooting agent Jennings Lang in the nether regions after suspecting him of wooing Mrs. Wanger--a Lang client, and none other than Miss Joan Bennett. (I once worked with a great editor in NY who happened to be the youngest daughter of the Wangers. Naturally I never brought up the shooting--but she did have tales of a glamorous life in a Wallace Neff house in Holmby Hills, and of flying back and forth between LA and NY on TWA Super Constellations. No bragging--just True Tales of a Hollywood childhood. She was--and I assume still is--funny and down to earth, and she looked alot like Joan, too--very beautiful.) Details of the unmentioned-to-the-daughter incident here: http://www.opossumsal.com/Christmas/...t/Bennett.html


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s...2520AM.bmp.jpghttp://books.google.com/books?id=H0o...page&q&f=false
Joan at home in Holmby Hills. (More pics at link above.)


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028170.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028170.jpg
Lang recovering at Midway Hospital. (That's Mrs. Lang--not to be unkind, but one can sort of understand the
allurements of Miss Bennett.)


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028168.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028168.jpg
Mrs. Lang leaving the hospital after a visit, accompanied by Miss Jane Wyman.

Joan Bennett also played a femme fatale in two of Fritz Lang's film noirs.





below: "Woman in the Window" (1944)


http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/7...nthewindow.jpg
Universal





below: "Scarlet Street" (1945).


http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2...street1945.jpg
Universal


Cigarettes are so ubiquitous in film noirs.

If you were to film a neo-noir what could possibly take their place?

Another brunette beauty......this time in real life "noirland".





Below: Hedy Lamarr confronts burglars that had ransacked her home.


http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5...arrconfron.jpg
ucla archive

Ah, Hedy
 

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...k/50397448.jpgBill Ray/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/503...1E70F2B3269972


Why I thought I'd find a picture of Hedy in handcuffs or in a mug shot with a black band across her face, I don't know. Naturally, instead she looks like a million bucks after her unfortunate brush with the law after being arrested for shoplifting at Mays Miracle Mile store in 1966. (What is it about fading movie stars and Mays?) Btw, Hedy was acquitted. She has a bit of the Joan Bennett look about her... doubly interesting because the two shared a husband, producer and screenwriter Gene Markey (Joan was first; after Joan and Hedy Markey married yet another major actress, Miss Myna Loy. Not sure how he missed Gene Tierney.)... Hence the "Markey" on the patent drawings for what Hedy is equally well known for--some sort of precursor to radar, I think:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FWyMbtGP_j.../s400/fig4.JPG http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FWyMbtGP_j.../s400/fig4.JPG

Hedy Lamarr (born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler November 9, 1913 – died January 19, 2000)

Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum invention

Avant garde composer George Antheil, a son of German immigrants and neighbor of Hedy Lamarr, had experimented with automated control of musical instruments, including his music for Ballet Mecanique, originally written for Fernand Léger's 1924 abstract film. This score involved multiple player pianos playing simultaneously.

Together, Antheil and Lamarr submitted the idea of a secret communication system in June 1941. On August 11, 1942, US Patent 2,292,387 was granted to Antheil and "Hedy Kiesler Markey", Lamarr's married name at the time. This early version of frequency hopping used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam.

The idea was not implemented in the USA until 1962, when it was used by U.S. military ships during a blockade of Cuba after the patent had expired. Perhaps owing to this lag in development, the patent was little-known until 1997, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Lamarr an award for this contribution. In 1998, Ottawa wireless technology developer Wi-LAN, Inc. "acquired a 49 percent claim to the patent from Lamarr for an undisclosed amount of stock" Antheil had died in 1959.

Lamarr's and Antheil's frequency-hopping idea serves as a basis for modern spread-spectrum communication technology, such as COFDM used in Wi-Fi network connections and CDMA used in some cordless and wireless telephones. Blackwell, Martin, and Vernam's 1920 patent Secrecy Communication System (1598673) seems to lay the communications groundwork for Lamarr and Antheil's patent which employed the techniques in the autonomous control of torpedoes.

Lamarr wanted to join the National Inventors Council, but she was told that she could better help the war effort by using her celebrity status to sell War Bonds. She once raised $7,000,000 at just one event.

For several years during the 1990s, the boxes of the current CorelDRAW software suites were graced by a large Corel-drawn image of Hedy Lamarr, in tribute to her pre-computer scientific discoveries. These pictures were winners in CorelDRAW's yearly software suite cover design contests. Far from being flattered, however, Lamarr sued Corel for using the image without her permission. Corel countered that she did not own rights to the image. They reached an undisclosed settlement in 1999.

'The Exiles' in NYC
 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...D_011%2520.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...D_011%2520.jpg

Heads up to anyone in NYC or visiting: The Exiles is playing at IFC (323 Sixth Ave.) tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday (Jan. 7-9, 11am only each day).

An editorial
 

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...cation-1lg.jpgHBO
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...cation-1lg.jpg
The first time I saw this picture a few months ago, I didn't notice that there weren't any palm trees....


OK. I got over the idea that HBO was going to remake Mildred Pierce after seeing the cast and given to understand that it would be truer to the Cain novel and set when the book was, in the '30s, a good decade before the famous 1945 version. I also became convinced that apparently the world has been crying out for a less-inhibited movie version of the book. Some Cain "scholars" have argued that we need such a version so we know that, for instance, Monty is sleeping with Mildred and Veda, not just sending them flowers--these things are very hard for adults to figure out, you know. But it looks like we may have to transfer our imagination from sleeping arrangements to accepting New York City and Long Island as stand-ins for Southern California. Actually, it is unclear to me whether the whole story might even have been relocated to the East Coast--which would defeat the whole purpose of keeping closer to the book, of course. But if we are meant to accept NY locations as noirland--well, this is where my anticipation for the new mini-series, due in March, curdles. Could this be another megabomb like the Black Dahlia of a few years ago? It's the LIGHT, people, and the PALMS. But forget 200-foot palms for the moment--not even on the brightest day does Glen Cove or Locust Valley resemble Pasadena, nor does Midtown Manhattan resemble '30s downtown L.A. I guess I should reserve judgment until I see it--while HBO has done great things, including the best series of all time (The Sopranos), it has also given us Boardwalk Empire, which is wildly overproduced (and unwatchable, I think) even if it at least isn't being done with Santa Monica standing in for Atlantic City. I'm not sure that the new Mildred Pierce trailer is working for me, either:

http://www.hbo.com/mildred-pierce/in...ayMQIAVKYXOA==

Anyone see it differently?


Nary a SoCal location is listed in the IMDB for the new production: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1492030/locations

Thanks for the info on Hedy's frequency-hopping spread-spectrum invention gsjansen.





Below: For visitors to the thread that might not be familiar with Ms. Lamarr's astonishing beauty.

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/8997/hedyh2.jpg
MGM






http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7...lamarrpose.jpg
MGM

Gaylord: Couldn't agree more. I was skeptical that this new version of "Mildred Pierce" would be good, and the trailer confirms the worst; all seems stagey and unreal. I can't really comprehend that you say it was mostly filmed on the East Coast. WHAAAAT???
BTW, speaking of old Hollywood, an earlier post (forgot who it was, sorry) made reference to Lana Turner hanging out at Schwab's Pharmacy in tight sweaters. That never happened. in 1936/37 Lana was having a coke at the Top Hat Malt Shop on Highland Ave. across from Hollywood High where she was a student, and Billy Wilkerson of the Hollywood Reporter thought she was pretty enough to ask if she wanted to be in the movies and sent her to a casting director at Warner Bros. Don't know where or when the Schwab's Drugstore story originated; maybe a movie magazine writer thought it sounded catchier and more glamorous (and it takes attention away from the fact that Lana was only a high school student when "discovered") - but it is one of THEE legends of Hollywood.

RKO Hill Street Theater.


http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/5...streetthea.jpg
usc digital archive





Below: The Sun Building at Hill & 7th St.

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/6...dinghill7t.jpg
usc digital archive

Oh that looks horrid. It just isn't "Mildred Pierce" without the Max Steiner score, Ann Blyth, of course Joan Crawford, and the wise-cracking Eve Arden-- if anything, maybe as recently as 10 or 15 years ago, if they were to have remade "Mildred," I think Joan Cusack would've made a great stand-in for Eve Arden.

I'm glad I don't have HBO.

Come on, how can you top this?

• Video Link

The Metropolitan Building at the northwest corner of 5th & Broadway in 1938.

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/2...litanbldgn.jpg
usc digital archive

Can any one tell me what's going on with the sign at the top of this building?
The top part looks like a silhouette from Dante's Inferno.

Valley noir. Or Valley non-noir.

Here's Lankershim Boulevard looking south at Weddington in North Hollywood. Once the commercial center of North Hollywood, it became run down over time, and beginning in the 1980s, a slow but steady revitalization began. This is now called the NoHo Arts District, with a "restored" El Portal Theatre. I put restored in quotes because it was originally built in 1926 as a vaudeville house, then became a movie theater, then became abandoned and seedy. In the late 1990s it was rebuilt to house 3 theaters for the performing arts.

If anyone is familiar with the area, today the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the organization that awards the Emmys) is down the street and across from the El Portal, and that rock n' roll sushi place, Tokyo Delve's, is on the same block as the El Portal.

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/260...dnorthholl.jpg
USC Archive

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Bette Davis/Jane Hudson walking towards the Hollywood Citizen News Building at 1545 Wilcox Ave. in Hollywood after having parked her 1940s Lincoln.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XRrU8-3Nmi...0/DSCN1195.JPG
dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com

I just couldn't resist:
• Video Link

Scene from the 1954 version of "A Star is Born." Looking south down Figueroa towards the Atlantic Richfield Building.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XRrU8-3Nmi...%2Bcomment.jpg
dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com

What that scene looks like today:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XRrU8-3Nmi...%2BComment.jpg
dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com

a great 1920 rainy night noirish image looking south on broadway between 5th and 6th streets

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...es%2C_1920.JPG
Source: Wikipedia commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...es%2C_1920.JPG

a great noirish image looking north on vine street across selma the night of may 24th, 1930. Hollywood Boulevard is lit up for the grand opening premier of Howard Hugh's Hell's Angels

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/...386ae7cd_o.jpg

quite possibly the most amazing aerial i have ever seen of los angeles. taken in 1850 from a balloon, this image is looking north from between main street and los angeles street, across temple street towards the plaza..............stunning

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/...9eebabae_o.jpg

First--I'm confused by the picture below. In spite of the sign, this doesn't appear to be the same building as the one in your pic above, ethereal:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044405.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044405.jpg


But as far as the building in your pic goes, here another shot of it--can't make out what the rooftop sign says--the rooftop sign is for Wrigley's spearmint gum; Owl Drugs is there (also with a different sign):

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018578.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018578.jpg


Foreman & Clark--the "World's Largest Upstairs Clothiers"--moved at some point to Hill & 7th:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033893.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033893.jpg


But it's the company's branches that are most intriguing--6353 Hollywood Blvd, 1947 rendering and now:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033891.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033891.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...92938%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...93110%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View


5657 Wilshire Blvd
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033889.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033889.jpg

Well, the massing suggests that this could possibly be the same building, heavily remodeled:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...93549%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View



And are these still standing?

Burbank:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033887.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033887.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033888.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033888.jpg

Pomona:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033890.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033890.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...11628%20AM.jpg
My sentiments exactly.


And here's an interesting video about the making of Baby Jane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY5hC...eature=related

It includes this shot of the studio re-creation of the actual house at 172 S. McCadden:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...12430%20AM.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2346/...bc86fc.jpg?v=0
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...12430%20AM.jpg

Hey Boys and Girls!

Stumbled upon a thread somewhat similar to this one....

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=786986

Evolution through time of Los Angeles California

In near Bizarro-World fashion, is almost as large (120 pages) as Noirish.

(Personally I think it's a bit more hodge-podgish and not quite as scholarly as this one, but......shhhhhh....don't tell Jesus that. Because it is an excellent work in its own right.)

LOTS of great photos - old and new.

============================================

Follow up.......................................

Photos are good, documentation lacking......

Page 52, bottom: Caption reads "Port of Los Angeles, 1898". But that's clearly a Liberty Ship tied up at the dock. And the warehouse has "Worldport LA" painted on it. Don't think such branding was in vogue in 1898.

Page 51, near bottom: Caption reads "San Pedro wharf, 1897....". But that's EssPee's Long Wharf depicted in the watercolor, which we know was in Santa Monica Bay.

malumot-

I've visited that site/thread several times.
It doesn't have the discussion like this thread....it's basically photo after photo.

That said, I think Jesus E. Salgado REALLY loves Los Angeles.
I'm surprised we haven't heard from him on this thread. Perhaps we should invite him. ?

Great research on Foreman & Clark GaylordWilshire!
I hadn't noticed the Foreman & Clark sign in that large photo I posted.
You definitely have an eagle eye. :)




Below: An early view of Pasadena.
USC labeled it as Oak Ave. from Colorado St.(should it be Fair Oaks Ave from Colorado Blvd?)
Obviously this is a long time ago, so perhaps the names of the streets have changed.

I believe sopas_ej is very knowledgeable of the Pasadena area. I bet he can easily pinpoint this photo. sopas?


http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/7...aoaksavefr.jpg
usc digital archive


Does the sign on the streetcar say Cottage Farm or Ostrich Farm?
(the more I look at it I'm pretty sure it is Ostrich Farm)

This is definitely Fair Oaks Avenue looking north, from just south of Colorado Blvd. I definitely know this area well, I used to work on the northwest block of this corner, which is shown here at the left. This section of Colorado Blvd. lost all of its Victorian architecture when Colorado Blvd. was widened in the early 1920s, I believe. For some blocks along Colorado, the buildings' facades were remodeled into Mission Revival, Art Deco and some Moderne. You can tell that the buildings are much older, though, when you walk the alleys behind them and see the old red bricks. The building on the left is now only 2 stories tall. The building on the right has a Pottery Barn on the bottom floor corner. This is literally the heart of Pasadena, even in terms of its street address numbering system; the north/south and east/west blocks originate from here for the whole city of Pasadena.

The streetcar does definitely say Ostrich Farm, I assume for the Cawston Ostrich Farm. In the first 2 decades of the 20th Century, it was a huge tourist attraction in the aptly named city to the immediate south, South Pasadena. People would ride the ostriches and be amused by watching them swallow whole oranges, watching the bulges go down the ostriches' necks. Their feathers were also used for women's hats and such. Changing fashions and times/what people considered entertainment contributed to the demise of the Cawston Ostrich Farm.

Wow. The south-looking Figueroa view in particular. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...76/cawston.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...76/cawston.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...80Wo/p198a.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...80Wo/p198a.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TS...rmKQ/voor5.jpg
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....lton/voor5.jpg


People must have once been ostrich-crazy in northeastern L.A. Not only was there Cawston's--there was also the Los Angeles Ostrich Farm at 3609 Mission Road, across from Eastlake-now-Lincoln Park:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics16/00007632.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics16/00007632.jpg

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics02/00010702.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics02/00010702.jpg

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045189.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045189.jpg

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045190.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045190.jpg

More here: http://www.lincolnheightsla.com/ostrich/

That's indeed the Metropolitan Bldg -- Parkinson & Bergstrom, 1913 -- the seventh and eighth floors used to be the Public Library.

The pic at the very top is of the Metropolitan Theater, AKA Grauman's Metropolitan, later known as The Paramount -- William Lee Woolett, 1923-1963. NE corner Hill & 6th. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/495/ Story goes, the demo company put in a bid to demo it, and went broke, because the structure was so well built...

GADOINK! Damn. That's a fine shot. Looking down Flower across First (I'd know that building http://www.onbunkerhill.org/WalkerBunkerRanger at far right anywhere)...