noirish Los Angeles

[GaylordWilshire]

LAT 3-19-56

[GaylordWilshire]

Joan also on the floor and in shoes similar to Dorothy Sullivan's, but a little more alive.... I guess the poodle softens the combination of her trademark butch shoes, bushy eyebrows, and hard jaw a little bit.... Apparently taken before L.B. fired her and she made her screen comeback hustling pies and chickens ("everything that smells of grease")....

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

Want some more noir? Does anyone know if there's a story behind this incident? Abridged from the description:

"Stabbing -- murder at 769 Yale Street, March 18 1956. Sprawled on back seat is Gabriel Carmona, 14, of 729 North Hill Street. Carmona's mother, Mrs. Petra Carmona, in rear seat of police car, she is being fanned by Isabel Arguino."


USC Digital Library


USC Digital Library

Madre Carmona what did you expect. Your boy was a member of the Alpine Gang. Knives, guns and murder are the spice of life in the barrio....and still are in 2017. Viva Los Angeles....better known as "Nightmare Alley Town"....or "Hell on Earth".

[JeffDiego]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Joan also on the floor and in shoes similar to Dorothy Sullivan's, but a little more alive.... I guess the poodle softens the combination of her trademark butch shoes, bushy eyebrows, and hard jaw a little bit.... Apparently taken before L.B. fired her and she made her screen comeback hustling pies and chickens ("everything that smells of grease")....

This (probably airbrushed but nevertheless glamorous)shot of Joan is from around 1952, probably during filming of "Torch Song," many years after LB Mayer and Mildred Pierce days. Joan returned to MGM for this one picture, and it was pretty successful. That's her poodle "Cliquot."

[ethereal_reality]

Isn't 'Torch Song' the one where she does a musical number in Black Face?

[JeffDiego]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Let's travel to the west side and check out Santa Monica High School, circa 1955.


http://imgur.com/a/Av0md









http://imgur.com/a/Av0md




Boys in suits.


http://imgur.com/a/Av0md

Did boys really wear suits to school?

or did they dress up for the photographer

Hi Ethereal:


LOVE the photos, but they are from the mid 40's, not 50's, I'd guestimate 1944/45. The girl's hairstyles, clothes (short skirts), and shoes (saddle shoes, penny loafers, ankle strap pumps etc.) are all typical of the late WW2 period. No high-school girl of the 50's would've been caught dead at school in high-heeled pumps & shoulder pads. Good-looking kids.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Isn't 'Torch Song' the one where she does a musical number in Black Face?

Yep-- not to be believed.

[ethereal_reality]

YIKES!

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Thanks HossC. More Ragnar Qvale :-)

Somewhere along the line I got the impression that Qvale & Associates designed the Norwegian Seamen's Church in San Pedro.
(but now that I'm finally doing a post, I can't find the info. again)


ebay



Looks pretty much the same today.


gsv

Ah humbug, I just noticed the upper 'balcony' has been enclosed ....................





detail





A look inside the sanctuary.


https://californiacruizin.wordpress....gian&submit=Go



Hanging from the rafters is this 'votive ship'.( it's in the above photo as well....


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater


"A votive ship, sometimes called a church ship, is a ship model displayed in a church. As a rule, votive ships are constructed and given as gifts
to the church by seamen and ship builders. Votive ships are relatively common in churches in the Scandinavian countries." -wiki




# # # # # # # # # # # # #





update:

I was wrong about Ragnar Qvale; the Norwegian Seamen's Church was designed by architect Kemper Nomland.

"The Norwegian Seamen's Church (Den norske sjømannskirke) is a Norwegian Church Abroad that doubles as the Church of Sweden Los Angeles
(Svenska kyrkan Los Angeles), also known as the Swedish Seamen's Church. It is located in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, California and is also part
of the Church of Sweden Abroad (Svenska kyrkan i utlandet). A print on the wall of the lounge area shows an architectural painting indicating Kemper Nomland
as the architect.

The Norwegian church was founded by Elbjørg Amundsen Baardsen and her husband Sig. The church moved to its present location at 1035 South Beacon Street in 1951.
The building cost $80,000 to complete."




Here's a better example of Kemper Nomland's work.

Case Study House #10 in Pasadena, 1947.


https://wikiarquitectura.com/es/imag...2%BA_10_16.jpg





I really like this space, especially the fireplace.




https://es.wikiarquitectura.com/imag...2%BA_10_21.jpg


We've seen Kemper Nomland once before on NLA.

HossC's Shulman post on a Kemper Nomland building (Southern California Gas Co. Plant) in Bellflower.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=38257

__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

I remember seeing this Organ Grinder man Tony Barbuto in Chinatown in the late 1950s. I would give the little monkey a dime and he would put it in his pocket. The monkey wore a red outfit. Cute and strange at the same time.
Earlier in this thread I posted a photo of our family in Chinatown. This is probably when we saw the monkey and at other times. I got the dimes from my father as I rarely had any money on me as a child.

Below is a 1956 article that mentions Los Angeles organ grinders and their little monkeys.

google books - Rexparker
____________________________________________________

CityBoyDoug, do you think the following two photos could be of Mr. Barbuto and his monkey?


"monkey, Los Angeles [no date]"


old file / ebay?

I'm not sure what hotel that is in the background.







"money with children, Los Angeles [no date]"
imageshack problems / I'll upload it again once they're back online

old file / possibly ebay




Can anyone tell me what's in the boy's hand (is it some sort of 1940s toy?)


detail

The little girl's white watch has peaked my curiosity as well. (it reminds me of a swatch from the 1980s )

__

[rick m]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...and while we're in the Fort Moore area.

Have we seen this photograph on NLA?

"Construction of the Hollywood and Harbor freeways required crews to cut an artificial canyons – now known as the Downtown Slot – through Fort Moore Hill."


https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/t...=0%2C0%2C1%2C1

lol. I thought the man was standing next to three backyard incinerators that had been dug up!


here's a closer look.

detail

I beg pardon- But these more likely to being 3 metal bases of the older style light poles (what I recognize them to be)-- Just saying...

[ethereal_reality]

That's exactly what they are rickm. I was laughing at myself for thinking they were incinerators.

That's why I included the "lol" in my post.

[ethereal_reality]

Last night I mentioned not to go overboard with the boobs, and I took some grief for it today.


So as an apology, here's tonight's 'mystery' location.


"Man at bar, Los Angeles [no date]"



old file / ebay

Even the overhead lighting fixture looks like a BOOB.
__




The only clue to the name of the bar is the calendar on the wall.





I found a Polaco or two listed in the city directories, but no Polaco's Place.

Of course the calendar could be from a different establishment.

I like that 'avocado' vase.

__

[CityBoyDoug]

Hurray for ER..... puts up 28 nudes boobs today...yeah. Boob are back....!!!!


Tempest Storm played on Main Street Los Angeles in 1954....
is that her real name?

Mystery location....Where did she play? Can you name the theater?


graphic imageGetty

BTW, in the ER boob photo above, one of those ladies happens to be .......Marilyn Monroe.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

CityBoyDoug, do you think the following two photos could be of Mr. Barbuto and his monkey?



__

Yes ER, I do believe that could be Barbuto.

I still feel sorry for that little monkey. A sad existence.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I like that 'avocado' vase.

__

It's in the shape of an artichoke :-)

...........................................................

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

one of those ladies happens to be .......[B]Marilyn Monroe.

It would be great if we could name them all, plus illustrators/photographer.

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Tempest Storm...Mystery location....Where did she play? Can you name the theater?
.

Follies, right? We had a lot of fun w/ it back in the thread. Here's one of my posts w/ a list of priors:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=31003

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Hurray for ER..... puts up 28 nudes boobs today...yeah. Boob are back....!!!!


Tempest Storm played on Main Street Los Angeles in 1954....
is that her real name?

Mystery location....Where did she play? Can you name the theater?


graphic imageGetty

BTW, in the ER boob photo above, one of those ladies happens to be .......Marilyn Monroe.

Why that's a Georgia peach name of Annie Blanche Banks. She's commonly credited with performing at the Follies (which would connote the Belasco/Follies at 337 S Main), and she may have done so in one of 337's iterations as a strip joint, but after she became Tempest Storm in 1952 she's connected with the New Follies, in the Burbank/Burlesk at 548 S Main, which also became such in 1952.

rogerebert





Here's a better shot of another performer beneath the marquee, to give a sense of its signage—

burleskateer

[tovangar2]

This one?

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Burbank Theater north of 6th Street, on the east side of Main Street in 1903.
If I remember correctly, this eventually became a venue for burlesque.



usc digital archive

This is confusing me:

"In Los Angeles circa 1945 at age 17, Storm worked as a carhop waitress at Simon's Drive-In and then as a cocktail waitress, though still underage. A patron suggested she consider striptease as a profession, and arranged an audition with Follies Theater talent manager Lillian Hunt. Three weeks after being hired as a chorus dancer at $40 a week, Storm accepted a promotion to $60 as a stripper"
wiki

Did the Follies talent person hire Storm for the Burbank?

[ScottyB]

.

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

This one?



This is confusing me:

"In Los Angeles circa 1945 at age 17, Storm worked as a carhop waitress at Simon's Drive-In and then as a cocktail waitress, though still underage. A patron suggested she consider striptease as a profession, and arranged an audition with Follies Theater talent manager Lillian Hunt. Three weeks after being hired as a chorus dancer at $40 a week, Storm accepted a promotion to $60 as a stripper"
wiki

Did the Follies talent person hire Storm for the Burbank?

Yes, the RB Young Burbank!

As to when she did what and where, confuses me too. I think the Wiki is probably correct, as it gives her birth year as 1928. I was going by what I read in the Ebert interview I linked to, which reads



and in that account, it doesn't say what year she got to Los Angeles, just that she was 17 in 1952. If born in 1928, she was 24. Perhaps she was "selectively remembering" a little to her interviewer to shave a few years off her age?

So I imagine she worked at Simon's for a spell, but for six years till 1951? (Which is when she became active, according to wiki, and she took on her moniker after a week, according to the Ebert piece?) I'm still confused.

[Beaudry]

Just by way of noir reminder, tip your glass toward the Biltmore Hotel tonight, in remembrance of the final sighting of Elizabeth Short, seventy years ago.

Read today's post in Deranged LA Crimes.


Red Manley