Sopas ej, thanks for the information and pictures of Alhambra. That's where my mom was born and raised. She recently went by her childhood home and took a picture of it... there was a graduation party being held there by an asian family, which is interesting considering you talked about how the area is largely Chinese.

Regarding the Trinity Auditorium Ethereal_Reality posted, isn't it weird how historic buildings (or historic pictures of then present day buildings) always seem to look WAY better than they do currently? Is it because a lot of the detailing seems to be removed through the years (you can see molded details along the roofline have since been removed from the Trinity Auditorium building as well as the building's 8th story pediment and cornice)? Or is it because the old cameras and photographs somehow make the buildings look better?

:previous:
Oh you're very welcome, PHX31. If I may ask, when did your mother leave Alhambra? Did she ever see movies at the Garfield Theatre? I live in South Pasadena which is just north of Alhambra; I go into Alhambra to get to the 10 freeway, plus there are a few restaurants I go to in Alhambra. There's a good Vietnamese place there, and there's also a good Lebanese place there.

And yeah, often in old pictures of old buildings that still exist, they look better. They're newer in them, obviously, so they're cleaner-looking; but as you pointed out, sometimes a lot of detail they used to have was removed over the years. I think in an effort to "modernize" them in that period from the 1950s-the 1970s, a lot of that intricate detail was considered old-fashioned and outdated, so it was removed. And in California, architectural embellishments that were considered unsafe during earthquakes also were removed.

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/3...tofviolenc.jpg
MGM


below: Angels Flight funicular looking down to 3rd Street from Bunker Hill.


http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/1...fight1960s.jpg
usc digital archive





http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3...light1960s.jpg
usc digital archive



below: A scene from Act of Violence (1948)


http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8...olence1949.jpg
MGM


below: Angels Flight from the same angle.


http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/8...4clayat3rd.jpg




below: A scene filmed at Westside Park (later MacArthur Park)
You can see the Westlake Theater sign in the distance.


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7...sidepark19.jpg
MGM



below: Wilshire Boulevard with Westlake Theater in 1938.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3...etheater19.jpg
LIFE



below: The Westlake Theater sign still exists.

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5...choollacom.jpg
oldschoolla.com



below: Glendale's Southern Pacific Depot 1948.


http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7...iolencesop.jpg
MGM





http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3...olencesopa.jpg
MGM



below: Glendale Station today.


http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7...dalebyclar.jpg
Clark Bauman




below: A scene with the Los Angeles Times Building.


http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/9...ofviolence.jpg
MGM




below: I'm guessing this is the 3rd Street tunnel. Anyone know for sure?


http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/4...olencetunn.jpg
MGM

After talking to her, I was wrong, she was born and lived for her first few years in my great-grandmother's house in Highland Park. From the time she was 5 until about 11 years old she lived in Alhambra... she said the Garfield Theatre was the place they'd go for movies (although they didn't go very often back then.) Back then they were double features... actually, she said the two movies just ran basically on a loop, and you would get there in the middle of a feature and then you could stay as long as you want. They'd get to the Garfield Theatre and sneak into the loge section as kids and watch both movies (sometimes more than once)... this was in the 1950's. She then lived in La Habra and eventually married my Dad. They moved out of California to Arizona in 1975 a few years before I was born.

Ah, Act of Violence, great film! Great pics too! As I recall, a very young Janet Leigh is in it. I rented it last year. I really love film noir. In fact every spring, the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood has a film noir festival. I went to it last year and the year before.

Judging by the width of the tunnel and the sidewalks, I believe that tunnel above is actually the 2nd street tunnel, which still gets used in lots of films to this day, as well as music videos and commercials.

That is so cool that your mother saw movies at the Garfield! Did you tell her that unfortunately it's now a strip mall?

Actually, I learned some years ago that that was how movies were shown, at least in the US, anyway. Movies were shown in a loop, there were no set times of when you could enter the theater. It was common for people to come in in the middle of the movie. That's how the phrase "this is where I came in" got started. I learned this after seeing a documentary on the making of "Psycho." Alfred Hitchcock didn't want the twist ending to be spoiled, so he made it so that theaters showing "Psycho" had to have definite starting times, and to not let people into the theater once the movie started. So that actually changed the way people saw movies, from then on there was a definite schedule of starting times for movies.

That's some pretty cool trivia, I never knew that (and I never knew they played the movies on a loop before my Mom told me). I didn't tell her it turned into a strip mall, however, being gone from California for over 3 decades, I'm sure she would expect it. I have some pretty cool history and such of LA from my family. My grandmother gave me an old Los Angeles Transit Lines streetcar token I still have (and she told me all of her stories of riding the streetcar lines), and my Dad grew up in Orange County before it was so developed. His stories about having orange fights in the groves, hunting skunks and tarantulas, and just generally living in a very rural area (at the time, although there were some pretty cool old homesteads/large old homes) is pretty interesting, considering what the area looks like now. He even was a lifeguard at Huntington Beach. But, all that's besides the point of this thread...


Has anyone seen the movie "Sneakers" from the 90s?? There is that scene in the movie where Robert Redford's character is in the limo with the Russian Consulate and they get pulled over by the "cops" (which were really his old buddy's henchmen). The cops shoot his Russian Consulate friend and the bad guys knock out Robert Redford with a blow to the head with a gun. It takes place in a tunnel that looks exactly like the above tunnel, white tiles an all. The only thing is the movie is supposedly set in San Francisco. If anyone has seen that movie, do you think it's the same tunnel as the picture posted above?

EDIT: I did a quick search and found this info: Filming Locations: 2nd Street Tunnel, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

That's interesting about your family. Have you been to SoCal to see your parents' old homes and hangouts?



Oh, "Sneakers"! I remember liking that movie, I only saw it once, though. I assume it's among River Phoenix's last movies.

I visit the LA area pretty often (often = at least once a year) to see a bunch of family that still lives there and go to the beach, etc.. This thread is making me want to go through some of the old B&W family pictures my parents have which show various buildings or houses and try to do some now&then comparisons next time I'm there.

I've loved the before & after pics that have been posted in this thread. And that USC digital archive is amazing. Keep up the good work!

below: Sunset and Vine 1926.


http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/618...ndvine1926.jpg
usc digital archives

below: Scrivner's Drive In. No address given.



http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/383...ersdrivein.jpg
usc digital archives

below: Simon's at Wilshire and Fairfax 1939.



http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/8...andwilshir.jpg
usc digital archives

below: Simon's at Wilshire and Hoover across from Lafayette Park.
So, was this Drive-In a chain?

And another question. Where is Lafayette Park? Is it adjacent to Westlake/MacArthur ParK?

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/3...afayettepa.jpg
usc digital archives

below: A close-up view of Simon's at Wilshire and Hoover.
This is such a great photograph.


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

:previous:
Great pics, ethereal! Looking at those drive-in restaurants has given me an idea... just thinking out loud. ;)

You're correct, Lafayette Park is adjacent to MacArthur Park, just west of it.

And Simon's apparently was a chain, I assume. And it looks like they had a monopoly on Wilshire Blvd. Hehe ubiquitous like a Starbucks.

Here's one on Wilshire near La Brea, circa 1945.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics25/00062240.jpg
lapl.org

The same one at night:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics18/00008754.jpg
lapl.org

^^^ Wow, a Simon's at night....now that's a rarity.


I'm curious about your 'idea' Sopas_ej.

:previous:

My idea-- we'll have to wait and see. It may take a day or two before you see it. ;)

^^^Take your time sopas_ej.....and have fun. I wish I were in L.A. to tag along. ;)


below: Another great building that has survived in downtown Los Angeles..

The Bendix Aviation Corporation at Maple and 12th Street.
The tower on top was a nighttime aid for aviation.
The tower stands 150 ft. The letter B is 25 feet tall and 16 feet wide.



http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/324...ldg11thsta.jpg
usc digital archives




below: A contemporary photograph of the tower.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/5...inonflickr.jpg
ax2groin




below: A contemporary photograph with 'noirish' qualities.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/9...amesherman.jpg
James Herman


I can just imagine a murder taking place in one of the lighted windows.

below: Pacific Electric mail car vs. automobile 1951.


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1...electricma.jpg
usc digital archives





below: Suicide, carbon monoxide 1951.


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4...monoxide19.jpg
usc digital archives





below: Jumper, 6th Street and Witmer Street 1951.


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9...thstreetan.jpg
usc digital archives

Those black and white murder pictures are always amazing.

Wonderful thread, keeps me coming back. :)

Ever since I saw Mulholland Drive, L.A. to me has this noirish quality that I cannot shed, even through daylight pics. I've only visited once (when I was about 7), so a visit in the near future is very much in my plans.

I actually wish you were here to go along with me. As enthusiastic you and I are about LA and noir, I think we'd have a lot of fun. ;)

Great pics you posted, too; I drove through downtown LA tonight after seeing the Bendix photos, and saw the Bendix tower lit up in all its red neon glory. Very noirish indeed, it made me wish I brought the camera with me.

To be honest sopas_ej,
I didn't realize, until recently, that the Bendix building was still there.


It's great that the tower is functional again.
And it's in red?? You need to get a shot of that. :)

I recently learned that the Los Angeles Police Department
has 940,000 negatives stored in anonymous warehouses throughout the city.
A HUGE project is under way to digitalize ALL the photographs.

Below is a small sampling of the photographs.
Hopefully, the new project will scan the LAPD negatives MUCH larger.


http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4351/lapd1knife.jpg
knife. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4...2holes1942.jpg
dual bullet holes. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...victim1944.jpg
assault victim. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...victim1951.jpg
assault victim 1951. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6...esinpainti.jpg
body on floor, bullets in painting 1932. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4...dbybed1931.jpg
dead by bed 1931. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4...gmarks1937.jpg
bloody drag marks 1937. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7...holdup1932.jpg
jewelry hold up 1932. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7...inyard1930.jpg
John Doe in backyard 1930. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8...mobhit1933.jpg
mob hit 1933. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...vationtest.jpg
observation test 1930s. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5...driver1955.jpg
los angeles river 1955. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5...tickupnote.jpg
stick up. don't move. smile. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2...oodead1945.jpg
tattoo nipple 1945. lapd



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8...trenchcoat.jpg
trench coat 1926. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1...ooroom1935.jpg
VooDoo room 1935. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9...falcon1945.jpg
Thanks the falcon 1945. lapd




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8...anging1951.jpg
lady hanging 1951. lapd



These photos are from the following website.
http://www.fototeka.com/lapd/index.html

LAPD
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/3...dissuicide.jpg
Carole Landis' suicide July 5, 1948. An overdose of Secondal.



below: Carole Landis was found in her apartment in Brentwood Heights (Pacific Palisades).
The police are kneeling by her body in the farthest room.
Notice the film script in the center room.
A mink coat is draped over a chair in the bedroom.
The hair dryer is by the window.



http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/8...elandisapt.jpg
latimesblog.com



below: The film script.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/5...thearneloa.jpg


For further analysis of this intriguing photograph go to
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-2.html


And here
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-4.html


And here
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-5.html


And here (sorry, I didn't realize there were so many links involved)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-6.html





below: A glamour shot of Carole Landis.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/8827/lapdlandis1.jpg
unknown




below: Carole Landis poolside.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2800/lapdclpool3.jpg
unknown


It isn't all sunshine and beaches.

Looks like Bud White got to her,

If you're still interested in the Carole Landis saga, here's one last link.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...-landis-7.html

Below is a great noir photo.
Looking north on Vine toward Sunset and Vine.
Notice NBC Radio City Studios on the right.


http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9...ndvinenort.jpg
usc digital archives



below: NBC Radio City in daylight.

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/620...ocitystudi.jpg
postcard

below: Tom Breneman's on Vine between Hollywood & Sunset Blvds in Hollywood, circa 1947



http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/693...brenemansn.jpg
usc digital archive


Notice the banner hanging at the entrance. Who is Pinky Tomlin?


http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7...inkytomlin.jpg

Here's another photo of Tom Breneman's dated April 1945.
It looks like mostly ladies waiting to get in.


http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3...emansapril.jpg
LIFE magazine

Tom Breneman's in daylight.


http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/586...indaylight.jpg
unknown

Those crime scene photos are all kinds of awesome, especially this one which is a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 on the noir meter.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5...driver1955.jpg

Notice the 2 small children in the photo observing the death scene. The little blond boy to the right, plus the little girl in the background. Guess they didn't feel the need to protect kids from such things back in those days.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9...thstreetan.jpg

I also noticed the little blonde boy on the right.
All kinds of things raced through my mind.

Why is he so close to this horrifying scene?
Does he know the jumper?
Is 'violence' a normal occurrence in this neighborhood?
How will this effect him later on in his life?


It's an extremely thought provoking scene.

Hmm... wartime workers getting off from the swing-shift, maybe? Or maybe it was Ladies' night?

Ethereal, when I first saw your photos of the drive-in restaurants, it made a light bulb go on in my head-- particularly the Simon's Drive-ins, those photos reminded me of a structure in Alhambra. It made me wonder if it used to be a Simon's Drive-in; something about the blade sign. It probably wasn't a Simon's, but I wouldn't be surprised if the building dates from at least the 1930s:
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6281/p1060367x.jpg
Photo by me

The current business serves Cajun food. Cheesy I know but I played with the photo I took, made it black-and-white and tried to make the contrast higher; noir films seemed to always have a high contrast. I didn't do too great of a job...

This is how it really looks:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2002/p1060374.jpg
Photo by me

I also went out tonight and tried to take pictures of the Bendix tower lit up. It didn't come out so well, considering it was late and I didn't wanna stay too long outside of the car, the neighborhood being somewhat sketchy late at night. The building is in the Fashion District, BTW. And the sign looks like it says "Bendi."
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/1363/p1060382.jpg

Here's the Furniture Mart with the Bendix Building, courtesy USC digital archive:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/659...andbendixb.jpg

^^^sopas_ej, that certainly looks like it could be an old Simon's.
Even if it wasn't, it's a fine example of deco.

Thanks for taking the time to photograph it.

Also it's great to see the Bendix sign in RED, despite the missing X.
I like that last pic you posted from the usc archive.
One question, is the Furniture Mart still there?

below: Vermont and 81st Street circa 1940.



http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6...and81ststr.jpg
usc digital archives

Actually, that is most likely an early morning photo (around 5am). Tom Breneman's Restaurant was the home of a morning radio show called Breakfast in Hollywood which aired on the Blue Network (Blue later became ABC) from 1941 to 1948. The show originated daily from Tom Brenneman's restaurant in Hollywood and featured Brenneman walking through the restaurant, chatting up the mostly female, and frequently tourist patrons. The show aired nationally and started at 5am Pacific Time. Those are fans waiting to get in.

It looks to me like that stretch is almost exactly the same...even the same pavement. Does concrete pavement last that long without having to re-pave? I know it's a weird question, but just wondering if that street is intact after 80 years.

^^^ I think you're correct UrbanSky.

While researching the photographs of Tom Breneman's,
I came across several 'sound' clips of 'Breakfast in Hollywood'.

I listened to one...and it was Mr. Breneman roaming around the restaurant chatting up the women.


I didn't connect the women standing in line with the radio program,
so thanks for your insight UrbanSky.

That's an amazing pic, since I've never before seen a shot of hollywood from that angle, or such a complete shot of that hood at night, with all the neon lit up.

speaking of which, the old bendix sign was dark for decades & was relit only within the past 3 or 4 yrs. The bendix corp obviously no longer occupies the bldg underneath the sign, just as the bldg under the neon of the nearby eastern columbia sign----also relit within the past few yrs----no longer is the same named dept store of over 60 yrs ago.

All these real LA noir scenes, esp of crime locations, make me think of mood music like this, from a classic movie that recreated early 20th century LA noir in 1974.

Real or fictional, images of old LA always make me sort of nostalgic, but also melancholy & kind of blue, yet also sentimental about a bygone era placed against the backdrop of a mediterranean/spanish, palmtree climate.

Coincidentally enough, the movie "set during a heat wave in 1930s Los Angeles, whose residents are suffering from a water shortage" is a case of life imitating art right now, since we're going through a heatwave, with major fires in the local mountains, & a drought.

FWIW, if a filmmaker has to recreate noir, he may overlook some gaps in authenticity. I recall the first time I saw the movie chinatown I noticed one scene filmed in the alley of the biltmore hotel in DTLA, supposedly occurring during the 1930s. Only problem is the camera also caught a glimpse of a bldg in the background, the highrise at 611 west 6th St, built in the 1960s.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n.../Chinatown.jpg

That building still exists, yes, though I don't think it houses the Furniture Mart anymore. There's another, bigger, though much plainer-looking building that houses the current LA Furniture Mart, on south Broadway:
http://www.you-are-here.com/los_ange...geles_mart.jpg
from you-are-here.com
According to that website, this building was built in 1955. And I think now it's just called the LA Mart.

The above building still exists; on Google Maps, if you type in 81st and Vermont, Los Angeles, you can see what it looks like today. It looks pretty good now, I think. I think this is a precursor to the modern strip mall. You see these here and there in Los Angeles.

Ah, thanks for that information!

"Chinatown"-- great film! But yeah, often when you see films set in an earlier era in LA, there will be anachronisms (I noticed this last year when I saw "Changeling"). In fact, I'm not sure what part of the 1930s it's supposed to be set (I've always assumed mid-1930s, judging by the fashions and cars), but Old Chinatown was already at that point being torn down for Union Station, which opened in 1939. The current Chinatown that exists is a later, planned iteration, which was actually LA's original Little Italy. Hence the old, abandoned Little Joe's restaurant building that still exists, and the Italian Center and Italian Catholic Church, both on north Broadway.

I wouldn't doubt that that could be the original concrete from the older photo. Some months ago, I read online that the City of West Hollywood would be resurfacing the Sunset Strip, and that the concrete there was the original concrete laid out in the 1930s. Maybe roads were meant to last a long time back then?

Citywatch, that's an interesting tidbit about the scene in Chinatown.
I guess Polanski thought the audience would be zeroing in on Jack Nicholson's nose and not the surrounding buildings. :)

Jerry Goldsmith's elegiac score for Chinatown is exquisite.
I can't think of any other score that so captured the mood of a movie (Blade Runner comes close.....for a futuristic Los Angeles).

Sopas_ej, I'm glad the Deco building is still at Vermont and 81st Street.
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I never thought of using Google Maps.

Thanks for the info about L.A. Mart.
The sight of that 1955 building made me grimace.




http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/862/l...pectedtale.jpg
found photo/unknown

A souvenir from New Chinatown, complete with a suckling baby.
And a 'coolie' losing his pants??



http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/8836/...chinatown1.jpg
found photo/unknown




And one from Hollywood.
Looks like the guy on the right has a bottle of salad dressing.


http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/4544/...0813h9wlwd.jpg
found photo/unknown