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The Lost Boys
Success at a young age can be an intoxicating and
overwhelming experience. My only brush with this phenomenon happened in
the spring of 1971. Our school had gone on its yearly spring field trip
to a place called Loma Mar. The trip on the old ‘rickety rack’ bus was
long and monotonous. To a twelve year old who was bored easily, the trip
was close to torture. Honestly I didn’t even feel like going. I would
have much preferred staying home and working on my ‘hoop’ skills. But my
mom…the veto artist thought it would be fun. So as always Mom
won…and so I went. 
Did somebody say fun…huh!
After arriving I can remember yawning and staring
up at the redwood trees…ok…I had to admit that the trees were pretty
awesome, the air was different too…cleaner. It was probably close to
eighty degrees. Off to the side of the bus was a huge red facility…and
near it was a fenced in pool. I could see a bunch of people milling
around. Hum…this was interesting. Who were they?
The answer to my question came within seconds. One
of our teachers informed us that a small faction of the Disney film
company was here also…filming a movie. We all looked at each other. Then
the teacher said…
“The director also said that he needs some kids
for his movie…so tonight after dinner…he’s going to be there…and pick
four of you.”
Believe it or not...I was one of the kids picked
for the movie.
We spent five extra days up at Loma Mar filming. I
had all of two lines but that didn’t matter. I loved everything about
it. Between takes there was a lot of sitting around, but not me. I
bugged the cameraman to show me what he was doing. I watched the
director set up some scenes. I was his shadow, his little assistant.
The animal trainer took me to the shower room where the seals were.
They yawned at me and some growled.
“That’s Smokey “he said…the star of the film.”
Smokey “played” Salty in the movie. He was a nice
seal.
On our way home we heard there might be some people
meeting us at the school. The word had gotten out that some of us had
been picked to be in a movie. Actually the WHOLE school was there along
with our parents. I can remember looking out the window of the bus as we
pulled into the driveway…I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There
were people everywhere. I got off the bus and heard screaming and
applause, some kids touched me, others wanted my autograph. I was
staggering…I was something of a celebrity. The other kids wanted to hang
out with me. This lasted for awhile. Most everything was returning to
normal until a Sunday night in December when the movie…Salty the
Harbor Seal premiered on NBC. Some of the worshipers were
back for a few days and then they were all gone. A few months later I
was back to being just John…the kid who loved sports especially
basketball. It really didn’t feel too bad…
I was lucky because my small encounter with fame
was nothing like what The Lost Boys had to face.
They were on Broadway in a hit play and then just a few years later
bonafide movie stars, one at the ripe old age of fourteen. They were
heroes to some of the ‘real’ street kids who watched their movies
whenever they were lucky enough to find five cents. To the street kids
the boys were one of them…they expected to bump into them, in an
alley or down the street. Or maybe even better...meet them for a rumble.
Funny thing was…the boys in some ways…really were…what they
portrayed.
The
oldest was born June 3rd, 1917 in New York City. His middle
name was Bernard after his father. His first name was Leo. His last
name was Gorcey. His father stood 4’10 inches…and his mother 4’11. They
both worked in vaudeville. Leo was raised in a broken home. His father
had left the family upon discovering that his wife, Leo’s mother was
having an affair with an opera singer. Leo was twelve when his parents
divorced. He was angry with both parents. He was angry…period. Leo was
booted out of more than half a dozen schools for fighting. In high
school the other kids giggled at Leo’s sarcastic remarks at anyone who
annoyed him. They were all poor and he was fighting for them. He was
voted president of his drama club even though he complained that he
hated acting. Whenever he was late or his desk was empty the other kids
figured he'd been expelled again.
He
worked as a plumber for his Uncle Rob. He didn’t like the job much but
he had to work. His mouth was still getting him trouble. His uncle had
already fired him a half a dozen times. The job was boring, and Leo
wanted to be the boss. One day, after being fired again he went to the
Belasco theater to see his little brother. David Gorcey had a small role
in a play called…Dead End.
David was thrilled when his older
brother came around backstage. He was about to go on…that is until a
fellow actor got sick and collapsed. David persuaded Leo to go on the
stage...Leo grumbled “I ain't seen a script”…but still he agreed to go
on.
He decided to ad-lib the
scene...which mortified the director and his cast. But one man liked
what he saw. Sidney Kingsley the writer of the play asked Leo to
understudy the part of…Spit…Leo agreed and was paid thirty five dollars
a week. Soon it was fifty and by opening night Leo was no longer the
understudy. Maybe this acting thing wasn’t so bad after all…
Two other…lost boys…were acting
alongside Leo in Dead End.
One
was actually playing the lead, and Leo didn’t like him very much. The
feeling was mutual. His birth name was William Halop but everybody
called him Billy. He was three years younger than Leo. He had also been
born in New York City but unlike Leo’s family his wasn’t considered
theatrical. That is until his mother, who had been a dancer heard that a
small local radio station was looking for children. Billy was hired
immediately and made his professional debut when he was six years old.
His father, a lawyer by trade wasn’t thrilled by his young son’s
profession, but he figured it wouldn’t last long. Actually the opposite
occurred.

Billy continued to work in radio
and was joined by his sister Florence. From 1926 to 1933 he appeared on
two children’s shows. He liked the work, it was easy…a snap. Around New
York some people knew him by name. Later in 1933 Billy was asked to
replace another actor on a show called…The H-Bar-O Rangers…within
months the show was renamed The Bobby Benson Hour and the star
one Billy Halop was now a household name. During the summer Billy went
on a tour playing Bobby Benson.
When Billy was thirteen he played
Romeo in a radio version of Romeo and Juliet. A few months later
he was Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream. He was now earning 750
bucks a week. In 1935 he was the first actor cast in Dead End…a
play revolving around survival, dreams and regrets in the slums of New
York. . With all his experience and plus the fact he was already a radio
star Billy received the most money and his own dressing room. Leo and
the others sneered.
Dead
End opened on October 28, 1935 to rave
reviews and enthusiastic audiences. Singled out were Billy as Tommy, Leo
as Spit and the youngest member of the cast a precocious twelve year old
who played Angel.
Bobby Jordan who played Angel was
born April 1, 1923. Born with more talent than most, by four years old
he could sing, dance and play the saxophone. His mother took him to
talent shows in New York City and by the age of seven he debuted in the
play Street Scene. Bobby was ten when he appeared in a Universal
short subject. He also modeled for newspaper and magazine
advertisements. Bobby was attending a Professional Children’s school
when playwright Sidney Kingsley selected him to play Angel in Dead
End. 
Everybody liked Bobby. He was kind,
funny and enormously talented. Even grouchy Leo warmed up to the ‘runt’
as he called him. Billy respected Bobby’s all around ability, as did the
other cast members. He kept things light during rehearsals. Acting came
naturally. But still there was an edge to Bobby. You didn’t push him too
much. He was tougher than he looked.
Dead End
was a smash and would eventually end its run on Broadway in 1938. By
this time the ‘boys’ were in Hollywood. Bobby had arrived there first.
Samuel Goldwyn had acquired the rights to Dead End. Goldwyn
didn’t like the play very much but he liked money and he knew Dead
End was a potential moneymaker.
Goldwyn was right. Filming
started May 3, 1937. Director William Wyler tried to keep the boys in
line. They called him Willie and Goldwyn ‘Pops’. They laughed at some of
the other actors. Leo had the attention span of a gnat, waiting around
the set bored him to tears. He bought a car and racked up four tickets
in eighteen days. Even Bobby who was fourteen couldn’t resist going for
a ride. Within minutes he was back…with a ticket in his pocket. Billy
tried to keep his hi jinks to a minimum. He couldn’t resist engaging in
some on set pranks…but still he dreamed of being another Paul Muni. He
spent most of his time in his dressing room.
Humphrey Bogart was cast as killer
Baby Face Martin in Dead End. He gives one of his best
performances, glowing with menace and projecting a real evil. There’s a
scene where he teaches Billy to throw a knife that jumps off the screen.
Bogie and the boys got along well. That is until…bored again…they tossed
some live firecrackers in his dressing room. Bogie woke up to the
crackling and smoke, and let out a stream of obscenities. He didn’t
speak to the boys for awhile. Leo and the others felt bad. They liked
Bogie and called him ‘the prince’.
Dead End
opened to universal raves and impressive box office returns. The film
was nominated for four academy awards. Again...Leo, Billy and Bobby were
singled out for their realism and naturalistic acting. Regardless of
the reviews and the box-office Samuel Goldwyn wanted some payback. He
took the advice of one of his producers and sold the boys contracts to
Jack Warner. Let Warner have a few migraines, he thought.
At Warner’s Leo’s antic’s continued
to make the newspapers. Warner’s didn’t mind, they loved the free
publicity. In 1939 Leo was talking about getting married, this time a
few of the Warner’s suits stepped in “ Slow down Leo, if you reform too
soon it will be bad for business” Leo’s response?
He chartered a plane and eloped
with his sweetheart.
The boys were stars and eating it
up. Billy was the heartthrob of the group. He enjoyed the attention, but
still he was already thinking ahead. He was concerned about being
typecast. He continued to study acting and stay out of trouble. Bobby
was now the sole breadwinner for his mother and father…two brothers a
sister and a niece. He was fifteen years old.
Crime School was the first film that the
boys did for Warner’s.
The film was made fast and cheap. Humphrey Bogart
was back with the boys but this time instead of a playing a killer he
was portraying Deputy Commissioner Mark Braden. Crime School is a
well made and tight little crime thriller. Like in Dead End Billy
is pitted against Leo. Art was imitating life. Leo felt he should be the
leader of the group while Billy felt his acting was superior to Leo’s.
The Warner’s writers won the battle.
Jack Warner was not impressed with some of the
boys. After Crime School was in the can, Warner’s dropped the
contracts of Billy and Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsly. They
retained the services of Bobby and Leo. Billy and the others went to
Universal and made Little Tough Guy. Leo was grinning as Billy
left the lot. He was now the leader. That is until Crime School
opened and was an immediate box office smash. Jack Warner fired the
idiot who had convinced him to drop Halop and the others (actually it
was Warner’s decision) and swallowed his pride and asked them to come
back to the lot. He sweetened the deal by giving them all new contracts.
They were back in a flash.
Bobby had been busy. He acted alongside Edward G.
Robinson in A Slight Case of Murder and Pat O’Brien in My Bill.
The roles were on the small side but still Bobby was noticed. He was
branching out and showing off his versatility. He was now living with
his large family in Beverly Hills.
Warner’s had the boy’s next feature lined up and
ready to go. They had coaxed James Cagney to star, and had Bogie lined
up to play a corrupt attorney. A classic was in the making.
Originally
titled Battle of City Hall…Angels With Dirty Faces…is a
classic Warner Brothers gangster film. Tough and tender…lean and mean
with a lot of heart and soul,
The film also benefits from a fabulous performance
by James Cagney as career criminal Rocky Sullivan. Rocky comes home to
visit his old haunts and hookup with his best friend Jerry.
As kids Jerry and Rocky ran the streets and robbed
a train. Rocky was caught, Jerry escaped. Rocky is now a big time
gangster…while Jerry is the local priest who runs a home intended to
keep boys from crime. So here we have our morale center, with Jerry and
Rocky and the boys…the Angels of the title…slipping and sliding
along the edges and fighting their impulses.
Billy plays Soapy, again the leader who’s
occasionally challenged by Bim played by Leo. Bobby tags along as Swing.
During the making of the film Cagney showed the boys who…the real boss
was. Off the set Cagney was nothing like Rocky Sullivan but he
realized…rather quickly that he would have to continue being Rocky to
keep the boys in line. If Leo mumbled his lines…Cagney tagged him. When
Billy was feeling a little big for his britches and…blowing his lines,
Cagney pressed the script against his face and said…“Read it.”
Leo and the boys backed off and left Cagney alone.
This was no guy to push.
The film opened November 26, 1938. The response was
immediate and almost all positive. The film was eventually nominated for
three academy awards. The box-office returns thrilled Warner’s.
The boys were now…in more ways than one…bigger than
ever. Bobby and his family were living like movie stars and spending his
money as soon as Bobby cashed his checks. In a span of nine months Bobby
had purchased nine automobiles for his family.
Leo
was chasing women…ALL women. He was also chasing whiskey…
Billy was still pestering whoever would listen. He
was getting tired of being a Dead End Kid. The suits at Warner's liked
the kid, be patient they told him. Behind the scenes there were plans to
star the boys with another bad boy from New York. His name was John
Garfield…
They Made Me a Criminal began filming in
August of 1938. The boys liked Garfield but couldn’t resist playing him
for a fool… they told him director Busby Berkely wanted to speak with
him privately…about a mile from the main set. John walked the mile.
Berkley wasn’t there. No one was. There were more jokes until John
glared at the boys and snarled…
“Ya keep this up and I’ll drown ya…all of ya’
Garfield had heard what Cagney had done on the
Angels set and decided it was time to stand up to the boys. There
were no more practical jokes.
The
film opened in January of 1939 to mostly positive reviews. Garfield
garnered the most praise with Billy getting noticed for his dramatic
ability. Within a week of its completion Billy was informed that he was
going to get his chance to star in a film WITHOUT the other boys. Billy
was thrilled. Bogie was back to co-star.
The filming of You Can’t Get Away With Murder
went smoothly and like Garfield before him, Bogart was impressed by
Billy’s acting. The box-office was not as impressive causing the suits
to ponder if Billy could survive without the other boys.
Next
up was another hard hitting melodrama…Hell’s Kitchen.
Future president Ronald Reagan co-stars. Billy and
Leo are again quite good in their roles but Bobby as sickly Joey steals
the film. His death scene is easily the most powerful scene in the
movie. The film opened in the summer of 1939…Bobby received some of his
best notices since Dead End. The former runt was now taller than
Leo and almost eye to eye with Billy.
Angels Wash Their Faces followed soon after
Hell’s Kitchen. 
Again co-starring Reagan, the film is the weakest
of the Warner Brother programmers. Was Warner’s caving in to all the
controversy? The boys are much ‘lighter’ here then in previous efforts.
There acting seems off balance, and in a way it was. Warner’s was so
tired of there antics that they hired a guardian to keep an eye on them.
Of course the boys had to test this bozo…and as Leo recalls…
“Anyone who has ever been hit point blank with a
full-size, high pressure fire hose can understand that we were very good
kids while working on the rest of that picture."
Angels Wash Their Faces opened and closed
pretty quickly.
Next up was a change of pace…and a nice chance for
Leo to shine. He is quite good in the film, but sadly On Dress Parade
is NOT a very good movie. Written and filmed in an overly sentimental
and mawkish way it feels like a precursor for the some of the later…East
Side Kids films.
Bobby
and Billy had reunited with John Garfield in Dust Be My Destiny.
Their roles…as hobo brothers were small, but still it was fun hanging
out with Garfield again. Billy picked Garfield’s brain about the art of
acting while Bobby listened, and then sneaked off to read. A tragedy
almost occurred on the set one day. Garfield, Billy and Bobby were
filming a scene that called for them to run next to a moving train in a
real rail yard. At one point Billy slipped and found himself on the
other side of the track, facing an oncoming train. Bobby instinctively
reached out and pulled Billy to safety.
As the year 1939 ended so did the boys' contract at
Warner’s. Billy jumped over to Universal. Bobby and Leo were still at
Warner’s. But how could that be? Weren’t they fired? Yes and no…they
were still at the lot but…they probably weren’t going to be in any
future Warner Brother’s films.
Billy was waiting on Universal who was prepping a
new series for him, a…kids series. The advice he received was confusing.
He would be the leader ‘again’…of the Dead End Kids…and the Little Tough
Guy’s. A gang again…but bigger…he sighed…he was now twenty years old.
Leo was still at Warner’s…wasting away as a former
somebody. They did cast him in a couple of films, but the parts were
small and not important. Leo didn’t like it…for the first time in years
he had some down time. Not good. Down time meant more drinking…and more
women. Marriage hadn’t stopped him. One day Bobby called him…and
suggested he come over to Monogram studios...
“There ain't much money"…replied Bobby “and no
Cagney and Bogie…but it beats starving!”
Leo
joined Bobby on the set of Boys of the City...which was actually
the second East Side Kids film. The tone was much different then the
hard hitting Warner melodramas that had made them famous. The East Side
Kids films were lighter and focused a lot more on comedy. Boys
was a typical Monogram production, if you could call it that. The sets
were cheap, and the motivation was…make it quick and move on…but still
Leo was happy, Billy was long gone. Leo was finally the leader even
though it was Bobby who received top billing. Onscreen their chemistry
was easy and carefree, though off-screen Leo had no time for Bobby.
Call the Messenger was Billy’s first
Universal film. Combining the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guy’s the
film tried to recreate moments from Dead End and Angels…but
the critics didn’t see it. The Motion Picture Herald wrote “The
film is neither tremendous or trivial, mighty nor meager, but a sanely,
sensibly constructed item of product.”
Before
starting work at universal, Billy co-starred in Tom Brown’s School
Days which starred another former child actor…Freddie Bartholomew.
This was an important picture and Billy enjoyed playing the part of the
bully who pushed around Jimmy Lydon. The critics noticed too…singling
out his performance.
Bobby wasn’t surprised at the success of the East
Side Kids films. His agent told him that if he wanted to…he could go
over to Universal and reunite with Billy, Gabe and Huntz.in the next
Dead End Kid’s picture. Even Leo’s little brother David had a recurring
but small role in the series. Bobby pondered…the next East Side Kids
film was being prepped…there was the constant problem of bills and
demands from his family. Anyway he loved the work…
Bo bby
was on the set when You’re Not So Tough started production. Billy
was happy to see him as where the other boys. Tough’s reviews
were good, and the box-returns made Universal happy. The film is
definitely an improvement over Call the Messenger and is arguably
the best of the universal produced Dead End Kids pictures.
Back at Monogram, Leo was happy to see he was
receiving top billing on the next East Side Kids film…That Gang of
Mine. Shot in less the six days the film returned it’s investment
within weeks.
Monogram had a hit series on its hands.
Twenty more East Side Kid features were filmed…they
all made money. The cheap budgets didn’t matter, or the below average
scripts. There breezy banter…often ad-libbed by Leo, was funny. Leo
loved to ad-lib and his trademark malapropisms ("This
calls for drastic measurements") only made him more endearing to the
movie going public.
Universal
cast Billy and the boys in a couple of serials…the first one Junior
G-Men.
The boys had come a long way…their roles were more
heroic but the product that Universal was putting out was still
mediocre. The studio didn’t care because like the East Side Kids…their
films always made money. All in all eight films were produced along with
three serials.
Billy made Mug Town which turned out to be
his last film as a Dead End Kid; he enlisted in the military soon after
production was completed.
He
joined the Signal Corps and became Sergeant Halop. Universal considered
their revamped…Dead End Kids series…cancelled.
Bobby
had joined Billy at Universal for a couple of more Dead End Kids films.
In his last appearance in 1943 he actually played Billy’s role…the film…
Keep ‘Em Slugging was forgettable. But Bobby, playing the
leader…shined.
A few months later Bobby also joined the military
as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry Division. Neither
Bobby nor Billy was concerned about putting their careers on hold.
Leo’s number had also come up. A few days before
his induction, he was flying down Ventura Boulevard on his motorcycle.
The speed limit didn’t matter, but a blown rear tire did. Leo’s body
flew through the air and landed on the pavement. He broke both arms,
fractured his skull and broke some ribs. Leo was in a coma for a week
but somehow survived. Finally released almost a year later, he failed
the military’s physical. Refusing drugs to ease the chronic pain, he
drank even more. 
Fully recovered from his accident, Leo was looking
for something more. The ‘more’ was money. He didn’t like working for
peanuts, so he got together with Bobby’s manager who hammered out a
percentage deal for Leo. Huntz Hall also received a new contract. For
the next two years until 1945, Monogram and the East Side Kids made
eight more movies. Leo was the established star, with Huntz as his
number one sidekick. Within a year Leo would come up with another…bold
idea.
Bobby’s parents were missing their meal ticket, so
they begged him for help. He took a leave from his division and made an
appearance in Bowery Champs.
Bobby had trusted his parents to handle his money
while he was away. They handled it by going to the racetrack and
investing it in empty buildings. Bobby served two years and eleven
months sustaining a serious injury before he was discharged. He got
married on March 12th, 1946 and returned to Hollywood ready
to resume his career.
Billy was also discharged in early 1946 and wasted
no time contacting the studio…only…now things were different…“When I
came back to California in 1946, no one remembered who I was” he said.
He got married for the first time. Later in 1946 an
offer came to work in a East Side Kids knockoff called…Gas House Kids…also
staring Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer. Needing money Billy took the job. He
felt like Hollywood was laughing at him.
Leo
wasn’t worrying about much except maybe how much his latest divorce
settlement would cost. He had decided that since he was the star...and
the leader…the East Side Kids should have a new name…The Bowery Boys…or
from now on…Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys. The percentage deal
he had worked out with the studio was paying off handsomely. He was also
being paid to co-write some of the scripts and produce. The critics were
pretty kind to Leo and divided about The Bowery Boys but it really
didn’t matter. The films were critic proof. Leo was also dabbling in
real estate, and laughing all the way to the bank.
Bobby
had returned to the set to a find a new name for the boys and more focus
and Huntz and Leo and less on his character. Not one to complain he kept
to himself, but he was frustrated and debated quitting. Ultimately he
decided to hang around for awhile.
After the Gas House Kids opened Billy’s
phone didn’t ring. He brooded at home. But out of the blue his agent
called and told he was being cast in a film entitled Dangerous Years.
He felt he was finally free of the Dead End Kid’s label. He changed his
professional name to William Halop. The film also starred former little
rascal Scotty Beckett, who was about to embark on a long downward spiral
that would end tragically in Oakland, California twenty years later.
Billy waited anxiously for the release of
Dangerous Years. He felt good about his performance. Sadly when the
film opened, the critics barely noticed him. He was devastated and began
to drink more. He was offered another dead end kind of film and
turned it down flat. He joined the stage company of Golden Boy
and got out of town.
Bobby was also ready to go. He was sick and tired
of blending deeper and deeper into the background. His line’s had been
cut. He couldn’t help remembering when HE was the star of the East Side
Kids films. As the year 1947 ended…so did Bobby’s role in The Bowery
Boys series. He had had enough…
Leo was divorced for the second time in February,
1948. During the divorce proceedings his estranged wife Evalene stated
“Leo drinks to excess and carries a gun, my thirty one year old husband
can never forget the role he played in Dead End as a teenager.
He’s never stopped playing that role” Leo said nothing. The Bowery Boys
movie assembly line continued, if they missed Bobby, nobody said
anything.
Billy’s first marriage ended after only eleven
months. He tried again on February 14, 1948. He was looking for
stability in his life. His career was anything but stable; he co-starred
in a forgettable programmer called Challenge of the Range in
early 1949. He also had a bit part as a boat attendant in Too Late
for Tears. The name of the movie said it all…he bitterly replied…
“I hate the word dead end…I was typecast…I couldn’t
get work.”
There were no movie offers for Bobby either. His
family had informed him, that his money…was gone. Apparently his mother
liked to gamble. Bobby had developed a nightclub act and figured now was
the time to try it out. He was thinking comeback…at twenty five years
old. In his act he sang and did impersonations of Bogart and Cagney.
Most of the critic’s liked what they saw. So did the people, but it was
still hard to get steady work and Bobby missed making movies. Like
Billy, he began to drink heavily.
By 1955 Leo and The Bowery Boys had made forty one
films. The content of the films were now ALL comedies. It was the Leo
and Huntz slapstick show. Leo was tired of the grind. His drinking was
out of control. Confronted on the set of Crashing Las Vegas he
grew angry and belligerent. He was seeing ghosts…
“I just saw Papa in the chair over there.”
Huntz Hall ran over and motioned for everyone else
to stay away…
His voice was hushed…“Leo…Leo…you didn’t see
Bernard on the set…Bernard’s not here”
“Not here! I just saw him!!” Leo was crying…he
picked up a chair and started to destroy the set…” Papa…Papa…please come
back!!!”
Bernard
Gorcey had been a regular in The Bowery Boys films since 1947. Leo and
Huntz had created a character by the name of Louie…just for him. Bernard
had died seven months earlier. His death had shattered Leo, who had
worshipped him all his life. Now he was being haunted, everywhere he
looked he saw his father. Leo couldn’t concentrate; he was drunk
throughout the making of Crashing Las Vegas. The movie still made
money.
Bobby worked on the film Treasure of Monte
Cristo.
Was his comeback beginning? Sadly…No…there were no
film offers. In the 1950’s Bobby drifted to television and did find some
occasional work on such shows as A Watch for Joe and
The Steel Trap. He had smaller parts in Bonanza, Cisco kid, 77
Sunset Strip and Maverick. Bobby was also working as a
bartender, not so smart when you consider that he was an alcoholic.
Billy
had found work in radio and like Bobby…television. In January, 1953
Billy made his television debut on the series Rocket Squad. He
could also been seen in episodes of Footlight Parade, Favorite Year,
Cisco Kid, Telephone Time and Richard Diamond-Private Detective.
Working off and on, his internal demons were getting the best of him. He
was drinking more and talking suicide. His wife had left him…he felt
lost.
“ My rejection in Hollywood made me feel unwanted…I
started drinking to escape…one morning in 1953 I woke and didn’t know
who or where I was…the next thing I knew I was in a state hospital and
had a series of shock treatments…that brought my memory back…he never
drank again.”
Monogram now renamed Allied Artists wanted more
Bowery Boys films. Leo wanted more money. Showing up drunk at the lot to
discuss the future, Leo told them he wanted a bigger percentage deal.
The studio said no…
Leo said fine and slurred “get yourself another
sucker” and walked off the lot, never to return.
Bobby’s marriage ended in 1957. His wife couldn’t
handle his drinking. He had had a few run-ins with the law. Shortly
after his divorce he attempted to kill himself at a cheap motel in
Hollywood. He was saved by one of the motel staff who had found him in
the morning. Bobby eventually recovered. He tried calling some of his
old Hollywood friends. They were nice and said they would call him back,
but of course they never did…Bobby took whatever job he could fine…as he
said in 1960… “When I left the Dead End Kids I was all right for
awhile…but then I came to a dead end…I sold photograph’s as a door to
door salesman…but it isn’t very pleasant when people recognize
you…nothing came easy anymore.”
Billy could relate. He got married for the third
time in 1960. He was working as an electric dryer salesman and actually
received an award as the most creative salesman in the United Sates. He
was also acting occasionally and appeared in three Perry Mason
episodes, and surprised himself and went back to school. His wife
Suzanne suffered from multiple-sclerosis and Billy wanted to take care
of her. He worked as a nurse at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica. He
appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show when
word filtered through the grapevine that someone he had once worked
with…had died.
Leo had retired and bought a ranch in Los Molinos,
California. His fourth marriage had just ended. His drinking consisted
of one shot of whiskey an hour , a habit he had maintained for years He
appeared on The Dick Powell Show and had a bit part in
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World in 1963. He didn’t really miss show
business very much. His wives had given him two children, a boy and a
girl. He was up at his ranch when he learned that he would soon be
attending a funeral.
Bobby hung out at a bar on Hollywood and Vine. If
recognized by a tourist he was always kind and gracious. He hadn’t
worked in television in four years. He walked with a limp courtesy of a
freak accident in an elevator in the 1940’s. He was frustrated. Acting
was his life and that…had been taken away from him. He dove deeper into
the bottle.
He was living in a cheap apartment in Hollywood
with his mother. He saw his son when he could…
“My dad had a lot of disappointments” replied his
son Robert Jordan Jr.
Bobby was living with some friends in 1965. His
health was deteriorating…but still he drank. In August of that same year
he entered the Veterans Hospital in Sawtelle, California. His liver was
shot. The last week of his life his son was at his side…
On September 10th, 1965 the multi
talented, vibrant and underrated Bobby Jordan’s heart stopped. He was
only forty two years old. All the remaining Dead End Kids reunited for
his funeral. Leo later said…“Bobby Jordan must not have had a guardian
angel.”
Leo himself was next to go. He came across his
fifth wife from a Lonely Hearts Club magazine, they married in 1968. He
pondered a show business comeback but rarely left his ranch. In 1967 He
published his autobiography…
After walking away from the Bowery Boys in 1955,
Leo had also walked away from his brother David. In late May, 1968 he
collapsed and was taken to the Merritt Hospital in Oakland, California.
His thirty seven years of a shot an hour of whiskey had finally caught
with him. Like Bobby, his son Leo Jr. was at his side as his gifted and
driven father muttered his last words…
“Those dirty rats…those dirty rats”
Leo was one hour short of his fifty second
birthday.
Billy supplemented his income by working steadily
in television in the 1960’s. Unfortunately his third marriage had ended
in 1967. In 1971 he was cast in the hit show All in the Family as
Munson, a tough New York City cab driver. Was this poetic justice?
Billy was playing a tough guy from New York. He would eventually appear
in nine episodes, and feel himself being rediscovered. I can remember
watching an episode and being struck by something. I didn’t recognize
him from Dead End and Angels with Dirty Faces, two of my
favorite movies. It was that voice of his, deep, scratchy, and with a
brooklyneze drawl that made my eyes widen. Yes, said my dad who always
knew these kinds of things, that is the SAME Billy Halop.
Billy
died in his sleep on November 9th, 1976. He was fifty six
years old. He had lived long enough to witness some of his old movies
being called classics. He liked that…
And the so boys…the lost boys…had been found again.
Critics were talking about their gritty, hard-hitting films. Though
their personal lives had been filled with pain and tragedy, ultimately
they had been rediscovered by a new generation who loved their raucous
antics and reveled in their adventures on screen. Later as some of them
metamorphosed into The Bowery Boys they maintained their unique
personalities. One of them felt some bitterness, but near the end he
discovered a peace and serenity. They were the perfect fit for their
times, the golden age of the movies when…story…not special effects, was
the driving force.
John Raspanti © April 2008
John
Garfield:
Body and Soul
By John
Raspanti
Dark and cynical the young actor smoldered and
seethed and responded to his other actors with a rapid fire delivery and
intimidating intensity. Moviegoers watching from the shadows asked…who
is he? Listed as a supporting player he’s stealing the movie from his
more established co-stars. His wife later said “He’s got something”
She was right…that something was ‘real’ and the
audience could sense it.
Later in the movie, seated at the piano, a
cigarette dangling from his lips, he projects a cynicism and bitterness
unseen up to that point.
Playing a character named Mickey…he recites
Mickey’s lines as if he had written them himself…
Mickey “I wouldn’t win first prize if I were the
only entry in the contest”
Ann “Mathematically speaking, I think you’d stand a
fine chance”
Mickey “You think they’d let me win”
Ann “Who?”
Mickey “They”
Ann “Who?”
Mickey “The fates, the destinies, whoever they are
that decide what we do or don’t get”
Ann “What do you mean”
Mickey “They’ve been at me now for a quarter of a
century. No let-up. First they said…Let him do without parents…He’ll get
along…Then they decided, He doesn’t need any education…That’s for
sissies…Then right at the beginning, they tossed a coin...heads he’s
poor, tails, he’s rich.. So they tossed a coin and…”
This was no high brow kid from Beverly Hills
‘playing’ a lost soul…this was somebody who knew how it felt to be lost
and could channel it through his acting. He wasn’t quite sure how he did
it, oh the method helped but ‘it’ was something else…something deep
inside of him.
Where did that something come from?
He was born March 4, 1913 into the poverty of New
York’s Lower East Side to David and Hannah Garfinkle. His parents named
him Jacob Jules Garfinkle. Twenty five years later, in his very first
movie he was a sensation but his name wasn’t Garfinkle.
It was Garfield…John Garfield.
His early life was difficult. His parents were both
Immigrants. There was very little money. The flat they lived in on
Rivington Street was a slum apartment; there was no heat in the winter.
There was barely a bathroom, as each floor’s tenant had to share a
single toilet. In the summer, the family climbed out on the fire escape
or up to the roof to hopefully get some sleep.
His father David worked long hours as a pants
presser. He immersed himself in the culture of the old country. John
never understood his father. He related much more to his mother who by
all accounts was warm, outgoing and very supportive of her young son.
When John was five years old his mother gave birth to another son named
Max. John was excited but could sense a change in his mother. The
pregnancy had been difficult on her and their hard life in the slums
unbearable at times. Her health slowly deteriorated until she died in
1920. John didn’t know what to do. If his mother hadn’t died it’s likely
that he wouldn’t have hit the streets like he did, but it was right
there…so close…right down the steps and out the door. To John it was
like the call of the wild so…he went for it.
On
the streets again, John left the pain behind him. He liked practical
jokes and ditching school. He had developed a stutter, but that didn’t
stop him. He was full of energy and loved showing off. It was all
mischief and fun. People liked him; he soon joined a street gang and had
his first street fight in a vacant lot not far from where he lived. He
learned about loyalty. His father tried moving his family to the Bronx,
but basically he felt an indifference towards John and Max. They were a
burden, he shipped them off to other relatives were John learned more
and more tricks like…how to steal without being caught. His father
remarried in 1925. Her name was Dinah and she cared, cared enough to
spend more time at school then John did, explaining his absences. John
didn’t see that way. He already had a job selling newspapers. He wanted
to quit school completely not an uncommon thing in a household where
money was so scarce. Anyway he had discovered something called acting
and loved performing for the other kids. But still John wanted to quit
school. Dinah said no as did his Father. John mouthed off as usual. They
wanted him to get some kind of an education, the problem was finding a
school that would engage John, challenge him.
Her friends told Dinah about a school in the Bronx
with a reputation for dealing with ‘problem’ children. The school was
run by a man named Angelo Patri who tended to be a bit unorthodox in his
thinking about education. If he found a student with a particular
talent…like acting…Patri would allow the student to concentrate more on
their’ talent’ than on the more traditional ‘three R’s’. So John was
sent to live with another of his uncles. At first he didn’t like his new
school. John was suspicious of adults but Patri was different. He went
out of his way to help him. John’s grades weren’t very good but he did
well in Drama. Patri was immediately surprised and impressed at how
quickly John was able to grasp character development. He could see that
he was a natural. His grades started to improve. John shocked everyone
but himself and Patri by coming in second place in a city wide
oratorical contest. He later said of Patri “For reaching into the
garbage can and pulling me out…I owe him everything”
John
applied at The American Laboratory Theater. He impressed Maria
Ouspenskaya, one of the more prominent drama teachers with his reading
of an Edgar Allan Poe poem. Still she needed more and gave him a month
to show some promise which he did in the first week. She then awarded
him a full seven month scholarship. John was sixteen years old. David
Garfinkle thought John’s acting career was ‘silly’. He considered actors
‘bums’. John worked odd jobs and continued to study acting. His lust for
life and pursuit of adventure caused more chaos as he went on a cross
country ‘vacation’ riding the rails and for months living the life of a
hobo. He returned ill having contracted typhoid fever which permanently
damaged his heart.
After resting and recovering for over a month John
debuted on Broadway in 1931. He landed a small part and was thrilled. He
also auditioned and received parts in two other plays. His confidence
was growing. In 1934 he joined the Group Theater. That same year he had
met playwright Clifford Odets and the two clicked. Odets had been
involved with the group since its infancy…and he endorsed John to Lee
Strasberg. Strasberg didn’t think much of Odets but after witnessing
John’s improvisation with a Picasso painting he was impressed enough to
add him to the roster.

The Group Theatre was conceived by
Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg in 1931. The goal of
the group was to produce serious, socially realistic plays that
portrayed the times that they were living in. They would act in an
ensemble and promote a new ‘acting’ technique called ‘the method’…which
is a style of acting where the actors use real life emotional
experiences and then incorporate that experience into the character they
are playing. John was already using the method without even recognizing
it. His method was instinct and he followed it without
hesitation. Not as experienced as the others he still had an ability to
connect with the character. Strasberg could see John’s talent but the
actors considered him green and very naïve. To them he was just some
enthusiastic local kid who probably wouldn’t amount to much. What they
couldn’t see was John’s inner drive and determination. He would NOT be
denied.
In 1935 John got married. He was
twenty one, and Robbe his wife twenty. They had known each other since
John was fourteen. Robbe was strong willed and political. John was
pretty easy going and bored by politics. Still they were madly in love
and saw no point in waiting. Anyway his acting career was going pretty
well, in the next 18 months he appeared in six plays.
John received good notices for his
performances in such plays Awake and Sing and Waiting for
Lefty. Both of these productions were written by Clifford Odets whom
John considered a friend. In 1937 he was acting in a more traditional
Broadway play called Having A Wonderful Time, and again he
received some very positive reviews. His so called friends in The Group
were not nearly as impressed, they had ridiculed his performance. A lot
of the criticism could be explained by personal jealousy. Here was this
green kid doing better than them. John was hurt but as was his habit, he
said nothing. Backstage after the play he was visited by Odets, who told
John he was writing a new play specifically for him. John was
ecstatic…the play was Golden Boy and he felt the part was
perfect.
In
reality the part of boxer Joe Bonaparte, part time violinist and boxer
WAS perfect for John. But by the time the play was cast another actor
was playing Bonaparte. John was stunned; he couldn’t believe that Odets
had broken his promise. Outwardly he hid his disappointment and played
the part of Siggie. The play opened in November 1937 and was a smash
hit. John still felt the sting of discontent and bitterness. Officials
from Warner Brothers and MGM contacted him; they wanted to give him a
screen test. He thought what the hell and showed up at the New York
offices. He hadn’t told anybody, it was his instinct and impulsiveness
leading him again. He didn’t believe anything would happen anyway, it
was all a joke…the movies?
How wrong he was. A few weeks after
the test both studios offered contracts. John signed up with Warner’s, a
two picture deal that would be completed within a year. Could he survive
for one year in Hollywood? He thought one year was plenty.
Of course after John informed The
Group that he was on his way to Hollywood, they reacted in disbelief.
“Who do you think you are?” they said.
They
told him he was extremely limited as an actor, and that they would no
longer speak to him during the run of Golden Boy. John felt
badly, and tried to explain himself. Some eventually forgave John,
others didn’t. They probably realized that John was destined to be a
star. John wasn’t thinking movie star as much as survival. He had enough
self doubts to sink a ship. But he was curious.
His first film was Four
Daughters a bit of a tearjerker about four sisters and their father.
John was cast as Mickey and had decided that he would be as professional
as he could. The film was completed quickly and so John moved on to his
second picture. He had taken to film acting immediately but still
considered the whole scene a lark, but he liked the money and Robbe was
pregnant. Jack Warner had also convinced John to change his name from
‘Jules Garfield’ to John. He completed his work for Warner Brothers and
went home. He figured he wouldn’t hear anymore from Warner’s He just
didn’t think his acting was that good.
Then Four Daughters opened.
The film was a hit and John was a star. The audience felt his power and
magnetism. He couldn’t be acting; he was too down to earth, too genuine.
He was…like them. A few months later he was nominated for an academy
award. John was in shock.
And so the movie career of John
Garfield was born. Unfortunately for awhile he was typecast. John had in
essence played the first rebel onscreen. He was the ‘father’ of Clift,
Brando, Dean and later Pacino and Deniro. He made Blackwell’s Island
and They Made Me a Criminal with the Dead End Kids in 1939, both
films were box-office hits. His rollercoaster-like confidence was sky
high. Warner’s thought they had another James Cagney but John had his
own other ideas, and demanded something different. He got it with
Juarez co-starring alongside Paul Muni. His role was a general named
Porfiro Diaz, but he was miscast and he knew it.
Next
was a sequel to Four Daughters and a few more potboilers. John
was bored. He was getting tired of repeating himself. He again demanded
something different. They gave him a script called Saturdays Children,
John liked it. He was playing a doctor, not a street kid on the run, or
a boxer, just a regular guy. The reviews were good, unfortunately the
movie died a quick death at the box office, proving to Warner’s that
John had to be in a ‘John Garfield Picture’. They pushed him into doing
East of the River which John loathed. His performance revealed
his distaste for the script. The excitement that he had created with
Four Daughters was dying down, his career was slumping but women
were now throwing themselves at John and he had no problem catching what
they were throwing. This was all heady stuff for the poor boy from the
Bronx. Robbe might have sensed something but chose to ignore it.
He turned down a number of scripts
Warner’s offered; got himself suspended. He went back to the stage. He
knew he needed to something different. Then he heard that The Sea
Wolf was about to go into production, he pushed for the role of
Leach. As a kid he had loved Jack London’s stories, he met with Jack
Warner and pleaded his case. Warner finally agreed. Even though his role
was supporting, John didn’t care. Edward G. Robinson got top billing.
The film was a huge hit at the box office. Next he did Out of the Fog
with Ida Lupino. John played a ruthless gangster and was superb,
receiving some of the best notices of his career.

For
the next few years John Garfield alternated between staring and
co-starring in his films. He acted alongside Spencer Tracy in
Tortilla Flat and Cary Grant in Destination Tokyo. He enjoyed
himself immensely, throwing everything he had into the World War 11
drama, guilty perhaps by the fact that his weakened heart made it
unlikely he would serve. John watched old pros Tracy and Grant closely.
He was back as the star in The Fallen Sparrow a part drama, part
mystery with a little bit of film noir thrown in.
John
still longed for a challenge and got it with Pride of the Marines
the true story of World War II hero…Al Schmid. For once John didn’t have
to lobby for the part, Warner’s felt there was only one actor who could
play the role…John Garfield. Al Schmid didn’t think of himself as a
hero. Sent to Guadalcanal, Al and his fellow marines are assigned the
job of preventing the Japanese from breaching their line. During a night
attack, many of his fellow Marines are killed, but Al ends up
single-handedly saving the day, killing hundreds of Japanese soldiers.
Wounded during the battle he loses his eyesight. John wanted realism, he
didn’t just want to play at being blind, he wanted to feel as much of it
as he could. He spent two weeks at the Naval Hospital studying the
mentality of blinded soldiers. He hung out with Schmid for over a month,
taking notes…watching him. The film was released in August 1945 and the
response was overwhelming. John’s acting was praised universally as was
the film.
Reaching
a new height in his career John took a major hit in his personal life
that he never fully recovered from. His daughter Kathleen died suddenly
at age seven. John came home to find his daughter already gone, her limp
body being cradled by his wife. He burst outside and howled in anguish a
gun at his side. He wandered the Hollywood Hills until his friends were
able to talk him down. John never talked about the death of his
daughter…but whenever the subject came up…his face would slacken and his
eyes would drop to the floor. He was soon back to work…
During the war John and Bette Davis opened the
Hollywood Canteen, a club offering food and entertainment for American
Soldiers. He traveled to Yugoslavia, North Africa and Italy…entertaining
the troops. Forever reeling after the death of his daughter he tried to
be a more attentive father but always felt disconnected.
In 1946 he had another hit with The Postman
Always Rings Twice alongside Lana Turner. John was perfect as
‘noirish’ character Chambers. His Warner’s contract expired after he
completed Nobody Lives Forever and Humoresque. He wanted
something else. He had played a variety of characters over the years…the
guy on the lam…the guy in prison…the guy with a chip on his shoulder. He
was a comic Romeo in Tortilla Flat and then an Irish-American
fighting Nazis in The Fallen Sparrow. Most of his performances
were quite good…others only so so. He knew this…
“If I don’t find the truth”…he said “I fail
miserably”
What to do? How about form your own independent
film company. John did this in 1947 with Enterprise Studios, being one
of the first actors to take this step.
“I want to make pictures with a point-zing, spit,
fire” he said
His company’s first film…with John as the star was
Body and Soul and it had all of the zing, spit and fire he was
looking for. It’s a morality play with John playing Charley Davies a
poor kid from the slums who fights his way to the top without bothering
to notice all the carnage piled up around him. John had played a boxer
before, but rarely with so much depth and darkness. This is film noir at
its finest with the good girl and the femme fatale mixing it up with a
healthy dose of cynicism. Some fifty years later the dialogue still
crackles…Charley fed up with his mother’s attempt to get financial
assistance says…
“Shorty, get me that fight from Quinn. I want
money. Do you understand…money, money!’
His mother replies “I forbid, I forbid. Better buy
a gun and shoot yourself”
Charley retorts “You need money to buy a gun!”
Money, money, money…that’s what Charley is…a money
machine. And he thinks that’s all he needs to be…ignoring all the
corruption floating around him. He loses almost everything, including
himself until the end when he agrees to engage in a fight he really
doesn’t want.

After the fight, Charley, gets accosted by the
mobster Roberts…who says
“Good fight, champ”
Charley locked in a stare down with the mobster
remarks “Get yourself a new boy. I retire”
Roberts “What makes you think you can get away with
this?”
Charley “What are you going to do…kill
me?...everybody dies”
It’s a classic line…and pure Garfield.
For his efforts in Body and Soul, John
received his second academy award nomination. The fact that he didn’t
win was disappointing but as he proved in Body and Soul
and to a larger extent a year later, Garfield the actor had matured and
taken his God given talent to another level.
He followed Soul with Gentleman’s
Agreement; which starred Gregory Peck. John was cast in a supporting
role and didn’t appear until the halfway point, but when he did he
brought energy and focus to the screen. Peck was impressed by his
co-star.
“He had strength, a poise, an inner calm”
John considered the theme of the film…anti Semitism
so important that he worked for scale. The film and John received mostly
enthusiastic reviews.
The
next project to showcase John’s talents was Force of Evil another
noirish tale written and directed by the same man who wrote Body and
Soul…Abraham Polansky. Stretching himself, John found the main
character a bit of a mystery. He couldn’t relate to him. Joe Morse is an
educated man, a super slick lawyer who uses the power of words to get
what he wants. Morse concocts a
brilliant plan
for his mobster boss to take over all of the smaller numbers rackets in
the city by ‘fixing’ the lottery to fall on the number…776…a number
everyone…since it’s July 4th has bet on. The only catch in
the plan is that Joe's semi-estranged older brother, played by Thomas
Gomez runs such a racket. Joe feels guilty and wants to give him his
brother a break. A day before the first scene was to be shot; John still
couldn’t ‘find’ the character of Morse. He was beginning to panic until
a friend gave him a Phi Beta Kappa key attached to a watch chain. That
was it…John now understood Joe Morse. It’s interesting when watching the
film how many times he fingers the key.
The film itself is extremely compelling and
beautifully filmed. Combining guilt, and ambition, corruption and
ultimately redemption Garfield gives what many reviewers feel is his
career defining performance. Using his natural charm he strips Joe Morse
of his cocky confidence and reveals a man who is terrified, and guilt
ridden. Near the end of the movie Garfield searches for his now missing
brother…running down a path and then a steep set of stairs, his own body
lost as if he’s in daze…his voiceover is haunting…
“I just kept going down and down there. It was like
going down to the bottom of the world”
John’s
film career peaked in 1948. Over the next three years he made a total of
four films. He played skipper Harry Morgan in The Breaking Point
a more faithful adaptation of Hemingway’s novel, To Have and Have Not
then the Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall version. Warner’s picked
Michael Curtiz to direct. The experience was enjoyable for all involved.
The film’s reviews were good, but the box office was not. John was
surprised but lurking above him was a black cloud. The cloud was the
communist scare and John was right in the middle. He had always been
liberal in his politics, signing documents without paying much attention
and attending meetings with his wife. She was the political animal, John
considered himself inferior intellectually. He did believe passionately
in equality and justice for all, but still he thought of himself as the
poor kid from Brooklyn still trying to prove himself. He never forgot
how the writers who he admired so much would snicker at some of his
comments or when he used the wrong words. Back at home he had filled a
room with books, all classics. He said he read them all when in
reality…he had not. But he was no communist. His problem was he probably
knew a few and someone who was very close to him was at one
point…definitely a communist. 
In April, 1951 the house committee on Un-American
activities subpoenaed him to testify. John was stunned but appeared and
answered the committee’s questions. His personal code was in place, he
would not name names. He would not rat out his friends. He would not
name his own wife as a communist. Most felt he did well but he was
unofficially blacklisted. The studios would not touch him. Others
testified after him, none said he was communist. United Artist’s
possibly trying to exploit his notoriety did release his last film
before he was blacklisted. The film, He Ran all the Way was well
done and John, playing a criminal for the first time in many years is
excellent.

But again the box-office was poor, depressing John
even more.
Unemployed and now separated from his wife, John
tried everything he knew to clear his name. Nothing he did seemed to
help. He needed to work. His old friend Clifford Odets told him about an
idea he had. He wanted to revive his old play and he wanted John to play
the lead. The play was Golden Boy and this time John DID star as
Joe Bonaparte. The play opened in March 1952 to enthusiastic audiences
and very good reviews. But the darkness still hung around John. His
health wasn’t very good. He had suffered a heart attack a few years
before and he tired easily. But still he laughed it off. He was running
on all cylinders but barely getting any sleep.
He kept on running until May when exhausted he
stopped by a girlfriend’s hotel room to try and get some sleep. This
time he did sleep…but…didn’t wake up. It was over… John Garfield was
dead at thirty nine years old.
“You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep,
you were not bothered by things like that, oil and water were the same
as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about
the nastiness of how you died or where you fell”
Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe
John
Garfield was an extraordinarily gifted actor. His performances in
Body and Soul, Force of Evil and He Ran all the Way
are mesmerizing in their scope and depth. They live on as a testament to
his singular talent.
As a man he suffered from an inferiority complex
and self doubt. At times during his life shadings from his most popular
film, Body and Soul seemed to push him to do whatever he could to
get what he wanted. Near the end, it seemed like he was driven more by a
redemption of the soul than by…revenge. In that way he died by the code
of the streets…loyal to the end…ever silent…with no complaints.
A special thanks goes out to my Dad…John Raspanti
Sr who over forty years ago introduced me to the films of John
Garfield.
November 2007
The Rifleman and Superman
When I was a small child westerns still dominated
television. Shows like…Death Valley Days…Bonanza…Life and Legend Of
Wyatt Earp…Gunsmoke…Cheyenne…The Restless Gun…Colt 45 …Wanted Dead or
Alive…and Lawman played over and over on our small black and
white television.
The 1960’s brought a new batch of westerns.
Laramie, The Rebel…and the cult western The Westerner.
My dad watched them all. My mom watched my dad
watching them, and my sister and I glanced over at the TV and wondered
what the ruckus was all about.
I
had already found my favorite television show. The Adventures of
Superman starring George Reeves. I watched it religiously every
week, plopping down every Tuesday at 4:30. My mom had prepped my red
cape and had it ready for me. At each commercial I would jump up and
‘fly’…that is flying around the house and jumping off anything I could
find. My mom would tell me to stop, but I was too fast for her. I mean
come on…I’m flying here. I always made a point of going into my sister’s
room to jump off her bed because…well… doing that ALWAYS annoyed her.
Dad
would takeover the TV when he got home. After dinner he would sit in his
favorite chair and read the paper and wait for one of his westerns to
come on. I would sometimes join him until I saw what show was on. He
would ask me to stay for a few minutes and watch and sometimes I would
but my restless nature would soon take over. Then…I was gone. I wasn’t
into cowboys and Indians…at least not yet.
There
was one show that he watched every week that bothered me. As the show
began, the camera would pull back in unison…the main character moving
forward…slightly crouching and then repeatedly firing and cocking his
modified, altered rifle. No music,
just…bang…bang…bang…bang...bang…bang…bang…bang. ` The narrator would say
the name of the show…THE RIFLEMAN...in a very aggressive and
commanding way. Then…at least to a four year old, the main character
would glare at the camera. I thought he was glaring at me and I didn’t
like it, this guy was menacing and a bad man. The guy was NO Superman.
So that was it, off I went to my room while my Dad
watched a show about a bad guy who fired a funny looking gun. My dad
would tell me what a good show it was…but I wasn’t listening. I never
watched any episodes of The Rifleman. As I grew up I certainly
knew about it…but still had no interest.
That is until about six months ago when bored one
night and flipping through On Demand I spotted that familiar title. It
was the middle of the night, and I thought what the hell…so there I was
watching that ominous opening again and…NOT feeling a desire to bolt to
my room. Later…after it was over, I was stunned. The show was good…very
good actually.
I watched another episode the following week. I was
hooked. I’ve since watched 24 episodes. Almost immediately I was struck
by the cinematography. Sometimes they shot on a set which at times is
painfully obvious but like Superman, it doesn’t detract from the
finished product. I’ve read somewhere that the first two years are the
best. Most of the writing is top notch. Sam Peckinpah wrote six episodes
and directed four. His episode titled The Boarding House is
excellent. Katy Jurado guest starred, seven years earlier she had stared
alongside Gary Cooper in the classic High Noon. A repeated theme
of the show is personal integrity…which nowadays we are in great need
of.
Chuck Connors who played Lucas McCain brought a
heroic like charisma to his portrayal. Never considered a great actor
he’s a revelation here. Was this the part he was born to play? He’s the
strong silent type, cut from the same cloth as Clint Eastwood. Before
becoming an actor Connors played two seasons of professional basketball
with the Boston Celtics. A few years later he was in the major leagues
playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and then the Chicago Cubs. Connors who
was born in 1921 and stood 6’5, made his acting debut in the 1952
classic Pat and Mike, starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. In
1955 he guest starred on The Adventures of Superman. Recently I
watched that rather forgettable episode. Connors’ acting appeared a
little green but still he’s so likeable and funny that all else is
forgotten
Johnny
Crawford played Lucas’s son Mark. Interviewing 20 or 30 other kids
before production began Connors knew Crawford was right for the role
even before talking to him. As 12 year old Johnny walked towards him and
a producer Connors remarked…
“That’s him…that’s the Rifleman’s son”
Connors was oh so right. Crawford more then held
his own with Connors. The interaction between them is very believable.
You can feel the warmth as if they really are father and son. Their
acting is touching and honest, and very much on a par with some scenes
from Superman.
The background music by Herschel Burke Gilbert is
excellent and again like Superman, dramatic in its composing. Gilbert
sets the tone very nicely, .composing a soft and quiet sound when Mark
and Lucas are seen together…and then higher in tone when Mark is sad.
The action scenes have a very dramatic drum roll or a stop and go
quality that only heightens the suspense.
Of the 24 episodes I’ve watched all have been good
and some have been almost great.
I guess it proves the old adage that you can’t
judge a book by its cover or in
this
case judge a show by it’s opening. The Rifleman is a real gem and
if you haven’t watched it in awhile, don’t wait 44 years like your’s
truly. Get to it!!!
Oh and Dad if you’re reading this…YOU WERE RIGHT!
John
August 2007
Chasing Superman's Ghost
By John Raspanti
Movie studios have always
fascinated me. There has always been something so exciting about
seeing the spot where a classic movie or television show was
filmed. My goal as a teenager was to get inside a studio
and...explore. I wanted to walk the lot...investigate the
soundstages...and prowl the back lots. I had to see where
Casablanca was shot, the Sherlock Holmes series with
Basil Rathbone and of course The Adventures of Superman.
To say I achieved my goal would be a bit of an
understatement...but...I'll get into that later.
The Adventures of Superman began
shooting on July 10, 1951.

Its home was the historic RKO-Pathe
Studios in Culver City, California.
The studio opened for business on December
1, 1918. A few highlights...
Cecil B. DeMille stalked the back lot in
the 1920's.
King Kong frolicked there in 1933.
Six years later Rhett Butler told Scarlett
O'Hara 'Frankly My Dear I Don't Give a Damn'
A couple of years later Orson Wells
whispered 'Rosebud'
Alfred Hitchcock lensed Notorious in
1946 with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman.
The studio and the famous back lot now
called 40 acres were dripping with history. It must have been an
amazing place to work.
The entire first season of Superman was
shot there. The production team used the back lot extensively.
The Unknown People...The Case of the Talkative Dummy...The
Mystery of the Broken Statues...and The Monkey Mystery...all
showed off the downtown part of the back lot and as they called
it...Main Street to a great advantage. Later The Deserted
Village...and Riddle of the Chinese Jade used another
area of Main Street. Near the end of the first season Czar of
the Underworld was filmed. This episode revealed more about
the lot...the bad guy cab driver took Clark Kent and Inspector
Henderson past a row of buildings that I had never seen before.
Later when Superman lands with Luigi Dinelli...he carries him to
stage thirteen.
The number thirteen stuck with me. In the
summer of 1977 I was staying in the Los Angeles area with my
grandparents. One of the first places I had to locate was where
The Adventures of Superman was filmed. I had to see it. I
knew the studio was near MGM in Culver City. The weather that
day was overcast and 'smoggy', typical for LA. I found
Washington Blvd and slowed, spotting many business and
industrial buildings. I kept thinking I would run right into it.
I was right. When I spotted it I let out an audible breath.
Colonial in style, with numerous pillars, I flashed on Gone
with the Wind. I parked right in front of the studio. Cars
whizzed by me. I got out of my car and walked slowly up the
driveway by a hedge that needed trimming. I could see some
decaying along the edges of the building. The white paint was
peeling but still I was in awe. There was so much movie history
right in front of me and movie ghosts dancing about. I can
remember wishing that the back lot hadn't been bulldozed. I
noticed immediately that it didn't say Selznick International
anymore. The big letters above the front door spelled out
...Laird. Oh well that didn't matter. I knew what had happened
here, now I wanted to see it.
I was ready to fill out an application and then to somehow get
on the lot and look around. I opened the front door and casually
walked in. The door groaned as I closed it. The secretary
barely looked up...I smiled and said
"Are you accepting applications?"
I already knew the answer to this question.
I had called the studio a few weeks before. I waited. She still
hadn't said anything. Using slight of hand she produced an
application and gave it to me.
"Thanks," I said.
The office was old, small and scruffy.
There was one desk for the secretary and four or five cabinets
spread out. Papers were stacked up. There was another chair for
visitors which I was using. I remember seeing dust and dirt on
the windows. Everything had a grayish tint to it. I wondered if
George Reeves had been in this same office.
I filled out the application quickly. My
heart was pounding. I stood up, took two steps and handed her
the application. She took it without looking.
I waited a beat and said "Do you have a
restroom I could use?"
This time she looked up for a second and
said, "Go out that door behind me and turn to the right."
I was in.
Exiting the bathroom I hesitated. Should I
do this? The resounding answer was YES.
I was on a pathway leading away from the
administration office. Would the secretary wonder what had
happened to me? Nah...she had probably forgotten about me
already.
The pathway opened up revealing a couple of
more buildings. One said prop room. Oh boy...the buildings
looked old like everything around this place. I didn't see any
other people. I didn't hear anything only...the occasional
sounds that the outside world were creating. Inside this
world...it was pretty darn quiet.
I resisted the urge to look behind me and
entered the prop room.
It was dark, and smelled like mold. I let
my eyes adjust, I blinked...some of the ghosts were here. That
is...if they could find any room!!! The place was packed, there
were boxes stacked on top boxes some leading right to the
ceiling. Chairs of all kinds were lying on their sides. Talk
about crowded; I took a few steps forward. I spotted something
different. Peering around a few boxes I could see an ancient
clock propped up against the wall. It was basically
unencumbered, alone like a prominent statue. I wondered if
there was something special about it. Had it been in Gone
with the Wind or Citizen Kane...or The Adventures
of Superman?
I didn't know...I moved around some more,
trying not to knock over any of the boxes and chairs. I allowed
myself to wonder what else of movie history was nearby. I didn't
know...I heard some voices outside and figured that was my cue
to leave the prop room. It was quiet again; I opened the door
and walked out casually. I could see where the voices had come
from. Two people were walking away, past the soundstages.
Soundstages...stage thirteen...that's it!!
I was walking faster now...stage
thirteen...but my mind was thinking about Superman. Twenty six
years ago...'they' were here, Jimmy, Lois, Clark, Perry and
'Inspector' Henderson. I saw some numbers...2 and 3...then a
building. I glanced to my right and saw more numbers on a huge
structure that peeked a little near the top...11 and 12...I
think it was...then 14...15...16. Yes a soundstage!!!...but NO
stage thirteen!!!!! I paused and gazed at the warehouse like
building. No mobile dressing rooms like the ones I had seen at
Universal...just this piece of architecture. Could this have
been the soundstage used in Czar?? I had seen the episode a
hundred times...the corner of the building sure looked like the
same one from Czar...it had to be it...
Now what? I had told myself to be
inconspicuous, to try and not draw attention to what I was
doing, but still my natural curiosity was prodding me. I knew I
couldn't leave yet. I had no choice really. I had to see the
inside of the soundstage. I walked around the side of the
building and saw a door. I stopped. The door was propped open
ever so slightly. I was being drawn in, my nerves were jumping.
I pulled the door open and stepped inside.
Darkness.
I was in short entryway. No sounds, just
darkness. I took a few steps and tripped on something. I stopped
as the echo from my shoes bounced around me. Jeez...didn't I say
I was trying to be inconspicuous? I was moving forward on my tip
toes. Up ahead was something, a faint light? Yes...I brushed
past a curtain and felt the stage open up. It was huge, and the
light was coming from two places. Somebody had been nice enough
to leave a couple of movable lights...in the on position. They
were situated near the center of the stage. I don't remember
much about these stage lights except they were taller than me. I
just stood there and looked up and down and all around me. I
remember the ceiling was so high...and the stage was so
enormous...and those ghosts again. I could hear them...
'GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST '
A huge crashing sound broke the spell. I
tip toed across the stage and through the entry hall to the door
that was still ajar. I stepped outside and remember blinking a
number of times. My eyes were stinging. That was it. I knew it
was time to go. I walked back to the administration building at
a much brisker pace. I passed a few people, one smiled at me. I
nodded. I was wondering about the secretary. Would she ask where
I had been? It made no difference. When I walked back inside the
office, there was no secretary. I went out the front door and
walked to my car. I felt a little on edge, my adrenaline was
pushing me.
I started the car and was shocked by what
time it was. I had arrived at 9 AM. It was now past lunch
time!!!
I had spent a good three hours roaming the
studio. But it was funny because it had felt like mere
minutes...not hours.
What an amazing place.
I hit all the Superman studios that summer.
My quest was based on the order of the years in production.
So...since season two and three were filmed in 1953 at
California studios...that was where I was going next.

California Studios of 1953 had
become Producers Studios in 1977. It was and still is (even
though it's been Raleigh studios since 1979) located directly
across the street from the much more famous Paramount lot. I
didn't know much about the studio. I did know that Mary Pickford
had shot a silent picture there in 1915. Douglas Fairbanks Sr
had wandered the lot, which I really liked since the old time
movie stars have always fascinated me. I had recently discovered
that In the Heat of the Night had been shot there and
numerous other classics like The Best Years of Our Lives.
The Margaret Herrick Library on Wilshire Boulevard had been a
wealth of information that summer.
My plan was to copy what had been so
successful at RKO-Pathe...fill out and application and then
crash the lot.
Would it work again?? I felt reasonably
confident as I attempted to find somewhere to park. I was parked
on Bronson and walked up the sidewalk past the old brick
building. The time was near 9 AM. Cars raced down Melrose Ave,
and as always nobody was paying any attention to me. I came to
the end of the building and saw a chance. Forget filling out an
application! A large gate that was probably supposed to be
closed was...OPEN. I took this as an invitation and walked right
on the lot. It was funny but unlike RKO which had awed me, this
studio was underwhelming. It looked like an old lumber building
to me. I walked past what I presumed was the office I had been
looking for. Later I said...first things first. I was on the
other side of the building, trying to feel the history but not
feeling anything. I glided past a large soundstage and was
almost run over by two guys who had exited the soundstage and
were in a big hurry. They glared at me...I wanted to glare back
but instead I said "Sorry"
They didn't say anything and as I walked away I could feel them
watching me. Uh oh...I went past the door to the soundstage
those numbskulls had just come out of. I slowed but could still
feel their eyes on me. I glanced inside the soundstage and saw
complete darkness...the voice inside was screaming at me to
GO...I turned around and eyeballed the numbskulls who where
still in the same place...they in turn were eyeballing me back.
Cool I thought...be cool. I wandered back over to them with a
perplexed look on my face...
I said "Do you guys know where I would go
to fill out an application?"
Of course they did, and so I went there and
didn't do any exploring after I was done. There just wasn't much
here and I didn't feel George...or anything.
The next day I found myself parking a half
a block away from what was once Charlie Chaplin's studio. I
wasn't a big Chaplin fan then. I had grown up on The Three
Stooges. It wasn't until till later that I discovered the
genius of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Charlie Chaplin had
opened his studio in 1918. It's located at the corner of La Brea
Avenue and Sunset. The Adventures of Superman had shot
season four at the Chaplin Studio. As always this alone was
enough to motivate me to see what was there.

And so it was. I walked briskly up the
sidewalk toward the studio. I glanced at what looked like some
small cottages. I crossed the street and eyed a pale building
with two metal gates on each side. One looked like a door (I
learned later that this was the door Chaplin himself used to
enter the studio) past more cottages and bungalows. I looked
skyward and could see the sign above the entrance to the studio.
I remember the sign was round and inside the circle the
letters...A&M were displayed. Herb Alpert of...Herb Alpert
and the Tijuana Brass now owned the studio. I was getting
closer to the entrance and the butterflies were back. Again I
was dressed like a dude. My plan was the same but things weren't
turning out the way I had envisioned them. I tried the door
nearest the studio entrance. It was locked. Ok...I kept walking
right to the main entrance...decision time...I turned and slowed
but then instead of stopping and turning around, I kept going
right onto the lot. A guard dressed in a green uniform came out
from a building to my left. The guard looked at me, I looked
back and nodded. I kept going, waiting for a voice that would
shake the heavens...something like Broderick Crawford after
gargling with razor blades...
"Hey YOU...STOP THERE!"
But...nothing...no Broderick Crawford
voice. I didn't dare look back. I just kept going, past some
more structures that looked English. I slowed down hoping my
heart would do the same. I stood there, still expecting the
guard to pop out and nab me. I started moving again in the
direction of some soundstages. I remember the stages being very
near each other, they appeared freshly painted unlike some of
the other building that looked rundown. But there was something
so different about Chaplin's studio. It had an aura of
sophistication. The door to one of the soundstages was wide
open...I moved toward it and then heard a crunching noise behind
me. I looked over my shoulder.
The guard was coming fast. He was walking
in my direction. He looked very determined. I turned from the
soundstage casually, the guard was getting closer. I already
knew what I would say. But...would he believe me?? Closer and
closer he came. He was about on top of me. I faced him. I was
ready.
But apparently...he wasn't. He walked right past me and nodded.
I nodded back.
There wasn't much more to see. (The studio
was quite a bit smaller in 1977 then it was in Chaplin's
day)...but I did find the place fascinating. It reminded me of
Sherlock Holmes and Charles Dickens. I never did find the
administration building, but really didn't care. There were no
apparitions floating about other than Chaplin himself who seemed
to be dancing in the shadows of his old studio. I remember
thinking his place was pretty cool...
I was nearing the end of my quest. I was
back in my car cruising down La Brea towards Santa Monica
Boulevard. My mind was drifting. What would I find? All I had
was an address scribbled on a piece of paper. I had found the
address at the aforementioned, Margaret Herrick Library. But
what would be located at 7950 Santa Monica Blvd? I was really
hoping for a grand old studio, with the name ZIV painted
on it. ZIV had once been Hollywood's Eagle Lion Studio until
Frederic Ziv purchased it in 1954. I had learned that ZIV had
produced some other shows that I had enjoyed watching like,
The Cisco Kid, Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt.
Highway Patrol was easily my favorite. I found myself
wondering if like RKO, I would find some old props and who knows
what else. The possibilities were endless, or so it seemed.
I was on Santa Monica near the address I
had written down. I was getting closer but still didn't see the
studio. 7950 was right on top of me. I parked across the street
and stared. I was here, the address on the building was correct.
But there was one big problem. There was no studio. I sat there
feeling like I had been punched in the stomach. All that was
left was a string of businesses and a liquor store. I shook my
head and gazed imagining the bustling studio for what it once
must have been. I smiled, nothing is forever.
I didn't want to leave. I sat there and
contemplated what I had seen. ZIV was the last studio George had
worked at. The last Superman episode, directed by George
was filmed there. But being a fan of Season One I much preferred
the hallowed halls of RKO-Pathe. Of all the studios, RKO had the
most amazing movie history, and I liked to think that George was
at his happiest there. RKO was the place where he got his big
break opposite Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh in Gone with the
Wind. I could only imagine what a thrill that must have
been. Returning twelve years later to play Superman must have
been in a way, bittersweet but still the role had given him the
stardom he had always wanted and...immortality. So to me at
least RKO is where the ghost of Superman is, not unhappy or
fleeting...but happy and proud...arm and arm with
George...forever.
© John Raspanti July 2007
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