Libel Suit in L.A. Mayor's Race!

May 12, 1961: Mayor Norris Poulson accused challenger Sam Yorty of being “backed by the underworld” and Yorty responded with a libel suit.   The basis of Poulson's charge was that as an Assemblyman, Yorty supported a bill to legalize bookmaking and as an attorney, he received $12,500 from operators of a Las Vegas casino-hotel for trying to get them a gambling license in Nevada. Also on the jump: A full-page ad for Moral Re-Armament, one of those cultural forces that took root in the 1930s and may be remembered for the Up With People traveling productions that began in 1965 and struggled to survive in the 1980s.

Another Good Story Ruined -- The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia has become so thoroughly transformed into a myth about what happens to nice, small-town girls in big, bad Hollywood  (“achieving in death the fame that eluded her in life”) that it’s almost impossible to write about the killing or the investigation with any accuracy.    It’s a complicated case to begin with, and  matters have been made even worse by highly fictionalized “true” crime books and a craze of “daddy did it” claims -- I know of three purported “killer dads” but this is a thriving cottage industry and there may be more.   The latest errors appear in a Jacket Copy post on the videogame L.A. Noire: On the movie “The Blue Dahlia”: “And it was playing in theaters when actress Elizabeth Short was murdered in January 1947; journalists looking for a hook to talk about the unusual killing called her the Black Dahlia.” Well, no. First, Elizabeth Short wasn’t an actress – it’s a stretch to even call her anything but a wannabe  actress. Elizabeth Short wanted to be an actress the way people want to win the lottery. Second, “The Blue Dahlia” was long gone from theaters by January 1947. Third, and this is one of our beloved myths: Reporters nicknamed the case. The Herald-Express frequently nicknamed killings, like the “Red Hibiscus Murder,” and in fact tried to nickname the Black Dahlia as “the Werewolf Murder.” Elizabeth Short got the Black Dahlia nickname from customers at a drugstore lunch counter in Long Beach as a takeoff on the title of “The Blue Dahlia.”  Then we have: “we know the Black Dahlia was left naked, washed of all blood, elegantly coiffed and cut in two.” No. Another favorite Black Dahlia myth is that the killer gave her a complete makeover: hair, nails, etc. Unfortunately, morgue shots of Elizabeth Short are all over the Web and it’s easy to determine that this is ridiculous.

Yorty Seeks to Limit L.A. Mayors to Two Terms

May 3, 1961: The Times editorial page backs Mayor Norris Poulson, who lost to  challenger Sam Yorty. Although Yorty advocated a two-term limit for mayors, he served three terms and was seeking a fourth when he was defeated by Tom Bradley. And in case you are keeping track, The Times endorsed Yorty against Rep. James Roosevelt in 1965 (I can’t imagine The Times of this era endorsing a Roosevelt, can you?), Bradley against Yorty in 1969 (Bradley was defeated) and again in 1973, when Bradley won.  I have been rummaging around the Daily Mirror HQ for my copy of “Maverick Mayor: A Biography of Sam Yorty” by The Times’ Ed Ainsworth. Must be in the annex, a.k.a. the garage.  On the jump, Deputy Dist. Atty. J. Miller Leavy is awarded damages over his appearance in the film “Justice and Caryl Chessman.” Leavy said he was promised that the film would only be shown on television and not in theaters. “Justice and Caryl Chessman” is being shown with “Cell 2455, Death Row” at the Roxie in San Francisco later this month. And Spade Cooley is hospitalized for heart trouble while being held in the killing of his wife. Some stories refer to Cooley as “the king of western swing,” but the Bob Wills fans would argue with that.

From the Stacks – 'Portraits of Crime' (1977)

Two years after writing about  LAPD Det. Ector Garcia, I finally located a copy of his book, “Portraits of Crime,” which arrived in the mail from the U.K. while I was on vacation. No one will ever mistake this book for great literature. The editing is weak (as in “Leo” LaBianca) but the rough, raw writing gives “Portraits” a freshness and immediacy that might be missing in a more polished work. Written by LAPD artist Garcia (d. 1987) and Charles E. Pike, “Portraits” consists of composite sketches and brief summaries of  29 cases from the 1950s to the 1970s. Aside from the Tate-LaBianca and Son of Sam murders, most of the subjects are obscure killings, kidnappings and rapes that could easily be the raw material for several seasons of TV crime shows.

'The Chinese Murder,' April 29, 1891

April 29, 1891: The Times reports the death of a Chinese woman named Ah Gue/Goot Gue, who was shot in the abdomen by her husband, Wong Ark/Gam Duck, outside a brothel on Apablasa Street. Ark allegedly killed Gue because she didn't give him all the money he wanted for gambling. The Times covered this case extensively, and said that because the Chinese witnesses were “heathens,” they were unconcerned about telling the truth under oath. The first jury deadlocked. In his second trial, Ark was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder, but the conviction was overturned on appeal because the dying woman’s statements were inadmissible. (The Times reported that she said "him killee me.") Ark was convicted of manslaughter at his third trial and served six years at San Quentin. Bonus factoid: Apablasa Street vanished during construction of Union Station, which was built on the old Chinatown.

UC May Have to Charge Tuition – Someday

 

April 27, 1961: The Senate Education Committee turns down a proposed tuition fee for University of California students but says one may have to be imposed -- eventually.

Last Showing of 'Heaven Is Here!'

Google has announced that it will be removing its uploaded videos on April 29. I made this little movie about the Black Dahlia case four years ago and at 21 minutes, it's too long to upload anywhere else.

Jimmie Fidler in Hollywood, April 18, 1941

April 18, 1941: Lee Shippey is hospitalized after what The Times vaguely referred to as “major surgery.” His column continued to appear with guest writers filling in. On the jump: Benjamin “Bugsie” Siegel is released on bail after being charged with harboring Louis (Lepke) Buchalter. Oh look at this! The Times capitalized "Racketeer" as if it were a profession. Well I suppose it was.   Tom Treanor files a report from the Santa Fe Chief: IF THE OPINION of the wife of an automobile manufacturer is true, this is the year of years to buy an automobile... She thinks there will be no model changes next year. The factories will be too busy tooling up for military production to waste any time, making your 1942 car the greatest bargain by far in the history of the automotive industry.   [For those who don’t know, U.S. car manufacturers ceased production of automobiles for the consumer market during the war--lrh.] For years I've been begging for such a return of yesterday's stars. They DESERVE the opportunity to come back. They DON'T DESERVE to be forgotten by the industry they helped to build.... I say bring back MORE ex-stars. Betty Compson, Clara Bow, Janet Gaynor, Leatrice Joy, Neil Hamilton, Huntley Gordon. I could fill this column with names and among them, millions of readers would spy old-screen friends they'd like to see again, Jimmie Fidler says.

'The Apartment' Wins Oscars for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director

April 18, 1961: In a ceremony held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented awards to Elizabeth Taylor for “Butterfield 8,” Burt Lancaster for “Elmer Gantry” and to Billy Wilder as writer (with I.A.L. Diamond) and director of “The Apartment.’ In Jerusalem, "Israeli Atty. Gen. Gideon Hausner renewed his harrowing review of Nazi atrocities as the trial of Adolf Eichmann for crimes against the Jewish people continued today."

Paul Coates, April 13, 1961

April 13, 1961: An Anaheim man found some gold-colored flecks in the backyard and tested them for gold by putting them in a half-teaspoon of mercury that he heated over the stove, poisoning his family, Paul Coates says.   “Spade Cooley Daughter Tells Night of Terror” pretty much sums it up.

Matt Weinstock, April 12, 1961

April 12, 1961: Matt Weinstock has the long, complicated saga of brothers Arthur and Alfred, whose fingerprint records were apparently switched when they were arrested for intoxication.   DEAR ABBY: I boiled when I read the letter from the woman who signed herself "Fed Up." She was annoyed because her clergyman (Protestant) visited her in the hospital after her seventh child was born and asked her if she had ever heard of birth control.

Paul Coates, April 12, 1961

April 12, 1961: The Mirror publishes a long, sensational first-person account by Carole Tregoff, who was convicted with her lover, Dr. R. Bernard Finch, of killing Finch’s wife: We drove aimlessly from Beverly Hills, through Hollywood, up one of the canyons and into the Hollywood Hills. There we parked, looking over the city beneath us... and there Dr. Finch kissed me for the first time. It was a kiss such as I had never experienced before ... a kiss of tenderness, a kiss of respect ... a kiss of love. I got home at 4:15 a.m. My husband was furious...   Paul Coates writes about a piece of “jail mail” he recently received from a man who’s overdue for parole because he hasn’t found a job.