Like...Dreamsville

Bongo Calypso

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:18:00 +0000

Found on Ebay

News

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:54:00 +0000

Well, I've had to put The Dreamsville Show on ice, for a little while at least. I've been resisting it for a while because I really love doing it but lately my non-Internet interests along with a ton of manditory overtime at work haven't left me with very much free time. Keeping the blogs going is no problem but the podcast requires more work. Not sure what I'm going to do yet but naturally I will keep you posted. My apologies to all of my faithful listeners. Here's a couple of vintage shots of a stripper who was known as The Blonde Beatnik. Hope that helps.

Technical Difficulties - Please Stand By

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:30:00 +0000

Been having some technical difficulties lately. Blogging and podcasting are on hiatus for a while. Hoping to resume regular programming in the new year....

...For now, Like...Happy Holidays to one and all!

Jim Flora Exhibit NYC

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:10:00 +0000

If you're going to be in New York City between now and Jan 8th check out this cool 60 year retrospective of paintings and prints by Jim Flora at the Dorian Grey Gallery on 437 East 9th Street at Avenue A.

Sorry for the short notice. I just found out about it.

R.I.P. Pete Rugolo

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:38:00 +0000

Pete passed away back in October and I missed it. Great tribute on the Cocktail Nation Podcast this week.

R.I.P. Pete

The Galton Case - Ross MacDonald - 1959

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:22:00 +0000

Ross MacDonald and I go way back. In fact it was MacDonalds books that filled the vast emptiness that was left in my life when I finished reading all of Raymond Chandlers books.I recently read that there is a film of the Galton Case in the works. At this time there is no info on IMDB as the film is in pre-production so I though I would get a little ahead of the game and read it first. I've read about half of the Lew Archer books. In my experience they've been consistently great reads and the Galton Case is no different, actually it's my favorite so far. Archer displays more of a sense of humour and at the same time is more cynical and hardboiled than usual which really ups the pulpy noir quotient in this one. For someone who lives in a small town in Southern Ontario, it's always a surprise when a nearby location pops up in one of these books. In this one, Archers investigations lead him to Kingsville Ontario,which is the boyhood home of one of the characters in the story. Ross MacDonald spent some time in Canada and this isn't the first time that Canadian characters have turned up in his books...well, at least not in the order that I've read them, but Kingsville is only a couple of hours drive from my hometown of Brantford. In fact, I've had family that lived there.

There is also a brief beatnik coffee house scene as Archer traces a character to The Listening Ear and sees him reading some poetry to the latest crowd of appreciative listeners. Archers description of the modern jazz and poetry scene is typically cynical.

The listening ear was full of dark blue light and pale blue music. A combo made up of piano, bass fiddle, trumpet, and drums was playing something advanced. I didn't have my slide rule with me, but the four musicians seemed to understand each other. From time to time they smiled and nodded like space jockeys passing in the night.

Hopefully the new movie in the works will do it justice. It could be really good in the way that the latest version of "The Killer Inside Me" was. But I'm always wary of these projects as the stories often get updated to current times, likely to appeal to a larger audience, I'm sure, but I find that they always lose a little something in the translation. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this one turns out. In the meantime, check out the book. Definitely one of MacDonalds best.

The Dark Corner - Henry Hathaway - 1946

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:38:00 +0000

The Dark Corner is everything you want in a film noir. Moody lighting filtered through cigarette smoke and venetian blinds, drinking in the dark, an honest man trying to escape his past and a nefarious man trying to use that past against him.

Starring Lucille Ball (Lured 1947), Clifton Webb (Laura 1944) and Mark Stevens ( The Street With No Name 1948), this is film noir perfection. Mark Stevens plays Bradford Galt, the private detective and our protagonist to perfection. Spouting classic hardboiled dialogue at every turn thanks to the writing team of Jay Dratler and Bernard C. Schoenfeld, both of whom had written screenplays for noir before and went on to write for several more as well as episode os Peter Gunn, Johnny Staccato and Naked City. He wastes no time in picking up his new secretary (Ball) and getting her involved in his tormented life which appears to be creeping back on him. She, almost immediately becomes interested, mainly, it seems, because of a pair of promised nylons, and just as immediately, Galt starts saying she'd be better off without him. She sticks it out and together they work at getting him out of the mess that he's slowly finding himself in.

Can't recommend this one enough. Loved every minute of it.

"Maybe you can help me if you know anything I want to know."

"I don't know anything you couldn't find out by asking Mr. Galt."

"Well, look who's here. Hello Reeves."

"It's nearly six. I'd like to leave now if there's nothing else."

"Mr. Galt, I think someone's following us."

"There's a pepper pot under the hat, buster. Let's take a walk."

"What's his name? Who's payin' you?"

"Where do you live?"

"That's pretty hot ginger ale you're mixing up."

"Listen. If you don't wanna lose that stardust look in your eyes, get going while the doors still open."

"I rather think we present the perfect picture of beauty and the beast."

"How I detest the dawn. The grass always looks like it's been left out all night."

"Tony, I tried. I made a bad bargain and I tried to stick it out with him but he just keeps sitting and listening to his paintings crack with age."

"Look, we've got a report to make. If you don't talk here, we've gotta take you downtown."

"What about that maternal instinct you talked about?"

"That doesn't work after sundown."

"Oh, how romantic!"

"If you prefer to be maudlin about it perhaps."

"look if you want my opinion, I think you're wasting your time. This guy Galt is a smart cookie. He's not gonna left himself get shoved into a noose."

"I feel all dead inside. I'm backed up in a dark corner and I don't know who's hitting me."

"When I do a job, I do a job. They just ain't found him yet."

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Take the tour with me. Tell me about the paintings."

"Shall we go? I prefer privacy for our little...chat."

"Hey ,Mac. Do you suppose anybody in his right mind ever buys a piece of junk like that?"
"Sure they do. That is art."

Beatnik Candy Dish

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:29:00 +0000

R.I.P. Harry Morgan

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:46:00 +0000

Like...Ho Ho Ho

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 05:49:00 +0000

Toot x 3

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:57:00 +0000

Fight Card - Round 1 - Felony Fists

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:26:00 +0000

First in the Fight Card series is Felony Fists by Jack Tunney (Paul Bishop). A bloody knuckle ride that harkens back to the boxing stories of the 20's and 30's. A great two fisted tale of an LAPD patrol cop in the 50's working his way up the ranks and boxing on the side. This is a great pulpy tale. available at Amazon for kindle for only $2.99. Check it out, and check out Bish's blog while you're at it.

Jay Silverheels Fanclub!

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:51:00 +0000

Since my mom and I switched houses back in the summer, I've been finding all kinds of interesting stuff. I can't remember if I mentioned this before but my parents built this house in '72 and have lived here since then. I grew up here. My parents have never thrown anything out....anything! which is sometimes pretty cool as in this case. I literally just picked this up,not 30 minutes ago, on a whim, out of a pile of stuff, just out of boredom and here's what I found. A copy of the 10th issue of "Tom-Tom" the Jay Silverheels fanclub news letter. only it's not just a newsletter but a journal of Jays visit to Harrisburg PA. from July - Sept. 1961. and it has a collection of amazing photos from the time stapled into it.

This has nothing really to do with beatniks or pulps or film noir, but it's from the same time period and I know some of my readers are fans of mid-century film and TV. Actually there is a noir connection. Jay was uncredited but played Tom Osceola in Key Largo with Humphrey Bogart.

There is a connection here. Jay Silverheels is originally from the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation Native Reservation near Brantford Ontario. Brantford is my hometown and my mother was a school teacher on the reservation in various different schools throughout her career. My dad also delivered bread by horse and buggy, mainly to homes on the reserve, during the 50's. Both of them knew some of the Silverheels family.

So dig these cool photos.

Ta-i Kemo Sabe!

Jay with the Harrisburg PA. Shriners

Jay with Red McCarthy & Family

with fans

more fans

even more fans

with Christine Larson from the film Brave Warrior

The Dreamsville Show - November 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:36:00 +0000

Listen here or go to the podbean site.

Tracklist:

Lucky Thompson Trio - The World Awakes
David Meltzer - The Golden Opium Den
Hank Mobley - Dig Dis
Michael McClure - GRAHHH!
Sun Ra & The Cosmic Rays - Dreaming
Amiri Baraka - Like A Universe
Creed Taylor Orchestra - Lonelyville
Koop Kooper - I Want To Be Like Julian Assange
Marty Wilson - Manteca
Irving Layton - Various Poems
Joe Harnell - Blues In The Night
Christopher Logue & The Tony Kinsey Quintet - Tonight I Write Sadly
Revel Ray - Oh, Blue Flame!

The time went so quickly I didn't get to talk about pulp crime books verses the noir films based on them like I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast. Sorry, maybe next time.

Pulpy Characters

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:09:00 +0000

From Black Book Detective June 1947

Cocktail Nation - The Interviews

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:43:00 +0000

DIG!

My pal Koop Kooper over at Cocktail Nation has recently put out a new book. It's a kindle edition e-book of compiled interviews from his cool and loungey Cocktail Nation Podcast. Great reading material here. Interviews with Mr. Bongo - Jack Costanzo, Hard Case Crime's Charles Ardai and many, many more. Check out the Amazon page here. take a look at the "Look Inside This Book Feature". There's some great photos as well.

Beat Birds!

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:36:00 +0000

Sam Menning - Beatnik Private Eye in Bosoms and Bullets

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:15:00 +0000

So I've lately been taken to reading short stories from old men's mags. Honestly there's some pretty good writing...this isn't one of the better ones. But it features a beatnik private eye. Or, as it turns out, a private eye who grew a beard and wears a beret so that he can mingle in with beatniks in Greenwich Village which is where his office is located. Apparently the chief of police here is a beatnik, though the author doesn't give much indication of this. I do love the idea of a beatnik P.I. and it's always a pleasure when the worlds of beat and noir cross. Still looking for a copy of Johnny Amsterdam. This story comes from Private Eye Illustrated which is a pretty nice looking mag actually. Great artwork. Hopefully some of the other stories will be up to par.

Why Did You Kill Him?!

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:37:00 +0000

Thrilling Detective October 1936

Ace Double Crime - D-9 - If I Die Before I Wake - Sherwood King / Decoy - Michael Morgan

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:54:00 +0000

"There was a rat in the cell with me. I came down hard with the stool. It caught him on the side, just as he reached the bars. He dragged himself on, stunned but still fighting. I grabbed him by the tail. Now-now! I swung him around my head. He curved back to bite my hand. I smashed his head against the wall. Blood and brains splattered. He was dead."

Another pulp I've had kicking around for a while. I only realized that this was the basis for The Lady From Shanghai after watching the opening credits of the film. I immediately read it since I loved the movie so much. It was a bit of an experiment really. Normally I wind up seeing movies based on books that I've already read and it usually annoys me the way the stories get so mangled on their way to the big screen, not the other way around. I found that I actually enjoyed the film better than the book this time. I can understand the changes that were made to make the film version more captivating. really, the only similarity between the book and film here is the basic caper and the court case. The rest of the film was completely fabricated. The one thing that bothers me, and this bothered me about the film as well, is that the basic caper is so unbelievable. If you haven't seen the film or read the book, without giving too much away, the idea is that the protagonist - Laurence Planter here, Mike O'Hara in the film is supposed to pretend to kill someone, that someone is busy actually killing someone else and then he splits the country. Planter/O'Hara admits to killing the guy who leaves the country but since he isn't actually dead and no body can be found, no charges can be laid and neither will be a suspect of the actual murder. He does this for a paltry $5000 which is even small potatoes for 1938 which is the original publication date of the book. It all just sounds far too unlikely to come off properly and even if it did, he's still going to get caught and likely get a beating from the cops and do some jail time and go to court for a death penalty case and the stress of it all Sheesh! No thank you! Of course running away with the femme fatale, beautiful and, as it turns out, quite deadly Elsa Bannister is part of the prize as well although King doesn't quite make the sale on the irresistibility of Mrs. Bannister as well as Welles did with the help of Rita Hayworth. None of this ruins the book though, It's fully enjoyable classic noir fiction. Certainly worth the read.

I've been pretty happy with the way these crime Ace Doubles have been turning out. really enjoyable stories. Sadly Ace only did a relatively small number of crime books, focusing more on westerns and for the most part science fiction. I was really looking forward to reading Decoy. The inside cover boasts "Gigolo Racket In The Movie Colony! " and "Romance Racketeers, Blackmail and Homicide in Hollywood!" I was sold! Sadly my copy was pretty beat up and falling apart as I read the other story and Decoy was missing the first 60 pages so I was out of luck. Keeping my eye out for a better copy.

The Dreamsville Show - Halloween Special October 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Visit the Podbean site or listen here

Tracklist:

Milton Delugg - The Creep

Nervous Norvus - The Fang

Robbie The Werewolf - Count Dracula

Lenny Bruce - Enchanting Transylvania

Philly Joe Jones - Blues For Dracula

Scotty McKay - Black Cat

Frankie Stein & His Ghouls - The Ghostman Always Rings Twice

Johnny Beeman - Laffin' Beatnik

Teddy & Darrell - The Beast Of Sunset Strip

Mel Tormé - Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives

Herman Munster - Herman Reads

Gil Mellé - Weird Valley

Kay Martin & Her Bodyguards - Swamp Girl

Baby, You're The Most. Like Cloud Ninesville.

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:56:00 +0000

The Lady From Shanghai - Orson Welles - 1947

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 05:48:00 +0000

SPOILER ALERT!

The latest in my endeavor to watch the classic films noir. The Lady From Shanghai totally blew me away, as many of the classics have done. And with a little research I found out it was based on a Sherwood King novel called If I Die Before I Wake which, happy coincidence, I have a copy. So that's next on my reading list. I digress. The movie is brilliant. The first half of it is like a dream sequence. Beautifully filmed with wild angled facial close-ups and slightly odd lighting. There's really something about the way tropical locales were captured on film in the 40's that has a real otherworldly effect. The sky looks odd. It's hard to explain, watch the film, you'll see what I mean. It really adds to the dreamy look of it. There's some stunning dialogue as well. The shark bit is priceless, with local islanders having some kind of celebration in the background, sounds like they're playing Quiet Village. Me typing it out just wouldn't do it justice but luckily the scene is on YouTube so I've put it down there at the bottom of the post so you can check it out. It's great scenes like that which make these films such a joy to watch. I'm curious to see whether that comes from the book or straight from the mind of Orson Welles. What can you say about Rita Hayworth? I got a lump in my throat during her singing part (another YouTube video which I've added below.) What a gorgeous woman! Her eyes sparkle in every scene. Naturally, being the femme fatale, she turns out to be just as big of a shark as the rest of them and in the explosive finale, artfully shot in the crazy house of a carnival closed for the season, you find out just how prophetic that little shark dialogue from earlier on really was.

"I found her and from that moment on I did not use my head very much except to be thinking of her."

"We're short a man on the crew...I'll make it worth you while."

Mike "Black Irish" O'Hara

"What's a tough guy? A guy with an edge. Without an edge, there ain't no tough guy."

"I wasn't sure you'd come."

"I'm not stayin'"

"You've got to stay!"

Peeping Grisby

*sigh*

"Tell me...would you do it again? Would you kill another man?"

"so money doesn't interest you Michael, are you independently wealthy?"

"Well sir, I've always found it very sanitary to be broke."

"Don't take your lips or your arms...

...or your love away."

"Time for another!"

"You didn't answer me mister O'Hara. You oughta speak when you're spoken to."

"You're not going to try anything foolish are you?"

"We'll settle our account right now."

"Alright Broome, if you insist."

BANG!

"There's gonna be a murder. Ain't gonna be no fake murder this time. Somebody's gonna get killed."

"I was the murdered mans partner, the other victim was my servant. If I defend Michael any jury is going to have reason to believe he's innocent."

"No further questions."

"I came to...IN THE CRAZY HOUSE! And for a while there, I though it was me that was crazy."

"I was thinking it was just your husband you were supposed to kill."

"Our good friend the district attorney is just itching to open a letter that I left with him. The letter tells all about you, lover."

"With these mirrors it's difficult to tell. You are aiming at me aren't you? I'm aiming at you."

"For a smart girl you make a lot of mistakes. You should have let me live. You're gonna need a good lawyer."

"You can fight but what good is it? Goodbye."

"You mean we can't win?"

"No, we can't win. Give my love to the sunrise."

The Brass God - Richard G. Hubler - 1952

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:54:00 +0000

"The waves overwhelmed me again and again. They flung me back, as if unwilling to take another victim."

You know, I don't know why I didn't pick this up to read ages ago. I got it in one the very first batches of pulp novels I bought when I first started collecting them. I've had it for many years. I loved the cover - the skinny dipping girl giving the come-hither eye to the guy currently in a frantic bid to dislodge his foot from his deck shoe in order to join her. The great back cover with the same? girl being leered at by a couple of creepy sailors. I must have never read the descriptions before because if I had, I surely would have read it immediately. Catch words and phrases like "Deserted island", "pirate treasure", "an assortment of villains", "sadistic hunchback and his negro companion with peculiar methods of persuasion" Seriously, could that sound any better? Would it help if I told you that the sadistic hunchback is also a little person or that the deserted island is also eerily shaped like and resembles a skull upon approach? Or that that island is inhabited solely by a crazy swedish hermit? It just keeps getting better.

The story is fantastic. Perfect rugged men's adventure type stuff. A couple of can't hold a job, caribbean adventurer types who appear to be friends but only barely get along and are clearly going to cross one another at some point get hold of an ancient treasure map pointing to a hidden treasure of the notorious french pirate L'Ollonais. The one who owns the boat decides out of a clear blue sky to take on a pretty young american girl to the crew despite all the tales of women being bad luck on a ship. This drives an even deeper wedge between the two friends. Thus begins a breakneck trip across the caribbean with enemies in tow all hoping to get a bit of the gold. Truly great writing as well, with some beautiful picturesque moments.

Awesome. 5 stars. 10 out of 10 and all that. If you see this one, don't pass it up!

"I started stringing together the longest, best and most descriptive series of curses and oaths that I knew. To the most anonymous listener, it must have been a puny effort. My imagination had been atrophied by what had really happened. If the world was sane, I was off my head. And that was no inducement to the artistry needed to produce elegant swearing."

The Dreamsville Show - Sept. 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Skipper Bartlett) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 03:02:00 +0000

Tracklist:

Victor Johnson - After Dark In The Ghetto

Elmer Bernstein - Frankie Machine

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Calling Miss Khadija

James Komack - Beat Generation

Bianchi & The Jungle Sextet - Zen

Ken Nordine - What Time Is It?

Jerry Livingston & Mack David - Hawaiian Eye Theme

Dexter Gordon & Wardell Gray - The Hunt

Rafio, The Mad Monk - God's Been Dead These Fifty Years

Jimmy Vargas - Beaut-Evil

Lola Albright - Dreamsville

Listen here or go to the podbean site.