Art Gallery: AMAZING STORIES 1, 2 & 3

Forgotten (and FREE) Stories: Race Williams returns in "Monogram in Lead" by Carroll John Daly

Here's another in our continuing series of never-reprinted adventures of Race Williams, the Grandfather of Hardboiled Dicks. This "novel" (actually a 35-page novelette) is from the February 1937 issue of Dime Detective. Race made the jump to Dime in 1935, after spending the first twelve years of career in Black Mask.

If you've already received scans of our first six Race adventures, you'll find this one in your email box too. If not, and you'd like to read "Monogram in Lead" (and the others, detailed HERE), write me at delewis1@hotmail.com and I'll shoot them back to you. More to come!

And get your weekly dose of Forgotten Books at pattinase!

Still Weird After All These Years: WEIRD TALES 4, 5 & 6

To be continued . . .

Art Gallery: The Phantom of the West (1931) continued . . .

to be continued . . .

Overlooked Films: Cagney & Bogart in "The Roaring Twenties" (1939)

You may not have seen this movie, but you’ve seen the story. A guy from the wrong side of the tracks strikes it rich (in this case Jimmy Cagney, peddling liquor during Prohibition), certain that will win him the love of the pure and innocent object of his desire (Priscilla Lane, who wants to be a musical theater star), but has his heart ripped from his chest when she falls for a relatively pure and innocent guy (his attorney/pal played by Jeffrey Lynn). Meanwhile, our tragic hero has captured - and ignored - the love of a gal from his own side of the tracks (speakeasy hostess/off-key singer Gladys George).

Of course, that formula doesn’t require the presence of a Humphrey Bogart, but he fits in nicely as the threat to Priscilla and Jeffrey’s future happiness, offering Cagney a shot a redemption as Jimmy struggles to rescue them.



This was 1939, two years shy of The Maltese Falcon, and Bogart was still typecast as the bad guy. So Cagney got most of the screen time and all of the redemption. Every time they share a scene, though, Bogart commands the stage - so much so that it creates the film’s greatest flaw: It’s just plain silly when the script requires him to die like a weasel.

The film’s other flaw is Priscilla Lane. Though the pressbook touts the Cagney-Lane match-up as “Hollywood’s Thrilling New Team," they have zero chemistry, and it’s quite a stretch to believe Cagney thinks she loves him. It’s also quite a stretch for viewers to believe the other characters like her singing. As for the “Thrilling New Team,” I’d be surprised if they ever made another film together.

Still, with Cagney and Bogart - and Raoul Walsh at the helm - you can’t go far wrong. This one delivers plenty of Warner Bros action and tough-guy dialogue, and makes the Twenties roar.

More Overlooked Films & Such at Sweet Freedom.

Art Gallery: Spicy Adventure!

1936

1935

1934

Forgotten Books: The Creeping Siamese by Dashiell Hammett (1950)

Yep, I'm still on a Hammett binge, and still have several more books to yap about.

This one appeared in both digest and paperback in 1950.

The title story, which appeared in the March 1926 Black Mask without the "The" in front of it, is one of three tales featuring our short stocky hero, the Continental Op. In context of the story, the title makes more sense without the "The." As is, you might think someone is about to fall victim to a sneaky kitty-cat. Actually, the Siamese of the title are believed to be merciless knife-artists from Siam.

By the time Hammett wrote "Creeping Siamese" he already had twenty Op stories under his belt, so he was well in the groove. This is a fine little tale, with the added interest that it foreshadows still another scene from The Maltese Falcon. The story opens with a man entering the Continental Detective Agency office and dropping dead on the floor. In the course of the investigation, the Op is told that the dead man was recently in possession of a mysterious package, and that other mysterious characters were trying to take it away from him. The package is described as being about the size of a loaf of bread, but quite heavy for it's size. It's wrapped in brown paper, with an inner wrapping of canvas, and tied with a silk cord. Can you say dingus?

"The Man Who Killed Dan Odams," from Black Mask of January 15, 1924, is a shortie, and just about the closest Hammett ever came to writing a western. There's a jail and a marshal and a ranch of sorts, and our protagonist rides a horse. The only thing that prevents it being a western is a couple of mentions of automobiles.

"The Nails in Mr. Cayterer" (from Black Mask January 1926)  is another "lost" story that's been out of print since this appearance in 1950. Too bad, because it's a good story. This one introduces Robin Thin, the poet son (and sort-of partner) of a private investigator. Why is it out of print? Beats me. A second Robin Thin story, unpublished during Hammett's lifetime, debuted in EQMM in 1961, and now resides in the 1999 collection Nightmare Town.

"The Joke on Eloise Morey," from Brief Stories of June 1923, is the briefest story in the book, and relies on a single twist. It's a nice twist, though, and a nice little joke on Eloise.

"Tom, Dick, or Harry," from Black Mask October 1925 is pisser. Hammett went to great lengths to avoid cliches, and titled this story "Mike, Alec or Rufus," in a deliberate effort to get the benefit of the Tom, Dick or Harry idea without actually saying it. Then Frederic Dannay cane along and ruined it for him. I'll bet Hammett was pissed too. This is a minor Op tale, but still a good read if you can wipe the phony title from your brain.

The longest story in the book, and arguably the best, is "The King Business," an Op adventure that did not appear in Black Mask. Instead, it first appeared in Mystery Stories in January 1928, at the same time the Red Harvest novelettes were running in Mask. I have no inside dope on this, but wouldn't be surprised if Joe Shaw rejected it, feeling it delved too deep into European politics and strayed too far from the mean streets his readers were used to. Still, it's a fine story, with the Op up to his neck in revolutionaries, counterrevolutionaries and opportunists, with an idealist or two thrown in for flavor. The fictional kingdom of Muravia is a brutal place, and the Op gets a front row seat at a long and brutal whipping. EQMM commemorated the scene on their cover when they reprinted the story in 1949.

More amazing Forgotten Books at Sweet Freedom. More Hammett, most likely, coming next week.

Weird with a Beard: WEIRD TALES 1, 2 & 3

To be continued . . .