noirish Los Angeles

[Martin Pal]

E_R first brought our attention to the Cliff Dwellers Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. with this post featuring some photos being sold on eBay:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=25297

Another related post:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=25325

The ebay photos had some markings over the photos for sale purposes. I recently discovered those five photos online in larger format and without the markings,
so I hope you don't mind if I repost them here E_R!

[HossC]

We've seen Tilford's Restaurant, and later incarnations, before on NLA, but not in as much detail as these Julius Shulman images. This is "Job 044: Wurdeman & Becket, Tilford's Restaurant (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1946".



Reflected in the window are the sign of the Keston Drug Co in the E Clem Wilson Building, and the roof sign of the Fox Ritz Theatre.





Now the interior shots. Through the window on the left you can see Deco pylon of Murphy's Oldsmobile dealership at 740 S La Brea Avenue. It survived until sometime between 2009 and 2011.









All from Getty Research Institute

Up until last February (at least), the building was still standing - we've seen it before.


GSV

The latest GSV image, however, shows an empty lot with new construction in progress.


GSV

[Noircitydame]

Originally Posted by HossC

Apologies if these images don't show up straight away. It took about six previews before I could see all of them .



Thank you so much, NCD, I think you've nailed it. Beverly Hills was given as the location for Earl Scheib's neon globe, but there may have been one at every branch.

Now I'm dying to see this neon globe.

[HossC]

Here you go, NCD. Earl Scheib's neon globes.


www.roadarch.com

According to the source, this one came from a branch in Compton.


chief_huddleston on Flickr

[Noircitydame]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here you go, NCD. Earl Scheib's neon globes.

Thanks!

love globe neon...

lapl
Crossroads of the World

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

E_R first brought our attention to the Cliff Dwellers Restaurant on Beverly Blvd. with this post featuring some photos being sold on eBay:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=25297

Another related post:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=25325

The ebay photos had some markings over the photos for sale purposes. I recently discovered those five photos online in larger format and without the markings,
so I hope you don't mind if I repost them here E_R!

Of course I don't mind Martin_Pal. It was great seeing the photos again, especially without the markings.

Your posted reminded me of an amazing silent short I recently came across that briefly shows the 'Cliff Dwellers'.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuCjQrGKPpU


I tried to adjust the color but only made it worse. I hope you all like yellow.

yt


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Pretty cool huh--



It also showed the Zulu Hut!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuCjQrGKPpU


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I thought for sure the next stop was going to be MONKEY ISLAND. -alas, it didn't happen.



But we do get to see the 'Jail Cafe' with the dummy up in the faux-guard tower.







I can't remember if we've seen the Cave Barbeque.

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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________





Let's back up to the beginning if you don't mind.


The silent short is entitled "Hollywood the Unusual".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuCjQrGKPpU


And it was directed and photographed by William Taylor (would this be William Desmond Taylor?)

yt


The emphasis is on esoteric architecture. Many of the examples we've seen before on NLA, but I was surprised by how many I wasn't able to place.

Here are a few. (I'm hoping you wonderful noirishers will recognize some of them)

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ytube




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This looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright, but I'm not entirely sure.



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After a visit to Sid Grauman's Egyptian Theater (don't miss the man with the cape walking along the roof-line)





Mr. Taylor explores the Egyptian Craze.

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We've seen the Sphinx on NLA.

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Marco Rubio ears.




...and I believe this apartment building is still standing, if I'm not mistaken.

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Have we seen this real estate office before?

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But this impressive residence doesn't ring a bell at all.

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-here's a lady and her dog in the courtyard. (I believe this is the same place as shown above)

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The film visits many other unique places in Hollywood, like the 'Tam-O-Shanter Inn', the 'CALPET' service station on Wilshire, the 'Patio Del Moro' and 'Andalusia' apartments,
the Westwood scenic tower, the 'Mexican Village' etc. -and...there are additional 'mysteries' (like the 'Lighthouse' real-estate(?) office)


Now pop some popcorn and watch the film yourself. Have fun!! It's truly remarkable.

Here's the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuCjQrGKPpU

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[hosedagain]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I recently came across the following screen-grabs in a box of old CDs.












What's that little hut?










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It turns out, the short 2:45 minute video was first posted by sopas_ej way back in 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JO5izL_3Jo

The one and only follow up post was GW's (below).



...but 1435 N. Highland Avenue is here.


google_earth

So what is the building with the large Wax Seal Co. sign on it's roof?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JO5izL_3Jo

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And then there's this screen-grab from the same video (at 1.56)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JO5izL_3Jo



Some commenters on YouTube think it's a Tucker, (below)


wiki


...while others think it's a 1949 Cadillac Fastback.


wiki

What do you guys think?

You can watch the video for yourself here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JO5izL_3Jo

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The grey car is a 1948 Tucker, Google for pictures
1949 Caddy, way off

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by hosedagain

The grey car is a 1948 Tucker, Google for pictures
1949 Caddy, way off

Welcome to the Forum thread....Hosedagain.

There was a lot of controversy about the car as I recall. I said it was the Caddy. But its very hard to tell by the blurry photo. Others said it was a Tucker.

[Bristolian]

FWIW, I think it's a Cadillac. Although the original photo is blurry, you can make out the two slats that divide the rear window. The closeup photos show that the Caddy has these and the Tucker does not.

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

FWIW, I think it's a Cadillac. Although the original photo is blurry, you can make out the two slats that divide the rear window. The closeup photos show that the Caddy has these and the Tucker does not.

Agreed.

Cheers,

Earl

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by hosedagain

The grey car is a 1948 Tucker, Google for pictures
1949 Caddy, way off

I'm sticking with a '48 or '49 Cadillac fastback (with a roof rack)-- with just 51 built (52 in some sources) it seems highly unlikely that a Tucker would have been caught randomly on camera over a decade after it was built (judging by the profiles of other vehicles in the particular clip the car in question shows up in, such as the white pickup-truck-like vehicle, which has all the earmarks of the Ford Econoline, first out for the '61 model year; I know of no Tuckers that had a three-part backlight, the sort of rear bumper guards and trunk handle evident, if only slightly, on the fastback car in the picture. In addition, the rounded hood seen in the car in the clip is unlike the distinct pointy nose of the Tucker. But mostly, rarity--especially for post-1960.

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I don't believe we've seen this one before..... The Cave Barbeque

yt

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I'd so love to know where this one was located.

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Cave was on Cahuenga. http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=28908










http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/27110/rec/80

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A friendly reminder:


http://www.timeanddate.com/time/change/usa/los-angeles


Don't forget to 'Spring Forward' tonight norishers.





http://clickamericana.com/eras/1910s...-sunshine-1918
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OK, the war is over. Dump Daylight Saving Time!

[broadwy_central_bldg]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...and I believe this apartment building is still standing, if I'm not mistaken.

yt

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The Karnak apartments! Still there at 5617 La Mirada Av.

Covered on the LA Times home design blog a few years ago: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home...hollywood.html



via LA Times

There's also a twin building nearby designed by J.M. Close, the Ahmed apartments. Close designed a few other Egyptian-inspired buildings around the mid-1920s following the craze that resulted from Carter's discovery of Tut's tomb.

[HossC]

Here are Julius Shulman's photos of the Cathay Bank at 777 N Broadway. This is "Job 4818: Eugene Choy, Cathay Bank (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1971, 1972".





And now the interior shots.







The set includes several black & white images, but most of them are closely duplicated in color. There was, however, no color shot of this room.



All from Getty Research Institute

There's no point doing a "now" picture, because the building still looks virtually the same from the outside, but you can read more at laconservancy.org.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

[/B]http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/27110/rec/80

After seeing Godzilla's picture earlier today, I thought I'd see if the lonely house on the hill (far right) was still standing. Here's a close-up.


Detail from picture in USC Digital Library

I think I've found it at 3895 Fredonia Drive. Trees now block our view from the south and east, but the layout looks right. The property websites give a build date of 1929 (the USC image is dated 1931).


Google Maps

[HenryHuntington]

What's that little hut?

It was a passenger waiting shelter for the PE line that had been abandoned by the time the photograph was taken.

[Martin Pal]

Look at all this neon!

JericlCat/Flickr

Truman's Drive Inn and Dining Room
Chicken / Steaks

The Clayton Plumbers sign is outstanding -- a faucet with the drip drip drip coming out of it!

The FORD billboard's pretty "neat", too!
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Although I can't find it at the moment, I have seen a 1952 dated postcard of this place somewhere
locating the restaurant at the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Westwood Blvd. Which was somewhat
surprising to me as now there are, I believe, tall office buildings on each corner of that intersection.

And this 2008 L.A. Times article confirms the address:

"In 1970, a 24-story office building now known as Oppenheimer Tower replaced
Truman's drive-in, a popular hangout at Wilshire and Westwood boulevards."

The photo source notes that this Clayton Plumbing sign is now at the Museum of Neon Art (MONA).

[HossC]

Here's an earlier postcard of Truman's Drive Inn, which also places it on the corner of Westwood and Wilshire Boulevards.


eBay

From what I've read, the original Clayton Plumbers sign is in storage at MONA, but is beyond repair. The one on show is a replica. "The Leak Stops Here!"


www.roadarch.com

[Handsome Stranger]

HossC, thanks for the photos of Tilford's on the northwest corner of La Brea and Wilshire. I've been fascinated with that building for some time, so it was wonderful to see such a detailed look at it inside and out.

Originally Posted by HossC

The latest GSV image, however, shows an empty lot with new construction in progress.


GSV

They're working on a new subway station which will be accessable on both the northwest and southwest corners of this intersection. There is also a lot of tunnel work going on right now. I work in the Dominguez Wilshire building nearby, so I'll see if I can grab a couple photos from an upper floor one of these days.