Ann Dvorak’s Los Angeles Pt. 18 – 1514 Schuyler Rd., Beverly Hills aka the Schulyer Road Whorehouse
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 289
Once Ann had her fill of Brentwood, covered in yesterday’s post, she got even more ritzy and moved to Beverly Hills. The house at 1514 Schuyler Rd was a spacious and gorgeous Spanish style residence, though Ann soon decided she preferred beach life and purchased an additional home in Malibu. However, she held on to the Schuyler Road house, opting to rent it out.
Apparently Ann, or probably a property manager, didn’t take any time to vet the tenants. While she was vacationing in Europe in the spring of 1951, the LAPD conducted a major vice raid at 1514 Schuyler Rd, where according to the Los Angeles Herald, “Here, film stars and wealthy players cavorted in the nude with beautiful ‘partygirls.'” Â Five woman and six men were arrested for illicit activities.
I’m not going to go into too much detail here, since the incident is covered in Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel. I will say that Ann was not implicated in any goings on at her home, and that she was amused to hear about  what the Herald described as “the fabulous ‘purple room’ with king-sized bed and exquisite decorations. Rates here ranged as high as $150 for a ‘double-header’–two girls with one rich customer. In a ‘lower trade’ room–the red room–rates were as low as $20. Autographed photos of big-name film stars were found in ‘purple room.'”
The house is still standing, though I bet the current owners are as clueless about the Schuyler Road Whorehouse Incident as Ann Dvorak was!
All photos from the Los Angeles Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library. The full set of photos can be viewed here.
Even before reading the post, I immeidately thought of some 50s film noir when I saw that black & white photo of the cops (?) checking out the caddy. I’m sure the incident is “indexed”, and I’ll be going straight to it when the book arrives in 2, 3 weeks.
Ann would have been a great actress for film noir; what a shame she didn’t make any films in the genre. I guess the closest would be perhaps “The Long Night” (but that’s a marginal noir, imo), and the early pre-noir “Blind Alley”. Am I forgetting any other titles that might qualify?
I don’t remember how it’s indexed, but the incident is discussed on pages 260-262 of the book.
Those ones you mentioned are the closest, though “Secret of Convict Lake” is sometimes referred to as a “western noir.”
What can one say about these illicit activities cited as having taken place at Ann’s ‘Palace of Vice’ other than … “Love Is A Racket”, perhaps?
😀
This perfectly salacious episode would certainly have been covered by Sid Hudgens – off the record, on the QT, and very hush hush.
Those ‘Examiner’ collection photos had me thinking of “L.A. Confidential”, as well. Good one, Mike!