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Dark City Film Noir
Posted in Celebrities, General, Video
Tagged Eddie Muller, film noir, Film Noir Foundation, Larry Edmunds Book Shop
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Corriganville Movie Ranch
Cartoon Map of Corriganville
Right Hand Page
Back in the 1970s a great Western Movie Show came to Los Angeles, I think it was at the old Biltmore Hotel in Dowtown Los Angeles. Almost all my childhood heroes were there, Lash La Rue, Crash Corrigan, and many of the gals and guys who played in the old Chapter Serials. I had a chance to chat with Ray Corrigan for a while. I had been to his movie ranch and was thrilled to meet him. We spoke for about a half hour, and I can say he was no fan of Bob Hope, who had purchased the property around 1966, and added it to his huge real estate holdings in the San Fernando Valley. It was the first time I had heard anything negative about Hope, but it was not the last. His well-funded Public Relations machine keeps up the Hope image long after his death, naming streets, post offices, and re-naming the Burbank airport in his name. Meanwhile, sadly, Corrigan lies in an unmarked grave in Inglewood.
Posted in Celebrities, Hollywood People
Tagged Corriganville, Movie Ranch, Ray "Crash" Corrigan"
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The Lost Archives of Larry Edmunds Bookshop
Digging Out Old Tapes of Past Events
by Uncle Paulie
I’ve been filming at Larry Edmunds Book Shop for a few years. I would like to film every guest author, but there’s often scheduling problems on my end. Kicking around some marketing ideas with owner Jeff one day, he mentioned that he used to film some of the events himself. It turns out he had an old VHS-C camera.
I told him it would be a good idea to get the old tapes and I would transfer them to DVDs and a digital file. Old tapes can last for years, but eventually they will degrade, depending on a few factors, including how they are stored and how hot it is. Of course his tapes were stored in an upper storage area where it does get hot. In addition, he can’t find the original camera and never re-wound the tapes every year, which helps to preserve them.
Since a lot of my video equipment is old, it just so happened that I had a couple of old VHS-C cameras. I would need one to transfer the tape to a DVD recorder. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t. Running a tape from one camera to another can be a problem. I was lucky and my old JVC seems to give a fairly good image, although some color loss has occurred on some of the tapes.
So here is the first tape, filmed way back in November 17, 2011. It was author, actor, and director Sir Micchael Lindsay-Hogg. His career in the music businesss is legendary. He started off as a director for the famous British pop music program Ready, Steady, Go. He had a huge career in the music video business, working with The Rollling Stones and churning out music videos of almost all their albums. He also did music videos for The Beatles, Wings, and Whitney Houston.
A small word of caution on these tapes. Most are not perfect, and most only about 30 minutes or so. Jeff, running the projector, the camera and the show, was always in motion, sometimes running back at the last moment to adjust the camera. We are just going to put these out as they are, a fun gift from Jeff at Larry Edmunds to celebrate their 80th bookstore birthday. Jeff’s job is to root through the old storage area and find the tapes. I will attempt to transfer them as I receive them, and YOUR job is to sit back and enjoy some lost Hollywood history.
Exploring The Beginning Of The Hollywood Blacklist
Show Trial Author Thomas Doherty on the Red Scare, HUAC, and the Hollywood Ten
by Ed Murray
Author Thomas Doherty was at Larry Edmunds Book Shop on Saturday April 7th, to discuss his new book on Post WW2 America and the beginning of the Hollywood Blacklist. This is not a book review, just some random comments on the era and the strange situation we are in today. The following comments are from What Up Hollywood. To hear Mr. Doherty’s talk, click on the box below.
Even though the United States was allied with the Soviet Union in World War 2 and were part of the great fight against fascism, the post-war years saw a 180 degree turn against the Soviet Union. America was seized with anti-communist hysteria and Congress launched The House Committee on Un-American Activities, called HUAC by its enemies to cleverly turn the committee itself into an Un-American entity by switching the Committee title around (HCUA vs HUAC).
During the War, the U.S. was more than happy to urge the Hollywood Studios to put out anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist propaganda, and several pro-Soviet films were also made. When Congress launched it’s hearings after the war, suddenly they were ripping Hollywood apart looking for “Communists”. How soon they forgot that Russia was our ally. Even studio head Jack Warner asked Congress why they seemed to all have “amnesia” about our former friends and the importance of using movies to fight fascism.
But the hunt for the secret Communist Party members was on. The FBI had burglarized the Communist headquarters in Los Angeles and obtained copies of the membership cards of all the Reds, including many of the screen writers. They dragged them to Washington and demanded to know if they were now or ever had been members of the Communist Party. The writers were stuck. If they admitted that they had been, the next question would be “who else do you know was a member?” Not willing to snitch on their friends, they refused to answer, citing the First Amendment. The now famous Hollywood Ten writers were found in contempt of Congress and sent to jail for a year.
Progressives, socialists and liberals were all running scared, and the big witch hunt went on for years, with many Hollywood folks afraid to speak their mind on political issues for fear of being called communists or communist sympathizers. The Communist Party, taking it’s orders from Moscow, slowly lost the enthusiasm of the left. The authoritarian rule was something most Progressives and leftists ultimately disliked. The Party ceased to exist after the breakup of the Soviet Union, although there are still some radical revolutionary home-grown communist movements.
The odd twist today is how the Progressives and the left are suddenly smitten about the FBI. They have let their hatred of President Trump over-rule their common sense. As long as America is a “Capitalist” country, the FBI will always be the enemy of any “socialist” or “progressive” movement. The establishment will protect itself, no matter what. Although several of the top FBI leadership were allegedly pro-Clinton, this does not mean that they were in any way pro-progressive or socialist. The FBI and Deep State hatred of Russia continues today in a straight line from the 1930s.
Author Thomas Doherty gave a great background to the Congressional Hearings, starting back in the 1930’s. His entire lecture is featured here, just click on the box below. To obtain signed copies of his book, go to LarryEdmunds.com. They have his books in stock now. Support independent book shops who bring you these great events for free.
Larry Edmunds Book Shop has 3 Thomas Doherty books in stock.
Posted in General
Tagged Communist Party, Congressional Hearings, Hollywood Blacklist, Hollywood Ten, HUAC, Show Trial, Thomas Doherty
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Mr. Novak – Beloved Television High School Teacher
New Book Explores Award-Winning Series From The 1960s.

ca. 1960s — James Franciscus, as his character John Novak, from the TV series Mr. Novak (1963-65) — Image by © Corbis
A new book, Mr. Novak An Acclaimed Television Series, tells the complete story of the series that ran only for 2 seasons back in the 1960s. It was about a young teacher in Los Angeles, played by actor James Franciscus, and all the things that teachers and staff had to deal with in both their school and private lives. Backing up Franciscus was actor Dean Jagger playing the principal of the school, and a stellar list of guest actors.
It is interesting that fifty years ago things were a lot different, and the quality of the Mr. Novak series reflected it. The series took on very serious issues, and a visit to the website, MrNovakBook.com has an entire section devoted to “Progressive Themes of the Mr. Novak Television Series.”
The show tackled the tough issues, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, racism, anti-semitism, and much more. The series reflected our great schools and teachers. It might help to release the dvds of the series, maybe we can find a clue to what has gone wrong in California education in the last 50 years.
Congratulations to Chuck Harter for his excellent and well-rounded presentation of Mr. Novak, an acclaimed television series.
Click below to view author Chuck Harter’s video tour of 2 of the locations where the exterior shots of the series were filmed, John Marshall High School and Hamilton High School.
The Book is available now in Hardback, Paperback, and Kindle editions at amazon.com
Author Chuck Harter:
Chuck Harter is an author, musician and popular culture consultant. He is the author of the new book “Mr. Novak An Acclaimed Television Series” – Bear Manor media (AMAZON) and has written four previously published books which include…”Superboy & Superpup: The Lost Videos” – Cult Movies Press (AMAZON), “Superman on Broadway” – Co-Authored with Bob Holiday (Holiday Press), “Johnnie Ray: The Year of the Atomic Ray” (Self Published) and “Little Elf: A Celebration of Harry Langdon” – Co-Authored with Michael J. Hayde – Bear Manor Media (AMAZON). Chuck wrote the acclaimed Television Documentary “Hey! Hey! We’re the Monkees” – Rhino/Disney Channel and…among others… “Gossip: Tabloid Tales” for A&E. He has appeared as a commentator on such TV programs as “North Mission Road”, ‘Cops: America’s Most Wanted”, “Places of Infamy”, A&E Biography”, “Mysteries and Scandals” and “Unsolved Mysteries”. Under his musical performing name of Chuck Winston he has produced four cds of musical recordings and recently finished a compilation cd of the best previously released material = “The Best of Chuck Winston” – Kickz Records. He has performed in concert many times in the Los Angeles area. Chuck’s current book is “Mr. Novak An Acclaimed Television Series” which covers the 1960’s program about education, and was published by Bear Manor Media (AMAZON) in October of 2017. His next project will be a book on the 1961 Horror TV series “‘Way Out” in which he will partner with author Martin Grams, Jr. Publication is scheduled for September of 2018. Chuck lives in Los Angeles near Culver City.
Merry Christmas From Tod Browning and Cast of Freaks
Posted in Celebrities, Hollywood People, Occult Hollywood
Tagged Freaks, Hollywood, Tod Browning
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Remembering The Boulevard Theater
Old Photo Album Found at Thrift Shop Reveals Hollywood History
An old photo album I found at a local Thrift Shop had some interesting historical photos, including a nice shot of the old Boulevard Theater at Washington and Vermont. The Theater opened in 1925 and had a long run. In the 1950’s the stage was turned into offices for Fox West Coast. It was sold to Thriftimart in 1960 and was demolished in the mid-80’s. The movie playing on the marquee was This Time for Keeps with Esther Williams, which would date the photo to 1947. The site today is a shopping center with a drug store.
Another photo of the Boulevard. I would guess that the photos were taken on a Saturday, notice the kids. The man on the right is Johnny Strong, an actor.
This photo, also taken at the Box Office Lobby area is interesting because the guy in front, possibly with his son, is bending over and behind him on the side window of the Box Office is a poster advertising “Hurricane Tommy Tucker”. It says he is the World’s Wonder Voice, and will be imitating Woody Wood Pecker, Donald Duck, and the Famous Tarzan Yell among others. This is a live performance, along with cartoons and movies. I haven’t yet been able to find out anything about Tommy Tucker, maybe some readers could help on this.
This cool photo shows actor Johnny Strong posing with his “Woody” car, which says “Johnny Strong Enterprises, Hollywood, Calif.” painted on the side. I have no idea what his business was, there’s no notation on any of the photos unfortunately.
Another photo of Johnny Strong. IMDB shows him as an actor in 7 movies, mostly uncredited parts. Only one photo could be found, his photo in The Falcon in San Francisco. He was born in 1920 and died at 71 (1992) in Yucaipa, CA.
This is a great candid of “Big John” Strong. He was 6’5″. At this point, that’s all we have been able to find about him. Would love to get any further information on Johnny Strong. There’s a lot of other photos of him in the album, with possibly his wife and relatives. although none related to Hollywood as far as I can tell. A couple of the photos were taken in the Bel Air vicinity.
I believe this is Johhny Strong’s wife, taken on a trip to Utah.
posted by Uncle Paulie
Check out the great site, Los Angeles Theaters blogspot, fantastic historic photos and information, Click Here.
High Noon at the Aero
Posted in Books, Events
Tagged Aero Theatre, Glenn Frankel, High Noon, Larry Edmunds Bookshop
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William Margold 1943-2017
Bill Margold, Long Time Writer for L.A. Express
Bill Margold was a long time columnist for the L.A. Express. Until recently he always had the back page of the newspaper, reviewing films, including most of the new x-rated films. We filmed Bill at Larry Edmunds Book Shop in Hollywood some time ago during an event centered around some of the Hollywood gals who were pioneers in the adult film industry. You can see the article and video link, click here. Bill asked questions and talked about some of his experiences toward the end of the tape. He was a warrior for the First Amendment, and I wish he had written a book about his experiences.
Bill and I were both in Hackin Jack vs. the Chainsaw Chick, a 3-D comedy horror film that is still unreleased, although it has won awards at 3-D film festivals. You can see the trailer at www.hackinjack.com, or click here. Bill was an accomplished actor, with 179 credits on IMDB. Many of his roles were on X-rated or adult films.
posted by uncle paulie
Posted in Celebrities, Hollywood People
Tagged Hollywood writer, L.A. Express, William Margold
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