PM, May 2, 1941
A truly great review of Citizen Kane by Cecelia Ager…
PM reviews Citizen Kane…
Orson Welles…
“Espositos Guilty…”
PM, May 2, 1941 (photos by Peter Killian)
(Anthony Esposito and William Esposito found guilty of murder… Ann Corio (and Ed Sullivan), and a diminished May Day Parade…)
Modern Museums and Movie Openings
PM, May 1, 1941, p.7
“Here’s What Makes a Museum Modern by Henry Simon.”
(“Coffee Concerts” started at 9 PM. Museum admission was $1.50. In May 1941 $1.50 had the same buying power as $27.59 in March 2021; in May 2021, museum admission is $25. The Sophistichords, Herman Chittison, solo, and John Kirby and his Orchestra, from Cafe Society Uptown… One of the songs performed by Herman Chittison at MoMA on April 30, 1941 was The Man I Love. One of the songs performed by John Kirby and his Orchestra was Double Talk.)
Museum of Modern Art to Present Series of Non-Concert Music Including Swing, Folk Songs, Gospel Singers, Spanish Dancers, and Voodoo Drummers… PDF of press release.
The Man I Love, Herman Chittison, 1941 (piano solo).
Double Talk, John Kirby and his Orchestra, 1941.
PM, May 1, 1941, p.7
‘Citizen Kane’ Gets A Running Start
Citizen Kane, the Orson Welles movie which for four months has withstood a nationwide Heartskrieg, opens tonight, 8:30, at the Palace. Its advance business, nourished by the newspaper controversy, is booming…
…”I can always show it,” he said. “I’ll show it in a ballpark with four screens, in auditoriums, at fairs, in circus tents, in necessary…”
Flamingo, Herman Chittison, 1941 (piano solo).
I Should Care, Herman Chittison Trio, 1945.
May Day
Extra! Weegee!, pp. 300-301
“Weegee” Lends a Helping Hand
New York — Down at the Bronx Terminal Market, 151st and Exterior Sts., to cover the picketing by retail dealers, photographer “Weegee” got into the swing of things and carried a placard for the picketers. Here, he holds up the sign denouncing black marketeers, all the while puffing on his big cigar and keeping his camera handy for a good picture. The market was picketed by dealers protesting the black market and tie-in sales.
5/29/45
PM, August 20, 1940
They’d Sooner Be at the Beach But, Heat or No Heat, Jobs Are Scarce
Weegee, the wag, finished up the day by taking his own picture in the darkroom. Note camera release in his hand.
“Ellington Fantasy”
Hugo Montenegro, Ellington Fantasy, Vik, LX-1106, 1958
“Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, July 23, 25 and 31, 1957.”
Photo by Weegee.
“Conductors and Composers of Popular Orchestral Music: A Biographical and Discographical Sourcebook, by Musiker and Musiker, 1998
Billboard, May 26, 1958
Recreation of Hugo Montenegro’s Ellington Fantasy album with recordings of 78s by Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra:
Black and Tan Fantasy, 1927
Sophisticated Lady, 1940
Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me, 1940
Solitude, 1934
Azure, 1937
Mood Indigo, 1930
Caravan, 1937
In a Sentimental Mood, 1935
I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good, 1941
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, 1947
I Didn’t Know About You, 1944
I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart, 1938
Happy Birthday anniversary to DUKE ELLINGTON…
Top Hats in Trouble (THiT) at MoMA
“Dorothea Lange, Black Maria, Oakland, 1957″
(“Meyer Liebowitz/The New York Times, Umberto (Albert) Anastasia Shot to Death in Barber’s Chair, October 25, 1957″ on the left.)
Snapshots from the exhibition Gordon Parks and “The Atmosphere of Crime” at MoMA, April 2021.
Weegee (Arthur Fellig), Charles Sodokoff and Arthur Webber Use Their Top Hats to Hide Their Faces, 1942. (Print date?)
(moma.org screenshot)
Tempest Storm (1928-2021)
“Tempest STORM, ‘New’ Series – Large Photos, ‘Full Set,’ Only $1.00”
“Two Insurance Policies
$25,000 Each
Tempest Storm, the ‘Bazoom Girl’ has insured herself most definitely against occupational hazards to the merry tune of $50,000, naturally divided into two polices. Recently…”
“Everyone watches intently as the first spoonful of immortality is poured. Goo didn’t even tickle.”
“It’s a Boy?… 20 Pounds”
PM, April 21, 1941
Naked City (1945), p.230
“SEIZED AS FIREBUG”
The New York Sun, Monday, April 19, 1937, P. 2 (Photo by A. Fellig)
(On this day in history… 84 years ago today… a prewar portrait published…)
“Early one morning last week in the gashouse district on Manhattan’s lower East Side, a neat, grey-haired watchman named George Preston, 47, was caught setting fire to a rubbish heap under the stairs of a tenement house whose occupants lay sleeping. Watchman Preston, once a probationary fireman at Lynn, Mass., tearfully told police he took a few drinks every time he got a headache, set fires for excitement every time he took a few drinks. When he accompanied them to The Bronx, pointed out nine buildings he had previously fired, police believed they had cleared up a series of incendiary fires that have terrorized Bronx dwellers for two years. Firebug Preston carefully guided them, past locations where incendiary fires resulted fatally, pointed only to addresses where no lives were lost. Said the police: “These incendiary fires have caused us more worry than any five murderers.”
Time, April 26, 1937
PM, April 18, 1941
(“…earthworks… a statue…”)
PM, March 25, 1947 (Photo by Morris Gordon)
“Two thousand curious bystanders crowded sidewalks and fire escapes on buildings near 2078 Fifth Ave. yesterday…”
PM, March 27, 1947 (Photo by Morris Gordon)
“Fortress Against the World,” by Max Lerner
(“…earthworks… a statue…” and a park…)
WEEGEEWEEGEEWEEGEE 