It Used to Be Flattering to Be Asked to Show ID

You know those signs in liquor stores and bars that warn that if you look youthful, you’ll be asked to show your ID? Well, Stan Rosenfield came upon a Westside theater that charges $5.50 for “seniors with ID” and $8.50 for “seniors without ID.”

I guess it’s only a matter of time before the over-55 set will be confronted by signs at theaters and elsewhere that say, “If you’re under 100, expect to be asked to show your ID.”

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A FREEWAY SALUTE? A Caltrans spokeswoman said that colleagues and admirers of Bill Keene and Mark Denis are talking about a campaign to have the two late traffic reporters honored with a plaque at a freeway interchange.

A tribute in such a location might be overlooked by passersby in some cities. But given the traffic situation in L.A., motorists should have plenty of time to peruse the plaque during the stoppages that Keene and Denis used to warn about.

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CONTEMPT OF CAR: When my colleague Myrna Oliver received her check for jury duty, she couldn’t help but notice that she was reimbursed a whopping $1.65 for mileage--or 15 cents a day (see accompanying).

Then, again, Oliver lives just six blocks from the Criminal Courts Building, and the county computer calculates the reimbursement according to the juror’s address.

Proving that everyone in L.A. doesn’t drive everywhere, Oliver actually walked to jury duty.

And she’s keeping the $1.65, commenting, “Its not enough to resole my shoes but . . .”

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AS IF MEETINGS AREN’T BORING ENOUGH . . . : Mike McCoy of Fountain Valley writes that he knew the days were long in mid-June--but 72 hours long? (see accompanying).

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TALK ABOUT BLACKENED FISH: John Gilhuly of San Pedro found a restaurant that specializes in really well done fish (see accompanying). I wonder if they turn it over after the first 2 1/2 hours?

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TROUBLE AT THE $30,000 ESTATE: The item here about good-guy actor Fred MacMurray as a villain in “The Apartment” (1960) prompted readers Patricia McFall and David Daniel to point out that MacMurray also stepped out of character in “Double Indemnity” (1944).

As insurance salesman Walter Neff, he teamed up with Los Feliz housewife Phyllis Diedrich (Barbara Stanwyck) to bump off her husband so they could collect on Mr. Diedrich’s $100,000 policy.

The dialogue in the black-and-white movie is full of Southern California color:

* Neff, on the Diedrich mansion: “It was one of those California-Spanish houses everyone was nuts about 10 or 15 years ago. This one must have cost somebody about 30,000 bucks--that is, if he ever finished paying for it.”

* Mrs. Diedrich, after some suggestive remarks by Neff when they’re alone: “There’s a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff: 45 miles an hour.”

* Later, Diedrich’s husband laments his spendthrift wife’s penchant for buying five hats at a time: “Who needs a hat in California?”

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DOUBLE ITEM: But my favorite exchange in “Double Indemnity” comes when Mrs. Diedrich and Neff meet secretly and she complains about her husband, who is working in an oil field:

* Mrs. Diedrich: “He keeps me on a leash so tight I can’t breathe.”

* Neff: “He’s in Long Beach, isn’t he? Relax.”

miscelLAny:

Carol Caramagno of Tustin saw a truck whose sign reads: Tows ‘R’ Russ.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.