THE MAGIC IS GONE

Why do I get the feeling that when you make me disappear every night you don't want me to come back?

Covers like these can be interpreted just about any way. We were going to go with something like, “Ooooo… the great Balsamo. After last night we know you aren’t so great at everything, don’t we?” There were other options too. The book is about a Brooklyn punk and petty thief who rises to become a world-renowned magician. Maurice Zolotow is more famous that you suspect. In addition to being an author he was a journalist for Billboard magazine and a writer of biographies, and when he died in 1991 he was eulogized in the New York Times. The Great Balsamo is from 1964 with cover work from an unknown artist.

He was bound to get burned.


Just in case you haven’t had any gruesomeness in your week, above you see mobster Irving Feinstein after he was burned by Murder, Inc. today in 1939. What do you have to do to meet this fate? Feinstein tried to horn in on territory that wasn’t his, but that wasn’t why he was torched. His error was in trying to stay alive. Feinstein was in the process of being repeatedly ice picked by hitman Harry Strauss, and bit Strauss’s finger. Strauss and associates called a halt to the ice picking and instead bound Feinstein, his legs stretched backward and a rope running from ankles to neck. This killed him by the more protracted method of slow strangulation. Then afterwards, just for the hell of it, the killers transported the body to a vacant lot in Brooklyn and did what you see above. There’s a lesson in this: don’t bite the hand that bleeds you. 

She has all the qualities you look for.


U.S. actress Lita Milan, born in Brooklyn as Iris Maria Lia Menshell, had a short Hollywood career She started in 1954, and her last motion picture—I, Mobster—came in 1959. But she remained in the public eye. In 1960 she married Ramfis Trujillo, who happened to be the son of Rafael Trujillo, longtime dictator of the Dominican Republic. We assume she fell for the ole, “I don’t want to be like my father,” routine, but when pops was assassinated in 1961, Ramfis sought out and killed some of the plotters himself. He became leader of the country, and Milan, presumably, became first lady of sorts. It didn’t last long—less than a year later they left the D.R. for exile. The above photo predates all those adventures, circa 1957. 

He destroyed everything in his path—including himself.

The National Police Gazette published this issue in 1954, with a cover featuring pro heavyweight boxers Tommy Hurricane Jackson and Dan Bucceroni battling at  Eastern Parkway Arena in Brooklyn, New York. The fight took place on March 29, and Jackson won with a TKO in the 6th. He never won a heavyweight title, but was well regarded in fight circles for being fearless, if not self-destructive. In fact, he once fought Floyd Patterson and was knocked down nine times. Each time he rose to absorb more punishment, before losing by TKO in the tenth round. It was apparently one of the worst ring beatings ever, made worse by Jackson’s sheer will. Afterward, boxing authorities suspended his license for his own protection. It was a temporary ban designed to force him to recover fully before fighting again, but we’ve never heard of such a drastic step. It’s indicative of Jackson’s reputation. Was he fearless, crazy, or both? Opinions vary, but we love this Gazette cover. The magazine specialized in boxing photo-illustrations, which we’ve documented hereherehere, and other places if you’re inclined to dig around the site.

Well, what are you waiting for? I haven't got all day—impress me.

Brooklyn born actress Grace Bradley gives the camera a provocative look in this beautiful Paramount promo shot from 1934. She had a very successful run in cinema that began in 1932, but after appearing in more than thirty productions gave up show business in order to support the career of her husband, cowboy star William Boyd, the man behind the legendary character Hopalong Cassidy. Bradley hopped along herself until age ninety-seven, finally dying in California in 2010. We should all do so well.

Trevor makes the most of her smoke break by posing for a master.

Brooklyn born actress Claire Trevor made more than sixty movies over seven decades, including the important film noir entries Raw Deal, Born To Kill, Johnny Angel, Murder My Sweet, and Key Largo, the latter of which snared her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She’s good in general, but if you haven’t seen her in Key Largo you really should. She’s absolutely brilliant in it. She was one of film noir’s defining artists, an indispensable participant in it. We’re also fond of her in lighter fare such as 1965’s How To Murder Your Wife, with Jack Lemmon.

The noirish shot above was used as a reference photo by the legendary Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas. He painted a portrait of Trevor which you see inset just above, and you also see her posing with the piece below. The portrait was commissioned by her employers Fox Film Corporation as a promo image, a type of work Vargas did often, and the studio used prints of portrait as lobby cards. All of these images came about in 1934.

Well, I suppose we can. But only as long as you keep a peel on it—I don't want those little seeds of yours taking root.

You ever get the feeling publishers sometimes used whatever art they had sitting around? You certainly would in the case of David Dortort’s 1948 paperback Burial of the Fruit, which is a “gripping novel of youth in the slums.” A slum that had a nice expanse of wetlands and recreational boating, apparently. Yes, there’s nature around Brooklyn, where the novel takes place and the anti-hero takes his sweetheart out there, but you’d think this was a rural saga if not for the cover blurb. Later editions had more appropriate art.

The book tells the story of Honey Halpern—a male—who becomes the leader of a gang of killers for hire. Basically, it’s the story of Murder, Inc., turned into fiction. This was Dortort’s debut and it got rapturous reviews and earned him comparisons to some of the greatest contemporary authors alive. But he wrote only one other novel and never did become an immortal in the literary world. Instead he’s remembered for creating the television show Bonanza. Maybe that isn’t as respectable as being a master novelist, but we bet he made way more money. The cover artist here is Ann Cantor. 

The meek shall inherit starvation wages.

Originally published in 1949 as Spit and the Stars, which is a title we really like, Tough Kid from Brooklyn is the story of a Jewish youth who seeks love and gets involved in union organizing only to see owners strike back violently via the usual methods. The book is a reminder of two important facts—organizing or striking for better pay is often illegal, and that puts cops on the wrong side of justice, as well as literary protagonists. This was Mende’s only novel, though he apparently had thirteen others tucked away in a trunk. The first abridged edition from Avon appeared in 1951. The one you see here is from 1955, with a slightly different logo treatment than the 1951 paperback, but with the same uncredited cover art. 

Welcome to Wilson's house of pain and leather.

American actress Ajita Wilson, who we discussed briefly some years back, was born in Brooklyn but made a career in Italian sexploitation and porn movies. She was transsexual, having been born George Wilson, but opting for gender reassignment in the mid-1970s. She launched her career in New York City, making a name for herself in the red light district of the era, which back then was centered around Times Square—these days aka Disneyland east. Not long after establishing herself in the Big Apple she was seen by a European producer and offered a chance to work across the pond in historic Rome. She jumped at the chance.

Wilson appeared in close to fifty movies, starting with 1976’s The Nude Princess. In Perverse oltre le sbarre, which is known in the U.S. as Hell Behind Bars, she plays a killer and jewel thief named Conchita who gets tossed in the prigione and has to negotiate the usual women-in-prison staples—corruption, violence, lesbianism, and a sadistic warden. Oh, and let’s not forget screechy girl fights, and sexual harassment showers. Did we leave anything out? Ah, cavity searches. Can’t forget those. Torture by high voltage shock. Illicit drugs. Karate chopping double-crossers. Breathy sexploitation soundtrack. Maybe that doesn’t count, though, because the prisoners theoretically can’t hear it.

Yes, this prison Ajita ends up in is pretty bad, but it could be worse—at least the warden lets the women wear lingerie. Rita Silva and Linda Jones co-star in what becomes a standard WIP escape drama, and of course the escape is more fraught than anyone expected. As prison sexploitation Perverse oltre le sbarre is the same as most others, with the exception that the budget is obviously lower. With so many films to her credit Wilson almost certainly made something better. We’ll take a look and see if we can find which efforts those might be, and you’d be advised to do the same and skip this one. We’ll see Wilson again, though. Perverse oltre le sbarre opened in Italy today in 1984.

NYC vinyl dealer is still picking up the pieces after Hurricane Sandy.

We received an email a couple of days ago from a reader named Joe R., who pointed us toward an item about Norton Records, a New York City based vintage vinyl dealer whose Brooklyn warehouse was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Sandy. Above you see a photo taken of the building just after the storm, and you can see that the street is flooded and water has gotten into the facility.

According to Norton’s website, most of their catalog stock was destroyed by floodwaters. No surprise, seeing the photo. But they’re still selling what’s on hand, and a purchase at this time would help with recovery costs. Like many vintage vinyl dealers, they also have a pretty nice stack of sleaze fiction, so you collectors out there might want to take a look at their selection. We’ve uploaded a few covers, including Dale Koby’s Sin Lens (art by Paul Rader), Milton Geller’s Don’t Like Me—Love Me!, and Frank Gavin’s Crossfire.

The prices are lower than you would typically find on, for instance, Ebay (where we came across a couple of items from Norton’s catalog going for over $30, which is more than double what they charge). If you bought something you’d be supporting a business at a time of struggle, plus it’s officially holiday season again, and nothing says Christmas quite like a dirty paperback under the tree. Thanks, Joe, for sending this item over.

Norton Records warehouse photo by Nick Cope

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1985—Matt Munro Dies

English singer Matt Munro, who was one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s and sang numerous hits, including the James Bond theme “From Russia with Love,” dies from liver cancer at Cromwell Hospital, Kensington, London.

1958—Plane Crash Kills 8 Man U Players

British European Airways Flight 609 crashes attempting to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane is the Manchester United football team, along with a number of supporters and journalists. 20 of the 44 people on board die in the crash.

1919—United Artists Is Launched

Actors Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, along with director D.W. Griffith, launch United Artists. Each holds a twenty percent stake, with the remaining percentage held by lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo. The company struggles for years, with Griffith soon dropping out, but eventually more partners are brought in and UA becomes a Hollywood powerhouse.

1958—U.S. Loses H-Bomb

A 7,600 pound nuclear weapon that comes to be known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the U.S. Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, near Tybee Island. The bomb was jettisoned to save the aircrew during a practice exercise after the B-47 bomber carrying it collided in midair with an F-86 fighter plane. Following several unsuccessful searches, the bomb was presumed lost, and remains so today.

1906—NYPD Begins Use of Fingerprint ID

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Joseph A. Faurot begins using French police officer Alphonse Bertillon’s fingerprint system to identify suspected criminals. The use of prints for contractual endorsement (as opposed to signatures) had begun in India thirty years earlier, and print usage for police work had been adopted in India, France, Argentina and other countries by 1900, but NYPD usage represented the beginning of complete acceptance of the process in America. To date, of the billions of fingerprints taken, no two have ever been found to be identical.

1974—Patty Hearst Is Kidnapped

In Berkeley, California, an organization calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps heiress Patty Hearst. The next time Hearst is seen is in a San Francisco bank, helping to rob it with a machine gun. When she is finally captured her lawyer F. Lee Bailey argues that she had been brainwashed into committing the crime, but she is convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, a term which is later commuted.

Rare Argentinian cover art for The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

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