(1)  IN THE MOOD -
Angel's Flight Railway in an Unexpected Movie ...
This afternoon, Sunday, April 27, Turner Classic Movies is showing
“THE GLENN MILLER STORY” (1954).  It stars James Stewart and June
Allyson.  The show starts at 5:00 pm in my neighborhood,

In a scene at the beginning, James Stewart (as young trombonist Glen
Miller) is redeeming his horn at a Los Angeles pawnshop.  In the
background, through the store windows, you can see the cars of ANGEL’S
FLIGHT roll by ... courtesy of the Universal Studios model makers.

All in Technicolor, you understand.  And you can practice your swing
dancing while the show's on.

"The Glenn Miller Story" will be repeated on TCM, on the afternoon of
Tuesday, May 20.

(2)  HOT ASPHALT JUNGLE on BUNKER HILL -
The DOME HOTEL, which stood 1903-1964 at the southwest corner of 2nd
St. and Grand Ave., has been getting attention at the 1947project
recently, in the “On Bunker Hill” section …

And I think I caught a glimpse of the Dome in the noir film, “THE
ASPHALT JUNGLE” (1950), on Turner Classic Movies the other night.
(TCM has been on a noir jag in its middle-of-night programming.)

In the opening scene, Sterling Hayden is evading a police prowl car.
He’s on foot, in the streets of an unnamed metropolis.  He’s wearing
the official fedora and a heavy suit.

It looks to me like the opening scene was shot on 2nd Street in Los
Angeles, looking east from Hope St., past the turreted corner of the
DOME HOTEL, at the next intersection.  (Other street scenes were shot
in Cincinnati.)

This is the movie where you get to see Marilyn Monroe’s character
smooching on her sugar daddy, played by former silent star Luis
Calhern.  Jean Haven, later of “Singin’ in the Rain”, is also featured
in the cast.

“The Asphalt Jungle” will be shown again on TCM in the early morning
of Friday, June 20, 2008

(3)  GOING BUNKERS!
A fine, succinct, essay on noir films that had scenes shot on L.A.’s
Bunker Hill, appears at:
http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2006_01_01_archive.html

Maybe you’re familiar with “Criss Cross” (1949), “Cry Danger” (1951),
and even “Screaming Mimi” (1958) ...

But the movie scrutinized the most, on the web page at NoirOfTheWeek,
is “ANGEL’S FLIGHT” (1965).  This is the flick to be featured at the
Warner Grand in San Pedro, on Sunday, May 18.

Nifty starlet INDUS ARTHUR has two video clips from "Angel's Flight",
accessible from this same page.  Not the real GOOD stuff, though, with
the go-go dancing.  I understand that in the 1970’s, Indus Arthur
played a nurse on the “MASH” TV show.  She also played the harp at an
L.A. restaurant ...

See ya around.

Joel Sandell
Sacramento, CA