Actually, it was one of God’s productions:Hugh...

Actually, it was one of God’s productions:

Hugh Ryono of the Marine Mammal Care Center was alerted to the birth of a bottlenose dolphin off San Pedro. Onlookers told him that “they had noticed five dolphins swimming around close to shore in a lazy circle. A little while later they noticed that, all of a sudden, there were six dolphins. A small calf had popped up.”

Ryono said that a passerby asked what all the commotion was about. When she was told, she said, “Oh, are they shooting a movie?”

MAYBE HE COULDN’T PART THE SAN GABRIEL RIVER: Jann Niewisch of San Dimas notes that the political campaigns in the Three Valleys Municipal Water District had biblical overtones. DeJesus was victorious, but Moses finished second in a separate race, having failed to attract enough followers.

MURDER, THEY REWROTE: “Hollywood Kryptonite,” which examines the death of actor George Reeves, is the latest entry in what might be called the Hollywood Revisionist Book Club. Their authors contend that the studios have covered up more than a few murders, with the help of cops and politicians who figured that what was good for Hollywood’s image was good for all of L.A.--and good for their own pocketbooks, in some cases.

Some examples:

* “Hollywood Kryptonite,” by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, disputes the suicide verdict in the 1959 death of Reeves, the star of TV’s “Superman.” They assert he was killed by a mobster hired by a studio exec whose wife had an affair with Reeves. Contrary to myth, Reeves died of a gunshot wound; he did not fall to his death.

* “Cast of Killers,” by Sidney Kirkpatrick, investigates the unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor, who was gunned down in 1922 at his residence on fashionable Alvarado Street (yes, we said fashionable). Kirkpatrick concludes that the killer was the mother of silent screen star (and Taylor companion) Mary Miles Minter.

* “Deadly Illusions,” by Samuel Marx and Joyce Vanderveen, contests the verdict of suicide in the 1932 death of director Paul Bern, the husband of actress Jean Harlow. The authors claim the studio knew he was murdered by an ex-lover, who may have been his legal wife.

* “Hot Toddy,” by Andy Edmonds, rejects the “accidental” verdict in the 1935 death of actress Thelma Todd, whose body was found inside her parked car. Edmonds believes she was killed because she wouldn’t let the mob into her restaurant business on Pacific Coast Highway.

AND, IN THE FICTION CATEGORY: “Murder at San Simeon,” by Patricia Hearst and Cordelia Frances Biddle, is a new mystery novel based on the 1924 death of film director Thomas Ince aboard the yacht of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. That was Patricia Hearst’s grandfather.

While Ince’s death was attributed to “natural causes,” rumor had it that Ince was actually shot by Hearst. The publisher was supposedly aiming at Charlie Chaplin, whom he believed to be having an affair with Hearst’s young mistress, Marion Davies. We don’t want to give away the book’s ending. We newspaper people have to stick together.

miscelLAny

During the Fox Network showing of “Speed” next Tuesday, an 800 number will be flashed, giving viewers a chance to win the municipal bus that sped its way into your heart in that movie. Sorry, the offer does not include Keanu Reeves or Sandra Bullock.