noirish Los Angeles

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by HossC

Getty Research Institute

The Bay Theater, Pacific Palisades, as built, was considerably toned-down from the original proposal:

ucla

I never much liked the final signage. It looked like it said "BA4".
.

[ethereal_reality]

Corbin Bowl and Coffee Shop in the 1960s.

19616 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana

Shelle McKenzie / pinterest


This place looks to be in pristine condition.


gsv

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[ethereal_reality]

"Center of downtown Los Angeles as seen from the Union Oil Center." -postmarked 1968.


eBay




reverse

[ethereal_reality]

Swimsuit models at the Ambassadors Hotel, Los Angeles CA. [c. 1940s]


eBay

It's disappointing that the girl's names were not included.
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[ethereal_reality]

Tournament of Roses parade, 1910.


eBay

I'm a bit baffled by "Michillinda"*.
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*I located a Michillinda Park, but I'm unsure why it would have a float in the 1910 Rose Parade.


https://www.topoquest.com/place-detail.php?id=245846

-note the 'Gaging Station' to the upper left of Michillinda Park....and the 'Water Tank' to the north of Michillinda Park.
....also shown is a group of four 'Radio Towers'. This is interesting stuff. (well at least I think it's interesting ) I always get sidetracked when I use the internet.

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[sopas ej]

Around 2 weeks ago, Stefanie Powers of "Hart to Hart" fame came to the South Pasadena Library to sign copies of her latest memoir, and also to introduce a showing of the William Holden film "Executive Suite," her favorite of his films. I would have attended the showing but I didn't find out about it until the night of, when I was on my evening stroll and happened to pass by the Library, and the showing was already in progress.



south.pasadenanow.com

William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle, Jr.) was born in Illinois but when he was 3 years old his family moved to South Pasadena. He graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1936. He lived at 1911 Fletcher Avenue; don't bother looking up his address, the house was demolished a long time ago, I believe. It would be on part of the South Pas LDS Church parking lot.

This is what his neighborhood looked like in 1931, the intersection of Huntington Drive and Fletcher Avenue.

Looking north on Fletcher across Huntington Drive.

USC Archive

Looking south on Fletcher across Huntington Drive. The Beedle home would have been a few addresses behind that Tudor-style commercial building.

USC Archive

I was noticing the street lamps; I don't think I've ever seen that style of street lamp before.

USC Archive

Notice the diamond-shaped stop sign, and the "FLETCHER AVE." engraved into that pylon thingy there. You can by Ex-Lax at the drug store across the street. It's funny that there are drug stores that are catty-corner from each other.

USC Archive

I took pictures of the same intersection yesterday morning, October 11, 2015.

Looking north on Fletcher across Huntington Drive. That's my car parked on the right.

Photo by me

Looking south on Fletcher across Huntington Drive.

Photo by me

A shot of that corner brick building through my windshield; workers were painting the building. The corner space was a drug store in the older photos; it's now a Pilates studio. And the Tudor-style building, the drugstore where you were able to buy Ex-Lax back in 1931, is now a cleaners.

Photo by me

[sopas ej]

Here's the Pacific Electric viaduct where Soto Street, Mission Road and Huntington Drive all converge, in an undated photo.

USC Archive

Circa December 1936.

USC Archive

Finishing up construction, 1937.

USC Archive

The Pacific Electric streetcars used the viaduct until 1951, when PE service ended on that line. It was later converted into the Soto Street overpass for automobiles, and opened to traffic in 1957.

USC Archive

1959. As you can see, the poles that held the trolley wire were converted to lamp posts.

USC Archive

Circa 2004. More than 10 years ago, there were already plans to knock the viaduct down, because of seismic safety issues. Also, it wasn't efficient; the viaduct itself wasn't pedestrian-friendly, and drivers encountered a maze of stop signs underneath.

eng.lacity.org


eng.lacity.org

I believe it's been well over a year since demolition began, and the viaduct has yet to be completely demolished. I took these photos on Sunday, October 11, 2015.

Photo by me


Photo by me


Photo by me


Photo by me

[Beaudry]

Help a brother out! I need assistance identifying a location.

Re: the 1951 remake of M—near the beginning of the picture, the child-killer is sitting in a shoeshine place. Through the window, children emerge from a school. Martin Harrow (David Wayne) befriends little Elsie and it doesn't go well for her after that.

So here's shot one.


Let's get a closer look at that school—




Then he walks her across the street and this isn't backlot—but I've been through the directories and phone books and can't find Joe's or Lloyd's to save my life. They shot through the summer of '50 pretty much just on Bunker Hill and around downtown, the Bradbury, etc. They shot a little bit out at the Ocean Park Pier but this doesn't have that feel. I even went so far as to ask Seymour Nebenzal if he remembered where this was, but he didn't. Any ideas folks?

[ethereal_reality]

enticing mystery Beaudry.
I hop someone can figure out the location. I tried but and came up empty.
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Thanks for posting your photographs sopas. very interesting!

[ethereal_reality]

This is a bit of a mystery as well.


eBay

"William Slaughter - 1909, Los Angeles" (note the man is the center is holding a fishing pole)
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Maybe this larger size will yield more clues.

[HossC]

This is Julius Shulman's "Job 1865: Carl Maston, apartments (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1954". The apartments in question are on the corner of Effie Street and W Silver Lake Drive.



A slightly wider view.



Both from Getty Research Institute

The apartments are still there, although the trees make it difficult to see.


GSV

A change of angle shows that the decorative wall and light fittings are still intact.


GSV

Back in August I posted screencaps from a chase sequence in 'CHiPs'. I hoped the apartments would be visible in the scene, but this is the best view I could get (they're on the left) - the camera angle changes immediately after this. It looks like there were even more trees in the late '70s.


MGM TV/Rosner TV

Carl Maston was also the architect of the Bank of America branch in Diamond Bar. I checked to see if USC had any more pictures of these apartments in their Carl Maston Papers, 1946-1989 section, but sadly they don't.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

This is Julius Shulman's "Job 1865: Carl Maston, apartments (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1954". The apartments in question are on the corner of Effie Street and W Silver Lake Drive.



A slightly wider view.



Both from Getty Research Institute

The apartments are still there, although the trees make it difficult to see.


GSV

A change of angle shows that the decorative wall and light fittings are still intact.


GSV

Back in August I posted screencaps from a chase sequence in 'CHiPs'. I hoped the apartments would be visible in the scene, but this is the best view I could get (they're on the left) - the camera angle changes immediately after this. It looks like there were even more trees in the late '70s.


MGM TV/Rosner TV

Carl Maston was also the architect of the Bank of America branch in Diamond Bar. I checked to see if USC had any more pictures of these apartments in their Carl Maston Papers, 1946-1989 section, but sadly they don't.

Architect Carl Maston was married to the 40 year manager of Hollywood's famous Musso & Frank restaurant.....Edith Carissimi.


desktop file CD

[so-cal-bear]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

eBay

Brookmore Hotel, "Marengo at Walnut", Pasadena Cal.

At first I didn't think the Brookmore was still standing, but then I eyed it down the street a bit...surrounded on both sides by a new apartment complex.


gsv



-it's missing the pointy things on top.

gsv

It also has a neat old neon sign out front.


aerial

google_earth

With all that massive new construction I'm surprised it wasn't knocked down. -perhaps it was saved because it's historically significant. -does anyone know?
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Maybe because the people who own the apartments didn't want to sell to the evil developers like the cute movie UP?

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This is a bit of a mystery as well.

"William Slaughter - 1909, Los Angeles" (note the man is the center is holding a fishing pole)
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Poking around uncovered several members of the Slaughter clan in Los Angeles at this time period, including a C.C. Slaughter who ran a Marmon dealership. Somebody with an account at one of the genealogy sites may be able to ID this gent.

Cheers,

Earl

[HossC]

The two photos below are from Julius Shulman's "Job 5555: Nathan Black, Echo Park Court (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1978". The summary includes the address, 1416 Echo Park Avenue, and the notes say these are "Photographs taken for the book Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles, in collaboration with University of Southern California faculty Stephanos Polyzoides. Shulman's photographs enforce the book's typological analysis of courtyard buildings built mostly between the 1920s and 1930s in Los Angeles."



Here's a side view from Fairbanks Place.



Both from Getty Research Institute

The building complex appears to have been well looked after.


GSV

I tried to work out the age of the building, but have found a few conflicting dates. The description of the Shulman images implies the architect was Nathan Black, but a bit of Googling turns up another 'Echo Park Court'. A few sources, including sandiegohistory.org, say there was a 1912 structure called Echo Park Court designed by Irving J Gill. A PDF file at sandiegohistory.org gives no address, but says it's "gone". I checked the property websites, and redfin.com gives a build date of 1930 for 1416 Echo Park Avenue, while trulia.com says 1908. Neither of these dates tie in with the Irving J Gill building, so I guess it must have been somewhere else.

Portions of the book mentioned in the original notes, 'Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles', is available at books.google.com. The Shulman photos are there, but the vital page 159 is missing from the preview. An article at theeastsiderla.com references the book, and says the authors dubbed the complex "Big Mama Court" after "its tenacious manager". It continues, "One section of the complex, most of which was built in the early 1920s, consists of eight, separate two-story buildings that step down the hillside from Fairbanks Place to Echo Park Avenue. ... the complex at one point was known as McCallister Manor, with its name prominently displayed on a roof-top neon sign that is long-gone." The pictures below are from the article.





Both from www.theeastsiderla.com

A link from the article led me to a page at the Echo Park Historical Society which gives the address as 1422 Echo Park Avenue. The description says, Architect Nathan Black and developer George L McCallister built the Spanish-Colonial style McCallister Manor in 1932. The apartment complex, once topped by a neon sign bearing its name, is one of numerous examples cited in the 1982 book “Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles,” one of the first books devoted to the study of this unique style of regional residential architecture. “Despite the existence of a small fountain, this unusual courtyard is carried out like a public narrow street of dimensions and light quality that are intensely Mediterranean,” said the authors of Courtyard Housing. It's the building next door that bears the number 1422.


GSV

Here's an overhead view of the complex.


Google Maps

The online building records have a 1922 permit for a new 3-room residence at 1416 Echo Park Avenue.



Skipping on 10 years, this new building permit for the same address lists George L McCallister as owner and Nathan Black as the architect.



Both from Online Building Records System

If anyone has a copy of 'Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles', I'd love to know what other information is on page 159.

[jury]

Can someone confirm this is Los Angeles - it was with other family photos dated 1912. Oops - I thought I could attach the image - seems I can't - sorry

Joe

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by HossC

If anyone has a copy of 'Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles', I'd love to know what other information is on page 159.

Here ya go

[Earl Boebert]

It doesn't get much more MidCentury Los Angeles than this: courtyard bungalows, an Edsel, and a blonde:



plus wide whitewalls and a Merc with a tarted-up continental kit. Anybody recognize the location?

(From Perry Mason: The Case of the Spurious Sister, 1959)

Cheers,

Earl

[HossC]

Thanks for posting the elusive information on Echo Park Court, Beaudry. I'm just sorry I can't return the favor by identifying your 'M' filming location - it's not for lack of trying .


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It took me a couple of minutes to rearrange the six images in Julius Shulman's "Job 354: Van Nuys block photographs (Los Angeles, Calif.),1948" into two meaningful sets of three. The first set forms a panorama which appears to have been taken from the entrance of the Van Nuys Building looking across W 7th Street. We begin with the entrances to the Haas Building (219 W 7th) and the A G Bartlett Building (215 W 7th).



Here's a better look at the stores in the A G Bartlett Building. They include the "Photographic Company" of Earl V Lewis which has appeared on NLA many times, mostly in the form of adverts on other buildings. The other stores include Frizzelle Optometrist (207 W 7th), the Kingsley Pen & Card Shop (205 W 7th) and Lamar Shoe Repair (203 W 7th).



On the corner was the Rush Drug Company at 201 W 7th. I particularly like their round window.



The second trio of photos shows the section of Wilshire between Hope and Flower. The Victoria hotel was at 703 W 7th. On the right is Phil's Cafe. Going by the date, I'm guessing that Mr Shulman took these photos from inside the hoardings surrounding the under-construction General Petroleum Building (now the Pegasus Apartments).



Most of the block was a parking lot.



On the corner was Dr Arthur Stern, chiropractor, in a building that mirrored Phil's Cafe. I think the sign on the building across Flower Street says "Carvers", but I can't find it in the City Directories. In the background is part of the Barker Bros building on W 7th.



All from Getty Research Institute

After its discovery during renovation (see e_r's post #22854), the entrance to the Haas Building has been partially restored. Sadly, I can't disagree with Beaudry's comment in post #15626 where he said that the makeover of the Knickerbocker on Olive St "arguably stands as the worst modernization downtown (with possible exception of the Haas Bldg)". At least the entrance acts as a hint at how elegant the building once looked!


GSV

The upper floors of the A G Bartlett Building appear to be original, but that attractive round window on the first floor has gone. Across Spring Street, the old Bank of America Building survives as SB Spring.


GSV

I haven't bothered with "now" pictures for the Wilshire location because every building visible in the Shulman pictures has either gone or been hidden.

[rood68]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just came across this photograph on eBay that I believe shows the man that claims he was Rudolph Valentino's chauffeur in my earlier post above.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1927...item2802ece7a3

R.H. Rood
February 27-1927
(at the Ostrich Farm)


I located his home address in the 1927 Los Angeles City Directory (and he's listed as a chauf!)


lapl

408 N. Hill Street



And I'm pretty sure this second photograph shows Mr. Rood's traveling companion on his trip out to the Ostrich Farm.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1927...item5b14e3737d

.....It might be safe to say that the Job of being Rudolph Valentino's chauffeur was for one day. The photo you show in another post, of Valentinos car, shows the car being towed with a camera in front of the car, and a bunch of kids. It was obviously some kind of family day at a studio. RH Rood worked for the City of Hollywood in the 1920s as some kind of technician, which is evidenced by photos from 1922, from his album. the 1922 photos taken at the Hollywood bowl at a Stage Actors benefit, which was attended by Actress Bebe Daniels, who is pictured in two photos which I purchased from the ebay seller. In the 1930s RH Rood worked for the Los Angeles City Council. He was a technician in charge of Public Address systems. Radios and microphones and so forth. Mr. Rood was a driver for the City Councilmen on their annual picnics and retreats. This evidenced as well by the photos for sale on ebay by the seller. I cherry picked some of the sellers photos that I thought were decent close-up shots, and told a little bit of the story of staff working for Los Angeles City Hall. Including photos of the 1919 Cadillac that was Fire Chief Scott's car, until the City Council sold it to Paul Hoffman, the famous Los Angeles car dealer, and Mr. Rood bought it for $200. Dont waste any more time trying to crack the mystery of R. H. Rood. there is no story other that those bits and pieces. A jack of all trades working for the taxpayer to pay his flophouse rent.