Capitol Records Building Can Be Had for a Song

A mortgage company that obviously does careful research sent Jay Ranellucci a letter congratulating him on being eligible for a loan of $50,000 on “your home at 1750 Vine Street.” (see accompanying)

That’s actually the address of Capitol Records, where Ranellucci works. He pointed out, “I guess you could call it my home for at least eight hours a day.”

Ranellucci added: “But really, is $50,000 all I can get for this historical landmark?”

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DUELING BATES MOTELS: I mentioned the Bates Motel in Fairfield, Iowa, which proudly claims to be the model for the infamous tourist trap in the 1960 movie “Psycho.”

Now, Jim Brown of NBC News has passed along an article out of the airline magazine Frequent Flyer about another Bates Motel. This one, located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, opened in 1987. The name of one of the owners was Randy (not Norman) Bates and he admitted he lent it to the establishment for the “novelty” value.

The Idaho motel has since changed ownership, and I’m not making any jokes about how scary the place might be. The current proprietor is a former L.A. lawyer.

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NORMAN BATES WOULDN’T LIKE THIS: Ellen Rainier of South Gate noticed a skywriter promoting the remake of the Alfred Hitchcock movie Friday morning--only the title was spelled “PSYHCO.” And I was foolish enough to believe the director when he said he’d stay faithful to the original.

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NORMAN WOULDN’T LIKE THIS, EITHER: The newsletter of the L.A. City Historical Society reprinted a 1912 ordinance “regulating nickelodeons, arcades and exhibitions or entertainments at which moving or motion pictures are displayed.”

It outlawed obscenity as well as the depicting of “any murder, suicide, robbery, hold-up, stabbing, clubbing or beating . . .in detail or in a revolting manner.” It also banned the use of “obscene language.”

Good thing this ordinance was shelved or we would hardly have any movies at all today.

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DEAD MAN TALKING: L.A. Superior Court Judge Robert Letteau shared this story about a fellow judge with the Reporter, a Long Beach legal newspaper:

As a probate settlement was winding up, the judge asked if there were any objections. A voice from the back of the courtroom said, “I object!”

“Are you an heir or a beneficiary to this decedent’s estate?” asked the judge.

“No, your honor.”

“Do you represent a creditor with a claim?” the judge asked.

“No, your honor, I’m not a creditor.”

“Well, sir, who are you?” the judge asked.

“I AM the decedent!”

miscelLAny:

Steve Messer noticed a panhandler at the Sunset Boulevard on-ramp of the San Diego Freeway, not far from UCLA, who didn’t seem to be doing much business Friday morning. The problem was the moocher had forgotten one of the first rules of doing business: know your clientele. He was wearing a green and orange sweatshirt that read, “Miami Hurricanes”--the school that UCLA’s football team plays today in a game that has national championship implications.

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.