Wonderful Wanda Wiley is my favorite rediscovered silent film comedienne. Her charm, girl-next-door appeal, and athletic stunt-work are on great display in her 1927 comedy short A Thrilling Romance.
Wanda portrays a struggling novelist, buried by stacks of rejection letters.
Things get worse when the mailman throws back Wanda’s piles of rejection letters, prompting her apartment landlady to evict Wanda by unceremoniously rolling her down two flights of stairs.
Wanda’s apartment setting intrigued me, so many unique details – the strangely configured corners, upper floor entrance stairs, a small store to the left side (notice the “OLF’S GROCERIES at back), the 327 address, and the uphill corner at right.
The apartment also stood on a corner a very short block from a trolley line (see the passing trolley above right).
While the “OLF’S” grocery store sign clue led nowhere, a breakthrough came noticing the sign for “TEMPLE SWEET SHOP” across the street. Temple Street had an active trolley line.
Wanda’s apartment (star) stood on the corner of Beaudry (blue) and Angelina near Temple (orange) -1909 map. The wonderful circle of homes on North Court – South Court now lie beneath the 110 Freeway.
By tracing vintage maps and aerial photos, I noticed a matching configuration of streets and corners at Beaudry Avenue at Angelina just south of Temple.
[UPDATE] This photo from noirish Los Angeles shows Wanda’s Beaudry apartment – arrow. We’re looking west along Temple with the Figueroa underpass in the foreground.
Wanda’s “327” address appears on the building, and a quick search for “327 Beaudry” on the Calisphere photo archive search site revealed three remarkably detailed photos of the now lost building.
As we see, Wanda filmed at the Northwest Apartments (now lost) at 327 N. Beaudry on the southwest corner of Angelina. The apartments were later occupied by Japanese-Americans prior to their evacuation to internment camps in 1942.
It’s rare to ponder about an unusual filming location, suddenly solve it, and then quickly find three separate vintage photos precisely documenting the long lost site.
As mentioned, despite her glamor and charm, Wanda was a slapstick heroine. Also from A Thrilling Romance, that’s her leaping between moving automobiles, heading south down Vine St., as described in my first post about Wanda. The post also shows Wanda filming on Vine south of the Famous-Players Lasky Studio – please read the post HERE.
It’s tragic Wanda has been almost completely forgotten, and that nearly all of her films are lost. But you can enjoy several of her films on Joseph Blough’s YouTube Channel, including Queen of Aces (1925) HERE, Won By Law (1925) HERE, Jane’s Trouble (1926) HERE, and Even Up (1927) HERE, as well as A Thrilling Romance posted below. Also, thanks to author/historian Jim Dawson for reminding me Ben Model and Steve Massa host the Danish Film Institute’s copy of Wanda’s A Speedy Marriage (1925) HERE. I hope you’ll check my YouTube Channel as well.
Below, Wanda’s long lost apartment stood on this now empty near left corner of Angelina St.
Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) 
Pingback: Wonderful Wanda Wiley … Who? | Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more)
Excellent work!Also,thanks for introducing me to Wanda Wiley-I`ve enjoyed watching these films that you posted!Some years ago I read a comment by Phyllis Coates(now 96!) who played Lois Lane for the first season(and one film)of Superman, which she stated that John Hamilton(Perry White)lived with his son in an apartment above a store.It turns out it was the St.George Apartments on Vine that you`ve identified.Supposedly,at one time or another,Manray,Frank Sinatra,Orson Welles,and James Darren also lived there for short durations.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, thanks for sharing this news Brian. I imagine many classic apartment buildings in LA share similar histories.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting story and Wanda Wiley is a new discovery for me! This scene location is near the “Four Level” interchange of the Harbor Freeway and U.S. 101. Angelina still exists as a stub street, and in one short dead-end segment to the west. Thank you, John.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Fantastic, thanks!
Richard
LikeLiked by 1 person
This would have been the LA Ry. “C” Line with a complicated route history. Goes back to the Temple Street Cable Railway of the 1880’s which was opening these tracts. The electric line basically reached the East Hollywood areas around Virgil Street. After c. 1932, things change and this goes over to the “L” Line. Funny thing is they originally promoted living in houses out there rather than paying valley rents, yet here is an apartment building smack in the center of it. An 1894 era depiction shows the Court Circle houses but I didn’t see anything resembling the apartment structure and the streets may have been altered later. So maybe it’s a 1900 era structure but it sure looked ancient by 1927. Thanks Wanda for saving this rare image, and Thanks John for finding these hidden treasures! Electric Railway Historical Association (ERHA) pages have a thorough history of the trolley lines through here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Skyscraper NLA (page 2341) has an interesting exploration along Temple’s incline just below the zigzag in the roadway. There’s a link to a great aerial view catching the rails up Temple and Sunset with some of the streetcars visible and the lines running their complex by the tunnels. The changes around the area below Wanda’s apartment are captured in early views. And a few pages back we get to see the things at 1st and Hill that occur with building tunnel #1 around the 1909-10 era.
LikeLike