Well, dear readers, there I was, sitting on my couch like so much fish, watching a motion picture entitled The Unsuspected, which I’d never even heard of, starring Mr. Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennett (sister of Joan), Hurd Hatfield, and others, directed by Michael Curtiz, score by Franz Waxman. I’m halfway through and will finish today. But that’s not the point, oh, no, that is not the point. The point is the film opened at the end of October 1947, a mere six weeks before my birth. And I’m not sure I’ve ever done a comprehensive On the Day of My Birth report, and since said day of birth is coming up VERY soon, I thought I’d do it right now right here in these here notes. Why not, say I? The most interesting bit of tid is that The Unsuspected, after its wide release, was playing the neighborhood theaters on the day of my birth – in fact, it was playing my beloved Stadium Theater. I’m sure had I been left to my own devices on the day of my birth, I somehow would have crawled over to the Stadium to see it, even though I had no idea what or where the Stadium was or even what a movie was. Anyway, here are some highlights from the day of my birth, Monday, December 8,1947, which, coincidentally, is also the day and year of Benjamin Kritzer’s birth. I’ll be detailed about the movies and theater, but general as to what else was going on that day. In front page news, it’s a bumper baby crop, with a baby born every twelve and a half minutes. So, I, BK, was part of that bumper baby crop. Radio Specialists over at 1301 Westwood Blvd. just a couple of blocks south of Wilshire was having a big sale on radio/phonographs – you could get a nice one for $59.50, but a really nice one, a Philco, for $179.95 – that’s fifty percent off the normal price. Interestingly, the building is still there, but is now a Papa John’s, where you can get fifty percent off a pizza. TWA can fly you to New York for $130.15 – for their extra fare Constellation flights, you can get there as fast as nine hours and thirty minutes. In the “never have an incinerator IN your house, Mr. Grant Head died of burns when his clothing caught fire from his indoor incinerator. In the good news for Valley people, sewers will be installed on Whitsett, between Kittridge and Moorpark – thank goodness, as that was a mere five minutes from my Studio City home.
For food, you could mosey on over to the Ralphs market and get some Kraft French dressing for twenty cents, a few halibut steaks for fifty-five cents a pound (currently around thirty bucks a pound or more), some Rome beauty apples for ten cents a pound, and other great deals. In the daily Li’l Abner comic, poor Abner was stupefied by Stupefyin’ Jones on Sadie Hawkins Day, saved only by a jackass knocking him over the finish line. In Los Angeles, the weather was a cool fifty-nine degrees. At Ciro’s on the Sunset Strip, Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers along with Eddie Oliver’s orchestra are there for your entertainment pleasure. And speaking of entertainment pleasure, here’s what was going on in movies and theater. I’ve often said that 1947 was not that stellar of a film year, but on the day of my birth, there were some interesting movies playing. At the Beverly you could see the latest news events and Nightmare Alley. At the Carthay Circle you could see Unconquered starring Gary Cooper. At the Village it was Song of Love on a double bill with Monsieur Verdoux. The Chinese had Daisy Kenyon, the Egyptian had Green Dolphin Street. Body and Soul is in four theaters. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is in its third big week at the Pantages and the RKO Hillstreet.
If you were in the mood for some theater, you could see Laraine Day and Gregory Peck live onstage at the Biltmore Theater in Angel Street. Ken Murray’s Blackouts of 1947 was at the El Capitan on Vine. Phil Foster was appearing at Slapsy Maxie’s.
If you had a lot of dough, you could buy a stunning Spanish five bedroom, four and a half bathrooms, den, and two fireplaces for $49,500 – very expensive in Hancock Park. Amazingly, the house is still there and today would sell for over five million dollars, just like all the other houses in Hancock Park. This one’s just north of Wilshire Blvd. On the other hand, you could get a Hollywood Hills home with a hilltop view, three-bedroom, two-bathroom, for $26K. And even cheaper homes in Westwood and Beverly Hills south of Wilshire. And that was all on the day of my birth.
Yesterday was okay. I got maybe six hours of sleep, was out the door by eight-thirty, had breakfast with Robert Yacko, did some errands and whatnot, came home, answered e-mails, caught up on quite a few things, had a sandwich later in the day, then in the early evening, a muffin, and all pills were taken. I dozed off for a bit, got an Amazon Fresh order, mostly diet drinks – lots of sales going on right now – and then I sat on my couch like so much fish and began watching The Unsuspected. Then I went down the day of my birth rabbit hole, from which I just emerged.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, which hopefully won’t be much, I’ll visit the mail place, I’ll eat, and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is, of course, Thanksgiving, and I’ll be with the Wechters for a hopefully early dinner, after which I’ll come right home. Then the rest of the weekend are ME days, with just a few things to attend to.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, visit the mail place, eat, and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have taken a little time machine to the day of my birth.