1930s TV: The Crooked Circle
In case you haven't come across this film, pause to put on your evening dress and ring for some cocktails, because this is some real TV history. The Crooked Circle was the first film ever broadcast on commercial TV, in 1933. The Station was the Don Lee Broadcasting System in Los Angeles on their channel called W6XAO. It was broadcast from the aeriel on Mount Lee (named after Don Lee) behind the Hollywood(land) sign. Incidentally I have just learned the mount is haunted by the ghost of an actress called Peg Entwistle, who killed herself in 1932 by jumping from the H of the sign. Apparently a woman in out of date clothing has been frequently seen wandering, distressed, around there, accompanied by a smell of gardenias. In an attempt to get myself to stick to the subject I always begin by writing the title, and as today, still tend to wander off into related side tracks. However I must just allow myself another diversion onto one of my preoccupations, because I have just realised that...