Hoofs? Isn’t it hooves? Apparently, both are correct. Who knew? It behooves me to end this discussion.
Hoofs? Isn’t it hooves? Apparently, both are correct. Who knew? It behooves me to end this discussion.
Drummer by Richard Carlile is the literary equivalent of David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs? Who knew?
I obviously still have Georgia on my mind.
While searching for NYE related material, I stumbled upon Repeat Performance at classicfilmchat.com. It’s a film noir that I’ve yet to see but this description is enticing:
It stars Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, and Virginia Field and features Richard Baseheart, Tom Conway, and Natalie Schafer. It’s film noir (with a touch of fantasy) about a lot of unpleasant people in the theatahhh in New York.
The story opens with murder, and when the star wishes she could live the year over again she is, of course, magically able to. But she discovers the results frightening.
We don’t want to give away any of the intricate plot points. Just take our word for it. It’s a unique take on New Year’s resolutions. It’s a true classic
At the risk of repeating my performance, it sounds enticing. We begin with the poster:
Holy smoking gun, Batman.
It’s lobby card time:
The trailer isn’t online BUT Eddie Mueller’s Noir Alley introduction is:
How the hell did I miss that? I am a sinner in the church of the Noir Czar.
I grew up on Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mysteries. My mom was a fan and she introduced me to the books. I never got into growing orchids, but my paunch currently resembles that of William Conrad and Maury Chaykin who played the detective on teevee.
And Four To Go is a short story anthology that kicks off with the holiday classic Christmas Party.
The holiday theme continues:
Chester Himes was a crime fiction writer whose own life story was nearly as interesting as his books. He grew up in Cleveland and attended Ohio State University. He fell afoul of the law and was convicted of armed robbery. He began writing in prison and started selling stories to the pulps then Esquire Magazine. That eventually led to an early parole. The rest is crime fiction history.
Here are two of his books featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones:
I certainly wouldn’t smile at this kid. Her lips are sealed and so are mine.
It’s a day for ritual as well as gluttony. I’ll be publishing both my annual Thanksgiving posts this year. I’m determined to disprove the notion that liberals hate this holiday. Scott Atlas is not invited.
This book cover makes its fourth appearance here at First Draft.
What’s Thanksgiving without some lagniappe. Here are Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg mashing potatoes:
I don’t know about you but courting death at a weekend party would make me shudder. What’s wrong with this guy?
This week’s edition is inspired by my plug of my Bayou Brief column. I stumbled into the other cover while doing my research. I hope Conroy was wrong about that.
This is a short story collection so I’m keeping this short. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Crazy, Daddy-O.
I had never heard of Orrie Hitt until I saw the vintage cover of Shabby Street. He was an interesting figure known for writing socially aware books in pulp drag. He was wildly prolific; writing over 150 books using many pseudonyms.
It turns out that I’ve done this book before BUT I missed the second cover and Orrie’s story, which was a Hitt with me. There was, however, a swell gag in the earlier post.
Hodding Carter was a distinguished journalist. He was a Southern liberal when it was dangerous to be one.
I did not know that he’d ever written a novel but sometimes you strike gold when you go down an internet rabbit hole.
Trivia Time: The author’s son Hodding Carter III was the State Department spokesman during the Carter administration.
New Orleans Trivia Time: The author was married to Betty Werlein of New Orleans. People of a certain age will remember the much loved Canal Street music store, Werlein’s. It’s now the home of The Palace Cafe.
This week’s entry took me on a voyage of discovery; a minor one. Initially, I wasn’t sure if The Dirty Look Librarians was a genuine vintage cover or a parody. It’s the real deal.
Hell, I couldn’t even find a file big enough to post here until I consulted with the Pulp Librarian. That’s a fancy way of saying I stole these pictures from one of his old tweets, which is posted below the pictures. I did, however, use the teeny-tiny picture of the cover as the featured image. I like messing with my readers.
I don’t know about you but I’d never mess up their shelving.
A dirty look is worth a thousand words. I learned that from living with the Queen of Dirty Looks, Della Street.
Here’s the tweet I alluded to:
The real "Dirty Look #Librarians" – the models giving *that look* for Robert Maguire's cover art… #librarygirl pic.twitter.com/OLRqvVcwqA
— Pulp Librarian (@PulpLibrarian) February 17, 2015
It’s time for another Eddie Muller/Noir Alley special. Night Editor is a swell little noir based on a successful radio series. It was intended to be the first in a movie series but things didn’t go as planned.
Here’s Eddie on Night Editor in two parts:
Dig that crazy home Tiki Bar, y’all. It gave me an earworm:
Erle Stanley Gardner was a prolific author. The Perry Mason books weren’t his only series. There were also nine books featuring D.A. Doug Selby. The D.A. Breaks An Egg was the final book in that series.
In my extended family battle ax is an affectionate term. My favorite aunt prided herself on being a battle ax and a tough broad. This post is a tribute to all the battle axes out there. Long may you run.
I just gave myself an earworm. This is a song about a car but it works: my Aunt Mary had a radar detector in her car when she was 80.