SIDEBAR: I recently saw THE DOLLY SISTERS film. It is pretty standard in the biopic department but it has two unusual can't-miss musical numbers in it!

Longtime reader, first time writer.
 

"Stop!" I wanted to shout inanely 500 pages ago, "I'm trying to catch up!" -- Six months of reading, one month just in the last dozen of pages, in a vain attempt to make this all last longer. The closer I got to the end, the more I realized I was reaching today's real time, where the stories would end, and I'd have to start writing my own. I have to thank folks like the GaylordWilshires, the lorens, the collection of Martins, and especially the fostering E_R, amongst EVERYONE here, for an incredible journey through our collective histories.

I come bearing gifts, like any good first-time visitor to your world. Lived here in LA for the last 26 years since going through college, where I spent hours lost in old USC yearbooks in various libraries around campus trying to piece together the histories of that small area of town, and dwelled here in the 'Crescent Heights' subdivision of West Hollywood for two decades, gathering local lore and history through 4am jaunts lost in blogs along the internets.

Want to see an inside last look at Perino's, circa 2002? In a moment...i'm still saying Hello! ...it's taken a long time traveling here to be able to do so. So many times in reading the forum, I've shouted "that's right there!" wanting to write immediately, but within pages we receive all the correct answers (sometimes some false information at first, but it always seems to get settled out), so I learned a lot of patience to read everything before jumping here. You all are awesome.

So yes, E_R, you have legions of followers coming up reading through the ranks of pages, all with more information and stories coming, I'm sure. Here are a few topics I've been waiting to speak about (and will get to mentioning further in separate notes, now that I've reached "hello!" status here, and apologies for just an introductory tease)... AIP/Movietown Plaza, Aldous Huxley living near The Huxley, Barney's Beanery/ABC rumors, Rexall Owl Drugs and the Doors of Perception, mountain removal at the top of Laurel Canyon, the fabulous Quonsets of the Culver City Airport, Northridge Quake and Santa Monica's 4th street (including the Central Tower red-tagging), Exposition trains of 1986, the Byrds basement rehearsals, more of Crescent Heights, and Perinos.

As for Perino's, and a first attempt at posting from Imageshack, it was used for filming long after it fully closed as a restaurant, as we know. I spent two days there during the music video filming of "Are You In?" from the rockband Incubus in 2002. The couches, chandeliers, lamps, furnishings, and kitchen equipment, we were told, were all as original as the place could be after all those years. The entire video was shot inside old Perino's, so freezeframe to your heart's content.

Youtube "Are You In?" : • Video Link

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/51...540/dbY3qJ.jpg
http://imageshack.com/i/f0dbY3qJj

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All images copyright Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

I'm very excited to be at the end of your storytelling, and looking forward to much more!
- 1612havenhurstdrive (aka in real world, brett)

Despicable past, indeed. In the early 1920s the KKK did number several million members across the country, and a good many sizable cities had local chapters.

Welcome to noirish Los Angeles! I was a bit discouraged recently after some bad news from a couple of our members.
Luckily, it seems every time the thread starts to lag a bit, some one comes along and breathes new life into it. You're just what the doctor ordered.

Interesting video showing the interior of Perino's. Thanks for sharing it with us Brett.
__

Pandora's Coffee House
 

To quickly follow up my introduction with a gift of some actual, awesome, local noir:

Oviatt Building Fan had some great background on Pandora's, located in the wye of Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevard (post 6184851, and as well as others expanding on the late 60's Pandora's Box). But what about the year 1959?

Larry Harnisch, of the LA Times, dug through the Daily Mirror archives a few years ago, and has an incredible story of Pandora's permit application from that year. I suggest really reading the police reports, which are all individual pages, unfortunately. I'd love to summarize, but I don't think i can do it justice without borrowing extensively from Mr. Harnish, but a location map would be fun.
...to the Los Angeles Times' blog!

Suffice to say, you'll learn a lot about the prevailing police opinions concerning gay people, sex workers, racism, and the general condition of the upper Crescent Heights neighborhood. And from reading about these attitudes, it gives some credence to a long standing rumor (which I wish I could attribute with a link or pic or something, but it was in the pre-cameraphone era of the late 80s during a One Institute-arranged speaker at USC during our month of gay history) whereas the controversial Barney's Beanery "stay out" sign was originally hung with good-humor to the regular clientele, but hung in order to point it out when the extremely homophobic Alcohol and Beverage Control officers would pay an impromptu visit. What was lost with the later changes in Beanery ownership was that sense of jest, and the sign was taken at face value. If anyone could confirm or refute this tale, I'd be interested, as it seems lost after the hubbub of its removal in the early 80s. This Daily Mirror reporting has me feel like there could be some truth to it.

For the area around Pandora's, may I refer to Historical Aerials 1952 and 2004, where you can see the building in the center of the triangle, flanked by the Garden of Allah to the left and Schwab's Pharmacy to the right, none which survive today:
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/80...674/Qjixzb.jpg
Historical Aerials, for 8000-8100 Sunset Blvd

Those documents from Larry Harnisch were fascinating in content and interesting in form as well. I don't know who "wh" was but (almost certainly) she was one heckuva typist: 29 pages on mimeo master, fancy formatting, not a typo or strike over that I could see.

Cheers,

Earl

Thanks for the comments HossC and Lwise.

The original photo and the GSV show the same outline of the west-facing door on the warehouse on the south side of E. 7th.

Those structures where American Apparel is now used to be the Wholesale Terminal complex belonging to the Los Angeles Union Terminal Co. They were designed by John Parkinson, of City Hall (etc.) fame and date from 1915-20ish. The Nabisco factory (now lofts) is on the other side of Alameda.

Given there were many, many businesses nearby, there were many, many opportunities for strikes, one would think.

Hurray for Hollywood....
 

I'm sure our sharp-eyed noirishers can read the signature on this old check.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psdcc5ee6f.jpg
LAMAG

Lindsay at not a stalker did a nice writeup on Perino's here:http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2012/0...os-restaurant/

Poetic license?
http://www.iamnotastalker.com/wp-con...5433_thumb.jpghttp://www.iamnotastalker.com/wp-con...5435_thumb.jpghttp://www.iamnotastalker.com/2012/0...os-restaurant/

If you use the 1948 pic....its much clearer for the area around Pandora's

Hill indeed! Holy cats, what a great hill-tel image, which I'd never seen. I can tell you just where that is (or, was):

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/...7cfe5ca9_o.pngcal state library

In the above late-50s image by Hylen, here's the Alta Vista Apts at 255 S Bunker Hill Avenue, which held a lofty perch above the Third Street Tunnel. If the window display truck shot is 1929 then it's four years before Fante makes his home there, and the grisly murder of Harriet Allen. On a cheerier note, look how those Washingtonia have grown!

In case anyone isn't quite oriented, this may help -- Third Street runs west, vertically from the bottom, from Grand (below frame), and dead-ends halfway toward Hope (with its bifurcating retaining wall below) at (the now disappeared) Bunker Hill Avenue. At the dead-end are the benches where the alter kockers hung out.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/...fa8c3342_o.png
usc

Third St then emerges from the Tunnel below and stretches west away from Bunker Hill.

Here is a link to Losey shooting the remake of M there in 1951. (I might add the benches along the side feature prominently in the early-60s lady-serial-killer noir Angel's Flight -- see here and here.) Just north of the Alta Vista, note the oft-photographed 251 S BH. At far left along BHA, note the Foss/Heindel House.

Now here's an interesting shot from 1966, there's the same driveway as in our 1929 image, and same fire hydrant, and yet...

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2921/...b78be035_o.pnghuntington

I took a quick jaunt around the Venice area in the 'google-mobile' yesterday, and came upon this rather interesting building
at 1625 Abbot-Kinney Blvd.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...661/fBAFrh.jpg
GSV


Up close, it appears to say...F.O.E. 924 with the date 1925.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...536/c6fQlR.jpg
detail/GSV

Is anyone here familiar with the history of this building?

Here's some information on F.O.E.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternal_Order_of_Eagles


__

glass negative 1900

Los Angeles
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/GVCp6o.jpg
ebay

Hotel Pleasanto doesn't ring a bell.

:previous: Nice save.


"Leafing" backward into the "seemingly" bizarre allegation that Leonard Slye, aka "King of the Cowboys", aka "Roy Rogers" was somehow indirectly connected with Spade Cooley's marital and criminal woes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spade_Cooley This seems to have been debunked. Roy and Dale dismissed the allegations as "ridiculous." http://www.crimelibrary.com/notoriou...cooley/11.html Spade and Roy were evidently friends. It had escaped me that Spade bore a likeness to Roy, although I think the Warren Oates image is pretty close too. No doubt capitalizing on the the SC-RR friendship and similarities, Spade even doubled for Roy at Republic Studios (recently "wide-pictured" on NLA). http://www.crimelibrary.com/notoriou..._cooley/3.html


http://marcmyers.typepad.com/.a/6a00...6117970d-500wihttp://marcmyers.typepad.com/.a/6a00...6117970d-500wi
http://stevesomething.files.wordpres...ade-cooley.jpghttp://stevesomething.files.wordpres...ade-cooley.jpg


http://goldenbootawards.com/images/1986/Roy-Rogers.jpghttp://goldenbootawards.com/images/1986/Roy-Rogers.jpg


https://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org...203.3.0010.gifhttps://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org...203.3.0010.gif


Spade and Roy at the Santa Monica Ballroom where Spade performed.
http://www.westernclippings.com/imag..._roy_spade.jpghttp://www.westernclippings.com/imag..._roy_spade.jpg




Interesting read about Roy's early show business years, including a third-person take on the March '33 Long Beach Quake. The band in which Roy played had just taken stage at the "prestigious" Warner Bros. Theater. http://davethompsonbooks.wordpress.c...ogers-in-love/ Can anyone confirm which theater that would have been? Warner's had numerous venues that would have felt the quake, e.g., Downtown LA, Hollywood, Wilshire and Western, and San Pedro.


1937
http://waterandpower.org/2%20Histori...ner_ca1937.jpghttp://waterandpower.org/2%20Histori...ner_ca1937.jpg



Not being a student of RRs, it is unclear where Roy maintained a permanent SoCal residence during the '30s, although his sister reportedly lived in Lawndale. Not aware of any CD listings for Leonard "Slye." Probably worth noting again that Roy was a staple at the recently pictured Republic Studio.




http://www.ewillys.com/wp-content/up...lybelle-PR.jpghttp://www.ewillys.com/wp-content/up...lybelle-PR.jpg


Noticed a report that Roy discovered comedic sidekick, Pat Brady, in '35 when Brady was playing the bass fiddle at a club in Sunset Beach, [CA]. http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=7093,4343654 Inasmuch as the source, Brady's obit, mispells "Sly," its unclear whether this actually refers to a club in or near Sunset Beach, south of Long Beach, or a Sunset Beach Club that may have been located in or near Santa Monica. Guessing that some club names may have changed with the wind. :cool: Not that there wasn't entertainment down the coast, south of Long Beach, (Deauville Club?) but I would guess it would have been an extremely long commute there from LA or Studio City. Maybe, despite the lack of freeways, there was a lack of traffic so the commute would have been comparable to today? :shrug:



Various "Santa Monica" Beach Clubs?


http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...VLTD/SMPC1.jpghttp://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...VLTD/SMPC1.jpg


[/IMG]

Most likely the Hotel Pleasanton at 1120 S Grand. It appears in the CDs from 1909 to 1932. The back of the hotel is visible on the left of this undated view of car dealers.

ETA: The 1925 Petroleum Building (Pan Gas/Hydril etc.) on S Flower is under construction in the background, so it's likely that the picture dates from 1924 or 1925.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original
USC Digital Library

A close-up of the hotel.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original
Detail of picture above.

Sometimes it's good to remember our NLA roots...
 

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3862/...af18acdf_o.jpgDouble Indemnity, Billy Wilder, 1944

Production still from the lost “alternate” ending to Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) showing Fred MacMurray entering the gas chamber while Edward G. Robinson stands by as a sorrowful witness. This ending was cut from the final release. Wilder thought it was unnecessary, and the Hayes Office thought it was too gruesome.

wehadfacesthen.tumblr.com

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/...20a64d11_o.jpgThe Grand Army of the Republic, La Grande Station, 1930

Grand Army of the Republic band members begin their march trackside at the La Grande Station (back left) with the L.A. Gas Company gas-o-meters visible in the background. The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army who had served in the Civil War. In 1868, General Order #11 of the GAR called for May 30 to be designated as a memorial day for Union veterans; originally called "Decoration Day," this later became our Memorial Day holiday after WWI. Founded in 1866 by Benjamin F. Stephenson of Illinois, GAR was based partly on the traditions of Freemasonry, and partly on military tradition. Photo dated: June 5, 1930.

photo by Dick Whittington
Herald-Examiner Collection LAPL

I have known about Pandora's Box and about the 1966 riot and knew it was around Sunset Blvd. and Crescent Heights. While driving by that area recently two friends were vaguely discussing how that area at Crescent Heights & Sunset Blvd. looked at one time and mentioned the median. Last week I decided to look up some info about it and that's when I discovered this is where Pandora's Box was. It just never occurred to me a building could have been there because I have only known it as the way it appears now. I was quite surprised. Your aerial photos and links sure put that into context!

A couple photos of Pandora’s Box I don’t see have been posted on NLA:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_JxuJV9X4...pandoras_1.jpg
http://wikimapia.org/10352364/Pandora-s-Box-1962-1966

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll...atdo1_1280.jpg
http://uncouthreflections.com/2013/0...rip-hollywood/

I found a photo of the Casanova Club. It’s listed as 1936 and the address of 8383 would be the north side of Sunset Blvd., so I’m wondering when OB says the Casanova Club “moved into” the triangle space at Crescent Heights if he’s referring to the club relocating?

http://hollywoodphotographs.com/photos/lrg/RN-033-1.jpg
H.P./Torrence

Too remarkable not to share. Everyone's favorite domain of noir, Bunker Hill, shot from a rare western viewpoint. Autumn of 1962, I'd gauge, given progress on the DWP skeleton. The Alta Vista, about which I wrote last night, and which loomed large o'er the Third St Tunnel, has been demolished, and the El Mar, which hugged the Hope St retaining wall, is removed as well; and look, there's the storied Stuart K Oliver dead-center! Taken atop Niblack/Lawless's (of Luckman Assoc) Signal Oil bldg, I'd wager, which opened at Wilshire & Beaudry in the spring of '60; it was a curiosity that Signal had a heliport atop, which may have taken our amateur photographer there.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5584/...01e4fdd2_o.gif

Oh, and I have ulterior motives in sharing this. Somehow I let this slide slip by me a couple nights ago on the eBay! Did anyone here win it? It's worth puh-lenty to me if you're willing to pass it on.