The Adventures of Superman Archives

PART FIVE

A continuation of my visit to film and television locations in the Los Angeles area as a means to “walk the walk” of my novel’s characters and bring realism to my storytelling. This week, The Los Angeles City Hall.

Poster from “The War of the Worlds” courtesy Paramount Pictures

The Los Angeles City Hall building although not featured as a focal point in my new novel, is nevertheless mentioned, and therefore worthy of inclusion in this series of articles. Completed in 1928, it is the center of government for the city of Los Angeles, California. The mayor’s office and city council chambers and offices are located here. Its official address is 200 North Spring Street in the Civic Center of downtown Los Angeles. Once a dominating structure, it is now dwarfed by taller, newer skyscrapers.

L.A. City Hall (Photo by Piazza)

City Hall was designed by the architects, John Parkinson, Albert Martin, and John Austin. Its construction was started in 1926 and was dedicated two years later in April of 1928. Its’ tower stands 454 feet high and contains 32 floors. In design, the tower’s shape is based on the Mausoleum of Mausolus located in present day Turkey.

Another view of L.A. City Hall (Photo by Piazza)

On March 24, 1976 it was designated a Los Angeles Cultural Monument.

From George Pal’s “The War of the Worlds” (1953) courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Model of City Hall before destruction (Courtesy of Paramount)

Model of City Hall destroyed by (martian heat ray) special effects (Courtesy of Paramount)

To me, having grown up in the 1950s, it will always be the Daily Planet building of the Adventures of Superman– the early TV series which starred George Reeves as the Man of Steel.

Adventures of Superman (George Reeves)

Of course this building has also been seen in other film and television productions.

For example:

Dragnet-feature (1987)

Feature Films:

War of the Worlds (1953) starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson
The Bad News Bears (1976) starring Walter Matthau and Tatum O’Neal
Dragnet (1987) starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (2011) starring Taylor Schilling and Grant Bowler

Jack Webb as Joe Friday- Dragnet (TV)

Television:

Dragnet (1951-1970) starring Jack Webb.
Perry Mason (1957-1995) starring Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale
Adam-12 (1968-1975) starring Martin Milner and Kent McCord

These are just a sampling of films and television shows in which it appeared. It is indeed a landmark of Los Angeles, almost identifiable to the city as the Golden Gate Bridge is to San Francisco. I couldn’t write of 1930s downtown Los Angeles without a mention of this cultural monument.

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Look for the sequel to Anything Short of Murder coming in 2013

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Tony Piazza is author of the 1930s Hollywood murder mystery novel, “Anything Short of Murder,” which had its roots on the TCM fan website. His next novel, “The Curse of the Crimson Dragon” was released early 2012 and is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites. He was an actor/extra during the 1970s and worked with such legends as Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Karl Malden. His non-fiction e-book “Bullitt Points” is an in depth look at the making of “Bullitt” from a person who was there. Look for it where fine books are sold, or at the link posted below. All profits go to the Boys Republic charity: www.bullittpoints.com.

Hi, Ho Silver! The Lone Ranger Connection by Tony Piazza

One of 2013’s most anticipated films is the Lone Ranger. A classic western adventure directed by Gore Verbinski and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp as Tonto. The announcement of this feature reminded me of a article I wrote some time back that mentions an early incarnation of that masked man of the plains. I present it below unedited.

I have been reading a great book, “Flights of Fantasy” by Michael J. Hayde the last few weeks. It tells the unofficial but true history of “Superman” on radio and early television. As I read through the pages I came across names that were familiar to me… not names that you would necessarily recognize, but people who I knew personally during my years in the film industry. Coming across these names, I suddenly found it exciting that I had had the opportunity to work with these people who had a role in the production of my early television favorites. Programs that helped fire my childhood imagination by bringing my favorite comic book heroes to life on the screen. As an example, in one photograph in the book there is a picture of George (Superman) Reeves during his first assignment behind the camera directing an episode of “The Adventures of Superman”. Sitting behind him by the camera was Joseph Biroc (Director of Photography). I was Mr. Biroc’s stand-in for the second unit work on Irwin Allen’s ( “Lost in Space”, “Time Tunnel”, “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”, etc.) “Towering Inferno”. From the cast lists printed in the book I learned that one of Superman’s foes in an episode was portrayed by Lawrence Dobkin- he was a star of many radio and film productions, but also acted as Director for the pilot show of “The Streets of San Francisco.” Incidentally, Dick Donner, another director on “Streets” is a name associated with a more recent Superman!

That then got me thinking about some of the other people that had an association with my early television favorites… and I remembered that our Unit Production Manager on “Streets”, Bob Beche, worked on the “Lone Ranger” television production starring Clayton Moore. He also went on to do the disastrous re-make, “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” in the 1980s with “Streets” Production Manager, Dick Gallegly. One of our QM drivers, and a good friend, Gil, was James (Matt Dillon) Arness double for “Gunsmoke”. These are not big names by fan’s standards, but people responsible none-the-less for giving me so much enjoyment in my youth…. And it also goes to prove that even in film land one can say that it is a small world!

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Tony Piazza is author of the 1930s Hollywood murder mystery novel, “Anything Short of Murder,” which had its roots on the TCM fan website. His second novel, “The Curse of the Crimson Dragon” was next released early 2012, and in July of this year, his latest Tom Logan Mystery, “A Murder Amongst Angels” was published and is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites. He was an actor/extra during the 1970s and worked with such legends as Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Karl Malden. His non-fiction e-book “Bullitt Points” is an in depth look at the making of “Bullitt” from a person who was there. Look for it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites, or at the link posted below. All profits go to the Boys Republic charity: www.bullittpoints.com.

My earlier bestselling novels, “The Curse of the Crimson Dragon” and “Anything Short of Murder” now joins “A Murder Amongst Angels” on Amazon’s Kindle at a new, low price of $2.99. Now you can have hours of adventure, thrills, mystery, and romance for the price of a cup of coffee- and just as stimulating! Look for it on Amazon. Print versions have also been reduced.

Also: The new Tom Logan mystery thriller, A Murder Amongst Angels .

Find them all on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever fine books are sold. Also available for $2.99 on Kindle.