I confess that I hadn’t really been aware of early film star Thelma Todd until I read Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s take on her in “Revelations of the Bat” in Cinema Purgatorio #9.
I live in central Los Angeles, not far from Hollywood. By this I mean the neighborhood Hollywood, which, down from the tony Hollywood Hills, is mostly not so glamorous. A few people I know are involved in “the industry” – the Hollywood film industry – though I can’t claim any ties to it.
It has been interesting reading Moore and O’Neill’s stories in Purgatorio, in part because they take place in the city where I live. A lot of Moore’s work – especially Jerusalem, Voice of the Fire, “Coal Memory“, Providence, and From Hell – is thematically rooted in a sense of place. He melds people, physical places, stories, histories, etc. to get at what makes a place tick. In doing so he explores universal truths, expressed in smaller microcosms.
More than any other Moore work, Purgatorio is Moore telling stories about my place.
In this spirit, last weekend, I set out to check out some of the places Moore introduced me to in his Thelma Todd tale: Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe and the nearby home of director Roland West, where Todd was found dead.
Though these sites are in the city of Los Angeles, they’re located 20 miles away from my home. They are near the city’s furthest western border in the affluent neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. I have certainly been past the cafe site many times, and vaguely noticed it, but it wasn’t until Alexx Kay and I dug into annotating Cinema Purgatorio #9 that I became interested in getting a closer look.
One of the best visuals for understanding the area is the above newspaper map from soon after Todd’s 1935 death. Basically, Todd’s cafe building (where she lived upstairs) is at street level on the inland side of Pacific Coast Highway. It’s directly across from the beach. Just up the hill, and a couple blocks to the east, is what was then the home of director Roland West, whom Todd was romantically involved with.
In December 1935, Todd’s chauffeur dropped her off at a stairway at the cafe building. She ascended the stairs. The next time she was reported to be seen, Todd, age 29, was dead in her car in Roland West’s garage. Her death was ruled an accident, though many suspect foul play.
For the longer story, read the book The Life and Death of Thelma Todd by William Donati, follow our annotations for CP#9, or read an account at Wikipedia, or one of these blogs.
Here’s what Thelma Todd’s sidewalk cafe building looks like today. The address is 17575 Pacific Coast Highway. The structure is currently being renovated, with banners advertising creative office space with ocean views.
Compare this to a c.1934 photo of the site:
The photo below shows more context. The building sits at the base of hillside, facing the beach. Immediately east of it is a footbridge to access the beach.
Below are a few photos showing architectural details and renovation work in process.
Some fairly recent interior shots are available at this Curbed article.
Immediately east of the building (below the pedestrian bridge) are the flight of stairs that may have been where Todd was dropped off by her chauffeur.
Continuing up the stairs from Pacific Coast Highway crossing Castellamare Drive, one comes to another flight of stairs.
Thelma Todd could have walked up these stairs then turned right on Posetano Road and walked a block to get to Roland West’s home.
From the newspaper map, it appears that Posetano Road connected through to West’s home, though today, the two portions of the street are disconnected. There was apparently a landslide in 1958 that closed portions of Posetano and Catellamare, so now they are dead end streets. People can still get through the slide area on foot paths.
Continuing east I came to Roland West’s home, located at 17531 Posetano Road. Todd’s dead body was discovered in the garage here.
West’s home is massive, extending from Posetano Road to Revello Drive. There are a couple of signs calling it “Castillo del Mar” – Spanish for “Castle of the Sea.” The guest unit above the garage was recently put up for rent; see this Curbed article for interior views.
There are numerous public stairways in the area.
It was only after my trip I was able to positively identify the stairway that is shown in O’Neill’s art, which appears to be based on a historic police photo (found here).
I didn’t discover any deep revelations in my tracing of Todd’s footsteps through these Pacific Palisades sites. Nonetheless it was enjoyable to go to the actual place and gain a better sense for it.
Cinema Purgatorio Annotato 
I love the article and photos. Thank you. A must visit on my next visit to LA.
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If you climbed those stirs it wasn’t an easy trek even in snaekers let alone eveningwear, as she was dressed. Also it was dark. That along with other facts is why a lot of people believed that there was some sort of foul play. She had an argument with Roland WEST THAT NIGHT AND HE LOCKED HER OUT OF HER APARTMENT WHICH IS THE REASON WHY MOST BELIEVE SHE CLIMBED THE STAIRS IN THE FIRST PLACE TO GO TO THE GARAGE AT THE TOP of the trek.No one will ever know. Her funeral, because she was so popular, was the second most attended hollywood celebrity funeral at the time, only second to Rudolph Valentino”s.
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I have followed this tragic story for over 50 years. It makes sense, if you are not the overly suspicious type, that Thelma, being tired in the first place, just gave up and went to rest in her car. She started the engine to warm up and simply fell asleep and died. That is one angle that makes perfectly good sense. Either way, a tragic ending.
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I did a heck of a lot of research in college (decades ago) for a proposed thesis and possible book (unpublished). Back in the day, I ran through a ton of old newspaper microfilm! This truly was a labor of love. It was nevertheless fascinating. According to AP and related news exchange releases, neighbors heard a fight between Roland West and Thelma Todd the night of her death. She was heard pounding and kicking at the front door, which was locked. He, more than likely, was getting back at her for staying out late. If she was locked out, logically, she would have went back to her garage to start her car and warm up. Remember, even in December in Los Angeles, winters are cold. The question is did she die accidentally by just falling asleep behind the wheel or was it a case of foul play? That’s where all the press releases, police reports, witness reports end. I recall an interesting, albeit short interview, from an elderly caretaker who lived in a small apartment near the garage who said he heard absolutely nothing the night of Todd’s death. However, he did not mention the sound of a car running. The car eventually ran out of gas and the garage was filled with carbon monoxide. Another question remains as to whether she was that tired she forgot to open the garage door to get in fresh air. It would make sense if you were extremely tired and frustrated and cold. The secret lies behind those doors….. Thanks for the terrific photo gallery and notes. Fortunately, there are a few of us still around who are truly old Hollywood.
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I’ve been following senarios on this event for years. This one makes as much sense as any. That was a hell of a ways from your home to garage your car. I assume she was not using her car that nite.
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