“I put the radio on louder…”

September 17, 2021
1940, NY Times, PM


“Wild Mab of the Fish Pond”; Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra; Dale Bennett; Publication date: September 17, 1940

It Was About Time

…Printing House Square…
PM, September 17, 1940, p.9


“1. Telephone Bell – 2 Rings”; 1960

NEW YORK: A City of Telephone Users
PM, September 17, 1940, p.15 (Photos by Ray Platnick and Gene Badger)


“The Telephone Is Ringing”; Pee Wee Crayton; P. W. Crayton; October 1956

Paul Robeson Introduces Songs of Spanish War

He Will Be Commentator Tonight on WQXR (9) for Radio Debut of ‘Lost Records’
PM, September 17, 1940, p.11 (Photo by Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson)


6 Songs For Democracy”; Ernst Busch; Brecht; Elseler; Weinert; Palacio; Espinosa; Ernst; Daniel; Discos De Las Brigadas Internacionales (1A)

[Paul Robeson Hosts WQXR Program]


PM, September 17, 1940, p.9

Murder, Inc. Witness

She Tended Baby As Reles Killed
PM, September 17, 1940, p.9


The New York Times, September 17, 1940

RELES CONFESSES 5 MORE KILLINGS

Increases Number to Eleven as He Appears at the Trial of Strauss and Goldstein

TURNS ON 2 OLD FRIENDS

Tells of Getting Orders From ‘Boss,’ Waterfront Leader, to ‘Take’ Feinstein
The New York Times, September 17, 1940


“Night and Day”; Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra; Cole Porter; Publication date: September 17, 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

“There will be additional examples of the photographer’s work.”

September 14, 2021
1941, exhibition


The New York Times, September 14, 1941

NOTES OF CAMERA WORLD

…The exhibition, “Murder Is My Business,” by Weegee (Arthur Fellig) is being extended at the Photo League, 31 East Twenty-first Srtreet, until Sept. 23. There will be additional examples of the photographer’s work.


“A Good Man Is Hard To Find”; Les Brown and his Orchestra; Butch Stone; Eddie Green; Publication date: September 14, 1941

“…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

“Art Notes”

September 10, 2021
1941, exhibition


“Says Who? Says You, Says I!”; Cab Calloway and his Orchestra.; Cab Calloway; Mercer; Arlen; Harding; Publication date: September 10, 1941


Daily Worker, September 10, 1941, p.7

…Weegee’s (Arthur Fellig) exhibition is proving so popular at the Photo League that it is being extended one week to Sept. 23. A new and second edition of the exhibition is now on view at the Photo League Gallery, at 31 E. 21st St. Hours 1 to 10 week days, 2 to 6, Saturdays.
Daily Worker, September 10, 1941, p.7


“Laughing Boy Blues”; Woody Herman And His Orchestra; Woody Herman and The Laughing Boy; Sammy Cahn; Saul Chaplin; Publication date: September 10, 1941

“Due To Increase In MURDERS”

September 9, 2021
1941, PM


“Body and Soul”; Dinah Shore; Henry Levine and his Dixieland Octet of NBC’s Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street; Heyman; Sour; Eyton; Green; Publication date: September 9, 1941


PM, September 9, 1941, p.18

PM’s Weegee Exhibits More Of His Police-News Photos

Our Police Headquarters photographer, Weegee, got his name in all the camera magazines last month when the Photo League put on a show of his news pictures. Yesterday, prompted by gallery-visitor response to the first, the League opened a second edition of the exhibition in its clubroom at 31 E. 21st St. The new show, a complete change of pictures from the first, will run throgh Sept. 27 – 1 to 10 p.m. weekdays, 2 to 6 on Saturdays, no admission charge. Above, in a photo by one of the League members, Weegee puts finishing touches to the display. Typical comments in the visitors’ book: “Great pictures”… “Terrific”… “Could do better with a Brownie”… Have gone away for the week end to recuperate.”


“Miss You”; Dinah Shore; Charlie, Harry and Henry M. Tobias; Publication date: September 9, 1941

“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