Author Tony Piazza

Mystery Author and Movie Historian

You are here: Home / Archives for William Holden

Locations of Film, Television, and Soon, My Novel- Part 4. By Tony Piazza

By 16 Comments

PART FOUR

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 Union Station.

 

 

Union Station with William Holden (1950)

Union Station isn’t in my next book for a very good reason- it wasn’t opened until 1939. The sequel to Anything Short of Murder ( let’s call it Tom Logan’s adventure #2) is set in 1931, one year after my reader’s first introduction to this hardboiled  Hollywood detective. Union Station’s predecessor however, La Grande Station will play a major role in the conclusion of the novel. La Grande was the main passenger terminal in Los Angeles for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe until the opening of Union Station. The final years of La Grande Station was spent in a dismal state after the Long Beach earthquake of 1933. The station occupied an area located at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Ave., and after the completion of the new station was demolished.

 Exterior of Union Station

In 1926 a measure was put on the ballot in Los Angeles which offered an option to consolidate the different railroad terminals or construct a network of elevated railways. The former won, and Union Station was born.

 

Sign outside of Union Station

The location chosen for Union Station was in the heart of the original Chinatown, and a narrow vote of 51 to 48 percent permitted the demolishing of  a large part of this section to build the station. Its official address today is 800 North Alameda Street, across from what was the original center of Los Angeles, the pueblo, referred today as Olvera Street.

 Looking west towards entrance

The architects John and Donald Parkinson who’d also designed Los Angeles City Hall were partially responsible for Union Station’s design. They were assisted by Jan van der Linden and other supporting architects that combined Dutch Colonial Revival, Streamline Moderne, and Mission Revival to give the station its’ unique look.

 Closer look at detailing on ceiling of waiting area

The interior walls are divided into two parts; the upper originally early acoustic tile is now being replaced with cork, and the lower travertine marble. The floor is terra cotta with a strip of marble that runs down the center.

 Waiting area looking east. Restaurant is in foreground. 

There are two gardens of either side of the waiting room, and attached to the main building on the south side is a restaurant (now closed) that was the last of the Fred Harvey Restaurant chain and designed by famed southwestern architect Mary Colter.

 Fountain in garden north of waiting area.

In 1980 Union Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Harvey Restaurant, Union Station postcard (courtesy Harvey House Fan site) 

 

 Wing off from the waiting area used in Scarecrow courtroom scene in the film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Although smaller than the other Union Stations, this Los Angeles cousin stands tall amongst the tall palms of Southern California having been seen by countless millions on film and television over the years. Here are just a few:

 

 Them! with James Whitmore & James Arness

FEATURES

Union Station (1950) with William Holden and Nancy Olson.

Southside 1-1000 (1950) with Don Defore and Andrea King.

Them! (1954) with James Whitmore and Joan Weldon.

The Hustler (1961) with Paul Newman and Piper Laurie

Silver Streak (1976) with Gene Wilder and Jill Clayburg

Blade Runner (1982) with Harrison Ford and Sean Young

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) with Patrick Stewart and Alice Krige

 Pearl Harbor (2001) with Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) with Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway

 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

 TELEVISION

Quantum Leap (1989) with Scott Bakula

 24 (2001) with Kiefer Sutherland

 Alias (2006) with Jennifer Garner

 NCIS: Los Angeles (2009) with Chris O’Donnell

 Castle (2009) with Nathan Fillion

 

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Every corner you turn in Los Angeles gives you this feeling of déjà vu, and no more so than this historic station which was a pleasure to visit and share with you today.

——————————————

Look for the new Tom Logan mystery coming in 2013

————————————————     

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Locations of Film, Television, and Soon, My Novel- Part 2. By Tony Piazza

By 4 Comments

PART TWO

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.

 

 Hill Street Station

 What is Angel’s Flight? The title of a church hymn? A love poem by Byron? Or a roller coaster ride at Six Flags. Of the three, the latter perhaps comes the closest. It is a mode of transportation that Angelinos have taken since the early part of the last century- 1901 to be precise. I guess you could best compare it to the cable cars of San Francisco, except instead of climbing many hills it climbs only one- Bunker Hill.

 Angel’s Flight at original location

This funicular now connects Hill Street with California Plaza, it has since 1996, but prior to that it was located nearby to the north running from Hill Street to Olive. This was the location when my detective Tom Logan rode it regularly to reach his apartment atop Bunker Hill in Anything Short of Murder (2010).

 Another view from Hill Street

Completed in 1901 with funding by Colonel J.W. Eddy, the Los Angeles Incline Railway consisted of two cars the Sinai and Olivet, which were transported by cables driven by a powerful engine situated at the upper station. There were two terminus  the one above on Olive Street and the lower at the west corner of Hill Street at Third. As one car ascended, the other using gravity descended. It continued this service to passengers at the original location for 68 years.

 California Plaza station

It had a fairly good safety record, although a fatal accident did occur at its original location in 1943. A sailor trying to walk up the track was run over by one of the cars. Then later (2001) in its new location, an 83 year old man was killed and several others injured as the car Sinai suddenly reversed directions and accelerated downhill hitting the second car. After an investigation by the National Safety Transportation Board, the problem was identified and re-engineered, and the newly restored funicular re-opened approximately nine years later in 2010.

 Angel’s Flight from Hill Street (original location)

Angel’s Flight appeared in films; The Turning Point (1952) crime drama starring William Holden and Edmond O’Brien, the remake of M (1951) starring David Wayne, and Robert Aldrich’s, unusual take on the Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer potboiler, Kiss Me, Deadly (1955) with Ralph Meeker. With these crime noir films, and many others not listed, no wonder this historical railway found its way onto the pages of my novel Anything Short of Murder and its soon to be released sequel!

 The Turning Point (1952)

Kiss Me, Deadly (1955)

Television crime dramas also featured this L.A.attraction. Perry Mason (1966) with Raymond Burr, Dragnet  with Jack Webb, and The City of Angels (1976) just to name a few.

Perry Mason (1966)

I enjoyed visiting and riding on this historical landmark (as designated in 1962 and October of 2000) and knowing its association to film and television crime dramas, noir, and a mention in two Raymond Chandler novels- of which his detective Philip Marlowe is figuratively, Logan’s godfather- it shouldn’t be a surprise to my readers why I’d included it in my books.

 

BONUS: Click on LINK below for my video ride on Angel’s Flight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDoytSahkck&feature=youtu.beVIDEO trip on Angel’s Flight

 

 

Look for the new Tom Logan mystery coming in 2013

————————————————     

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.