Most nighttime photos of LA with searchlights strafing the sky is for a splashy movie premiere, and so when I saw this one, I wondered which big movie it was. “Gone with the Wind”? “Ben-Hur”? “Cleopatra”? It turns out this shot had nothing to do with Hollywood. It was taken on May 27, 1946, and was a light show put on by the US Navy. What we’re looking at here is Los Angeles Harbor filled with battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers putting on a spectacular 40-minute show to mark the end of Foreign Trade Week.
Snow doesn’t fall on Los Angeles very often, so when it does, it’s worth venturing outdoors and taking a photo of it. This shot was taken in January 1932 when LA saw two inches of snow. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect this young woman was standing in the Cahuenga Pass which connects Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley. Interestingly, the sign seems to have been mounted by the Automobile Club of Southern California. I’d have thought that signage like that would be a city or state government thing.
If this joint was never used at a film noir location, it sure should have been. The Circle Café stood at 953 East Colorado Blvd, at the northeast corner Mentor Ave, in Pasadena. This shot was taken in 1946, so it was prime film noir era—especially with that glorious neon sign glowing in the inky dark of night.
The Hollywood Reporter recently published this amazing aerial photo showing the many streets in Venice that became flooded as a result of the torrential rain that fell on Los Angeles during the first week of March 1938. (The photo is dated March 5th.) It was so bad that the floods and resulting landslides caused 144 deaths in Southern California and thousands of homes were destroyed. It was this storm that resulted in kickstarting the project in which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channeled the Los Angeles River with concrete.
J.J. Newberry was a chain of five-and-dime stores (well, technically and quarters, too, according to the sign above the doors.) The Hollywood store was at 6604 Hollywood Blvd at Whitley Ave, and even though it sold inexpensive items, it didn’t scrimp on decorating the exterior. Look at that marvelous grillwork. It’s probably 20 feet above the sidewalk where no passersby can see it, and yet it adds to the fabric of the streetscape.
And from the “They Sure Don’t Build ‘Em Like That Anymore” file comes the beautifully ornate Belasco Theater. Operated by Edward Belasco (a brother of the more famous producer David), the Belasco opened on November 1, 1926 at 1050 S. Hill St in downtown Los Angeles at 11th St. Look at the gorgeous filigree work above the columns and that circular pattern across the top. The photo was taken during the run of the theater’s second play, “The Son-Daughter” (which became a movie starring Ramon Novarro and Helen Hays in 1932.) It opened on December 25, 1926, so I’m dating this photo as circa very late 1926 or early 1927.
There’s a lot to be said for a well-designed, back-lit sign that helps to make a store’s signage really stand out at night. Well, that and the tubular neon lighting. This is an Alpha Beta supermarket at 315 N. Harbor Blvd, Fullerton, sometime in the 1940s. According to Wikipedia, the novelty of this chain of stores was that its groceries were organized alphabetically. Does anyone remember that? It sure would make it easier to find the apricots, the ketchup, the pineapple juice, and the zucchini.
We’re looking at the Los Angeles Pacific Rail Road’s ticket office that stood at Hollywood Blvd and Ivar St in Hollywood. My car expert tells me that the vehicle parked out front looks like a circa 1907 Royal Tourist, which confirmed my suspicion that the photo dates to the first decade of the 20th century. And that means Hollywood Blvd was still known by its original name of Prospect Ave. I wonder where the nearest gas station was.
I wish I knew what film they were shooting at Sardi’s Restaurant, 6315 Hollywood Blvd that day in 1936. Back then, it was fairly unusual to shoot on location. Studios preferred soundstages, where they could control light and sound and sets. So whatever the reason, it must have been better/quicker/cheaper to shoot at Sardi’s. It does, however, show us the battery of lights needed and the crowds that location shooting attracts.