noirish Los Angeles

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

It looks like "South Los Angeles" and the World's Largest Mailbox were somewhere just east of the 110/105 interchange,
around 117th Street and Main/Spring/Broadway (I'm not sure what happened to Moneta Avenue):



February 27, 1916, Los Angeles Times @ Newspapers.com

My slightly educated guess is that Moneta Avenue became Vermont Avenue. It is another north/south to go with the other three.
There is a Moneta Nursery and Moneta Motel still on Vermont around 135th st and Vermont did have a Red Car line.
Working against this theory is the fact that Vermont is west of Figueroa but was Figueroa previously the Harbor boulevard mentioned here? Fig does run right next to the Harbor Freeway and runs straight into L.A. Harbor.

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...
How about a mystery location.

John Saxon at his rustic home somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. (the photo shoot was in 1959)








. .and his neighbor's names.



.

I'm gonna say this is 1837 Jewett Drive:


google maps


bing.com

[JeffDiego]

The latest NASS offering at youtube, "Southern California 1940's," (posted Dec. 10) shows the fashionable Athena Dress shop in Beverly Hills, and a half-block up the street is a circular drive-in, perhaps a McDonnell's, Herbert's or Simon's. Someone here with access to a 1940's Beverly Hills directory could look up Athena so as to identify the street and location - and by association, the drive-in.

[HossC]

Here's the video. The Library of Congress has a 1945 phone directory which lists Athena Custom Clothes at 9747 & 9757 Wilshire Boulevard. Historic Aerials views from the late-40s show a circular drive-in to the east, just across N Linden Drive, but so far I haven't been able to identify it.

• Video Link

From the comments, here are a few time-frame and location suggestions:

• The Time magazine on the newsstand appears to be the issue from August 16, 1943.
• Train depot appears to be Glendale CA.
• Quite certain that is Rexall 8490 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles which stayed Rexall well into the 2000s Now CVS.
• The first part was filmed at Warner Brother's NY Street on their back lot. The fake subway entrance is a dead giveaway.
• The final train sequence was shot at Saugus, up in the Santa Clarita Vally [sic], right across the street from the Saugus Cafe, the oldest restaurant in LA County.

[JimCraig]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

I'm gonna say this is 1837 Jewett Drive:


google maps


bing.com

1837 Jewett Drive is a single family home of 960 square feet with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath built in 1949. The lot size is 2,259 square feet. It last sold in 1997 for $210,000. It has in the wall heating (which we can see in one of the photos). Estimated value today: between $975,000 (Zillow) and $1,118,860 (Redfin).

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...
How about a mystery location.

John Saxon at his rustic home somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. (the photo shoot was in 1959)

ebay
_________________________________________________________________

I don't think I ever saw John Saxon with facial hair! He was always supremely clean shaven.

[JeffDiego]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's the video. The Library of Congress has a 1945 phone directory which lists Athena Custom Clothes at 9747 & 9757 Wilshire Boulevard. Historic Aerials views from the late-40s show a circular drive-in to the east, just across N Linden Drive, but so far I haven't been able to identify it.

• Video Link

From the comments, here are a few time-frame and location suggestions:

• The Time magazine on the newsstand appears to be the issue from August 16, 1943.
• Train depot appears to be Glendale CA.
• Quite certain that is Rexall 8490 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles which stayed Rexall well into the 2000s Now CVS.
• The first part was filmed at Warner Brother's NY Street on their back lot. The fake subway entrance is a dead giveaway.
• The final train sequence was shot at Saugus, up in the Santa Clarita Vally [sic], right across the street from the Saugus Cafe, the oldest restaurant in LA County.

Thanks, Hoss! Great work, as always.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

I'm gonna say this is 1837 Jewett Drive:

And I'd say you are correct, Lorendoc.



Here's John backing out of his garage in a. . .um. . .really cool car.


eBay


My guess is that it's a Triumph.


.

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

And I'd say you are correct, Lorendoc.



Here's John backing out of his garage in a. . .um. . .really cool car.


eBay


My guess is that it's a Triumph.


.

It's a Morgan. Frame is wood.

Cheers,

Earl

[mrfredmertz]

The original prior-to-colorization footage of the drug store in the above stock footage has a clapper boy which denoted sound recording on a soundstage. They didn't need to sink up sound for stock footage so I think it's a studio reproduction. In addition, the people in the drug store are straight out of central casting.

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's the video. The Library of Congress has a 1945 phone directory which lists Athena Custom Clothes at 9747 & 9757 Wilshire Boulevard. Historic Aerials views from the late-40s show a circular drive-in to the east, just across N Linden Drive, but so far I haven't been able to identify it.

• Video Link

I think the sign says Simon's.





myloveofoldhollywood.blogspot.com

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by mrfredmertz

The original prior-to-colorization footage of the drug store in the above stock footage has a clapper boy which denoted sound recording on a soundstage. They didn't need to sink up sound for stock footage so I think it's a studio reproduction. In addition, the people in the drug store are straight out of central casting.

I thought that this was on a soundstage, too. Especially because some of the other footage was on the Warner backlot. The audio also sounded like it to me, but then I know some of these videos are augmented with sound as well as color, so I might be wrong, but I also thought that if it was in a real drugstore the patrons would've been more looky-loo as to why a camera was in the aisle filming them. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.

Here are several additional photographs taken inside the house.




eBay

C O Z Y !







eBay









eBay



.

This man was promoted by Henry Willson, a Hollywood agent of questionable reputation who gave him the name ....John Saxon.

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.

Here are several additional photographs taken inside the house.




eBay

C O Z Y !







eBay









eBay



.

Nice audio setup. Turntable, George Gott preamp, two big power amplifiers, and a reel to reel tape deck. And he's a fan of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Cheers,

Earl

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's the video. The Library of Congress has a 1945 phone directory which lists Athena Custom Clothes at 9747 & 9757 Wilshire Boulevard. Historic Aerials views from the late-40s show a circular drive-in to the east, just across N Linden Drive, but so far I haven't been able to identify it.

• Video Link

From the comments, here are a few time-frame and location suggestions:

• The Time magazine on the newsstand appears to be the issue from August 16, 1943.
• Train depot appears to be Glendale CA.
• Quite certain that is Rexall 8490 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles which stayed Rexall well into the 2000s Now CVS.
• The first part was filmed at Warner Brother's NY Street on their back lot. The fake subway entrance is a dead giveaway.
• The final train sequence was shot at Saugus, up in the Santa Clarita Vally [sic], right across the street from the Saugus Cafe, the oldest restaurant in LA County.

Most people dressed well back then. Most men and women wore hats. Most men wore suits and ties. There was street crime, but it was less common and rarely deadly. Life was more predictable, ordered. There were rules. Not always better. Racism was worse. Different times. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

It's a Morgan. Frame is wood.

Cheers,

Earl

I doubt I could fit into a car like that. Not fat, just tall. As tall as Honest Abe.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

This man was promoted by Henry Willson, a Hollywood agent of questionable reputation who gave him the name ....John Saxon.

Quite the beatnik look. I remember Saxon from a few films. He played the sadistic husband of the lady killed accidently by simpleminded but sweet giant Lenny in a TV production of "Of Mice and Men" in the late 1960s. I remember it because our high school English teacher, Mr. Doucette, told us to watch it for extra credit. We were reading it at the time in class. Doucette was a great teacher, barely 25, kind of like the teacher played by Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society. Always humorous. I think George Segal, who died recently, played Lenny's pal and helper George. "Tell me about the rabbits, George!" I can't remember who played Lenny, although I recall Joey Heatherton played the wife of Saxon on the ranch. Heatherton was the hot young actress at the time, along with Rachel Welch and a few others.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Quite the beatnik look. I remember Saxon from a few films. He played the sadistic husband of the lady killed accidently by simpleminded but sweet giant Lenny in a TV production of "Of Mice and Men" in the late 1960s. I remember it because our high school English teacher, Mr. Doucette, told us to watch it for extra credit. We were reading it at the time in class. Doucette was a great teacher, barely 25, kind of like the teacher played by Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society. Always humorous. I think George Segal, who died recently, played Lenny's pal and helper George. "Tell me about the rabbits, George!" I can't remember who played Lenny, although I recall Joey Heatherton played the wife of Saxon on the ranch. Heatherton was the hot young actress at the time, along with Rachel Welch and a few others.

It's not an exaggeration to say that the talent agent Henry Willson invented Rock Hudson. Willson was a powerful figure in 1940s Hollywood. He was also a controversial one.The mechanics of Willson's star-making machine are introduced in "Hooray for Hollywood: Part 2," Hollywood’s second episode. Roy Fitzgerald , a farm boy from Indiana, walks into Henry’s office. He leaves renamed Rock Hudson, and on a trajectory to stardom—never mind the fact that he can’t act. As Willson liked to say, "The acting can be added later."

“I know in the first 30 seconds if someone has got what it takes to be a star. And you, believe it or not, got it. You got picture potential,” Henry says in Hollywood, before listing Rock’s new regimen of exercise, tanning, and even lowering his vocal cords.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's John backing out of his garage in a. . .um. . .really cool car.


eBay

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I doubt I could fit into a car like that. Not fat, just tall. As tall as Honest Abe.

You could always put the roof down - then there's even plenty of room for the stovepipe hat.

Morgans are still in production. The most recent, the Plus Six, is still built around an ash frame and looks pretty similar to the one in the picture above, but now comes on a new glued aluminum platform and has a BMW in-line six-cylinder engine. Prices start at just over $100k.

• Video Link

[Jungmann]

I had a Plus 4 Morgan in the 70s and 80s. Great car--loved it to death. Visited the Morgan factory on a trip to England. Very Nineteenth-century. Watched a guy making a hubcap for the old steel wheels. Took a two by two foot piece of sheet steel. Put it over a wooden form with the hubcab shape dished into it, and a metal hammer. Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.