traceyk65 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 http://www.martinturnbull.com/photo-blog/ Found this site a while back and thought you all might appreciate it. He posts tons of old photos from Hollywood and LA with info about them. He also has a series of books set in Old Hollywood that feature places like The Garden of Allah, The Cocoanut Grove, various studios and people. Well written, if far-fetched, and fun reads. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traceyk65 Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 You know, I don;t really know where things like this should go...is there a better place for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 You know, I don;t really know where things like this should go...is there a better place for this? I think it's just fine where it is. The title alone will attract attention, and I'd think that's the main point. BTW that's a great link. I've already bookmarked it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movie Collector OH Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 There are some really interesting sights in there to see, thanks for posting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 http://www.martinturnbull.com/photo-blog/ Found this site a while back and thought you all might appreciate it. He posts tons of old photos from Hollywood and LA with info about them. These are the best photos of old L.A I've ever seen. The downtown area seems to have been fairly large in 1900, and I figure that was because it was the center for the Southern California agricultural business, such as oranges and other crops. Then by around 1910-15 the movie people began coming in and developing the areas all around L.A. I would have loved to have moved there around 1925 and gotten into the movie business at about that time. This was certainly a unique American city. I would have loved to have been a movie studio mogul in 1925. I fell in love with Marian Marsh around 1958, when I was about 15 years old, when I first saw her on TV in SVENGALI. She always seemed like a nice sweet girl who would have dated a nice small-town guy like me. But just a couple of years ago I saw this photo, and I cried and cried... as an old man, of course...... Marian Marsh and Howard Hughes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 L.A. seems to have been a prosperous successful place long before the movie industry arrived. The ariel shot of the Disneyland property showing all the land cultivated and having a lot of tree orchards suggests to me they had a major agricultural community all over the L.A. area. I'll bet it was the East-Bound railroads that helped L.A.'s early success because the produce could have been shipped to all Eastern cities at reasonable rates, thereby giving L.A. a full market all across the U.S. Also, I recall that oil fields were developed in the southern L.A. area. Oil wells, Los Angeles area, 1935: Oil field discovered Northwest of downtown L.A. in 1892: Huntington Beach Venice Beach 1920: So, maybe L.A.'s early success was based on oil, not produce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 http://www.martinturnbull.com/photo-blog/ Found this site a while back and thought you all might appreciate it. He posts tons of old photos from Hollywood and LA with info about them. I've only glanced at the first page and it already looks fascinating. Will definitely bookmark it. He also has a series of books set in Old Hollywood that feature places like The Garden of Allah, The Cocoanut Grove, various studios and people. Well written, if far-fetched, and fun reads. I need to check these out. Has anyone here read the Toby Peters novels of Stuart Kaminsky? Toby is a Hollywood private eye in the '30s and '40s who gets mixed up with various move stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 L.A. seems to have been a prosperous successful place long before the movie industry arrived. The ariel shot of the Disneyland property showing all the land cultivated and having a lot of tree orchards suggests to me they had a major agricultural community all over the L.A. area. I'll bet it was the East-Bound railroads that helped L.A.'s early success because the produce could have been shipped to all Eastern cities at reasonable rates, thereby giving L.A. a full market all across the U.S. While on his lecture tour of America in 1882, Oscar Wilde wrote in a letter that he hoped to visit Los Angeles, as it was regarded (close to an exact quote here) "as sort of a Naples by the locals". It always fun seeing a western set in old L.A., as hearing the locale names can be a bit jarring out of their modern context. There is a Randolph Scott movie where the villain tells his henchmen "take her to the boat in Santa Monica!" lol There's an episode of Bonanza where a stagecoach goes to L.A. Hoss looks out to see a God-forsaken desert: Hoss: Where the heck are we? Driver: California. Ain't you never been to California? Hoss: Sure, I been to San Francisco lots of times. Driver: That's northern California. This here's southern California. Hoss: (sneeringly laughing). I can tell you one thing -- this place ain't never gonna amount to much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traceyk65 Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 I've only glanced at the first page and it already looks fascinating. Will definitely bookmark it. I need to check these out. Has anyone here read the Toby Peters novels of Stuart Kaminsky? Toby is a Hollywood private eye in the '30s and '40s who gets mixed up with various move stars. Yes, Ive read several of those and the Hollywood murder novels by George Baxt. Both series are a lot of fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Speaking of oil wells, here's one of my favorite SoCal views, taken from a 1910 postcard. For some reason it can't be posted directly, but you can view it on this link: The kicker is the identification on the left margin of the card. It reads "Scenic View No. 545" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 These are the best photos of old L.A I've ever seen. The downtown area seems to have been fairly large in 1900, and I figure that was because it was the center for the Southern California agricultural business, such as oranges and other crops. Then by around 1910-15 the movie people began coming in and developing the areas all around L.A. I would have loved to have moved there around 1925 and gotten into the movie business at about that time. This was certainly a unique American city. And then during WWII, the aircraft industry would be a big player in L.A.'s economy. And following THAT war, the Cold War-era federal goverment-funded aerospace industry which morphed from those aircraft companies would be an even larger player in L.A.'s economy and would prop up the local economy to a great extent, and which for some reason many people seem to forget. And I should know, as my father worked for North American Aviation/Rockwell International during this time frame, and at least half the fathers of my fellow Baby Boomers on my street worked in the SoCal 'Defense Industry' back then, such as Douglas Aircraft, Northrup Aircraft and Hughes Aircraft. (...and the very reason why we kids back then who lived there were told "When the Ruskies start droppin' 'The Big Ones', Los Angeles will be their very first target!"...and it WASN'T 'cause those Ruskies didn't like Hollywood movies!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 I love this moody shot from the Martin Turnball website (thanks for posting it here, Tracy). A lone figure in 1957 contemplating the lights of Hollywood Boulevard stretching out like a flickering carpet below. That could almost be Raymond Chandler standing there. There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Speaking of oil wells, here's one of my favorite SoCal views, taken from a 1910 postcard. For some reason it can't be posted directly, but you can view it on this link: The kicker is the identification on the left margin of the card. It reads "Scenic View No. 545" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Los Angeles oil wells, 1904: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Fox Studios and Oil Field: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Oil well on the Fox Studios lot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Huntington Beach, 1940: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Hollywood Blvd, looking East, 1930s: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Los Angeles River before it was paved in 1938: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Samuel Goldwyn’s studio lot, Washington Blvd, Culver City, 1918 Before the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer merger in 1924, the studio lot at 10202 W. Washington Boulevard, Culver City was Samuel Goldwyn’s. This photo was taken in 1918 and you can see the colonnaded gate (circled in red) which became famous as the gates through with the MGM stars entered the studio. Those columns are still there and every time I drive past them, I refuse to acknowledge that they now belong to Sony. In my mind, they’re still “the MGM columns.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Staff photograph at the Walt Disney Studios, Silver Lake, 1932 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Looking west along Hollywood Blvd toward Highland Ave, 1936 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Paramount Pictures main gate under construction, 1925. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Aerial view of MGM’s Circus Maximus set from “Ben Hur” (1925) This aerial shot of MGM’s 1925 version of “Ben Hur” intersection makes me shake my head in wonder. In the movie it all looks to grand, but when you look at it like this, it doesn’t look all that impressive. What impresses me more is all that vacant land! This scene was shot at the corner of La Cienega and Venice Boulevards, just below the 10 Freeway. There sure as hell ain’t no room for no Circus Maximus there now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 These old Hollywood photos are from Tracy's link: http://www.martinturnbull.com/photo-blog/ Go down to the bottom of each page and click on the lower left link for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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