Jim Murray, June 7, 1961

June 7, 1961: Gene Tunney's chief claim to fame is he licked an over-aged Jack Dempsey twice. It won him respect but not affection. A peculiar thing about the public is it resents a man who topples a popular champion and Gene was no exception. Just ask Ezzard Charles. He overturned Joe Louis and could hardly get anybody to go to lunch with him. Sandy Saddler beat Willie Pep and people stopped speaking to him on the street. And so on.   Notice: Women’s weightlifting in the 1960s. The caption notes that Judy Miller lifts weights, but she’s still “pretty.”

Jim Murray, June 5, 1961

June 5, 1961: It is always a source of wonder to me that a sport as savage and cruel as prizefighting doesn't brutalize its practitioners. Yet, it doesn't. A ballplayer after losing a game is a snarling, cursing, tantrum-throwing terror. Football players smash fists into lockers. But a fighter weeps.

Maltese Falcon, 1931

June 1931: Warner Bros. releases “The Maltese Falcon,” starring Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. Although the film is little more than an obscure curiosity today, it made a deep impression at the time.  Reviewing the now-famous 1941 remake, The Times’ Philip K. Scheuer  said the 1931 version “pales into insignificance.”

Jim Murray, June 1, 1961

June 1, 1961: Among those celebrating the convictions of Blinky Palermo and Frankie Carbo is a Boyle Heights prizefight manager named Harry Shall. Harry gave the government a chance to throw the book at Blinky Palermo a long time ago, nearly 10 years, when he haled him into Federal Court for stealing a fighter from him but Harry made the mistake of lumping CBS, Pabst beer, the IBC and others in his suit and Harry was lucky to escape in his underwear when their battery of lawyers got through with him. Notice the ad for a program on skydiving. Fibber, this is for you!

Jim Murray, May 31, 1961

May 31, 1961: Emile Griffith is a slashing boxer from the Virgin Islands whose waist is so narrow and shoulders so wide that he would have to go to a tailor for his suits even if it weren't the only way he could get a belt in the back that buttons in the middle -- and colors to match the silver and gold buckles on his shoes.

Jim Murray, May 15, 1961

May 15, 1961: Norman G. Dyhrenfurth, an old friend and a perfect dynamo of human energy, is a man who not only thinks Mt. Everest is a place to be but a place for the American flag to be sometime in June 1963. He has just gained the hard-won permission of the Nepalese government to mount an expedition to Everest, the summit of the world, has fired off a check for 1,000 rupees ($640 in 1961 -- $4,611.85 USD 2010) to cinch his place in line and is now about to dervish around the country seeking the additional $150,000 ($1,080,901.75 USD 2010) it will take for an all-American team to bring not only Everest but also the surrounding ramparts of Lhotse and Nuptse to their knees.

Jim Murray, May 12, 1961

May 12, 1961: Paul Pender is not really a prizefighter at all. He has retired from the game more times than Jackie Jensen. He is a fireman by trade and he still reaches out instinctively to slide down a pole when the alarm goes off early in the morning. He was just whiling away his days off dabbling in the prize ring when he suddenly found himself fighting for the championship of the world last year. Since his opponent was Sugar Ray Robinson, he didn't take his chances too seriously.

Jim Murray, May 9, 1961

May 9, 1961: Unfortunately for the ladies -- and probably Alejandro Lavorante too -- this Latin lover will be doing his tango with the No. 3 heavyweight of the world, Zora Folley, Thursday night at the Olympic. This is a pretty drastic undertaking for a young fellow who has only had a baker's dozen fights and a few of us were questioning the wisdom of Alejandro's manager, Pinky George, in making the match. Career-wise, it would seem simpler just to drop Alejandro in front of a moving train.