noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Here's another photograph that's been troubling me.


This is how it appeared on ebay (several months ago)



First of all / on closer inspection...I could tell the image was reversed by the backward letters on the building in the distance.


so here it is corrected:

ebay

but I still can't quite get my bearings.

Can anyone help me figure out what building these men are working on?

___



UPDATE:

I've decided to add a close-up.


detail

The tall building in the far distance is the Signal Oil & Gas Building at..[hold on...i have to look it up] < Wilshire & Beaudry

The smaller sign, half way down, either says 'Shell'...or 'Sheila'. (I doubt it's Sheila )

_

[ethereal_reality]

which made me think of....

lecinemadreams

I was thirteen when it was released and I remember it was kind of a big deal.


imdb

I guess because of the all-star cast

[CityBoyDoug]

The old phone booth. Don't hardly see those anymore.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

which made me think of....

lecinemadreams

I was thirteen when it was released and I remember it was kind of a big deal.
I guess because of the all-star cast

Built in 1937.....movie is from 1973. the Malahne was recently restored to her former glory.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's another photograph that's been troubling me.

ebay

but I still can't quite get my bearings.

Can anyone help me figure out what building these men are working on?

The tall building is the Union Bank Biuilding, remodeled from its original look. Coldwell Banker and the Signal Oil Building were across the freeway from each other....


An aerial from the other direction...




Another view...




Can't tell what building the men are on--it looks unfinished, with the chopper lowering new parts??

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I was thirteen when it was released and I remember it was kind of a big deal.


imdb

I guess because of the all-star cast

Surely you remember Richard Benjamin (he was--is??--married to Paula Prentiss...I once saw them in Mrs. Gooch's...there's Raquel, I think that's Dyan Cannon, and I think the one with the hat is Joan Hackett, who was an interesting actress. I was working for a shelter magazine in the '80s and we did her house, which actually wasn't all that interesting. She died not long after, v young. Such brushes with fame. Hmmm-is that James Mason at left?

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The old Los Angeles Zoo in the 1980s.




flickr

I thought these two snapshots were interesting. I've seen photographs of the old cages but I don't remember seeing this small building before.



flickr

__

Looking at the Google Maps, it looks like(at least) the second building is still there. Let me let the dogs out and swing over and take a look.

ETA: Popped over to the Old Zoo, what I thought from Google Maps might be that second building is the back of one of the enclosures. I'm guessing both of those structures are gone. What I did notice is some red sandstone in some of the road borders along the road by the cages, maybe from the old courthouse?

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's another photograph that's been troubling me.

First of all / on closer inspection...I could tell the image was reversed by the backward letters on the building in the distance.

so here it is corrected:

ebay

but I still can't quite get my bearings.

Can anyone help me figure out what building these men are working on?

I had no trouble placing the viewpoint as just east of the Harbor Freeway, but what was the building under construction? With no foreground detail, it's hard to guess distances. I eventually found this 1970 view from roughly the same angle. I've labeled the identifiable buildings at the top.


Detail from image in USC Digital Library

With so little between the freeway and Figueroa, I think the men must be atop the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services at 313 N Figueroa Street, which lavenuesproject.com says was completed in 1970.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

Looking at the Google Maps, it looks like(at least) the second building is still there. Let me let the dogs out and swing over and take a look.

YES. Please do. *rubs hands in anticipation*

p.s. I thought they were the same building. (the second photo is a side view of the building in the 1st pic, no?)

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Surely you remember Richard Benjamin (he was--is??--married to Paula Prentiss...I once saw them in Mrs. Gooch's...there's Raquel, I think that's Dyan Cannon, and I think the one with the hat is Joan Hackett, who was an interesting actress. I was working for a shelter magazine in the '80s and we did her house, which actually wasn't all that interesting. She died not long after, v young. Such brushes with fame. Hmmm-is that James Mason at left?

I thought the dude between Joan and Dyan was Anthony Newley...then I thought it was the British guy who always plays a drunk, Dudley* something (Do-Right?)
but it's Ian McShane.

And yes, Joan Hackett was very interesting. -there was something about her personality that was uniquely endearing. [kind of like a less abrasive Stockard Channing]
such a shame she died so young.


Oh, and thanks for the plans of the 'Sheila' yacht CBD. I didn't realize it was that old.

*I was thinking of Dudley Moore)

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

With so little between the freeway and Figueroa, I think the men must be atop the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services at 313 N Figueroa Street,
which lavenuesproject.com says was completed in 1970.

I don't think it's the 'Health Services' Building Hoss.

has a cornice

google gsv



The building in the 1969 slide appears more utilitarian.


the colors make me think of a Home Depot [of course it isn't]...but how about a parking garage?


by the way;
What is this shorter building in your photo Hoss? (circled in red below)


originally posted by HossC

_

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

And yes, Joan Hackett was very interesting. -there was something about her personality that was endearingly unique. [kind of like a less abrasive Stockard Channing]
such a shame she died so young.


*I was thinking of Dudley Moore)

And of course she's well known for the "Go Away, I'm Sleeping" marker on her niche at Hollywood Forever.

[ethereal_reality]

Funny! I didn't know that Mstimc.


I'm not sure what this graphic was used for...



I'm thinking it might have been a design for a promotional button ....or perhaps a game piece
____

I just looked it up again. All it says is A PROMO ITEM FOR THE FILM

Another site says "One of what I can only assume was a series of The Last of Sheila character promotional pinback buttons."

After reading about Sonheim's [Yes, that Sondheim. A scriptwriter* here] affinity for intricate games, I'd say the round graphic represents a game piece.

*Sonheim's 'partner in crime' was Anthony Perkins [yes, the actor]. --(he was the other scriptwriter for the film.

__

[ethereal_reality]

re: The old Los Angeles Zoo. from JODY WALKS THE EARTH


"Griffith Park is home to ruins of a zoo dating back more than a century. Who knew? Definitely not me before I heard about this awesome hike! The original Griffith Park Zoo was the second zoo to be opened in Los Angeles, the first being opened in 1885 in the city of Eastlake. It opened in 1912 with a total of 15 animals, and was built with just $2,000. This led to inadequate cages and veterinary services for the animals. Year after year, citizens became increasingly unhappy with the quality of the zoo and threatened to have it closed. It was not until 1958 that the city passed an $8 million bond to build a new zoo. The old Griffith Park Zoo closed in August 1966. The new zoo opened just 2 miles away in November of 1966. Many of the exhibits and cages were left as ruins, and are still there, nearly ½ a century later."
JODY WALKS THE EARTH


I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this but I always thought the old zoo was adjacent to the current zoo. I didn't realize it is 2 MILES AWAY!

__

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

re: The old Los Angeles Zoo. from JODY WALKS THE EARTH

"Griffith Park is home to ruins of a zoo dating back more than a century. Who knew? Definitely not me before I heard about this awesome hike! The original Griffith Park Zoo was the second zoo to be opened in Los Angeles, the first being opened in 1885 in the city of Eastlake. It opened in 1912 with a total of 15 animals, and was built with just $2,000. This led to inadequate cages and veterinary services for the animals. Year after year, citizens became increasingly unhappy with the quality of the zoo and threatened to have it closed. It was not until 1958 that the city passed an $8 million bond to build a new zoo. The old Griffith Park Zoo closed in August 1966. The new zoo opened just 2 miles away in November of 1966. Many of the exhibits and cages were left as ruins, and are still there, nearly ½ a century later."


I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this but I always thought the old zoo was adjacent to the current zoo. I didn't realize it is 2 MILES AWAY!

It's actually not two miles away, ER. The writer at your link is incorrect.

It's actually only 3,826 feet away - a distance of barely 7/10ths of a mile.

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The old Los Angeles Zoo in the 1980s.


flickr

I thought these two snapshots were interesting. I've seen photographs of the old cages but I don't remember seeing this small building before.


flickr

__

This location continues to vex me. Granted, I'm not all that familiar with the area around the Old Zoo (I've only been there a handful of times), but I really can't recall any similar looking building in the area.

By the way, if you go to that Flickr link above, there is another photo taken just to the right of the second photo. You can merge them together to make a mock-panorama:



So now we see that there is another building to the right. That building does not appear to be the same building that is still standing, so I think we now might have a second mystery building.

PS: the photographer's photos do have EXIF data, but sadly, GPS coordinates are not included.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I don't think it's the 'Health Services' Building Hoss.

has a cornice

google gsv

The building in the 1969 slide appears more utilitarian.


the colors make me think of a Home Depot [of course it isn't]...but how about a parking garage?

by the way;
What is this shorter building in your photo Hoss? (circled in red below)


originally posted by HossC

Originally Posted by HossC

I had no trouble placing the viewpoint as just east of the Harbor Freeway, but what was the building under construction? With no foreground detail, it's hard to guess distances. I eventually found this 1970 view from roughly the same angle. I've labeled the identifiable buildings at the top.


Detail from image in USC Digital Library

With so little between the freeway and Figueroa, I think the men must be atop the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services at 313 N Figueroa Street, which lavenuesproject.com says was completed in 1970.

I've added a red arrow to Hoss's image indicating the smaller health services building, which I think is the one under construction in ER's original image...



Dept of OCD & Insomnia Studies

Well, guys, I think that the building in question is the smaller of the the Dept of Health Services buildings--at 241 N Figueroa...

Here's a line from its west edge past the west edge of the Union Bank bldg directly to Coldwell Banker, with Signal Oil at right...




View of the front of 241 S Fig, with an aerial with the possible corresponding ventilator circled. The building seems to have been under construction in 1972 rather than 1969...

[Andys]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

It's actually not two miles away, ER. The writer at your link is incorrect.

It's actually only 3,826 feet away - a distance of barely 7/10ths of a mile.

I worked at the golf driving range (elongated kidney-shaped grass patch just above the 3826.87ft marker) in 1966 adjacent to the new zoo, and remember well its opening. Drove by the old zoo daily to and from work. I was indifferent to its historical aspects, as in those days I was more focused on the free concerts at the carousel; you know, the whole 60's thing. The old zoo had a particular charm, though it wasn't very accommodating to the animals.

Andys

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Surely you remember Richard Benjamin (he was--is??--married to Paula Prentiss...I once saw them in Mrs. Gooch's...there's Raquel, I think that's Dyan Cannon, and I think the one with the hat is Joan Hackett, who was an interesting actress.

Such brushes with fame.

Well, since you mention it...I actually ran into Richard Benjamin at Pavilion's on Santa Monica Blvd. last Friday. When I say "ran into him" I actually did slightly with my grocery cart, so I said "Sorry," realized who it was and I spoke to him briefly because he and his wife used to be customers for a few years where I worked. (Yes, they are still married.) I don't know if he actually remembered me, but he remembered the business. (At the time back then, I also saw him at a Dodger game once.)

Taken August 19th at Neile McQueen's house.



As for Joan Hackett, when I first moved to Los Angeles, the first TV taping I attended was the pilot for a show called ANOTHER DAY. It starred Joan Hackett and David Groh (Rhoda).
I just looked it up and it only ran for 4 episodes in the spring of 1978, when I did not have a TV set.



Here's a CBS promo for it, along with The Ted Knight Show where Ted runs an escort service. Huh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-QmEDYs1eU

[SHERIFFPAUL]

Old L.A. Zoo in Griffith Park



Thanks Hidden California for the picture

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

YES. Please do. *rubs hands in anticipation*

p.s. I thought they were the same building. (the second photo is a side view of the building in the 1st pic, no?)

My mistake, they are the same building. I did go over there yesterday, but what I thought might be the building wasn't. I'll take a look at other areas of the old zoo tomorrow. I'll put up some pics then. There was a massive fire in the southeastern part of the park about a decade ago and burned out the old zoo.