noirish Los Angeles

[Snix]

Aleck's Firefly Lounge was a restaurant and bar at 44715 Sierra Highway in Lancaster. Owner Aleck Bethanis died under mysterious circumstances ("found lying beside his burning auto...homicide investigators once explored the possibility that Bethanis had been attacked, robbed, and his car burned") in 1963 and the place disappears from aerial photos shortly after that. Bethanis probably also operated Aleck's Valley Club, also in Lancaster and Aleck's Desert Resort in Ridgecrest. The Firefly Lounge site is now an auto body shop.


(Pinterest)

(eBay)

LAT7.25.56

Progress Bulletin 8.20.63


Frank Kelsey/Flickr

[JimCraig]

Originally Posted by nealberke

I'm a Broadrick Crawford fan. Apparently, in real life he was difficult to work with and a miserable if not dangerous person. But, I think his brutishness, alcoholism and acting style made him an perfect noir actor for movies like "Human Desire", "All the King's Men", "New York Confidential", The Mob and many others. I don't think he carried off "good guy" roles as well as those of a mobster, convict or egotistical politician. If Noirishers think that Crawford's life in Hollywood has NOT been posted in NLA and would like me to post more about him, I will work on posting more about him. Ten-four?

I've always been a big fan of Crawford and would welcome any additional information about him you care to post. Thanks!

PS - Truly gifted artists are often "difficult to work with."

[alanlutz]

Ethereal_reality, It may have been bombed in 1910 but as odinthor points out in the above article, the building was not demolished until 1938. So I believe the city hall photo is real, not a mock up, and that is the Times building in the background, although its days were numbered. (but not for another 10 years, it seems.)
btw, I've been absent from this forum for way too long. Just jumped on to see what's new. Sure learned a LOT 10 years ago when I joined and from reading from page one to 2000 as I gained greater appreciation for the history of LA and its architecture.

[GaylordWilshire]

A video that's noirish in its creepy voyeuristic way...




https://youtu.be/flstyd5QB9s


(Found online here)

[odinthor]

Has 37 Westmoreland Place been seen on NLA?


Photo by the home's owner, George P. Thresher, ca. 1909; in A Backward Glance at Los Angeles 1901-1915, by Robert G. Cowan, 1969.

[GaylordWilshire]

We've seen Westmoreland Place here before but not sure about Thresher's house itself. Here's its full story:
https://westmorelandplacelosangeles....e-see-our.html


A history of Westmoreland Place and an inventory of its houses is here:
https://westmorelandplacelosangeles.blogspot.com/

[ethereal_reality]

.

This rare albumen is especially interesting because it shows residences on Orange Street which eventually became Wilshire Boulevard.


"1898 Albumen Children Victorian Homes Orange St Los Angeles California historic"



eBay

1641 Orange St., ..Los Angeles, Calif.





Here's a closer (but blurry) look at the kids.



All of the boys appear to wearing hats....One is wearing a straw boater. . . and the boy on the end (far right) looks like he's wearing a crepe party hat. Perhaps this is a birthday party (?)


.

[odinthor]

1898 CD

The paper got the name wrong in this item:


LA Times, 9/1/1897

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by JimCraig

I've always been a big fan of Crawford and would welcome any additional information about him you care to post. Thanks!

PS - Truly gifted artists are often "difficult to work with."

While I liked Crawford's role in Highway Patrol, I didn't care for Crawford's version of Huey Long in "All The King's Men". Long was different in many ways from the gruff and brutish character Crawford portrayed (" Willie Stark" from the R. Penn Warren book). Long was full of humor, and witty in his way of speaking. Although he was corrupt sometimes, and later used borderline dictatorial in his last years means in response to his powerful enemies, including Standard Oil, he truly cared for the poor and downtrodden (including poor blacks), and greatly helped them in the Depression with schools, free textbooks, hospitals, work projects including roads and bridges, etc. Long almost never used the race baiting techniques of other white southern populists. His target was always the very rich, and big corporations, especially oil companies, that avoided paying taxes, and ran the state before Long. He fought hard against these special interests, and in response Standard Oil and its supporters almost impeached him as governor in 1929. After that, Long fought even harder.

Long correctly wanted FDR to be even bolder with his New Deal initiatives, and in response FDR moved to the left and launched the famous "Second New Deal" in 1935 that vastly expanded federal programs, including Social Security, worker rights to strike and unionize, the WPA, TVA, etc.

Long was personally a very smart and funny man, and a very brilliant lawyer who taught himself and passed the bar exam. Supreme Court Chief Justice Howard Taft (a Republican and former President) said Long was "the most brilliant man to argue a case before the Supreme Court". In the film based on the book by Robert Penn Warren, Crawford portrays the character Willie Stark based on Long as a brutish and humorless fellow, nothing like Long. Long remained popular with the poor in LA long after his murder. His brother Earl was elected governor (good movie about Earl Long with Paul Newman, titled "Blaze"). Huey Long's son was elected U.S. Senator in the 1950s, and served until the 1970s.

Huey Long was far from perfect, but in my opinion his main aim was not to enrich himself, but to raise the living standards of the poor and ordinary people suffering in the depression.

Long's famous " Share the Wealth" speech (the date shown on the vid is incorrect; it was delivered in late 1934 or early 1935 before his death):
• Video Link
Hardly Broderick Crawford.

Randy Newman's tribute to Huey Long, "The Kingfish":
• Video Link

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.

This rare albumen is especially interesting because it shows residences on Orange Street which eventually became Wilshire Boulevard.


"1898 Albumen Children Victorian Homes Orange St Los Angeles California historic"



eBay

1641 Orange St., ..Los Angeles, Calif.

Could this picture be fifteen plus years later than the 1898 the ebay seller labels it?

From 1913 for about eight years, 1641 Orange Street was home to the Kensington School.



rescarta.lapl.org


cdnc.ucr.edu - Los Angeles Herald,11 May 1914



Here's the building on a 1930 aerial - it was demolished as 1641 Wilshire Blvd. in 1935.



mil.library.ucsb.edu



ladbsdoc.lacity.org

[Snix]

Lindy's restaurant was located at 3656 Wilshire Blvd. at Hobart, They expanded with a cocktail lounge and outdoor dining in 1937. Permits (and magazine articles) credit the design to architect Harbin F. Hunter, but there are drawings of Lindy's by R.M. Schindler and the restaurant was owned by David Covey, who also owned Sardi's, a well-known Schindler creation. Were there two Lindy's? Did Schindler and Harbin collaborate? Any Lindy's experts out there?




Architectural Record April, 1938





eBay

LAT 7.23.37

1938 CD



The RM Schindler List
http://thermschindlerlist.blogspot.com/p/la-1930s.html

[CaliNative]

I believe there was also a Lindy's in New York. Maybe this is a branch of the NY place? The design of the L.A. restaurant is very modern, at least 15 years ahead of its time. What is the source of the "Lindy" name...in honor of the aviator Lindbergh? There was also a "Lindy Hop" dance in the late 1920s-early 1930s. Not sure if it was named to honor Lindbergh's 1927 flight.

Also, did fighter Jack Dempsey have an L.A. branch of his famous NYC bar/restaurant? I believe he did.

[ethereal_reality]

.

Thanks for the additional information on 1641 Orange St., odinthor and Noir Noir.

It's certainly tempting to connect the "1898" 1641 orange St. photograph to the Kensington School since there's a mess of kids out front.



I just noticed the same seller has posted a 2nd photograph on eBay


eBay

This one is dated 1900.







eBay

But this appears to be an entirely different street. If you look closely there's one of those Zanja thingys.


.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I believe there was also a Lindy's in New York. Maybe this is a branch of the NY place? The design of the L.A. restaurant is very modern, at least 15 years ahead of its time. What is the source of the "Lindy" name...in honor of the aviator Lindbergh? There was also a "Lindy Hop" dance in the late 1920s-early 1930s. Not sure if it was named to honor Lindbergh's 1927 flight.

Also, did fighter Jack Dempsey have an L.A. branch of his famous NYC bar/restaurant? I believe he did.

As I recall, Dempsey owned the Hotel Barbara/Barbizon on W 6th St in Westlake and had a restaurant in it. I'm pretty sure we've seen it on NLA before.







As for

Originally Posted by CaliNative

While I liked Crawford's role in Highway Patrol, I didn't care for Crawford's version of Huey Long in "All The King's Men". Long was different in many ways from the gruff and brutish character Crawford portrayed (" Willie Stark" from the R. Penn Warren book). Long was full of humor, and witty in his way of speaking. Although he was corrupt sometimes, and later used borderline dictatorial in his last years means in response to his powerful enemies, including Standard Oil, he truly cared for the poor and downtrodden (including poor blacks), and greatly helped them in the Depression with schools, free textbooks, hospitals, work projects including roads and bridges, etc. Long almost never used the race baiting techniques of other white southern populists. His target was always the very rich, and big corporations, especially oil companies, that avoided paying taxes, and ran the state before Long. He fought hard against these special interests, and in response Standard Oil and its supporters almost impeached him as governor in 1929. After that, Long fought even harder.

Long correctly wanted FDR to be even bolder with his New Deal initiatives, and in response FDR moved to the left and launched the famous "Second New Deal" in 1935 that vastly expanded federal programs, including Social Security, worker rights to strike and unionize, the WPA, TVA, etc.

Long was personally a very smart and funny man, and a very brilliant lawyer who taught himself and passed the bar exam. Supreme Court Chief Justice Howard Taft (a Republican and former President) said Long was "the most brilliant man to argue a case before the Supreme Court". In the film based on the book by Robert Penn Warren, Crawford portrays the character Willie Stark based on Long as a brutish and humorless fellow, nothing like Long. Long remained popular with the poor in LA long after his murder. His brother Earl was elected governor (good movie about Earl Long with Paul Newman, titled "Blaze"). Huey Long's son was elected U.S. Senator in the 1950s, and served until the 1970s.

Huey Long was far from perfect, but in my opinion his main aim was not to enrich himself, but to raise the living standards of the poor and ordinary people suffering in the depression.

We're veering off topic from L.A. to La., but as an aside to you CaliNative I'm not so sure Huey was all that great for my native La. other than his road building. The buffonery and inevitable corruption was the countervailing downside. I did enjoy seeing the bullet-gouges in the capitol's marble hallway when we were taken there on a school field trip...they're still there. His brother Earl just made the image of a backward state appear even more backward, though there is no more enjoyable book than the brilliant A. J. Liebling's The Earl of Louisiana--a must read. Senator Russell Long was a decent fellow without the idiocy of his father and uncle.

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.

[...]


eBay

But this appears to be an entirely different street. If you look closely there's one of those Zanja thingys.


.

e_r, just a stray footnote: The abandonment of the zanja system was being pursued heatedly (particularly by Mulholland!) in 1903, and as we see below by November 1904 it was a thing of the past.


LA Times, November 20, 1904.

I'm not sure how long the physical remains of the zanjas were present after the system had been abandoned. I've always understood that the last zanjas were along Figueroa, but I'm not certain of this.

[GaylordWilshire]

Here's a post of mine from "a few" years ago:

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...postcount=1843


A GSV from Sept 2022 from more or less the same spot on Fig:

[Snix]

The hotel Jack Dempsey owned is still standing in Westlake. The Barbara AKA Barbizon Hotel at 1927 W. 6th Street.

https://www.lamag.com/article/second-round/

GSV

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I believe there was also a Lindy's in New York. Maybe this is a branch of the NY place? The design of the L.A. restaurant is very modern, at least 15 years ahead of its time. What is the source of the "Lindy" name...in honor of the aviator Lindbergh? There was also a "Lindy Hop" dance in the late 1920s-early 1930s. Not sure if it was named to honor Lindbergh's 1927 flight.

Also, did fighter Jack Dempsey have an L.A. branch of his famous NYC bar/restaurant? I believe he did.

[BDiH]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I believe there was also a Lindy's in New York. Maybe this is a branch of the NY place? The design of the L.A. restaurant is very modern, at least 15 years ahead of its time. What is the source of the "Lindy" name...in honor of the aviator Lindbergh? There was also a "Lindy Hop" dance in the late 1920s-early 1930s. Not sure if it was named to honor Lindbergh's 1927 flight.

Lindy's in NYC was named after Leo "Lindy" Lindemann. It was a famous deli immortalized by Damon Runyon and others. The Lindy Hop was named after Charles Lindbergh.

[GaylordWilshire]

There are some great images in 2014 NLA priors of the Barbara/Barbizon and Dempsey (and elsewhere we've seen quite a bit on his various residences--on Western Avenunue and in Los Feliz IIRC):



From ER's post 21915



From Noircitydame's post 21926



From GaylordWilshire's post 21902

[CaliNative]

Thanks for the info on Dempsey's hotel & restaurant Gaylord Wilshire, and to BDiH for the info on Lindy's restaurant
and the "Lindy Hop" dance. I recall a scene in "The Godfather" where they drive past Dempsey's restaurant in the NY Broadway district. My dad knew Jack Dempsey.

Apparently Jack was an affable host and greeter, nothing like the relentless and ruthless fighter he was in the ring. So relentless he was reluctant and slow to go to his corner after knocking Tunney to the mat in the famous "long count" fight, and Tunney "the Fighting Marine" had time to recover and get off the mat and later win. That was the second fight, that Tunney almost lost but for the "long count". In the first fight, Tunney beat Dempsey handily and became champion. Some say that Dempsey hadn't trained enough for he first fight, expecting an easy victory. He was at top form in the rematch, and almost beat Tunney.

"Gentleman Gene the Fighting Marine" Tunney was very different than Dempsey, cultivating an image as a polished and refined intellectual outside the ring, unlike nearly all fighters. His son served several terms in the Congress, a Democrat representing Riverside CA in the House, and later a Senator, and a friend of the Kennedys.
*****
Last words on Huey Long, and then back on topic. Basically the people either loved him (the poor), or hated him (the rich and corporations, especially Standard Oil). Yes, he sometimes posed as a buffoon, and may have imbibed too much in later years, but he was very brilliant, almost self taught as a lawyer, and argued a case before the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Taft, a Republican and former President, did say he was "the most brilliant man to argue a case before the court" he had seen. Long as governor did many things to help the poor. Built roads, hospitals, schools, free textbooks, provided jobs etc. In that era corruption existed in politics on all sides. In my opinion, Long was a "ends justify the means" guy, but so were his powerful enemies. I stand in the middle. I do not endorse all of Long's strongman methods, yet his primary aim to help the poor was real. At some point, probably after his enemies led by Standard Oil attempted to impeach him in 1929 as governor, Long probably concluded that he had to use the tough methods of his enemies to get anything done for the poor.

Let me recommend a balanced biography of Long, the good and bad, that many cite as the best written: "Huey Long" by T. Harry Williams. Still available from Amazon, even though written in the 1980s. The balanced and sympathetic two hour film biography on Long by Ken Burns is also excellent, and may be available on youtube or in the PBS archives. If you are able to find it, let me know.

Now, back to noirish L.A. topics.