on 1/10/2025, 4:27 am
Images of the immediate post-WWII appearance of that stretch of LA-adjacent beach can be seen in such noirs as TENSION and DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD; it also appears fleetingly in the apocalyptic conclusion of KISS ME DEADLY (though mostly in nighttime shots).
Later on, in the 1970s, that beach area became ubiquitous in various television series, particularly those featuring detectives (THE ROCKFORD FILES and HARRY O). At that point, the development in the area had picked up considerably, creating a much tighter enclave of PCH-based businesses and hillside housing.
A vast majority of those structures have been burned down in the wake of the relentless march of the Palisades Fire; a few months from now, we will witness a shocking return to the past along that coastline, where only a small fraction of the structures previously in place along that scenic roadway will remain.
It is but one small feature of a much larger swath of devastation that has unfolded over Los Angeles this week, of course, but it is one that will have a particularly harrowing effect for noir aficionados. It will itself seem like a nightmare scene from a film noir...
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