Great Santa Monica shots, ethereal. Apparently the arch eventually collapsed. Here are a couple of other pics, one from the north, one from the south, post-wharf:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00076/00076113.jpgLAPL


http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics27/00033027.jpgLAPL


And pre-wharf, ca. 1877:
http://beachhouse.smgov.net/beachsto.../CHS-10229.jpgSanta Monica Historical Society


Notice the "Huntington Palisades" sign at top center of the second pic. It gives a clue to the development of the Long Wharf--when Collis Huntington brought the Southern Pacific to L.A., a competition began over the location of the major L.A. port. Huntington aimed for Santa Monica, while Harrison Gray Otis and his cronies preferred San Pedro. Huntington went ahead and built the Long Wharf in 1893 and called the spot Port Los Angeles. Four years later Congress chose the southern bay. At some point the pier was abandoned and the railroad along the coast to it was sold to the Pacific Electric. The Malibu town website has an interesting history of the coast north of the Long Wharf--here's a link to a chapter of it that mentions the pier and the Rindge's efforts to successfully steer the coast railroad--but not the Roosevelt Highway/PCH--away from their ranch: http://www.ci.malibu.ca.us/index.cfm...vid/9/cid/428/

^^^ Very interesting history about the Long Wharf GaylordWilshire. Thanks for posting the info.

The destruction of the Vanderbilt Apartments at 334 S. Figueroa (1959).


http://a.imageshack.us/img294/6516/l...iltbldgdem.jpg
usc






http://a.imageshack.us/img176/6516/l...iltbldgdem.jpg
usc





http://a.imageshack.us/img176/5443/l...ltbldgdemp.jpg
usc

I'll start off by saying that this has more or less continuously been my favorite thread on the forum.

I just moved from Philadelphia to LA in early August, and I'm eager to get down to exploring the city and its history. For the past few years, my blog has been mostly dedicated to "Then and Now" photos of various places (mostly around Philly), and I'd really love to continue doing so in LA. Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of high quality historic photographs here.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a few resources online or in print (preferably online) where I can search for information related to specific buildings and architects. Is there anything like a local equivalent of Philadelphia Architects and Buildings? Otherwise I would also appreciate recommendations for good, comprehensive books or other readings on the city's general architectural history. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work!

:previous:
Welcome to the thread, Muji, and welcome to Los Angeles!

Regarding some architectural books on LA, there are a couple that I've always considered to be pretty good; they may be out of print now, but you can probably find them in public libraries. One is called "Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide," by David Gebhard and Robert Winter. Another one is "Los Angeles: The City Observed," by Charles Moore, Peter Becker and Regula Campbell. This one was first published in 1984, went out of print, and then was reprinted in 1998. I read this book religiously when I was a teen back in the 80s. What's great about these books is that they don't limit themselves to just the City of Los Angeles, but they also include significant architecture around Los Angeles County, and in the latter book, it even includes Orange County and the Inland Empire, which makes sense to me, being that "the Southland" all runs together anyway.

I also have a newer book on LA architecture called "Landmark L.A.: Historic-Cultural Monuments of Los Angeles," edited by Jeffrey Herr, copyright 2002. It claims to be "the most complete, documented list of officially designated Los Angeles monuments ever available in book form."

"L.A. Lost & Found: An Architectural History of Los Angeles" by Sam Hall Kapalan, is also a good book. It was first published in the mid-1980s but it's been reprinted in the last few years, I'm not sure if it's still available. I regret not having bought this one when I had the chance. It might still be available, though. I think I saw it some time ago at the Hennessey & Ingalls bookstore in Santa Monica. I would recommend checking that bookstore out.

I've thought about this again, and now I'm wondering if that curb is not original. I'm thinking, being that these old houses/the current hospital building is on a rise, that maybe the bump in the curb might be due to some kind of geological activity or fault line. If the curb was replaced, I'm thinking the same kind of cracks and bumps would develop if it was over an active fault line.

Welcome Muji
Your 'Brian Goes To Town' blog is very interesting and well done.
__






http://a.imageshack.us/img101/558/la...eradracula.jpg


The Mason Opera House
http://imageshack.us/a/img703/1674/ofly.jpg
http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/
__

SORRY these images are missing. I'm working on replacing them.


Two Los Angeles Railway 'yellow cars' on San Pedro Street in 1957.


http://a.imageshack.us/img529/6927/l...ostreet195.jpg
railpictures.net




below: A Pacific Electric Railway 'red car' and bus on San Pedro Street in 1957.

Question about the bus:
Is this a Los Angeles Railway trolley bus? It has the same green & yellow color scheme.



http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6...ostreet195.jpg
railpictures.net




below: Inglewood 1951.



http://a.imageshack.us/img227/7841/l...odamusemen.jpg
Cory / Pbase

ethereal-- those Yellow Cars and the bus are not actually not L.A. Railway equipment by 1957--"LARy" was sold to National City Lines in the mid '40s and the company became Los Angeles Transit Lines. (National City Lines was financed by GM, Phillips, SOCAL/Chevron, Goodyear etc, and there are of course all the stories about a conspiracy to get rid of rail transit all over the country to sell buses, gas, and tires.) LATL lasted until '58 or so when the state took it over it and combined it with PE's bus system, and this became the MTA (not the same MTA L.A. now has). Btw the bus looks like a regular bus to me, don't see a trolley pole, although LATL ran both along with streetcars.

sopas--re that Lucas St curb--a closer looks shows that one end of the block is actually just one of those askew seams in street view shots. But even if the curb isn't original--at least we still have the wall.

I want this as "Dracula" poster as a print in my house!! Are they available somewhere? Every Halloween I host a "dracula's castle" costume poker party (my house is relatively old - built in 1925, so it kind of fits).

That Mason Opera House itself is really cool. BTW, how the hell did those people park their cars? Did they go in single file one after the other? How could the middle car get out if he wants to leave first? Do old historic vehicles somehow have incredibly tight turning radii?

^^^ PHX31, I can't recall where I found this 'Dracula' broadside.
If I come across a larger version I'll certainly post it for you.

I spoke too soon PHX31.

Here is a link.
Scroll down to 'source' in the gray box.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...rston_1938.jpg



....or simply go here.

http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3f05691/

/\ Thanks!

http://a.imageshack.us/img291/7433/l...ionbroacas.jpg
j_journal


Above: The Cadillac dealership at 7th and Bixel where on December 23, 1931, Don Lee's W6XAO launched
one of the country's first regular television broadcasts.





Below: The 1939 plan for the Don Lee studio/transmitter atop Mt. Lee.

http://a.imageshack.us/img153/1124/11donlee.jpg
http://a.imageshack.us/img291/3852/11donlee2.jpg
earlytelevision.org

A less grandiose studio/transmitter was eventually built.


below: A 1941 postcard of the Mt. Lee broadcasting station.

http://a.imageshack.us/img153/1880/1...41postcard.jpg
earlytelevision.org



Below: Much to my surprise, there was actually a pool up on Mt. Lee.

http://a.imageshack.us/img225/1571/1...eepool1939.jpg
earlytelevision.org

Above: A 1939 telecast from the swimming pool located at the new W6XAO studios/transmitter situated on Mt. Lee atop the Hollywood Hills


Here is the very interesting link.
http://www.earlytelevision.org/w6xao.html

A stylized illustration of Don Lee's Mt. Lee Television Station.


http://a.imageshack.us/img227/989/11...ardcalifbo.jpg
postcard/ebay

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...s/012089pr.jpgLibrary of Congress

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TO...12804%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

Would someone please rescue The Darkroom from its current humiliation?

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics48/00043701.jpgLAPL

This jewelbox of a building at 611 S. La Brea was designed by Morgan, Walls & Clements ca. 1928. Chrysler introduced the DeSoto line for the 1929 model year (photo July 1929).


http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TO...12346%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

The facade has been cut down, the ironwork on the upper windows has been lost, and the part to the right has vanished, but at least this much survives.

Is that snow on the mountains above Malibu and along the tracks in the lower right corner??

If so, wow!

set your dvr's
 

If you haven't seen it yet, Kent MacKenzie's excellent 1961 film of Native Americans living in bunker hill, The Exiles, will be shown on turner classic movies at 5:00am, (eastern time) Monday September 20th.

Thanks for the heads up. I've been wanting to see 'The Exiles' for quite some time.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TI...20017%20PM.jpgGoogle

On many trips to Los Angeles over the years, I've gone on architectural expeditions armed with various guides, always more interested in residential development than any other aspect of the built environment. I've always tried to conjure what the streetscape must have been like long ago, and there are literally dozens of guides and histories that do a good job of describing what seems to be an idyllic way of life (if politically a nightmare by modern, or at least my, standards). But even actually driving around old L.A. neighborhoods hour upon hour fails to give the feeling I sought--too many changes, modern cars, architectural gaps etc---and, of course, what I seek isn't really obtainable. Now that I've done some of the same "drives" using Google Maps, and employing Street View (which enables me find a shot of a street that excludes as much as possible cars, blue garbage bins etc), suddenly I've found that sense of L.A. past I've been seeking all along. I am going to post a link to a slideshow of such shots later--they're really much more effective when viewed in a series, full-screen--but want to start with this one above of 1631 S. Wilton Place (south of Venice Blvd.). Most of the pics I've put together have ordinary or at least unknown stories, but this house is where Marion Parker was living with her family at the time of her death in December 1927. The house, as sopas pointed out a year or so ago, seems eerily unchanged. The pic above is meant to evoke what it might have been like to walk by the house in 1927. (I hope all the shots you see after this will have the effect of looking as though they were taken many decades ago rather than literally just the other day.) Here is the same shot of the Parker house, but wider, to give the house some context:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogle

An excellent summary of the sad case of Marion, including a link to a shot of the house in 1927: http://www.cemeteryguide.com/gotw-parker.html

And another site with the story: http://markgribben.com/?p=288

i double, (and triple checked), it's actually 6:00 AM eastern time, (5:00 AM central)

Very interesting post GaylordWilshire.
Marion Parker's demise was extraordinarily gruesome.

I probably mentioned it before already, but very good book on the Marion Parker murder case is "Stolen Away: The True Story of California's Most Shocking Kidnap-Murder," by Michael Newton. I think it's out of print, but I'm sure it's available at public libraries. I bought my copy used on amazon; the book was published in 2000. It's pretty detailed, and even gives addresses. I became really obsessed with the case when I found out that the murderer lived briefly in Alhambra, and that while he held Marion Parker captive, they actually went out and saw a movie together at the Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena, which is right near me (and closed a few years ago).

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...WL._SS500_.jpg
amazon.com

I have another book that has a picture of the dismembered Marion's body at the LA County Morgue.

L.A. Now--or Then?
 

http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/23rdatEstrella.jpgTom Wetzel
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/estrella.jpgTom Wetzel
both 23rd and Estrella

Inspired by the photos above, and George Mann's of Bunker Hill, I put together this short slideshow of current shots from Google, which, with a lot less imagination than is required if you actually drive these same streets (in West Adams, University Park, Jefferson Park, Harvard Heights, Mid-City, Alvarado Terrace, and the last in Windsor Square), give an idea of residential Los Angeles before WWII.

Once you click on the link below, hit "F11" to go to full screen, and then start the show by clicking "Slideshow" at upper left.
http://picasaweb.google.com/11576117...eat=directlink


The b&ws of the intersection of Estrella and 23rd above are labeled on the website on which I found them as scenes "obliterated by the Harbor Freeway"--in fact, Estrella Street itself is described as a "street that no longer exists." Well, the intersection and two blocks of Estrella do indeed still exist, along with most of the same palms and the principal buildings in the b&ws--there is even a mailbox still in the same place on the north side of 23rd:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...63805%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...64007%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View

That's Chester Place on left in the shot toward the west on 23rd.

I went to Signal Hill today to take pictures. Why? Because I do stuff like that.

Going with the noir/hardboiled detective theme, Signal Hill holds some fascination for me. Not so much by how it looks today, but because of its history. For a good part of its history as a city, it was mostly oil fields. Raymond Chandler worked for an oil company here before he became a writer. Some of his stories have incidents that happen in Signal Hill. And when I hear that line from "Double Indemnity" where Barbara Stanwyck's character says about her husband that she guesses "he's been too busy down at Long Beach in the oil fields," it makes me think of Signal Hill (which is surrounded by Long Beach), but Long Beach had oil fields too-- and also still has some oil wells here and there. Anyways...

Gradually the oil companies left, and now Signal Hill wants to go the typical suburban cookie-cutter suburban tract home and shopping center route. But a lot of oil wells still remain, of course they're no longer the towering wooden oil derricks, but the bobbing metal pump type. They're adjacent to some of the tract homes.

These two pics are of Signal Hill in 1933.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...9_675514_n.jpg
USC Archive

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._6134526_n.jpg
USC Archive

And these are pics of Signal Hill that I took today (9.18.10).

I don't think I'd like an oil well next to my backyard. Oh, please ignore the dirty black Honda.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7252823_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5344551_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2467490_n.jpg

Here's an oil well next to an old Craftsman.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...9_874737_n.jpg

Raymond Chandler probably wouldn't recognize this as Signal Hill. Signal Hill still has a strange feel to it, for some reason, at least to me. The random oil wells, maybe? Like something sinister can happen here...
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._4219921_n.jpg

I can see your point about Signal Hill sopas_ej.
There's a strange ennui going on in that neighbor, despite the sunshine.
Photographs of Echo Park give me a similar feeling.

Film Industry Noir
 

http://ferdyonfilms.com/girl27.jpgboston.com

A 1937 film-industry scandal apparently reported only outside of Los Angeles--the rape of movie extra Patricia Douglas--is the subject of an interesting 2007 documentary I just came across called Girl 27. It's available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClnIc5wb8Qs

A review: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/?tag=hollywood


http://filmmakermagazine.com/directo...7_1-766663.jpgfilmmakermagazine.com
Accused and accuser ( David Ross and Patricia Douglas), pushed together by photographers at a hearing in the Hall of Justice downtown.


An excerpt of an April 2003 Vanity Fair article on the case by the maker of the documentary, David Stenn, can be seen here: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2...86-7028154_ITM (registration is required to view the full article).


http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TJ...14438%20PM.jpgGoogle
Patricia Douglas and her mother lived at 1160 S. Bronson in 1937.

Very interesting GaylordWilshire.
Thx for the links......I'll have to check out that youtube video.

Sometimes I'm amazed how a small building like 1160 S. Bronson can continue to exist year after year.

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9...gunnwasama.jpg
ucla

The only information with this photograph was the woman's name, Dolores Gunn.
I believe she was a madam. I'm not sure why she is campaigning.

Helen Gurley Brown wrote a book called I'm Wild Again, published around '98 or '99. In it she describes living in L.A. in the late '30s and through the war-- and once actually working for Dolores's escort service. I found this excerpt: http://books.google.com/books?id=4Cz...page&q&f=false

Btw, it turns out that Helen once lived at 2400 S. Hope, apparently on the grounds of Orthopaedic Hospital (her sister was a patient there). Remember the famous Longstreet Palms? I refer you to the estimable blog of Scott Shannon, who also appears here sometime: http://losangelespast.blogspot.com/2...-trees-in.html

Somewhere else on the web is a story that, after her bust for procuring and jailhouse campaign against Bowron for mayor, the indefatigable Dolores became a psychologist.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics13/00026266.jpgLAPL

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics13/00026239.jpgLAPL

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics13/00026240.jpgLAPL

In the one-google-leads-to-another department, I found that Helen Gurley Brown (of Sex and the Single Girl and Cosmopolitan magazine fame, not to mention her stint as one of Dolores Gunn's girls) attended Polytechnic High School, which, before moving to the Valley in 1957, was at Washington and Flower. I don't think I'd ever seen a picture of this school, built in 1905--pretty impressive structure.

Speaking of neoclassical architecture, I was also unaware of this mini-Pantheon by Robert Farquhar (California Club, Clark Library, Beverly Hills High School among many others), the Barlow Medical Library, that once stood at 742 North Broadway:

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064916.jpgLAPL

^^^Now THAT is some great info GaylordWilshire!
I'm amazed Helen Gurley Brown admitted she worked for an escort service.

The Barlow Medical Library (the 'mini-pantheon') is extremely impressive.
Can you imagine tearing down something that exquisite?

Smoggy_1949

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6...smoggy1949.jpg
usc

Washington Irving Branch Library
 

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00086/00086121.jpgLAPL

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...65202%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View


http://jpg1.lapl.org/00086/00086122.jpgLAPL

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...65247%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View


http://jpg1.lapl.org/00086/00086123.jpgLAPL


Thens and Nows of the old Washington Irving Branch Library at 1803 Arlington Avenue (door faces 18th), built in 1926 to the design of Allison & Allison, architect brothers who are probably best known for Royce Hall at UCLA. Note the same house to the right, and the same tree to the left, which appears to have grown little and still has all of its major limbs. Sad to see the building in this shape.

^^^That's a great little library. Are there any plans for it's future?





Here's a little quiz.
Who can tell me what became of Willard's Far Famed Chicken at Los Feliz & Hillhurst?




http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1...schickenin.jpg
BDLF/



http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/9...willardsad.jpg
ebay/matchbook


http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2...rdsderby01.jpg
unknown

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061956.jpgLAPL


It's still there:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...64621%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View


Apparently it's now an L.A. Historic-Cultural Landmark, as is the Washington Irving Library--which status, unfortunately, is no real safeguard against demolition. Sounds like the dome part--the original Willard's--sits empty. How long can it last with a highrise caddy-corner to it?

...and you are correct GaylordWilshire. :)

The two photos you included are better than the ones I have of the Los Feliz Brown Derby.

The google street view I found was from a different angle showing the dark blue/gray 'derby' part.
I would post it, but I can't seem to 'screen grab' (right click) from google street views.
Do you have any ideas what I'm doing wrong?




http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7...sintobrown.jpg
postcard/ebay



Below is a postcard from the other Willards on Pico blvd.


http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/4...shugepceba.jpg
ebay


I don't know how the chicken's feet never touch the ground.
Am I just not getting their slogan?

Here are a series photographs from 1952 of a crane lifting something onto the Ritchfield Building.

I find them interesting. You get a glimpse of the surrounding area as well.



http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8...hfield1952.jpg
I'm going to say USC Digital Archive, but I'm not certain.





below: I would love to see inside Oscar's Cafe (I can smell the hamburgers and onions).

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3...ld1952cosc.jpg
usc



below: The Traveler's Hotel, another cafe, Hotel Cl.....something, The Jonathan Club, and the Hotel Victor in the distance

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1...field1952b.jpg
usc




below: Another greasy spoon. This one looks like Nesbitt's.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/61/...ield1952cp.jpg
usc





below: I'm not sure if these poor people were looking up at the action and crashed,
or if the photographer came across this accident further down Flower Street.
I found them in the same group as the photos above.

below: He's gonna have a headache. :(

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/677...effersonwr.jpg
usc



below: Crutches at the scene with one already in the backseat...perhaps this wasn't the lady's first accident.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/367...ffersonwrq.jpg
usc


After researching a bit, I believe the 3300 S. block of Flower Street (as seen in the first accident photo) puts the car crash down by Jefferson Blvd.

I'm guessing this means that Willard's was taking pride that their chickens were raised in cages and never ran around in dirty pens--funny that nowadays it's the other way around--now of course the boast is "free-range" and all that.

I see that at least one of the pics in your first Willard's post is of the Pico branch. Great pictures, all of them. Now let's see if I can tell you how to post Street View pictures--I sort of stumbled on the process, and it will sound long and complicated here, but it really is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. First, it seems you need Picasa (not sure if some other such program will work, but Picasa is connected to Google somehow). With it, you then find the street view you want; hit "full screen" and wait a moment for the address bar (often not precise) at the upper left to disappear; then click the "FN" and the "PRTSC" ("Print Screen") simultaneously, after which a small box will appear at lower right; clicking on that will bring up the Picasa version of the pic; then you need to click on "upload" under the picture, and "upload" again after that; yet another box will appear with a button to click to see the "online view"--what I do then is right click on the picture you see at this stage and click "Properties" to get the http address to cut and paste onto the forum "insert image" bar. Now after writing that I need to head to Ciro's or the Grove or maybe the Mocambo for a martini. Join me?

PS Just saw your Richfield shots--they are great. When I was a kid in New Orleans, Nesbitt's was a brand of orange soda, with that logo--the sign in the pic is advertising like the Coke sign below it. As for the car wreck-- that guy definitely will have a headache, and his poor late-model Rocket 88 Olds is done for. And the poor woman in the Plymouth wagon does appears to already have been on crutches! And curiously enough, in both your second and fifth shots, apparently taken about 28 blocks apart, note there are ads for Dr. Brinkley and his asthma cure.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TJ...e_Exiles_2.jpgdvdbeaver.com

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/protectedi...1.jpg_17112009dvdtimes.co.uk


I watched The Exiles on TCM, thanks to ethereal's--or was it jansen's?--reminder. Amazing on a number of levels--certainly the luminous b&w scenes of Bunker Hill are astonishing, as are those of downtown streets at night (the pics here do not do the film justice)--here is noir Los Angeles in, oddly enough, a non-noir film.

Thanks for the tip GaylordWilshire. I'll have to try it out. And of course I would join you for a martini. :)

In my earlier post about the damn chickens I meant their slogan, NOT there slogan. oops.
Your answer is what I thought as well.
I just couldn't believe they were actually advertising that their chicken were raised in cages!??




Here is another view of the general area around the Richfield Building.

You can see Rex Arms in the distance, along with the Statler Hilton and the Gates Hotel.
To the extreme right you can see an edge of the Richfield Building.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5...hotelrexar.jpg
usc


I love the building in the lower left corner. Wouldn't it be great to have your office or studio in that room on top.
Does anyone know the name of this building?

I'm sure many of you know that this building was also used in "Happy Days" for the establishing exterior shot of Arnold's Drive-In:

http://www.womansday.com/var/ezflow_...09-Arnolds.jpg
womansday.com

I didn't know that--I really didn't watch Happy Days much, but I know that this was used as the exterior of the family's house:

http://ts.realestate.com/resized-ima...2D00_today.jpgtsdotrealestatedotcom
565 North Cahuenga, Hollywood

Right now, I'm watching Sunset Blvd. on TCM and I caught something I've never heard before.

When Artie Green is introducing Joe Gillis at the New Years Eve party, he jokingly describes Gilles as several things
(highly successful screenwriter etc). His last description of Joe Gillis is "Black Dahlia suspect".

O-K, I've seen this film so many times, and I can not believe I've never caught this before.
Am I hearing things or did Jack Webb's character actually say this?

not 1313 Mockingbird Lane
 

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...202-017~2?v=hrUSC
I see no smoke, but I do see hoses running into it--this picture is labeled "after a fire."

http://www.victorianhomes.com/images/_MG_9980new2.jpgvictorianhomesdotcom

Speaking of TV-family houses--here is an often-photographed house at 3115 W. Adams Blvd, which I've seen referred to as the "Munster house." There is somewhat of a resemblance, and I suppose this one could have inspired the designers of the house on the Universal back lot that still stands, but it wasn't used for that show. Anyway, in the Google Street View it looks a mess. I found it on the website whose link is below--asking price $1,900,000. Scroll down and click on "Picture Virtual Tour" for more pics--I know this is a huge house, but it looks like a wreck to me. Is there really a market for something like this in these times, in a neighborhood far from its heyday, for such a price? OK, it is by a famous architect, Joseph Cather Newsom, who did, among others, the Sessions House in Angelino Heights. According to the website, there are bungalows on West 30th St going for $850,000--and I know little about the r/e market in L.A.--but I'm amazed, even with what we pay in Manhattan for space. Notice the window through the fireplace.

http://www.victorianhomes.com/listin...a44b5e2f629de5

http://www.classictvhits.com/munster...front_view.jpgclassictvhitsdotcom
The Munster house, more recently.

I have it on myself--yep, Artie said that-- Norma is about to descend the stairs at 10086 Sunset Boulevard for the last time....

lol. Thanks buddy.

She's ready for her close-up.

THE END

from Desperate to Desperate
 

I feel I must somehow get a noir angle into this TV-architecture theme I've got going here. How about 1955's The Desperate Hours, starring Humphrey Bogart? If you squint, maybe that movie can been seen as sort of a suburban noir...maybe? Well, it's in black and white. Anyway, it turns out that prior to The Munsters, creators Mosher and Connolly had done Leave It to Beaver--which, beginning a season or two into the series, used the same Universal backlot house that was in The Desperate Hours:

http://www.retroweb.com/universal/un...rate_hours.jpgretrowebdotcom


http://www.retroweb.com/universal/li...use_w_cast.jpgretrowebdotcom


This house apparently went on to be used in Marcus Welby MD, several other TV series and movies, was altered several times, and is supposedly today on Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives. It's actually hard to tell from the many and various descriptions on the web if the current house is even the same structure or merely resembles the building in The Desperate Hours, but the most interesting thing I found in poking around on the web is that some claim that Leave It to Beaver was filmed using an actual house at 1727 Buckingham Road in Los Angeles--not true. Even still, it is interesting to speculate that the backlot house may have been modeled on this Lafayette Square home. It's hard to see behind all the vegetation, but the semi-dormer windows, the lower brick facade, and the bay window (on the left rather than the right in the set house) do make you wonder if the Desperate Hours set designer lived there or nearby....

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...71437%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View


The house on Wisteria Lane--the dormers are different, and the proportions seem so too--but it is still down the street from the Munster mansion:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/84/21...558acc.jpg?v=0

:previous:

Interesting; I always assumed the "Leave It to Beaver" house was at the Warner Brothers Ranch in Burbank, the same lot where the exteriors of the houses/neighborhoods for "Bewitched," "The Partridge Family" and (possibly) the TV Sally Field version of "Gidget," were located.