Archive

1940

“Murder, Inc. Trial in Second Week”

September 16, 2021
1940, PM


“Somewhere Somebody’s Waiting For You”; Carlisle Brothers (Cliff and Bill); Publication date: September 16, 1940


PM, September 16, 1940, pp. 16-17 (photos by R. Capa, etc.)

Proud London, Madrid Prove Cities That Won’t Quit Can’t Be Bombed Into Defeat

Like moths to a flame, refugees from the surrounding farmlands poured into Madrid. Piling up faster than the war-harried government could ship them on to safer areas, thousands of women and children cooked, ate and slept in the subways.

Air raids are fun, too – if your fighter planes can get at the raiders before they dump their loads. Spectators may be killed by a spent bullet, but Madrilenos got so they’d risk even that for momentary relief from the boredom of life under siege.

PM, September 16, 1940, pp. 18-19 (Artist, page 19: William Sharp)

What High School Girls Like to Wear

Murder, Inc. Trial in Second Week

The court clerk at the left knows that hard-of-hearing Judge John J. Fitzgerald’s bite is worse than his bark. Artist William Sharp caught his Honor just after one of the Strauss-Goldstein lawyers had irked him.
PM, September 16, 1940, p.19

A Hollywood actor might envy courtroom style of assistant DA Burton B. Turkus (standing). Expressions of his backstoppers, Louis Josephs (foreground) and Solomon A. Klein mean deep thinking.
PM, September 16, 1940, p.19

When a felon needs a friend, he is apt to look up Leo Healy and Daniel H. Prior (left), two of the shrewdest criminal lawyers going. That’s what Harry (Pittsburgh Phil) Strauss (center) and Martin (Buggsy) Goldstein did when District Attorney O’Dwyer nabbed them on charges of a Murder, Inc. killing. Mr. Prior says wild look in Harry’s eyes is because he’s crazy and shouldn’t stand trial. at all.
PM, September 16, 1940, p.19


“You’ve Got What It Takes”; Orrin Tucker and His Orchestra; Bonnie Baker and The Bodyguards; C. Tobias; Berle; H. Tobias; Publication date: September 16, 1940

“Weegee often snaps people who have good reason to dodge a camera.”

September 15, 2021
1940, PM


“I’M A GUITAR KING”; Tommy McClennan; Publication date: September 15, 1941


“TRAVELLIN’ HIGHWAY MAN”; Tommy McClennan; Publication date: September 15, 1941


PM, September 15, 1940, pp.48-49

The Way People React to a Camera Is Revealing

Point a big camera at a little man or a pocket Brownie at a big man and the chances are the reaction will be strong. Usually he will freeze up as if he’s put through the Birdseye Frozen Foods process. Camera shyness can…

If the photographer aims for character… Or the photographer can consciously use the shyness to make a picture.

In some pictures, Weegee has to be ruthless in sneaking shots of people who don’t want to be photographed. It’s his job – news coverage demands such pictures. But here Fritz Kuhn, arrested for stealing funds from his Nazi Bund, is glad to be photographed. Kuhn is putting on an act to show his followers they needn’t fear for his safety; and to tell the world he is fearless, innocent and lovable. But we can smell the acting in the forced geniality.

Here two boys were arrested for holding up a gas station express to the public their attitude or bravado about the whole business.

These men stabbed an enemy in a New York opera house. Weegee often snaps people who have good reason to dodge a camera.

This arrested man was hiding from a battery of photographers when Weegee crept around and caught him from his unprotected side.
PM, September 15, 1940


“Out of Nowhere”; Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra; Lena Horne; Heyman; J. Green; Publication date: September 15, 1941


“Romance Without Finance”; Tiny Grimes Quintette; Tiny Grimes; Charlie Parker; Clyde Hart; Jimmie Butts; Harold West; Lloyd Grimes; Publication date: September 15, 1944


“I’ll Always Love You Just the Same”; Tiny Grimes Quintette; Tiny Grimes; Charlie Parker; Clyde Hart; Jimmie Butts; Harold West; Lloyd Grimes; Publication date: September 15, 1944

“…Babbles He Killed Three”

September 13, 2021
1940, PM


“A Faded Photograph”; Whispering Jack Smith; Charles Kenny; Nick Kenny; Richard Howard; Publication date: September 13, 1940


The New York Times, September 13, 1940

GURINO CONFESSES TO THREE MURDERS

Ring’s ‘Toughest Trigger Man’ Implicates Himself in Four Others, O’Dwyer Says

KILLED TWO IN APARTMENT

Gained Access When Confederate, Now In Death House, Wore Woman’s Clothes As Ruse

District Attorney William O’Dwyer of Kings County announced late yesterday that Vito Gurino, the Brooklyn murder syndicate’s “toughest trigger man,” who was arrested Wednesday night after dashing into a Roman Catholic Church Shrieking hysterically that he was about to be killed, had confessed to three underworld “contract” murders and implicated himself in four others…
The New York Times, September 13, 1940


PM, September 13, 1940

Gurino Babbles He Killed Three

Vito Gurino, the tearful triggerman, has confessed to six of the seven murders of which he is suspected, PM learned today from a source close to the Brooklyn District Attorney…
PM, September 13, 1940


Brooklyn Eagle, September 13, 1940, p.4

GURINO’S RECORD AF ARRESTS RUNS GAMUT OF CRIME

Homicide, Robbery, Dope Charges Mark Career of Gang Gunman

The full police record of Vito Gurino, former triggerman of the Murder-for-Money Gang, now a fear-driven prisoner charged with murder, afraid to “squeal” and afraid not to follows:


“A Faded Photograph”; Whispering Jack Smith; Charles Kenny; Nick Kenny; Richard Howard; Publication date: September 13, 1940


PM, September 13, 1940

“I was never a rat in my life – I was never a rat!”

September 12, 2021
1940, PM


“Practice Makes Perfect”; Billie Holiday; Roberts; Gold; Publication date: September 12, 1940


PM, September 12, 1940

Alleged Trigger Man of Murder, Inc. Runs Squealing to Church for Safety

Vito Gurino weighs 225 pounds. He is several inches under the romantic six feet, and he squeals much louder than any pig Armour ever heard of. He tumbled into a Catholic church last night wailing for sanctuary, screaming for mercy and begging for his wife and children…
PM, September 12, 1940


The New York Times, September 12, 1940

Murder Ring Fugitive Seeks Haven in Church; ‘Trigger Man’ hysterical in Fear of Killers

Shrieking hysterically that he was about to be killed, Vito Gurino, supposedly “toughest trigger man” of the Brooklyn murder ring exposed by District Attorney William O’Dwyer, sought sanctuary last night in the Roman Catholic Shrine of the Sea at Twenty-first Street and Tenth Avenue…

…Gurino meanwhile kept shouting:
“I was never a rat in my life – I was never a rat!”

Later he added:
“If they leave me alone, I’ll go away – I’ll never squeal. But if they don’t leave me alone I’ll squeal. They’ll kill me! They’ll kill my wife and children!”
The New York Times, September 12, 1940


Weegee (1899-1968), Vito Gurino, 1940, Screenshot


“The Same Old Story”; Billie Holiday; Field; Oliphant; Publication date: September 12, 1940

“…not insane…”

September 11, 2021
1940, PM


“Psycho” (Original Motion Picture Score); Bernard Herrmann, Danny Elfman, Bernard Herrmann; Steve Bartek; 1998

Alienist May Examine Strauss 3 Times Daily
Harry (Pittsburgh Phil) Strauss’s lawyer obtained an unusual concession from the court yesterday. Despite the verdict of state alienists that his client was not insane…”
PM, September 11, 1940


“Broken Hearted Lover”; Delmore Brothers; Alton Delmore; Publication date: September 11, 1940

Her Movie Name Is Veronica Lake
Her real name is Veronica Kane, and she is the 21-year-old… daughter of a commercial artist…
PM, September 11, 1940


“Love Has Been the Ruin of a Many Young Maid”; Texas Jim Lewis And His Lone Star Cowboys; Cindy Walker; Publication date: September 11, 1940

Bernard Herrmann, young composer-conductor…”

PM, September 11, 1940


Elmer Bernstein Conducts The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Bernard Herrmann Film Scores; 1993 (samples)

Tracklist (samples):

1. Citizen Kane
2. The Devil and Daniel Webster
3. The Man Who Knew Too Much
4. Psycho
5. The Wrong Man
6. Vertigo
7. North by Northwest
8. The Bride Wore Black
9. Fahrenheit 451
10. Taxi Driver
11. Bernard Herrmann on Film Music

“Buggsy was laughing…”

September 9, 2021
1940, PM


“Laughing Record”; 1960


PM, September 9, 1940, p.9

Pittsburgh Phil Pleads Insanity

Strauss-Goldstein Trial Opens; Right to Be Examined by Psychiatrist Granted

…This was the prelude today of the trial of Martin (Buggsy) Goldstein and Harry (Pittsburgh Phil) Strauss, of Brooklyn’s Murder, Inc, for the 1939 murder of Irving (Puggy) Feinstein…


“Woman Laughing (Continuous)”; 1960

“When Is a Subject too Old to Photograph?”

September 8, 2021
1940, PM


“Goin’ to Chicago Blues“; Joe Turner; Freddie Slack Trio; Count Basie; James Rushing; Publication date: September 8, 1941

New York Is a City Of Flat Topped Roofs
By Ralph Ingersoll
(Photos by Alan Fisher)


“Watch the Birdie“; Sonny Dunham and his Orch.; Don Raye; Gene dePaul; Harriet Clark; Publication date: September 8, 1941

When Is a Subject too Old to Photograph?
By Ralph Steiner
(Photos by Harold Corsini)

…What the photographer must realize is this: the Brooklyn Bridge is old, but life goes on around and over and under it, and life is always new. Mother and Child is an older subject than Brooklyn Bridge, yet it is still a good subject for painters and photographers who are sensitive enough to the ever-new qualities in their relationship.

The photographs of Brooklyn Bridge on this page look new because they show the relationship between the bridge and its neighbors. The elements are old but they add up to a new total.

If a photographer follows in the footsteps of the great who have gone before, [they] will end up without having made any interesting footsteps [themselves]. No artist in any medium has ever slavishly copied the approach and style of a great master and become a master in [their] own right. Strike out for yourself: see and photograph things you like in such a way that others will know why you like them. And since there is no one in the world exactly like you – this sounds like the last line of a love letter – your photographs will be fresh and interesting.

The Problem of Keeping City Kids Off the Streets
By Raymond Abrashkin
(Photographs by Mary Morris)

PLAY PLACES: There Aren’t Enough Satisfactory Playgrounds in New York
…and Many Kids Think It’s More Fun to Run Wild in the Streets
(Photographs by Mary Morris)

PM, September 8, 1940


“Rocks in My Bed“; Joe Turner; Freddie Slack Trio; Duke Ellington; Publication date: September 8, 1941

“…Finds a Camera Man There…”

July 12, 2021
1940, PM


“Cuba Libre”; Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra; Lina Romay; Stillman; Cugat; Asherman; November 26, 1940

Batista Favored in Cuban Elections


“Planes”; [“(1) Dive Bomber Zooming; (2) Dive Bomber Zooming; (3) PB40 Plane Zooming; (4) P84 Plane Zooming; (5) P84 Plane Zooming; (6) Tri-Motor Bomber Passing Overhead”]; 1960

Arming The U.S.A.

Building and equipping war planes has become a major industry in Jamaica, Queens… The instrument is the view finder of an aerial military camera. It acts like the wrong end of a telescope in distorting the man’s face… Aerial cameras are indispensable in modern war… Photo by Alan Fisher.


“Air Raid”; [(Alert Sirens, Planes, Planes Overhead, Bursting Bombs, Building Crashing, Glass Splinters, and All Clear)], ca. 1960

Lightning, Rain, Trouble

Lightning smashed the skylight on Kanter’s Department Store, 132 W. 125th St. did $5,000 damage (estimated) to the stock. Photo by Weegee

[$5,000, in July 1940, had the same buying power as $96,141.07, in May 2021.]


“Continuous Thunder”; 1960

Joan Crawford, Shopping at Macy’s Finds a Camera Man There
Photo by Peter Killian, PM Staff


“IT’S ALL SO NEW TO ME (Todo es Tan Distinto)”; Joan Crawford Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Star; Marty Symes; Bernice Petkere; Nat W. Finston; 1939


“I’M NO COMMUNIST”; LULU BELLE AND SCOTTY; Lulu Belle & Scotty; Wiseman; 1952

Family Album

John Albert, of PM’s photographic staff, is the first entry in out Family Album who’s a native New Yorker. Here he’s shown working in PM’s laboratory… Photo by Leo Lieb, PM Staff


“The Camera Doesn’t Lie (Neither Do I) (La Camara No Miente),” Eddy Duchin and his Orchestra; Buddy Clarke; Edgar Leslie; Joe Burke, 1937

PM, July 12, 1940

A few songs released today, July 12, 1940:


“SULTAN SERENADE”; HORACE HENDERSON and his ORCHESTRA; F. Henderson; July 12, 1940


“DO RE MI”; Horace Henderson and his Orchestra; H. Henderson; July 12, 1940


“SOMETIMES I’M HAPPY”; “Music of Yesterday and Today Styled the Blue Barron Way”; Russ Carlyle; Irving Caesar; Vincent Youmans; July 12, 1940 [Thinking of Sun Ra and June Tyson…]

…”looking toward his future…”

July 8, 2021
1940, PM


(1) Horses and Wagon; (2) Horses Gallop By; (3) One Horse Galloping By Fast


PM, July 8, 1940

McWilliams, Fascist Candidate, Faces His Future Undiscouraged

Joseph Ellsberry McWilliams, Fascist-type candidate of his American Destiny Party for Congressman, is still speaking at Yorkville street-corner meetings undiscouraged by his conviction in court Saturday of disorderly conduct. McWilliams is shown in the driver’s seat of a covered wagon, the emblem of his party. He must appear Wednesday in Felony court to pay a $50 fine or start serving a 30-day jail sentence. Meantime police officials of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut meet here today to study fifth-column problems. Photo by Weegee


1. Horses Hoofs (Turf) 2. Horses Hoofs (Turf) 3. Horses Hoofs (Cobbles), 1932


Weegee, Naked City, 1945, p.231

This is Joe McWilliams, professional anti-Semite and Nazi lover… Don’t make any mistake… that’s handsome Joe at the top of the picture… looking toward his future….


“Horses Don’t Bet on People,” Kay Kyser and his Orchestra; Clyde Rogers; Loeb; 1945


The New York Times, July 7, 1940


The New York Times, July 7, 1940


“My Pony’s Hair Turned Gray (When My Darling Ran Away),” Texas Jim Robertson; Bernard Houben; Mack Kaye; 1940


The New York Times, July 7, 1940 [$1.00 had the same buying power in July 1940 as $19.23 in May 2021.]

We Will Copy Your Favorite Old Photograph
There’s only one way to save those beloved old heirlooms – and that’s to copy them before they fade away forever…

Entirely irrelevant… a few great songs published on July 8, 1940:


“There is No Greater LoveAndy Kirk And His Clouds of Joy; Pha Terrell; Isham Jones; Marty Symes; July 8, 1940


“Midnight Stroll,” Andy Kirk And His Clouds of Joy; June Richmond; Sammy Lowe; Stanley Adams; July 8, 1940


“Now I Lay Me Down To Dream,” Andy Kirk And His Clouds Of Joy; Ted Fio Rito; Eddy Howard; Pha Terrell; July 8, 1940

Roaring… Reform… Romance… Rats…

July 3, 2021
1940, PM


(“Mexican Elections Heated Wind Up,” photos by Margaret Bourke-White)


“Rifftime,” Erskine Hawkins (The Twentieth Century Gabriel) and his Orchestra; Avery Parrish, Bluebird (B-11161-B), 1940


PM, July 3, 1940 (Interview by Cecelia Ager) [Raft was a close friend of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, etc. etc…]


“I Smell a Rat,” “Young” Jessie And His Orchestra; “Young” Jessie; Stoller; Leiber, Modern Hollywood (921), 1954


“They Drive By Night,” 1940, associate producer, Mark Hellinger…

“They Drive By Night,” 1940, trailer