6 responses to “NBC radio studios genie mural, corner Sunset Blvd and Vine St, Hollywood”

1. Martin Pal says:

   April 13, 2015 at 7:28 pm

   This photo you posted of the mural in the lobby of the NBC Radio Building is practically the ONLY photograph of this mural that I ever have found. I’ve always loved the NBC building and occasionally look for any new photos of the place. Ever since I first saw the lobby photo of this fantastic mural I naturally thought there’d be a color photo of it–somewhere. It’s not any specific concerted effort, but every once in awhile I’ll search and/or email someone about it.

   These inquiries here and there have provided little information, other than:

   –There appears to be few photographs of the mural at all.
   –A spokesman at L.A. Heritage heard that the mural was saved, but Bruce Torrence at Hollywood Photographs is adamant that it was not.
   –The painter of the mural, Ed Turnbull, painted several murals in U.S. cities and you can find color photos of all of those, mostly because the murals are still there, including the one in the ceiling of the Chrysler Building in NYC, which was painted on canvas and then cemented in place.
   –The NBC mural is usually called/titled “The Power of Radio.”
   –Some folks at L.A.P.L. and L.A. Conservancy have been looking into this a bit, but so far have not come up with anything.
   –Recently I made this inquiry to Los Angeles history sleuth Larry Harnisch at his L.A. Daily Mirror blog and he said he might look into it.

   It really surprises (angers, even) me that NO ONE ever wondered or thought about this? Yes, you would think “someone” would have thought to photograph it in color, at least when the building (and the mural!) was to be destroyed, but, come to think of it, the only color photographs of the mural at the back entrance of Bullock’s Wilshire I have ever seen are all modern ones, so who knows?

   I’ve seen lots of tourist photos taken “outside” the NBC Building, perhaps photographs were not allowed to be taken “inside” the lobby area. I’ve even been trying to find someone that might have actually seen the mural in person, for some color details, as there isn’t even any place that’s written about it that I have discovered.

   Martin, you even asked this question on the Noirish L.A. website at one time. Perhaps one of your readers might know something? I have hope that someday a color photograph of this beautiful mural, that is out there somewhere, will surface.

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2. Martin Turnbull says:

   April 14, 2015 at 5:41 pm

   Dang it, Martin, I’d hoped maybe you of all people might have tracked down a color photo of this mural. It sure had to have been something, so why oh why in God’s name why didn’t someone think to take a photo of it? I hadn’t thought of Larry–maybe he’ll come up trumps because my efforts have yielded the same results as yours: nuttin’ much. Hopefully somewhere some photo will float to the surface…#wishin’ #hopin’ #dreamin’

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3. Philip Mershon says:

   April 14, 2015 at 7:10 pm

   Same for me. Nada. Zilch. It’s so sad really. I cover this on my “Felix of Hollywood” walking tour of Sunset Blvd, and in the photo book I use, I show this photo. When I turn the page to a photo of the building being demolished in 1964, it never fails to elicit an audible groan from my guests.

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4. Martin Pal says:

   April 16, 2015 at 2:45 am

   I concur with you both! I discovered today that a spanish artist had painted a fresco in the Chapman Park Hotel and Bungalows that had been painted over and then destroyed, in part, because others didn’t know it was there. Of course, the hotel is no longer there, either!

   Someone suggested to me recently that “NBC” must have some kind of history department or archives and it might be worth checking into, but where would you begin?

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5. Martin Pal says:

   April 16, 2015 at 5:58 pm

   Martin, you’re not related to the artist who painted the mural are you?
   That would be something!

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6. Martin Turnbull says:

   April 16, 2015 at 8:55 pm

   Yes, that would be something, but alas no. At least not that I’m aware of.

   Reply