Imagine visiting an apartment rooftop a century ago, the things you’d see. Overflowing with LA history, the Hal Roach comedy Radio Mad (1924) also reveals novel views of silent films such as Safety Last! and A Woman of Paris (below), as well as insight to underground poet Charles Bukowski. PLEASE CLICK TO ENLARGE EACH HIGH DEFINITION IMAGE.

Radio Mad (view on YouTube HERE) was an entry in the aptly named “Spat Family” comedy series about a bickering married couple and her live-in brother. Frank Butler played the mustachioed imbecile husband J. Tewksbury Spat, Laura Roessing played his wife Mrs. Spat, and her belligerent Brother Ambrose was played by Sidney D’Albrook. In Radio Mad slapstick mayhem ensues when Husband Spat and Brother Ambrose attempt to install a rooftop antenna for Mrs. Spat’s new radio, dealing with pesky dogs, high voltage electrical wires, and a jealous gun-toting neighbor, all before starting a fire that sends the Spats fleeing their home.

The Spat Family lived at the regally named Princess Apartments above (stripped of ornamentation but still standing at 722 S Bonnie Brae), once adjacent to magnificent buildings and homes now lost to history. Standing east of Westlake (now MacArthur) Park, the rooftop provides unique vantage points of where other silent movies were made.

The Dresden Apartments appearing in Safety Last!

To begin, looking northwest behind Mr. Spat reveals the east side of the Dresden Apartments still standing at 1919 W 7th. As posted HERE, Harold Lloyd learns early in Safety Last! that his roommate Bill Strother is a human spider when he climbs the Dresden to escape an angry cop.

Looking north provides views of the grand lost home at 680 S Bonnie Brae (yellow) and the fire department tower (orange) of Engine Co. No. 11 (LAFD Historical Archive).

Closer views of Engine Co. No. 11 at 1819 W 7th – the modern LAFD Station No. 11 still occupies the site today (LAFD Historical Archive).

The Radio Mad fire station actually appears in the background during Safety Last! as Bill scales the Dresden in this scene looking east down 7th Street. The west side of the station roof (yellow) and matching flag pole (arrow) appear in both films.

But there’s more. Charles Bukowski’s sleazy but fun poem Fire Station (for Jane with love) takes place at this station, as reported by my Esotouric historic LA tour company friends Richard Schave and Kim Cooper. The poem chronicles how Charles and his “girlfriend” earn funds to continue their drunken afternoon adventures by providing “entertainment” to bored firemen awaiting the next alarm. You can visit the station as part of Esotouric’s upcoming Charles Bukowski historic bus tour on August 12, 2023. You can read the full poem HERE and watch Charles himself read the poem on YouTube HERE.

Switching views, we see the NE corner (left) and on film the SW corner of the grand Hotel Pepper that once stood on W 7th and Burlington. USC Digital Library.

> Sigh < Can you imagine visiting this spectacular building in its prime? It was demolished in 1965, replaced by this mundane US Post Office building. The front of the Princess Apartments appears at back (yellow). Huntington Digital Library.

The Hotel Pepper was later named Hotel Wesley Terrace – the pre-demolition “VACATED” entrance photo was taken in 1964. California State Library Image One and Image Two.

Again looking NW, further back behind Frank Butler stands the Ansonia Apartments (yellow) at 2205 W 6th St., home to Edna Purviance (center) during Charlie Chaplin’s A Woman of Paris (1923), matched with a modern view. All three images show the east side of the building.

From the roof with Brother Ambrose left and Husband Spat right, now looking east at the back of the Hotel Pepper and the elaborate chimneys and tower domes of the neighboring homes at 717 and 720 S Burlington.

Back and front views of long lost 717 S Burlington. USC Digital Library.

For context, here’s a view looking SE over the newly completed extension of Wilshire Blvd. across Westlake (MacArthur) Park. USC Digital Library.

Looking closer now towards the Princess Apartments – the orange tower and yellow roof of Engine Co. No. 11 at left. The orange arrow points to the Dresden Apartments Bill Strother climbed in Safety Last!, the red arrow points to the west side of the Hotel Pepper, and the yellow arrow points to the grand homes on S Burlington mentioned above.

Another lost treasure, looking north at the south side of the La France Apartments (yellow), noted for its grand entryway figures (inset), once standing on 681 S Burlington. Front view USC Digital Library – inset California State Library.

Looking NW, the star marks Frank Butler’s spot on the roof of 722 S Bonnie Brae.

A parting view looking NE, the Dresden Apartments (orange), new LAFD Station 11 (yellow), Post Office site of the Hotel Pepper (pink), and the Princess Apartments (red).

Thank you so much to CINEPIX for posting this fun and historic film.

Special thanks also to author and historian Steve Vaught – his fascinating and entertaining Paradise Leased blog looks back on classic Hollywood and Southern California architecture, and inspired this post.

Below, the Princess Apartments still reigns at 722 S Bonnie Brae.