DYING WISH

First item on the bucket list—don't kick the bucket.

British publishers William Collins Sons & Co. routinely produced great cover art, which was usually attributed, but not this time. This front for John Davies’ exotic adventure See Naples and Die, which came in 1961, has the familiar look of a couple of suspects, but we won’t guess who painted it.

It made us decide to read the book—that and the great title, which is so good, in fact, that numerous authors have used it. There’s a reason. The phrase, which in Italian is “Vedi Napoli e poi muori,” was once a common expression. It’s said to be rooted in a Neapolitan fairy tale about a witch named Raziella, but was made famous beyond Italy when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe used it to express his feelings about Naples, basically popularizing an eighteenth century equivalent of the modern phrase, “I can die now.”

In See Naples and Die a Scottish launch captain and smuggler named Bruce Blair ferries Swedish beauty Meya Nordstrom from La Goleta, Tunisia to Naples, along with a full complement of cargo and passengers. He finds it odd that she’s taking his uncomfortable vessel rather than a plane or cruise liner, but smugglers don’t ask questions. He and Meya make a connection—tenuous, but enough for her to invite Blair to drop by her villa sometime. He does that the next week and finds—to his shock and horror—that Meya is the mistress of the kingpin of Naples, a slick U.S. born gangster named Leonardo Volpi. She’d taken Blair’s boat to bait him to the villa. In short order Volpi strongarms Blair into a salvage operation that could have deadly consequences.

In the balance between sheer writing skill and creative vision, some writers are gifted with both, but Davies, though a perfectly adequate technician, is mostly in the latter category. His Tunisia/Italy setting, with its grimy dockside environs juxtaposed against the hillside villas of the wealthy and the angelically beautiful Meya, augment a tale that’s been churned out by hundreds of authors. His Naples and Tunis details are vivid, the dark and desperate mood he constructs is compelling, and his story has enough action to propel readers forward. And it didn’t escape us that referring to Meya several times as a witch was a subtle hint that Davies had in mind the fairytale witch Raziella.

As a side note, Davies (who by the way isn’t the famous Welsh historian) uses this construction a lot: “He’d got to.” That’s as in, “He’d got to do something about it,” instead of, “he had to do something about it.” We’d never seen it before, and we thought it was strange. You learn something every time you read a book. Well, we’d got to read another book from Davies. Did we use that correctly? Probably not. Doesn’t matter, because we aren’t planning to ever use it again anyway. We’re not British, so we’d sound like posers. Read Naples and enjoy.

When you absolutely positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes.

Con la rabbia agli occhi is Italian for “with anger in his eyes,” which makes the above poster one of the only ones we’ve seen with art so on the nose that it doesn’t need a title at all. If you were preseneted with this and it had no writing, and you were asked what the movie was called, “with anger in his eyes” would be one of your top guesses. In the U.S., though, the movie was called Death Rage. Also works.

Yul Brenner stars as a retired hitman living in New York City who’s drawn back to Italy for one last job when he’s told that his target will be the man who murdered his brother. Off he heads to track down this killer, flying into Naples under his own name in order to set himself up as bait. He gets his wish, but a complication is his vision problems, which he thinks are physical but a doctor tells him are psychosomatic, and another complication is Barbara Bouchet, who turns his head, bad eyes and all.

Brenner’s plan to act as bait brings the mafia thugs into the open in short order, but they also go after Bouchet, which brings her to the attention of the cops. They try to turn her, but like a true criminal moll she says nothing and agrees to help Brenner in a last ditch gambit to elude police surveillance and have his sweet vengeance. He has additional help in the form of a local hustler who he’s been training to be a hitman. Will the scheme go as planned? Well, that depends on whose plan you mean.

These Italo actioners are usually not great because they were mid-budget at best to begin with and don’t age well, but we have to admit to liking this one. Brenner has something. He’s good to watch. Martin Balsam in a co-starring role is solid, Massimo Ranieri is convincing as the eager apprentice, and Bouchet, well, is Bouchet. She even performs a striptease. It’s perfunctory and not very artful, but she doesn’t need to be artful—she is the art. Con la rabbia agli occhi premiered in Italy today in 1976.

Zip your pants and keep them zipped, Harry. I'm going to bed and you aren't coming with me.

Above is U.S. actress Joan Perry in a promo image made for her 1936 crime drama Shakedown. She appeared in about twenty films beginning in 1935 and was out of acting by 1941, when she married Columbia Pictures co-founder and president Harry Cohn, one of the most hated and feared men in Hollywood. Cohn allegedly attacked actresses, demanded and received sex for film roles, and infamously had mob acquaintances threaten to kill Sammy Davis, Jr. if he kept canoodling with Kim Novak. Perry stayed wedded to the guy for seventeen years, until his death. Afterward, she married twice more, but one union lasted only two years, and the other lasted three. Which goes to show that you never can tell about relationships—or for that matter, people.

Even in the height of summer New York City can be a cold, cold place.


In this photo made today in 1930, a policeman stands over the body of Louis Riggiona, who had been shot twice in the heart by two gunmen as he and his brother Joe exited a restaurant in New York City’s Bowery district. Joe fled and avoided injury, while the gunmen dropped their weapons (one pistol is visible in the foreground) and escaped. Louis Riggiona had become the latest casualty in what was known as the Castellammarese War, a Mafia power struggle whose opposing figureheads were Salvatore Maranzano and Joe Masseria. Maranzano was from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, thus the name of the conflict. He won the war, but got to be capo di tutti i capi for only five months before he too was murdered. 

Gangster life has great benefits but the retirement plan leaves a lot to be desired.

It seems like the same lesson is imparted by nearly every vintage Mafia photo we run across—ambition is a double-edged sword. Dominick Didato, aka Terry Burns, who you see above in a photo made by Arthur Fellig, aka Weegee, lies dead on a New York City street where he was gunned down today in 1936. He was killed for interfering with rackets run by Lucky Luciano. It was a low percentage play. Luciano was literally the most powerful mobster in the U.S. at the time, and as the saying goes, you come at the king, you best not miss.

Strindberg, Tamburi, Bisera and company wip it good in Italian sexploitation drama.


We ran across this poster for a movie we watched years ago, the exploitation drama Diario segreto da un carcere femminile, which premiered in Italy today in 1973 and is known in English as Women in Cell Block 7. Such films, for the uninitiated, are thought of by b-movie fans as belonging to a sub-genre known as women-in-prison or WiP. In honor of today’s post we’ve gone back through the website and keyworded for them, so you can see what we’ve done on this unusual style of cinema by clicking “women in prison” at bottom.

The art on the poster is by Enzo Nistri, which makes it worth a share. The movie is sort of interesting too, though perhaps not exactly good. However, we’ve never been able to forget Olga Bisera’s naughty correctional facility finger. You can see her using it in a couple of the production photos below, and following those are some of the stars, who comprise a who’s-who of 1970s European exploitation cinema: Anita Strindberg, Eva Czemerys, Jenny Tamburi, Paola Senatore, Maria Pia Luzi, Gabriella Giorgelli, Olga Bisera, and Valeria Fabrizi.
One way or another someone has to pay.


This unusual poster was made for the gritty John Cassavetes drama The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and features co-star and Playboy model Azizi Johari. It’s an alternate promo that was never used in cinemas, however it appeared at auction several years ago, and thence onto the internet. We noticed it because of the lovely Johari, who we’ve highlighted before, but we also knew the movie, which is one of Cassavetes’ more discussed efforts. It’s about a cabaret owner, played by Ben Gazzara, who has a serious gambling problem. After making the last payment of a loan shark debt he’s been whittling down for seven years, he goes right out accompanied by Johari and two of his club’s dancers, loses big again, and must sign over his club as collateral on the debt. Later, as the film’s title suggests, his creditors demand—none too politely—that he kill someone.

Gazzara is one cool cucumber. His aplomb makes you wonder whether he’s self-contained or just stupid. But really, how smart can you be to fall right back into a hole it took seven years to climb out of? Now it’s called gambling addiction, but we think of it as merely being a mark. We wondered whether his cabaret Crazy Horse West, which features amazingly mediocre acts, was meant to embody his generally poor judgment. In any case, his bill will come due. Cassavetes puts all this together in his trademark patchwork style, with small moments stitched together to create the main character’s life, and what a crazy quilt it is. The style may be off-putting to some, and the movie is marred by substandard acting from a couple of minor castmembers, but overall The Killing of a Chinese Bookie shows why Cassavetes was such a respected director. It premiered today in 1976.
The shots heard round America.

We suspect most Americans know of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, which occurred today in 1929, but somewhat fewer have seen its actual result. If you’re one of them—Happy Valentine’s Day!—you can now cross that off your list, as above are pictured six unfortunates who learned that the gangster life often ends bloody. Albert Kachellek, Adam Heyer, Albert Weinshank, Reinhardt Schwimmer, John May, and Frank and Peter Gusenberg were in the SMC Cartage Company warehouse on Chicago’s north side when they were corralled by four rival gangsters, two of whom were wearing police uniforms and sporting fake badges, and blasted into oblivion with Thompson submachine guns and shotguns. May, who was probably there only because he was repairing a truck, lost the left side of his skull to a round of buckshot.

The murders stemmed from a turf war between the North Siders, who were headed by Bugs Moran, and the Chicago Outfit, led by Al Capone. It’s Moran’s men who got ventilated. Capone, in true gangster style, was away in Florida at the time. The photos show only six victims because Frank Gusenberg miraculously survived the shooting and was rushed to a hospital, where a few hours later he died of his fourteen bullet wounds while refusing to identify his killers. Even to this day their identities are not conclusively known, though ballistics evidence later suggested one was veteran hood Fred Burke. The massacre may not have resulted in murder convictions, but it drew the attention of Washington, D.C. authorities, led to broad new efforts to tackle organized crime, and eventually led to Capone’s imprisonment for federal tax evasion in 1931. Please enjoy this romantic day.

Get away from him you bitches!


Many reviews of the classic movie Aliens point out the subtext of mother instinct rekindled under violent circumstances, but that idea predates Sigourney Weaver’s awesome 1986 performance. The closest example we can think of is the 1980 thriller Gloria. Gena Rowlands, who you see above in full mama bear mode, tries to protect an eight-year-old boy from vicious animals (the Mafia) in a deadly and hostile place (the Bronx). Where Weaver has outlived her entire family due to hibernation in space and loves children, Rowlands is a gangster’s moll who has outlived her childbearing years and claims to hate children. Both characters are catalyzed by a youngster’s innocence, have a strong sense of justice, and face the longest possible odds. Do yourself a favor and watch the movie. Also: check the absolutely badass pose below.

It's not a party until someone gets their brains blown out.


The above photo shows the murder scene of a mid-level gangster named Joseph “Little Joe” La Cava, and occurred in New York City on Mulberry Street at the Feast of San Gennaro today in 1939. We’ll go out on a limb and say the festive atmosphere took a fatal hit too. Luckily, the celebration usually went for a week, so we suppose it was salvaged. La Cava was gunned down along with Rocco “Chickee” Fagio, who you see below. These images were made by Arthur Fellig, aka Weegee, and are especially well known because the ever clever lensman angled himself to get a photo of Fagio ironically sprawled beneath a scungilli restaurant sign that says O Sole Mio!—which means “my sun,” after the famous Neapolitan song. He used the same trick when shooting other murders, because hey, if it works, just roll with it. Also interesting, cops being cops, the flatfoot closest to La Cava looks incongruously jocular as he chats with a higher-up. If this wasn’t the most unforgettable Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy’s history it had to be close.
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1962—Canada Has Last Execution

The last executions in Canada occur when Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin, both of whom are Americans who had been extradited north after committing separate murders in Canada, are hanged at Don Jail in Toronto. When Turpin is told that he and Lucas will probably be the last people hanged in Canada, he replies, “Some consolation.”

1964—Guevara Speaks at U.N.

Ernesto “Che” Guevara, representing the nation of Cuba, speaks at the 19th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City. His speech calls for wholesale changes in policies between rich nations and poor ones, as well as five demands of the United States, none of which are met.

2008—Legendary Pin-Up Bettie Page Dies

After suffering a heart attack several days before, erotic model Bettie Page, who in the 1950s became known as the Queen of Pin-ups, dies when she is removed from life support machinery. Thanks to the unique style she displayed in thousands of photos and film loops, Page is considered one of the most influential beauties who ever lived.

1935—Downtown Athletic Club Awards First Trophy

The Downtown Athletic Club in New York City awards its first trophy for athletic achievement to University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger. The prize is later renamed the Heisman Trophy, and becomes the most prestigious award in college athletics.

1968—Japan's Biggest Heist Occurs

300 million yen is stolen from four employees of the Nihon Shintaku Ginko bank in Tokyo when a man dressed as a police officer blocks traffic due to a bomb threat, makes them exit their bank car while he checks it for a bomb, and then drives away in it. Under Japanese statute of limitations laws, the thief could come forward today with no repercussions, but nobody has ever taken credit for the crime.

1965—UFO Reported by Thousands of Witnesses

A large, brilliant fireball is seen by thousands in at least six U.S. states and Ontario, Canada as it streaks across the sky, reportedly dropping hot metal debris, starting grass fires, and causing sonic booms. It is generally assumed and reported by the press to be a meteor, however some witnesses claim to have approached the fallen object and seen an alien craft.

1980—John Lennon Killed

Ex-Beatle John Lennon is shot four times in the back and killed by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Chapman had been stalking Lennon since October, and earlier that evening Lennon had autographed a copy of his album Double Fantasy for him.

Barye Phillips cover art for Street of No Return by David Goodis.
Assorted paperback covers featuring hot rods and race cars.

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