vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news
Above, a shot of a fire in L.A.’s architecturally significant Richfield Tower, today 1954. The art deco styled building survived the blaze, thanks to the efforts of firefighters, but was demolished fifteen years later and is now just another part of mid-century Los Angeles that exists only in memories and photos. A few more shots below show the bulilding’s elegant form and unique flourishes.
In the U.S. a Dallas jury finds nightclub owner and organized crime fringe-dweller Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby had shot Oswald with a handgun at Dallas Police Headquarters in full view of multiple witnesses and photographers. Allegations that he committed the crime to prevent Oswald from exposing a conspiracy in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have never been proven.
In Tennessee, the case of Scopes vs. the State of Tennessee, involving the prosecution of a school teacher for instructing his students in evolution, ends with a conviction of the teacher and establishment of a new law definitively prohibiting the teaching of evolution. The opposing lawyers in the case, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, both earn lasting fame for their participation in what was a contentious and sensational trial.
Franklin D. Roosevelt uses the medium of radio to address the people of the United States for the first time as President, in a tradition that would become known as his “fireside chats”. These chats were enormously successful from a participation standpoint, with multi-millions tuning in to listen. In total Roosevelt would make thirty broadcasts over the course of eleven years.
In New York City, showman and impresario Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre, a 5,920-seat cinema. Rothafel would later open Radio City Music Hall in 1932, which featured the precision dance troupe the Roxyettes, later renamed the Rockettes. Rothafel died in 1936, but his Roxy remained one of America’s greatest film palaces until it was closed and demolished in 1960.
Polish-born film director Roman Polanski is charged with raping a 13-year-old girl at the home of Hollywood star Jack Nicholson. Polanski allegedly had sex with the girl in a hot tub after plying her with Quaaludes and champagne. Rather than risk prison Polanski fled the U.S. for Europe, but was eventually arrested in Switzerland in 2009.
