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vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK

If trouble is what you really want you'll always find it.

Another book chosen at random, another interesting story. This time, though, the story isn’t by the author, but about him. Joe Rayter was in reality Mary Fuller McChesney, who wrote three novels under pseudonyms, but is remembered as a sculptor. She was a National Endowment for the Arts fellow, and became famous enough during her career to receive a New York Times obituary when she died in 2022.

McChesney’s first job was as a welder in the San Francisco shipyards, so the story goes, but before or by 1949, when she married artist Robert McChesney, she had turned her attention to sculpting. She had to pay her bills, so simultaneously she was teaching art in Point Richmond. When the state of California ordered all public employees to sign oaths disavowing politically inconvenient beliefs (a terrible period of American history that seems about to repeat), she refused and was fired. She and her husband moved to Guadalajara, where she kept sculpting.

Asking for Trouble came in 1954, so it seems she turned to literature to earn a bit of money outside of art, writing as Rayter, as well as Melissa Franklin. We should note that, as always, details vary when it comes to life stories. In particular, there’s contradiction over her Mexico period. Some sources say she spent less than a year in Guadalajara, while others say she spent two years in Ajijic and San Miguel de Allende. In any case, she and her husband returned to the Bay Area, and she was based there the rest of her life.

Asking for Trouble is set in and around San Francisco and tells of private eye John Powers, who discovers his friend’s shotgunned body and sets out to determine who killed him. The plot follows normal detective yarn forms: he might get blamed for the killing, there are available femmes fatales, etc. The story is enlivened somewhat by a couple of leftfield characters and a trip to Reno, but we never quite developed an affinity for Mr. Powers, and the mystery doesn’t progress in the most engrossing fashion.

Still though, the book is readable and we’re happy to have picked it up. We chose it based on price and cover art alone. Its unknown backstory turned out to be a bonus, and who knows, might even increase the book’s value if its provenance becomes more widely known. It doesn’t hurt that the cover art is by James Meese, who depicted a scene from the story in which a character gets her dressed ripped off. We may try one of Rayter/McChesney’s other crime novels. If we do we’ll report back.

Mexico, California, Nevada, Guadalajara, San Francisco, Reno, Pocket Books, Joe Rayter, Mary Fuller McChesney, Melissa Franklin, Robert McChesney, James Meese, cover art, literature, communism

THE FURIOUS 5

Don't push them 'cause they're close to the edge.


Sizzling is a good word for Kim Novak. In her fourth film, 5 Against the House, which premiered in the U.S. today in 1955, she wasn’t quite a star yet, but her backers at Columbia Pictures had tabbed her for the Hollywood firmament. They placed her in this drama about a quartet of men who’ve spent a few years in the Korean War (Novak makes the 5 of the title but she spent that time on the home front) and are back to finish law school. Distressed by their lack of resources and opportunities, one of them, who’s a gambler and dreamer, convinces two of the others they can rob a Reno casino. Guy Madison, top-billed, has no idea what’s occurring, at least at first, and Novak plays his girlfriend and has even less of an idea. They figure it out, though, while the group are road-tripping to Nevada. Madison and Novak want out, but both are blackmailed into participating.

The movie has an interesting tone. They guys are all quipsters, and some of their Rat Pack interplay is legitimately funny, but their simmering disaffection eventually comes to the fore as they amp themselves up for the robbery by talking about all they’ve lost having been sent to war. Most of all, they’ve lost time. That idea makes narrative sense, but the actors are a little old for the roles. Madison, Alvy Moore, and Brian Keith are all in their mid-thirties. How long did they spend in Korea—a decade? Kerwin Matthews is twenty-nine, which maybe works, but Novak, as Madison’s college sweetheart, is in her early twenties. How the hell did that happen? Did he start dating her when she was thirteen? Maybe their ages are minor points, but we noticed, and you will too.

In any case, the guys resent being years behind law students who avoided the war, and figure the country owes them something, even if it’s only cash. Later, though, right when it looks like they might get smart and back out, Keith shows that he had a screw knocked loose by combat and manages to force the issue. The subsequent robbery involves fake mustaches and a misdirection play, but it’s never the point. The movie is really a sympathy piece for the boys who fought overseas and a mild remark about the psychological cost of warfare. All fine, but—and it pains us to say this about any Novak movie—it’s weak, entirely unrealistic, and climactically ludicrous. Ultimately, 5 Against the House is probably only worth seeing for the banter between the fellas, and a gander at captivating Kim. She’s hotter than Reno in July. You can bet on it.
Korean War, Nevada, Reno, 5 Against the House, Kim Novak, Guy Madison, Brian Keith, Alvy Moore, Kerwin Matthews, William Conrad, poster art, cinema, movie review

DARKEST DESIRES

There's no jealousy like a femme fatale's jealousy.


It’s amazing how much easier James M. Cain makes writing seem than scores of other authors. His 1950 novel Jealous Woman starts at a gallop. Here’s the first line: At the desk, when they said she was in 819, I knew hubby or pappy or somebody was doing all right by their Jane, because 19 is the deluxe tier at the Washoe-Truckee, one of our best hotels here in Reno, and you don’t get space there for buttons. And just like that we’re off. Cain gives readers ambitious insurance man Ed Horner of General Pan-Pacific Insurance of California. Horner lives, works, and parties in Reno, where unhappy marrieds migrate to be freed from their nuptial bonds. He gets involved in a complex divorce/annulment scheme between Jane Delavan, her rich husband, Jane’s ex-husband, and his current wife. Yes, it’s a bit complicated, but a messy murder uncomplicates it a little. At least for readers. For Horner, things get weird. Jealous Woman isn’t Cain’s best, but it’s still a slice of devious fun worth reading, and this Ace version with John Vernon cover art is the edition to buy if you can.

Nevada, Reno, Ace Books, James M. Cain, John Vernon, cover art, literature

BULLET POINTS

Say it with words! Seriously! I very much prefer words!


Say It with Bullets was written by Richard Powell and published by Graphic Books in 1954 with great Walter Popp cover art of the instant before all hell breaks loose in a bar. It’s the tale of a man named Bill Wayne who, while serving as a pilot in China in World War II, is shot by another pilot, one of five who betray him over half a million dollars in contraband gold. He’s left behind but survives, and years later, now in the U.S., has found where each of his almost-killers are residing. He books a spot on a cross-country bus tour called Treasure Trip of the Old West that happens to be passing through those cities, and plans to dispose of his compatriots one by one.

So, obviously, booking a tour that goes through Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Reno, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, where one’s betrayers coincidentally live, is a reach. Actually, let’s just call it impossible. But we’re believers in accepting the premise of a book, and since Powell explains this set-up in paragraph five we were willing to go with it. Need we say that revenge isn’t as clinical as Wayne imagines? It’s complicated by a nosy tour director—young and beautiful, of course—an ambitious deputy sheriff, and the growing realization that he’s being trailed by a party or parties unknown.

The book is unusual on multiple fronts but the most notable element is that Wayne is one of the biggest wise-asses we’ve come across in literature. Here’s a typical line, delivered after he’s taken a beating from the aforementioned sheriff and, dismayingly, run into him the next morning on a street corner: There was Deputy Sheriff Carson Smith, on leave of absence from a dude ranch advertisement. “Hello,” Wayne said. “Did your knuckles recover from that severe bandaging they got here last night?” Wayne is amusing—or tries to be—even in his direst moments. His attitude pushes Say It with Bullets into farce at times, but he also makes an uneven book more interesting than it deserves to be.
Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Reno, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Graphic Books, Richard Powell, Water Popp, cover art, literature

BAG OF TRICKS

You're always digging in that purse of yours. Until the day I die I'll never understand what women keep in those things.

We were just talking about the classic detective novel set-up in which a woman walks into the dick’s office, and here’s another example—This Kill Is Mine from Graphic Books in 1956—using that time honored technique. It was originally published as No Slightest Whisper in 1955. Before we get into the book, though, let’s note the awesome illustration from Oliver Brabbins, an artist we don’t see as much as we’d like. He covers it all here—femme fatale, gun, noir blinds, etc. We especially like how he gets all Manet with the bottle and glasses. It’s lovely work. Let’s also note the cool interior graphic by an unknown designer (see below) featuring a beautiful stylized silhouette. We liked the book before we read a word.

Those words were written by Dean Evans, and as we said he goes classic with his opening when a woman walks through Reno detective Arnold Weir’s office door. Evans tweaks the formula a bit by having the woman be a millionaire’s secretary and having the actual millionaire call first and announce that his secretary is on the way, but basically it’s the old standard: door opens and trouble commences. Weir is soon embroiled in murder, blackmail, cop trouble, false identity, missing jewels, and the romantic attentions of the secretary. The narrative is filled with hard-boiled lines such as:

He needs protecting like the Painted Desert needs a second coat.

Little grafting souls. Little, filthy, cheap, unimaginative, grafting souls.

I felt as sour as a quince in a bucket of lemons.

Hard-boiled dialogue is a double edged sword. Generally, all but the best authors come up with clunkers, such as Evans’ insistence on saying this or that person “curled his lips” at someone else. Once, okay. Twice, maybe. Instance six or seven was a reminder that a standard “smile” or “sneer” will get the job done. Curled his lips sounds like something from a horror novel. Then there was this dud: Her skin was soft and clean looking, like the skin of a fifteen-year-old waking after a night’s sleep. Hmph. But generally Evans does well with the repartee. You have to give him credit for that much.

Weir the detective wanders around on a standard clue hunt before finally uncovering the solution—which is related to revenge and secrets that go back twenty years—and finally settling matters in a wild shootout. Overall the book isn’t bad, but there are an awful lot of not-bads in genre fiction. Evans knows the formula for writing a mystery, but doesn’t make the ingredients come together into something memorable aside from his many clever turns of phrase. We gather he was mainly a sci-fi and fantasy writer, and This Kill Is Mine was his only detective novel. If he’d kept with it he might have done well, but this effort doesn’t quite get there.

Reno, Graphic Books, Dean McCoy, Oliver Brabbins, literature, cover art

SOME TIME TO KILL

On the first day of murder, my true love gave to me...

The 42 days of Roger Torrey’s 42 Days for Murder refers to the six weeks that someone needed to be resident in Nevada to qualify for a divorce, which we think is kind of clever title-wise. The story deals with a rich man’s wife who runs away to Reno to dissolve her marriage but goes incommunicado after she arrives. The husband hires a detective named Shean Connell to track down his wife so that he can at least talk to her before she ditches him. Finding her is not much of a problem for Connell. Arranging for his client to talk to her is another deal entirely. As the story unfolds, it turns out there’s a reason for her reluctance to chat. A very good reason, actually, which Connell figures out only at the cost of considerable mayhem, two deadly shootouts, and a veritable pile of corpses.

The book was originally published in 1938, but this Hillman edition featuring a photo cover came in 1949. Torrey was an experienced writer, having produced stories for the pulp magazine Black Mask, and here he shows a deft hand with a unique idea that we can’t even hint at without spoiling the book. Flaws include dialogue that sometimes stretches past the point of usefulness or interest—Torrey could have cut the book by twenty pages easily, if not thirty—but it remains a fun ride tearing around 1930’s Reno with Connell, who’s not only a shamus but an ace piano player. He’s the best part of the novel, though he’s unusually cynical about women. Too bad 42 Days for Murder was Torrey’s only book. It’s not perfect, but it’s one to catch if you can.

Nevada, Reno, Hillman Publications, Hillman Books, Black Mask, Roger Torrey, cover art, literature

THE HANDMAID’S TELL

So those four cards with A's on them mean you might win, right?


First published as an Ecstasy Novel with different art the previous year, this edition of Reno Tramp, appeared in 1951 on the Rainbow Books imprint with uncredited art. But the cover is by either Howell Dodd or Rudy Nappi, two artists whose work was similar, though we think Dodd tended to be a hair more precise—literally, as he expended more effort on his women’s coiffures, in our opinion. In any case, the story in Reno Tramp deals with a girl from an impoverished childhood who arrives in Reno, Nevada as a beautiful young woman seeking a divorce, and whose need for money is a pathological drive. She finds just the rich pigeon she wants, but naturally another man comes along to complicate matters and make her question whether cash is really king. We’ll keep an eye out for updated info and see if we can identify this cover artist down the line. In the meantime, you can see more from Dodd here, and Nappi here.
Nevada, Reno, Rainbow Books, Florence Stonebraker, cover art, literature

PAST LIFE REGRESSION

Like Shakespeare wrote, what's past is prologue.


This unusual poster was made to promote the Spanish run of Retorno al pasado, a movie better known as Out of the Past. The title says it all. A man who thinks he’s left his sordid past behind sees it rear its ugly head and threaten to ruin the good future he’s planned for himself. Starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas, this is one of the top noir thrillers, in our opinion. Certainly it’s one of the most beautifully shot, thanks to director Jacques Tourneur and cinematographer Nicholas Mesuraca. Like the poster art by Macario Gomez, the film is richly textured and lushly black, which makes for a nice sense of gathering danger, especially in the pivotal fight sequence about forty minutes in. Plus it has the always compelling Mexico connection used by many excellent noirs, as well as nice location shooting around Lake Tahoe and Reno. Highly recommended, this one. After opening in the U.S. in November 1947 it had its Spanish premiere in Madrid today in 1948.

Spain, Mexico, Madrid, Lake Tahoe, Reno, Retorno al pasado, Out of the Past, Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jacques Tourneur, Nicholas Mesuraca, Macario Gomez, poster art, cinema, film noir, movie review
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1989—Anti-Feminist Gunman Kills 14

In Montreal, Canada, at the École Polytechnique, a gunman shoots twenty-eight young women with a semi-automatic rifle, killing fourteen. The gunman claimed to be fighting feminism, which he believed had ruined his life. After the killings he turns the gun on himself and commits suicide.

1933—Prohibition Ends in United States

Utah becomes the 36th U.S. state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus establishing the required 75% of states needed to overturn the 18th Amendment which had made the sale of alcohol illegal. But the criminal gangs that had gained power during Prohibition are now firmly established, and maintain an influence that continues unabated for decades.

1945—Flight 19 Vanishes without a Trace

During an overwater navigation training flight from Fort Lauderdale, five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger torpedo-bombers lose radio contact with their base and vanish. The disappearance takes place in what is popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle.

1918—Wilson Goes to Europe

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails to Europe for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, France, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to Europe while in office.

1921—Arbuckle Manslaughter Trial Ends

In the U.S., a manslaughter trial against actor/director Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle ends with the jury deadlocked as to whether he had killed aspiring actress Virginia Rappe during rape and sodomy. Arbuckle was finally cleared of all wrongdoing after two more trials, but the scandal ruined his career and personal life.

1964—Mass Student Arrests in U.S.

In California, Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents’ decision to forbid protests on university property.

1968—U.S. Unemployment Hits Low

Unemployment figures are released revealing that the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to 3.3 percent, the lowest rate for almost fifteen years. Going forward all the way to the current day, the figure never reaches this low level again.

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WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT

Cover art by the great Sandro Symeoni for Peter Cheyney's mystery He Walked in her Sleep, from Ace Books in 1949.

PARIS BLEUS

The mysterious artist who signed his or her work as F. Harf produced this beautiful cover in 1956 for the French publisher S.E.P.I.A.

RAISE EM UP

Aslan art was borrowed for many covers by Dutch publisher Uitgeverij A.B.C. for its Collection Vamp. The piece used on Mike Splane's Nachtkatje is a good example.

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