Tribute - John Gorman's vintage San Francisco

[Nancy123]

What gem did I just stumble upon? How fantastic. Thank you for posting and for providing as much information as you can about these extraordinary pictures. Amazing.

Some I know a lot about, some just a little. Many members here fill in the gaps, which makes it extra fun.

 

[Don_ih]

I wish I could tell you the backstory on this one...

Is that Bob Hope?

 

[Nancy123]

Is that Bob Hope?

The one and only. He lived to age 100, 1903-2003.

 

[CMoore]

I wish I could tell you the backstory on this one...

Anybody know who either of the 2 girls are.?

 

[Nancy123]

You gentlemen sure know a lot!!!

FWIW: New information from a negative sleeve on Adm. Halsey above: "Saddle given him by the Reno, Nevada, Chamber of Commerce. Taken on board the battleship South Dakota, Oct. 15, 1945."

 

[Nancy123]

Anybody know who either of the 2 girls are.?

A wild guess here: Bob Hope made a movie in 1954, "Casanova's Big Night" with Joan Fontaine and Audrey Dalton. The year is about that time and the one on the right could pass as Joan but the one on the left doesn't really look much like Audrey. I might be able to pin it down later at some point.

 

[Nancy123]

Keeping the theme going with Jerry Colonna, Bing Crosby, and Bob Hope. The occasion was probably their 1943 Christmas radio show in San Francisco.

 

[Nancy123]

Photographers outside Opera House on opening day of UNCIO (United Nations Conference on International Organization) in San Francisco, April 25, 1945.

 

[Nancy123]

Newsreel photographers in the Opera House, San Francisco, May 8, 1945 - VE Day - during the United Nations Conference on International Organization.

 

[Kino]

Very nice to see Wall, Akeley and Mitchell 35mm sound on film cameras, as well as the Spyder Turret 35mm B&H Eyemo hand held cameras in action! Looks like all the tripods have Akeley gyroscopic heads, which makes sense for following action smoothly. All of these (excepting the Eyemo's) would have been recording sound directly on the film as shot.

 

[Nancy123]

Very nice to see Wall, Akeley and Mitchell 35mm sound on film cameras, as well as the Spyder Turret 35mm B&H Eyemo hand held cameras in action! Looks like all the tripods have Akeley gyroscopic heads, which makes sense for following action smoothly. All of these (excepting the Eyemo's) would have been recording sound directly on the film as shot.

Awesome details! Never would have known any of that. Thanks for filling in.

 

[Nancy123]

Hasan Saka (chairman of the delegation from Turkey), Lana Turner (Hollywood actress), and Turhan Bey (Hollywood actor, Austrian born). This was during the United Nations Conference on International Organization on May 25, 1945, at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Would love to know what they were talking about!

 

[CMoore]

Hasan Saka (chairman of the delegation from Turkey), Lana Turner (Hollywood actress), and Turhan Bey (Hollywood actor, Austrian born). This was during the United Nations Conference on International Organization on May 25, 1945, at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Would love to know what they were talking about!

The wife and i dig Turhan Bey.
Wish he had made more movies.

 

[Nancy123]

The wife and i dig Turhan Bey.
Wish he had made more movies.

I'd never heard of him before I found this picture. And I'm trying to figure out why he and Lana Turner were at this big important conference. They were an item during that time but were they invited so as to impress the foreign dignitaries?

 

[Nancy123]

171 O'Farrell Street, near Powell Street, San Francisco, Dec. 16, 1945.

 

[Don_ih]

I wonder what "continuous entertainment" would be?

 

[koraks]

I wonder what "continuous entertainment" would be?

It must be something that marries Huxley's Brave New World with Roger Waters' song Amused to Death.

 

[Ben 4]

It must be something that marries Huxley's Brave New World with Roger Waters' song Amused to Death.

I'm more intrigued by "Benny the Bum"! And I love seeing those cars.

 

[Nancy123]

And I love seeing those cars.

I asked my old-classic-car expert friend what they are. He said: "The two nearest appear to be 1940 Pontiacs. It's hard to tell but the one in the distance is a 1934 Pontiac I believe."

 

[Nancy123]

I'm more intrigued by "Benny the Bum"!

There is a Benny the Bum's Crabhouse and Bar in Philadelphia. "Benny" was Benjamin H. Fogelman who started the restaurant in the 1930s. "Benny the Bum" was his childhood nickname. I don't find a connection to the San Francisco establishment with the Philadelphia Benny so either he had someone open it for him there or someone stole the name for their own bar. The SF bar was very popular with WWII sailors.

 

[Kino]

I wonder what "continuous entertainment" would be?

Typically meant strip-tease show.

 

[Don_ih]

Typically meant strip-tease show.

You'd need someone wearing an infinite amount of clothing.

 

[Ben 4]

I asked my old-classic-car expert friend what they are. He said: "The two nearest appear to be 1940 Pontiacs. It's hard to tell but the one in the distance is a 1934 Pontiac I believe."

Great information—and on "Benny" as well!

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Thank you for sharing these with us.

 

[Nancy123]

Thank you for sharing these with us.

I'm quite happy to do so. And thank *you* for the acknowledgment.