Bunker Hill video deleted from Vimeo *

A whole lot of you watched — and by the sound of your emails, tweets and Facebook comments really enjoyed — the USC student film of 1956 Bunker Hill by Kent MacKenzie. But it appears that the film's rights holder didn't enjoy it nearly as much. The video has been pulled from Vimeo, and replaced by this message:

Sorry, "Bunker Hill 1956" was deleted at 1:30:28 Tue Aug 3, 2010. Vimeo has removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by Milestone Film & Video claiming that this material is infringing: Bunker Hill 1956. We have no more information about it on our mainframe or elsewhere.

Ack, that's really too bad. Milestone distributes The Exiles, Mackenzie's later film about Downtown. The photo above is of the 1957 demolition of the Melrose Hotel, which appeared in the video. It was a converted 1881 mansion that stood at 138 South Grand Avenue, which would be, oh, right about where the Disney Hall stands.

* Noted:: Apparently the Bunker Hill video is packaged with the DVD of "The Exiles" that is for sale.

Photo: Los Angeles Public Library