`SINS' OF THE PAST COME ALIVE; L.A. NOIR AS NEVER BEFORE.Byline: Valerie Cashman Special to the Daily News Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. is a state of mind, especially the L.A. of noir. Mythologized by such writers as Raymond Chandler Noun 1. Raymond Chandler - United States writer of detective thrillers featuring the character of Philip Marlowe (1888-1959) Chandler, Raymond Thornton Chandler , James M. Cain James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 – October 27, 1977) was an American journalist and novelist. Although Cain himself vehemently opposed labelling, he is usually associated with the hardboiled school of American crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of the , Ross Macdonald, Walter Mosely, James Ellroy James Ellroy (born Lee Earle Ellroy on March 4, 1948 in Los Angeles, California) is an American writer. He is one of the world's best-selling crime writers and essayists with a unique "telegraphic" writing style, which omits words other writers would consider , Michael Connolly Michael Connolly (1922-2002) was an Irish soccer player during the 1940s. Connolly played for Bohemians during the 1948/49 and 1949/50 seasons. He was a defensive midfielder who made his final appearance for Bohs on May 3 1950 against Cork Athletic. and many others, we often feel as if we know this place, even though, in modern day L.A., not that much remains of it. It's in the black and white starkness of Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. , and the corner of Hollywood and Vine, where young hopefuls arrived by the bus and trainload to try for a chance at the big brass ring brass ring n. Slang An opportunity to achieve wealth or success; a prize or reward: "missed the brass ring of American success" Lewis H. Lapham. Noun 1. offered by the movie industry. It was also the last possible westward stop for those who were looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. the second, third or even fourth chance. Innocents, losers, immigrants, criminals, all brushed with the patina of hope. Violence was often the result of these disparate groups clashing with each other. Under the glossy surface of Hollywood lurked desperation, petty crime and con men. This was the Los Angeles we've come to know as noir. Collected in a handsome oversized o·ver·size n. 1. A size that is larger than usual. 2. An oversize article or object. adj. o·ver·size also o·ver·sized Larger in size than usual or necessary. paperback is a selection of black and white photographs that amply document the era. Heimann, a regional historian and consultant to the entertainment industry about the look of historical Los Angeles, carefully has selected a representative cross-section of photos. There are crime scene photos next to publicity shots: the whole L.A. noir theme illustrated merely by placement. Some famous cases are in these pages: Thelma Todd slumped over her front seat in her mink coat, dead - the crime still unsolved. The grisly Black Dahlia Case is also present: we know that the field where her body was found is now part of a housing subdivision in South Central Los Angeles, but this is what the field looked like back in 1947, when her gruesomely bisected body was found. Some of the photos are almost modern in their appeal, as a portrait of Brenda Allen ``Madam to the Stars,'' in court with her celebrity lawyer Jerry Giesler. Her dark lipstick and nail polish, round sunglasses and little hat would not be out of place today. Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato also peer out of these pages in the tumultuous days before Lana's daughter Cheryl knifed Stompanato to death. There's Robert Mitchum leaving county jail for an honor farm after his 1947 conviction for pot possession. A whole section on ``Murder and Mayhem'' depicts bodies laid out on slabs, mug shots and death scenes, including Bugsy Siegel. And then there are the usual assortments of ``Kooks'': bodybuilders, hookers, ``barefoot'' fitness faddists, nudists and cross-dressers. It was a violent time for Los Angeles, and these photos bring it to life for us. Next time you cross Vine, look carefully and you may be able to see the ghostly traces of a fabulous past. ``Sins of the City: The Real Los Angeles Noir'' by Jim Heimann (158 pages, Chronicle Books; $18.95) Our rating: Four Stars CAPTION(S): 4 Photos PHOTO (1) On Main Street, circa 1943, a tattoo parlor was a stock-in-trade business for what has been called L.A.'s premier sinister avenue. (2) Detectives recover Marion Parker's body parts dropped throughout Elysian Park. In December 1927, the daughter of a mid-Wilshire bank executive was kidnapped, strangled stran·gle v. stran·gled, stran·gling, stran·gles v.tr. 1. a. To kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. b. and dismembered. (3) Convicted of marijuana possession, Robert Mitchum marches from the county jail to the honor farm in Castaic in February 1949. (4) A cross-dresser is handed ``regular'' clothes after being picked up on morals charges, circa 1945. |
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