1.
Al Pacino
–
Alfredo James Al Pacino is an American actor of stage and screen, filmmaker, and screenwriter. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts and he is also one of few performers to have won a competitive Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award for acting, dubbed the Triple Crown of Acting. He achieved international acclaim and recognition for his role as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather. He received his first Oscar nomination and would reprise the role in the successful sequels The Godfather Part II. Pacinos performance as Corleone is now regarded as one of the greatest screen performances in film history, for his performances in The Godfather, Dick Tracy and Glengarry Glen Ross, Pacino was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. A lifelong fan of Shakespeare, Pacino directed and starred in Looking for Richard, a film about the play Richard III. He has also acted as Shylock in a 2004 feature film adaptation, since 1994, Pacino has been the joint president of the Actors Studio with Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel. Pacino was born in New York City, to Sicilian-American parents Salvatore Pacino and Rose and his mother moved to The Bronx to live with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who, coincidentally, had come from a town in Sicily named Corleone. His father, who was from San Fratello in the Province of Messina, moved to Covina, California, in his teen years Sonny, as he was known to his friends, aimed to become a baseball player, and was also nicknamed The Actor. Pacino went through Herman Ridder Junior High School, but in secondary school dropped out of many classes and he attended the High School of Performing Arts, but dropped out of school at age 17. His mother disagreed with his decision, they argued and he left home and he worked at low-paying jobs, messenger, busboy, janitor, and postal clerk, to finance his acting studies. He once worked in the room for Commentary magazine. He began smoking and drinking at age nine, and took up casual cannabis use at age 13 and his two closest friends died from drug abuse at the ages of 19 and 30. Growing up in The Bronx, he got into fights and was considered something of a troublemaker at school. He acted in basement plays in New Yorks theatrical underground but was rejected for the Actors Studio while a teenager, Pacino then joined the Herbert Berghof Studio, where he met acting teacher Charlie Laughton, who became his mentor and best friend. In this period, he was unemployed and homeless, and sometimes slept on the street, in theaters. In 1962, his mother died at the age of 43, the following year, Pacinos grandfather James Gerardi, one of the most influential people in his life, also died. After four years at HB Studio, Pacino successfully auditioned for the Actors Studio, the Actors Studio is a membership organization of professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City
Al Pacino
–
Pacino in September 2004.
Al Pacino
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Al Pacino in
The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1971)
Al Pacino
–
Al Pacino at the
1996 Cannes Film Festival.
Al Pacino
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Al Pacino at the
Rome Film Festival in 2008.
2.
Chester Gould
–
Chester Gould was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. Chester Gould was born to Gilbert R. Gould, the son of a minister, all four of his grandparents were pioneer settlers of Oklahoma. Gould was a Christian Fascinated by the comics since childhood, Gould quickly found work as a cartoonist and he was hired by William Randolph Hearsts Chicago Evening American, where he produced his first comic strips, Fillum Fables and The Radio Catts. He also drew a strip about Chicago, Why Its a Windy City. Gould married Edna Gauger in 1926, and their daughter, Jean, was born in 1927, a 1923 graduate, Gould is an alumnus of Northwestern University where he attended the School of Professional Studies. His cousin Henry W. Gould is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at West Virginia University, in 1931, Gould was hired as a cartoonist with the Chicago Tribune and introduced Dick Tracy in the newspaper The Detroit Mirror on Sunday, October 4,1931. The original comic was based on a New York detective Gould was interested in, the comic then branched to the fictional character that became so famous. He drew the strip for the next 46 years from his home in Woodstock. Goulds stories were rarely pre-planned, since he preferred to improvise stories as he drew them, while fans praised this approach as producing exciting stories, it sometimes created awkward plot developments that were difficult to resolve. In one notorious case, Gould had Tracy in an inescapable deathtrap with a caisson, when Gould depicted Tracy addressing Gould personally and having the cartoonist magically extract him, publisher Joseph Patterson vetoed the sequence and ordered it redrawn. Late in the strips Gould period, the Tracy strip was criticized for being too right-wing in character. Critics thought Gould ignored the rights of the accused and failed to support his agenda with an adequate story-line, the late 1950s also saw a newspaper readership growing less tolerant of Goulds politics. For instance, Gould introduced an malodorous, tobacco-spitting character, B. O, plenty, with little significant complaint from readers in the 1940s. There was then a change in the strips setting, leaving behind the strips origins as an urban crime drama for science fiction plot elements. An increasingly fantastic procession of enemies and stories ensued, the Apollo 11 moon landing prompted Gould to abandon this phase. Finally, Dick Tracy was beset by the trend in newspaper comics away from strips with continuing storylines. Gould, his characters, and improbable plots were satirized in Al Capps comic strip Lil Abner with the Fearless Fosdick sequences, a villain was Bomb Face. Chester Gould won the National Cartoonists Societys Reuben Award in 1959 and 1977, the Mystery Writers of America honored Gould and his work with a Special Edgar Award in 1980
Chester Gould
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Proposed comic strip drawn by Chester Gould one year before creating Dick Tracy. See this strip at full resolution at Three Men in a Tub.
Chester Gould
–
Dick Tracy mural in downtown
Pawnee, Oklahoma
3.
Comic strip
–
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. With the development of the internet, they began to online as web comics. There were more than 200 different comic strips and daily cartoon panels in American newspapers alone each day for most of the 20th century, Strips are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist. As the name implies, comic strips can be humorous, starting in the late 1920s, comic strips expanded from their mirthful origins to feature adventure stories, as seen in Popeye, Captain Easy, Buck Rogers, Tarzan, and The Adventures of Tintin. Soap-opera continuity strips such as Judge Parker and Mary Worth gained popularity in the 1940s, all are called, generically, comic strips, though cartoonist Will Eisner has suggested that sequential art would be a better genre-neutral name. In the UK and the rest of Europe, comic strips are also serialized in comic book magazines, storytelling using a sequence of pictures has existed through history. One medieval European example in textile form is the Bayeux Tapestry, printed examples emerged in 19th-century Germany and in 18th-century England, where some of the first satirical or humorous sequential narrative drawings were produced. William Hogarths 18th century English cartoons include both narrative sequences, such as A Rakes Progress, and single panels, in China, with its traditions of block printing and of the incorporation of text with image, experiments with what became lianhuanhua date back to 1884. The first newspaper comic strips appeared in North America in the late 19th century, the Yellow Kid is usually credited as one of the first newspaper strips. However, the art form combining words and pictures developed gradually, swiss author and caricature artist Rodolphe Töpffer is considered the father of the modern comic strips. In 1865, German painter, author, and caricaturist Wilhelm Busch created the strip Max and Moritz, Max and Moritz provided an inspiration for German immigrant Rudolph Dirks, who created the Katzenjammer Kids in 1897. Familiar comic-strip iconography such as stars for pain, sawing logs for snoring, speech balloons, hugely popular, Katzenjammer Kids occasioned one of the first comic-strip copyright ownership suits in the history of the medium. When Dirks left William Randolph Hearst for the promise of a better salary under Joseph Pulitzer, it was an unusual move, in a highly unusual court decision, Hearst retained the rights to the name Katzenjammer Kids, while creator Dirks retained the rights to the characters. Hearst promptly hired Harold Knerr to draw his own version of the strip, Dirks renamed his version Hans and Fritz. Thus, two versions distributed by rival syndicates graced the pages for decades. Dirks version, eventually distributed by United Feature Syndicate, ran until 1979, in the United States, the great popularity of comics sprang from the newspaper war between Pulitzer and Hearst. On January 31,1912, Hearst introduced the nations first full daily comic page in his New York Evening Journal, the history of this newspaper rivalry and the rapid appearance of comic strips in most major American newspapers is discussed by Ian Gordon. The longest running American comic strips are,1, barney Google and Snuffy Smith 5
Comic strip
–
Winsor McCay 's
Little Nemo (1905), an American
Sunday comic strip featuring a heightened use of perspective, a sequential narrative in panel tiers, and dream-like plots
Comic strip
–
Jimmy Hatlo 's
They'll Do It Every Time was often drawn in the two-panel format as seen in this 1943 example.
Comic strip
–
Gene Ahern 's The Squirrel Cage (January 3, 1937), an example of a
topper strip which is better remembered than the strip it accompanied, Ahern's
Room and Board.
Comic strip
–
Russell Patterson and Carolyn Wells' New Adventures of Flossy Frills (January 26, 1941), an example of comic strips on
Sunday magazines.
4.
Dick Tracy
–
Dick Tracy is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. The strip made its debut on October 4,1931 in the Detroit Mirror and it was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. Gould wrote and drew the strip until 1977, since that time, various artists and writers have continued the strip, which still runs in newspapers today. Dick Tracy has also been the hero in a number of films, Tracy uses forensic science, advanced gadgetry, and wits, in an early example of the police procedural mystery story—although stories often end in gunfights just the same. Stories typically follow a criminal committing a crime and Tracys relentless pursuit of the criminal, the strips most popular villain was Flattop Jones, a freelance hitman hired by black marketeers to murder Tracy. When Flattop was killed, fans went into mourning. The villains small crimes led to bigger, out of control situations, similarly, innocent witnesses were frequently killed, and Tracys paramour Tess Trueheart was often endangered by the villains. As the story progressed, Tracy adopted an orphan under the name Dick Tracy Jr. or Junior for short and he also cultivated a professional partner, ex-steel worker Pat Patton, who gradually became a detective of skill and courage enough to satisfy Tracys requirements. Tracy characters were often caricatures of celebrities, there was Breathless Mahoney, modeled after Veronica Lake. Plenty was inspired by George Gabby Hayes, Vitamin Flintheart by John Barrymore, others include villains like Rughead, Oodles and Mumbles. Gould even parodied himself as the out-of-shape Pear Shape, the 2-Way Wrist Radio was upgraded to a 2-Way Wrist TV in 1964. This development also led to the introduction of an important supporting character, Diet Smith, a new character was introduced named Sam Catchem to take Pattons place as Tracys sidekick. Depictions of family life alternated with the crime drama, as in the kidnapping of Bonnie Braids by fugitive Crewy Lou. In his book-length examination of the strip, Dick Tracy – The Official Biography, nevertheless, the controversy eventually faded, and the cartoonist reduced exposure to Tracys home life. Tracys cases generally incriminated independent operators rather than organized crime—with a few exceptions, such as Big Boy, a version of Al Capone. Tracy opposed a series of big-time mobsters in the 1950s, such as the King, George Mr. Crime Alpha, Odds Zonn, as Tess faded into the background, Tracy assumed as assistant the rookie policewoman Lizz Worthington. From 1956 to 1964, the Dick Tracy Sunday page was accompanied by a topper strip called The Gravies and drawn by Gould. As technology progressed, the methods that Tracy and the used to track
Dick Tracy
–
Chester Gould's Dick Tracy vs. "The Blank" (January 2, 1938)
Dick Tracy
–
The famous 2-Way Wrist Radio
Dick Tracy
–
In 1949,
Spike Jones was caricatured in the Dick Tracy dailies as Spike Dyke.
Dick Tracy
–
Color guide for Dick Tracy (March 8, 1970)
5.
Kidnapping
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In criminal law, kidnapping is the abduction and restraint by force or unlawful transportation of a person usually in order to hold them captive against their will. This may be done with a demand for ransom in exchange for releasing them from concealment, Kidnapping can be accompanied by bodily injury which elevates the crime to aggravated kidnapping. Bride kidnapping is a term often applied loosely, to include any bride abducted against the will of her parents and it still is traditional amongst certain nomadic peoples of Central Asia. It has seen a resurgence in Kyrgyzstan since the fall of the Soviet Union, express kidnapping is a method of abduction used in some countries, mainly from Latin America, where a small ransom, that a company or family can easily pay, is demanded. Tiger kidnapping is taking a hostage to make a one or associate of the victim do something. The term originates from the usually long preceding observation, like a tiger does on the prowl, Kidnapping that does not result in a homicide is a hybrid offence that comes with a maximum possible penalty of life imprisonment. A murder that results from kidnapping is classified as 1st-degree, with a sentence of imprisonment that results from conviction. Part 1 of Article 282 allows sentencing kidnappers to maximum imprisonment of 8 years or a fine of the fifth category, part 2 allows maximum imprisonment of 9 years or a fine of the fifth category if there are serious injuries. Part 3 allows maximum imprisonment of 12 years or a fine of the fifth if the victim has been killed. Part 4 allows sentencing people that collaborate with kidnapping, part 1,2 and 3 will apply also to them. Kidnapping is an offence under the law of England and Wales. Lord Brandon said in 1984 R v D, First, the nature of the offence is an attack on, and infringement of, the personal liberty of an individual. In all cases of Kidnapping of children, where it is alleged that a child has been kidnapped and this is the case regardless of the age of the child. A very small child will not have the understanding or intelligence to consent and this means that absence of consent will be a necessary inference from the age of the child. It is a question of fact for the jury whether a child has sufficient understanding. Lord Brandon said, I should not expect a jury to find at all frequently that a child under fourteen had sufficient understanding and intelligence to give its consent. If, on the hand, the child did not consent. It is known as Gillick competence, Kidnapping is punishable with imprisonment or fine at the discretion of the court
Kidnapping
–
El Malón,
Johann Moritz Rugendas (1802–1858). The painting depicts a woman being kidnapped during a
malón.
Kidnapping
–
Arrested kidnappers in
Rio lying on the ground
Kidnapping
–
Thought to be a
bride kidnapping in-progress in Central Asia, circa 1870.
6.
Gray eminence
–
An éminence grise or Grey Eminence is a powerful decision-maker or adviser who operates behind the scenes or in a non-public or unofficial capacity. This phrase originally referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the man of Cardinal Richelieu. Leclerc was a Capuchin friar who was renowned for his beige robe attire, the title His Eminence is used to address or refer to a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Although Leclerc never achieved the rank of Cardinal, those around him addressed him as such in deference to the influence this grey friar held over His Eminence the Cardinal. Leclerc is popularly referred to in several works, aldous Huxley wrote an English biography of Leclerc entitled Grey Eminence. There is also an 1873 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, LÉminence Grise, Leclerc is referred to in Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers as the character Father Joseph, a powerful associate of Richelieu and one to be feared. The character Marquis de Carabas has this role in the novel and television series, in the game, Crusader Kings II, the Grey Eminence trait grants a character a high bonus for diplomatic ability. Camarilla Power behind the throne Svengali
Gray eminence
–
Oil painting of
François Leclerc du Tremblay by
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Gray eminence
–
Jan Matejko, Stańczyk
7.
Max Allan Collins
–
Max Allan Collins is an American mystery writer. Collins has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition, created the comic book private eye Ms. Tree, Collins briefly wrote the Batman comic book in 1987 and crafted a new origin for the Jason Todd character. Another contribution to the Batman franchise was scripting the English-language translation of Batman and he wrote books to expand on the Dark Angel TV series. He has written books and comics based on the TV series franchise CSI, in 2006 he wrote Buried Deep, based on the TV series Bones. He has written two novels to Road to Perdition, Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise. He wrote three graphic novels starring the characters from Road to Perdition. These graphic novels, called collectively On the Road to Perdition and he co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers with Lee Goldberg. The IAMTW is an organization for writers of tie-ins and novelizations, Collins studied in the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. Collins is a fan of the mystery writer Mickey Spillane from childhood, the two collaborated on a comic book series in the 1990s called Mike Danger. Upon Spillanes death in 2006, Collins was entrusted to finish several uncompleted works by Spillane including Dead Street, The Goliath Bone, and The Big Bang. In addition to his work as a writer, Collins has written and directed four movies, Mommy, Mommy 2, Mommys Day, Real Time, Siege at Lucas Street Market, all four were produced independently on location in Collins hometown of Muscatine, Iowa. The first three are available on DVD — separately or in the Black Box set — from Troma Team Video, Collins has written and performed music with his rock band, Crusin. I do know that I veer left when the right is getting out of hand, Collins is married to his wife, Barbara, with whom he has a son, Nathan. This series features a former US Marine sniper turned professional assassin after returning from the Vietnam War in 1973, the disillusioned vet is quickly recruited into a network of contract killers and corruption spanning the Mississippi River. This series features a professional thief, similar to and apparently inspired by Richard Starks Parker character, Heller is a Chicago private investigator who gets involved in famous crimes and meets famous people of the 1930s and 1940s, including Orson Welles, Frank Nitti, and Sally Rand. The first novel in this fiction series, True Detective. Hardcover from the Private Eye Writers of America, Collins won his second Shamus in 1992 for the Heller novel Stolen Away, an account of the Lindbergh kidnapping
Max Allan Collins
–
Max Allan Collins in 2002, at
Comic-Con International.
Max Allan Collins
–
Collins with
Leslie Nielsen in 1982
8.
Car bomb
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A car bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, is an improvised explosive device placed inside a car or other vehicle and detonated. The latter type may be parked up or the vehicle might be used to deliver the bomb. It is commonly used as a weapon of terrorism or guerrilla warfare, the gasoline in the vehicles fuel tank may make the explosion of the bomb more powerful by dispersing and igniting the fuel. Car bombs are effective weapons as they are a way to transport a large amount of explosives to the intended target. A car bomb also produces copious shrapnel, or flying debris, in recent years, car bombs have become widely used by suicide bombers. Since the height of the Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign in 1991, where major public roads pass near buildings, road closures may be the only option. Historically these tactics have encouraged potential bombers to target soft or unprotected targets, in the Syrian Civil War, and Iraq, the car bomb concept was modified so that it could be driven and detonated by a driver, but armoured to withstand incoming fire. The vehicle would be driven to its area, in a similar fashion to a kamikaze plane of WW2. These were known by the acronym SVBIED or VBIEDs and this saw generally civilian cars with armour plating added, that would protect the car for as long as possible, so that it could reach its intended target. Cars were sometimes driven into enemy troop areas, or into incoming enemy columns, most often, the SVIEDs were used by ISIS against Government forces, but also used by Syrian rebels against government troops. In some cases trucks were used, as well as cars. They were sometimes used to start an assault, generally the vehicles had a large space that would contain very heavy explosives. In some cases, animal drawn carts with improvised explosive devices have been used, tactically, a single vehicle may be used, or an initial breakthrough vehicle, then followed by another vehicle. Though using a less refined technology, the principle of the hellburner is similar to that of the car bomb. The first possible suicide car bombing was the Bath School bombings of 1927, mass-casualty car bombing, and especially suicide car bombing, is currently a predominantly Middle Eastern phenomenon. The tactic was first introduced to the region by the Stern Gang, the tactic was widely used in the Lebanese Civil War by the Islamic fundamentalist group Hezbollah. A notable suicide car bombing was the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, marines and 58 French military personnel. The perpetrator of attacks has never been positively confirmed
Car bomb
–
The result of a car bombing in
Iraq.
Car bomb
–
Car bomb in Iraq, made up of a number of
artillery shells concealed in the back of a
pickup truck.
Car bomb
–
TSA officers view the post-blast remains of a vehicle after an explosive was detonated inside it during training.
Car bomb
–
Vietcong terror car bombing aftermath scene in
Saigon, 1965.
9.
Adopted
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Modern systems of adoption, arising in the 20th century, tend to be governed by comprehensive statutes and regulations. Adoption for the well-born While the modern form of adoption emerged in the United States, the Code of Hammurabi, for example, details the rights of adopters and the responsibilities of adopted individuals at length. The practice of adoption in ancient Rome is well documented in the Codex Justinianus, the use of adoption by the aristocracy is well documented, many of Romes emperors were adopted sons. Infant adoption during Antiquity appears rare, abandoned children were often picked up for slavery and composed a significant percentage of the Empires slave supply. Roman legal records indicate that foundlings were occasionally taken in by families, although not normally adopted under Roman Law, the children, called alumni, were reared in an arrangement similar to guardianship, being considered the property of the father who abandoned them. Other ancient civilizations, notably India and China, used some form of adoption as well, evidence suggests the goal of this practice was to ensure the continuity of cultural and religious practices, in contrast to the Western idea of extending family lines. China had a idea of adoption with males adopted solely to perform the duties of ancestor worship. The practice of adopting the children of members and close friends was common among the cultures of Polynesia including Hawaii where the custom was referred to as hānai. Adoption and commoners The nobility of the Germanic, Celtic, in medieval society, bloodlines were paramount, a ruling dynasty lacking a natural-born heir apparent was replaced, a stark contrast to Roman traditions. The evolution of European law reflects this aversion to adoption, english Common Law, for instance, did not permit adoption since it contradicted the customary rules of inheritance. Some adoptions continued to occur, however, but became informal, for example, in the year 737, in a charter from the town of Lucca, three adoptees were made heirs to an estate. Europes cultural makeover marked a period of significant innovation for adoption, without support from the nobility, the practice gradually shifted toward abandoned children. Abandonment levels rose with the fall of the empire and many of the foundlings were left on the doorstep of the Church, initially, the clergy reacted by drafting rules to govern the exposing, selling, and rearing of abandoned children. The Churchs innovation, however, was the practice of oblation, whereby children were dedicated to lay life within monastic institutions and this created the first system in European history in which abandoned children did not have legal, social, or moral disadvantages. As a result, many of Europes abandoned and orphaned children became alumni of the Church, oblation marks the beginning of a shift toward institutionalization, eventually bringing about the establishment of the foundling hospital and orphanage. This system of apprenticeship and informal adoption extended into the 19th century, despite its intent, though, in practice, the system operated much the same as earlier incarnations. The experience of the Boston Female Asylum is a good example, adopting to create a family The next stage of adoptions evolution fell to the emerging nation of the United States. Rapid immigration and the American Civil War resulted in unprecedented overcrowding of orphanages, Charles Loring Brace, a Protestant minister became appalled by the legions of homeless waifs roaming the streets of New York City
Adopted
–
Sister Irene of New York Foundling Hospital with children. Sister Irene is among the pioneers of modern adoption, establishing a system to board out children rather than institutionalize them.
Adopted
–
Trajan became emperor of Rome through adoption, a customary practice of the empire that enabled peaceful transitions of power
Adopted
–
At the monastery gate (Am Klostertor) by
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
Adopted
–
Charles Loring Brace
10.
American Mafia
–
The American Mafia, also referred to as the Italian Mafia or the Italian-American Mafia, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society. The organization is referred to by members as Cosa Nostra or La Cosa Nostra. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New Yorks East Harlem, Lower East Side and it has its roots in the Sicilian Mafia but is a separate organization in the United States. Today, the American Mafia cooperates in various activities with Italian organized crime groups, such as the Sicilian Mafia, Camorra in Naples. The most important unit of the American Mafia is that of a family, despite the name of family to describe the various units, they are not familial groupings. The Mafia is currently most active in the Northeastern U. S. especially in New York City, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New England while also being active in Chicago and Florida. At the Mafias peak, there were at least 26 cities around the United States with Cosa Nostra families, with many more offshoots and associates in other cities. There are five main New York City Mafia families, known as the Five Families, the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno, at its peak, the Mafia dominated organized crime in the U. S. Each crime family has its own territory and operates independently, while nationwide coordination is overseen by the Commission, the term Mafia was originally used in Italy by the media and law enforcement to describe criminal groups in Sicily. The origins of the term are debatable though most agree the term is derived from the word Maafir a term rooted in Arabic, like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia did not use the term Mafia to describe itself. Neither group has a name and instead used the term cosa nostra when referring to themselves. Mafia properly refers to either the Sicilian or Italian-American Mafia, kennedys political team, referred to as the Irish Mafia. The press also coined the name National Crime Syndicate to refer to the network of U. S. organized crime, which includes the Jewish Mafia elements. The first published account of what became the Mafia in the United States dates to the spring of 1869, emigration from southern Italy to the Americas was primarily to Brazil and Argentina, and New Orleans had a heavy volume of port traffic to and from both locales. The Black Hand was a given to an extortion method used in Italian neighborhoods at the turn of the 20th century. It has been mistaken for the Mafia itself, which it is not. The Black Hand was a society, but there were many small Black Hand gangs. Black Hand extortion was often viewed as the activity of a single organization because Black Hand criminals in Italian communities throughout the United States used the methods of extortion
American Mafia
–
Al Capone 's violent rise to power in
Chicago and the media attention it brought made him a lasting figure of the prohibition era and organized crime in general.
American Mafia
–
FBI chart of American Mafia bosses across the country in 1963.
American Mafia
–
Charles "Lucky" Luciano in 1948
American Mafia
–
Sammy Gravano
11.
Hitman
–
Contract killing is a form of murder in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an agreement between two or more parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for some form of payment. Either party may be a person, group, or an organization, contract killing has been associated with organized crime, government conspiracies and with vendettas. For example, in the United States, the gang Murder, contract killing provides the hiring party with the advantage of not having to commit the actual killing, making it more difficult for law enforcement to connect said party with the murder. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other countries, any contract to commit an indictable offense is not enforceable under contract law. Thus, if a hitman takes the money but then fails or refuses to perform, conversely, if the hitman performs the killing as promised but the customer refuses to pay, the hitman cannot sue the customer for monetary damages. Furthermore, both the killer and the person who paid the killer can be found guilty of murder. In some U. S. jurisdictions with capital punishment, a contract killing may be a special circumstance that allows for the contractor as well as the killer to receive the death penalty, criminal code statutes prohibiting solicitation of murder are also intended to curb contract killings. The study also found that the payment for a hit was $15,000 with variation from $5,000 up to $30,000. Contract killings accounted for 2% of murders in Australia during that time period, contract killings also make up a relatively similar percentage of all killings elsewhere. For example, they made up about 5% of all murders in Scotland from 1993 to 2002, Siegel was also the Italian mobs main hitman during Prohibition. Vincent Coll, an Irish-American hitman who worked for Dutch Schultz, li Fuguo, a Tang Dynasty Eunuch killed by a hitman hired by Emperor Tang Daizong. Shiori Ino, a 21-year-old University student killed by hitman Yoshifumi Kubota and he was paid by her ex-boyfriend and his brother, the case gained some notoriety in Japan. Grady Stiles, freak show performer whose family hired a hitman to kill him because of his abusiveness, Harry Greenberg, a Mafia associate of Charles Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Siegel. He was killed by Siegel, Whitey Krakower, Albert Tannenbaum, Joe Masseria, was a Mafia boss that was murdered by Siegel, Vito Genovese, and Lepke Buchalter in 1931. Salvatore Maranzano, was a Castellammarese Mafia boss and rival to Masseria in the Castellammarese War and was killed by Siegel, benjamin Siegel, Las Vegas mob boss and Flamingo Hotel owner, killed by unknown assailants in 1947. Nicole Doucet Ryan attempted to hire an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer to kill her husband, after ruling she could not use the defense of duress, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered she not be retried. Tim Lambesis, former vocalist of metal bands As I Lay Dying, Austrian Death Machine and Pyrithion
Hitman
–
Mad Dog Coll leaving homicide court surrounded by police officers, 1931
12.
Dick Tracy (1990 film)
–
Dick Tracy is a 1990 American action comedy film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. Dick Tracy depicts the love relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Truehart. Tracy also begins his upbringing of The Kid, development of the film started in the early 1980s with Tom Mankiewicz assigned to write the script. The screenplay would instead be crafted by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the project also went through directors Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Walter Hill, and Richard Benjamin before the arrival of Beatty. Filming was mostly at Universal Studios, Danny Elfman was hired to compose the film score, and the music was featured on three separate soundtrack albums. Dick Tracy was released in 1990 to mixed reviews, but was a success at the box office and it picked up seven Academy Award nominations and won in three of the categories, Best Original Song, Best Makeup and Best Art Direction. A sequel was planned, but a controversy over the rights ensued between Beatty and Tribune Media Services. The lawsuit was resolved in Beattys favor in October 2013, however, no plans for a sequel or follow-up have been publicly disclosed as of June 2014. Beatty created The Dick Tracy TV Special in 2008, which featured him reprising the character to be interviewed by film critic Leonard Maltin. At an illegal card game, a street urchin witnesses the massacre of a group of mobsters at the hands of Flattop and Itchy. Big Boys crime syndicate is aggressively taking over small businesses in the city, Detective Dick Tracy catches the urchin in an act of petty theft. After rescuing him from a ruthless host, Tracy temporarily adopts him with the help of his girlfriend, meanwhile, Big Boy coerces club owner Lips Manlis into signing over the deed to Club Ritz. He then kills Lips with a cement overcoat and steals his girlfriend, after Lips is reported missing, Tracy interrogates his three hired guns Flattop, Itchy, and Mumbles, then goes to the club to arrest Big Boy for Lips murder. Instead of providing testimony, she attempts to seduce Tracy. Big Boy cannot be indicted and he is released from jail, Big Boys next move is to try to bring other criminals, including Spud Spaldoni, Pruneface, Influence, Texie Garcia, Ribs Mocca, and Numbers, together under his leadership. Spaldoni refuses and is killed, leaving Dick Tracy, who discovered the meeting and was attempting to spy on it. The next day, Big Boy and his henchmen kidnap Tracy and attempt to bribe him, Tracy refuses, however, Tracy is saved by Kid, who gets prized by the police with a Honorary Detective Certificate, which will remain temporary until he decides a name for himself. Breathless shows up at Tracys apartment, once again in an attempt to seduce him, Tracy shows he is only human by allowing her to kiss him
Dick Tracy (1990 film)
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Theatrical release poster
Dick Tracy (1990 film)
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Beatty as Dick Tracy during filming
Dick Tracy (1990 film)
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Madonna's 1990
Blond Ambition World Tour was seen as a way of promotion for the film. Here she is seen performing "Now I'm Following You", from her
I'm Breathless album, with a Dick Tracy lookalike.
13.
Academy Award
–
The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
Academy Award
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Academy Awards
Academy Award
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31st Academy Awards Presentations,
Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, 1959
Academy Award
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81st Academy Awards Presentations,
Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, 2009
Academy Award
–
Pantages Theatre, 2008
14.
Paul Sorvino
–
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor, opera singer, businessman, writer, and sculptor. He is the father of actress Mira Sorvino and actor Michael Sorvino, Sorvino was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. His mother, Angela Maria Mattea, was a homemaker and piano teacher and his father, Ford Sorvino, was an Italian immigrant who worked in a robe factory as a foreman. He attended Lafayette High School, where he was classmates with painter Peter Max, and he began his career as a copywriter in an advertising agency, where he worked with John Margeotes, founder of Margeotes, Fertitta, and Weiss. He took 18 years of voice lessons, while attending The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, he decided to go into the theatre. He made his Broadway debut in the 1964 musical Bajour, and six years later he appeared in his first film, Carl Reiners Wheres Poppa. starring George Segal and Ruth Gordon. In 1971, he played a role in Jerry Schatzbergs critically acclaimed The Panic in Needle Park starring Al Pacino. He received an avalanche of critical praise for his performance as Phil Romano in Jason Millers 1972 Broadway play That Championship Season and he also appeared in the 1976 Elliott Gould/Diane Keaton vehicle I Will, I Will. for Now. He has starred in the weekly series Well Get By, Bert DAngelo/Superstar and he also directed Wheelbarrow Closers, a 1976 Broadway play by Louis La Russo II, which starred Danny Aiello. In 1981, Sorvino played the role of Italian-American Communist Louis C, Fraina in Warren Beattys epic film Reds. He appeared in Larry Cohens 1985 science fiction horror film The Stuff as a militia leader. He helped found the American Stage Company, a group that launched several successful Off-Broadway shows, while living in Tenafly, in 1991, he took on the role of Sergeant Phil Cerreta on the popular series Law & Order. Sorvinos exit from the series came in an episode in which Sgt, Cerreta was shot in the line of duty and transferred to an administrative position in another precinct. He was replaced on the show by Jerry Orbach, in 1993, Sorvino subbed for the late Raymond Burr in a Perry Mason TV movie. He earlier appeared as Bruce Willis father in the weekly series Moonlighting, some of his most notable film roles were caporegime Paul Cicero in Martin Scorseses Goodfellas and Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stones Nixon. In addition to Goodfellas, Sorvino also played mob bosses Eddie Valentine in The Rocketeer, Sorvino founded the Paul Sorvino Asthma Foundation, with the goal of building asthma centers for children and adults across the United States. In 1998, he narrated the series The Big House for The History Channel, in 1999, he directed and again starred in a lower-budget TV version of That Championship Season, which was written by his friend Jason Miller. He also lent his voice in Hey Arnold, the Movie as the main antagonist, Mr. Scheck, the evil CEO of Future Tech Industries who wants to convert Arnolds neighborhood into a huge shopping mall
Paul Sorvino
–
Sorvino at the 2010
Tribeca Film Festival
Paul Sorvino
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Paul Sorvino, 2008
15.
Warren Beatty
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Henry Warren Beatty, better known as Warren Beatty, is an American actor and filmmaker. In 1999, he was awarded the Academys highest honor, the Irving G. Thalberg Award, Beatty has been nominated for eighteen Golden Globe Awards, winning six, including the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, which he was honored with in 2007, among his Golden Globe-nominated films are Splendor in the Grass, his screen debut, and Bonnie and Clyde, Shampoo, Dick Tracy, Bugsy, Bulworth and Rules Dont Apply, all of which he also produced. Arthur Penn, who directed Bonnie and Clyde, described Beatty as the producer, adding. Warren stays with a picture editing, mixing and scoring. He plain works harder than anyone else I have ever seen, Henry Warren Beaty was born in Richmond, Virginia. His mother, Kathlyn Corinne, was Canadian and a teacher from Nova Scotia and his father, Ira Owens Beaty, had a PhD in educational psychology and worked as a public school administrator, in addition to dealing in real estate. In 1945, the family moved from Richmond to Arlington, Virginia, during the 1950s, the family resided in the Dominion Hills section of Arlington. Beattys elder sister is the actress, dancer and writer Shirley MacLaine and his uncle, by marriage, was Canadian politician A. A. MacLeod. Beatty became interested in movies before his teens, when he accompanied his sister to theaters. One film that had an important early influence on him was The Philadelphia Story and he noticed a strong resemblance between its star, Katharine Hepburn, and his mother, in both appearance and personality, saying that they symbolized perpetual integrity. Another film that had an impact on him was Love Affair and he found it deeply moving, and recalls that This is a movie I always wanted to make. He did remake Love Affair in 1994, in which he starred alongside Annette Bening, among his favorite TV shows in the 1950s was the Texaco Star Theatre, and he began to mimic one if its regular host comedians, Milton Berle. Beatty learned to do an imitation of Berle and his routine, said a friend. His sister saw Beatty close off emotionally from his father, among her lasting memories of her brother during this period was seeing him withdrawn and spending time alone reading books by Eugene ONeill or singing along to Al Jolson records. In Rules Dont Apply, Beatty plays Howard Hughes, who is talking about. He has to have control over everything, and I used to say that I supposed I did. Beatty was a football player at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington
Warren Beatty
–
Beatty in
Shampoo (1975)
Warren Beatty
–
Beatty in
Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
Warren Beatty
–
Beatty with
Diane Keaton and first lady
Nancy Reagan in 1981.
Warren Beatty
–
Beatty on the set of
Dick Tracy (1990).
16.
Femme fatale
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A femme fatale is a stock character of a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art, in American early 20th century film, femme fatale characters were referred to as vamps, an allusion to their role as sexual vampires. The phrase is French for fatal woman, a femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, and sexual allure. In some situations, she uses lies or coercion rather than charm and she may also make use of some subduing weapon such as sleeping gas, a modern analog of magical powers in older tales. She may also be a victim, caught in a situation from which she cannot escape, a younger version of a femme fatale is called a fille fatale, or fatal girl. Femmes fatale are typically villainous, or at least morally ambiguous, and always associated with a sense of mystification, the femme fatale archetype exists in the culture, folklore and myth of many cultures. Ancient mythical or legendary examples include Mohini, Lilith, the Sirens, historical examples from Classical times include Cleopatra and Messalina, as well as the Biblical figures Delilah, Jezebel and Salome. An example from Chinese literature and traditional history is Daji, the femme fatale was a common figure in the European Middle Ages, often portraying the dangers of unbridled female sexuality. The pre-medieval inherited Biblical figure of Eve offers an example, as does the wicked, along with them, there rose the gothic novel, The Monk featuring Matilda, a very powerful femme fatale. This led to her appearing in the work of Edgar Allan Poe, pre-Raphaelite painters frequently used the classic personifications of the femme fatale as a subject. Later, Salome was the subject of an opera by Strauss, and was popularized on stage, screen, another enduring icon of glamour, seduction, and moral turpitude is Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, 1876–1917. While working as a dancer, she took the stage name Mata Hari. Although she may have been innocent, she was accused of German espionage and was put to death by a French firing squad, after her death she became the subject of many sensational films and books. Other considerably famous femmes fatales are Isabella of France, Hedda Gabler of Kristiania, Marie Antoinette of Austria, one traditional view portrays the femme fatale as a sexual vampire, her charms leech the virility and independence of lovers, leaving them shells of themselves. Rudyard Kipling took inspiration from a vampire painted by Philip Burne-Jones, the poem inspired the 1913 eponymous film The Vampire by Robert Vignola, sometimes cited as the first vamp movie. Like much of Kiplings verse it became popular, and its refrain. Describing a seduced man, became the title of the popular 1915 film A Fool There Was that made Theda Bara a star, the poem was used in the publicity for the film. On this account, in the American slang of the era the femme fatale was called a vamp, from the American film-audience perspective, the femme fatale often appeared foreign, usually either of indeterminate Eastern European or Asian ancestry
Femme fatale
–
Convicted
spy Mata Hari made her name synonymous with femme fatale during
WWI.
Femme fatale
–
The divine femme fatale of Hindu mythology,
Mohini is described to have enchanted gods, demons and sages alike.
Femme fatale
–
Salome in a painting by
Franz von Stuck
Femme fatale
–
Actress
Theda Bara defined the word "Vamp" in the film
A Fool There Was.
17.
Vigilante
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A vigilante is a civilian or organization acting in a law enforcement capacity without legal authority. Vigilante justice is often rationalized by the concept that proper legal forms of punishment are either nonexistent, insufficient. Vigilantes normally see the government as ineffective in enforcing the law, persons alleged to be escaping the law or above the law are sometimes the victims of vigilantism. Vigilante conduct involves certain degrees of violence, Vigilantes could assault targets verbally and/or physically, damage and/or vandalize property, or even kill individuals. In a number of cases, vigilantism has involved targets with mistaken identities, in Britain in the early 2000s, there were reports of vandalism, assaults, and verbal abuse towards people wrongly accused of being pedophiles, following the murder of Sarah Payne. In Guyana in 2008, Hardel Haynes was beaten to death by a mob who mistook him for a thief, Vigilantism and the vigilante ethos existed long before the word vigilante was introduced into the English language. There are conceptual and psychological parallels between the Dark Age and medieval aristocratic custom of private war or vendetta and the modern vigilante philosophy, when Jacob protested that their actions might bring trouble upon him and his family, the brothers replied Should he treat our sister as a harlot. Similarly, in 2 Samuel 13, Absalom kills Amnon after King David, their father, fails to punish Amnon for raping Tamar, recourse to personal vengeance and dueling was considered a class privilege of the sword-bearing aristocracy before the formation of the modern centralized liberal-bureaucratic nation-state. In addition, sociologists have posited a complex legal and ethical interrelationship between vigilante acts and rebellion and tyrannicide, in the Western literary and cultural tradition, characteristics of vigilantism have often been vested in folkloric heroes and legendary outlaws. Vigilantism in literature, folklore and legend is connected to the issues of dissatisfied morality, injustice, the failures of authority. Formally-defined vigilantism arose in the early American colonies and these people would assault accused thieves, rapists and murderers. When they assaulted these thieves, they would steal their gold, other than reports and newspapers, there are not many records of vigilantes. Few names or groups are known, later in the United States, vigilante groups arose in poorly governed frontier areas where criminals preyed upon the citizenry with impunity. The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27,1844, in 1851 and 1856, San Francisco Vigilance Movement sought to eliminate crime, an element of this movement focused on immigrants like the Sydney Ducks. This touched off a cycle of retaliatory battles and raids by the two sides in which some 29 people were killed. In 1858 San Luis Obispo vigilantes ended the reign of the bandit gang of Pío Linares on El Camino Real between San Luis and Santa Barbara. In October 1862 in northern Texas, several Unionist sympathizers were arrested and taken to Gainesville, seven were tried and hanged, and 14 were hanged without trial. A few weeks later, Unionist sympathizers were hanged without trial across northern Texas, known as the Great Hanging at Gainesville, it may have been the deadliest act of vigilante violence in U. S. history
Vigilante
–
The
Bald Knobbers, an 1880s vigilante group from
Missouri, wearing crude "
blackface " masks typical of the
post-Reconstruction era in the United States – as portrayed in the 1919 film, The Shepherd of the Hills.
Vigilante
–
A lynching carried out by the
San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1856
Vigilante
–
"Great Hanging at Gainesville", 1862
18.
Alfred J. Gross
–
Irving J. Gross was a pioneer in mobile wireless communication. He created and patented many communications devices, specifically in relation to a version of the walkie-talkie, Citizens Band radio, the telephone pager. Gross was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1918 and his lifelong enthusiasm for radio was sparked at age nine, when traveling on Lake Erie by a steamboat. While sneaking around the boat he ended up in the radio transmissions room, the ships operator let him listen in on transmissions. Later, Gross turned the basement of his house into a radio station, at sixteen he earned his amateur radio license, and he used his call sign his whole life. His interest and knowledge in radio technology had grown considerably by the time he in 1936 entered the BSEE program at Clevelands Case of Applied Sciences and he was determined to investigate the unexplored frequency region above 100 MHz. Between 1938 and 1941, soon after the invention of the walkie talkie in 1937 by Donald Hings, he created and patented his own version of the walkie-talkie. During World War II, Gross had some limited involvement in building a two-way air-to-ground communications system for the U. S. OSS for use in military operations and it comprised a hand-held SSTC-502 transceiver and a much larger aircraft-based SSTR-6 transceiver. Gross actual contribution to the project is unclear, but the developers on the project were Dewitt R. Goddard. The system operated at frequencies above 250 MHz, which was at a higher frequency than the enemy had thought conceivable. This allowed operatives using Joan to communicate with high altitude bombers carrying Eleanor for times of 10 to 15 minutes without the use of code words and it was developed beginning in late 1942, was highly successful and very difficult to detect behind enemy lines at the time. It was marked Top Secret by the U. S. military until it was declassified, after the war the FCC allocated the first frequencies for personal radio services, the Citizens Radio Service Frequency Band. Gross formed Gross Electronics Co to produce two-way communications system to utilize these frequencies and he sold more than 100 thousand units of his system, mostly to farmers and the U. S. Coast Guard. Another breakthrough came in 1949 when he adapted his two-way radios to one-way for cordless remote telephonic signaling and he had effectively invented the first telephone pager system. His intention for this system was to be used by medical doctors and this same technology is used in one-way radio signaling devices such as garage door openers. In 1950 he tried in vain to interest telephone companies in mobile telephony, bell Telephone was uninterested, and other companies were afraid of Bells monopoly on transmission lines. Gross continued inventing, and began working as a specialist in microwave and other systems for companies such as Sperry Corporation. He continued working until his death at age 82, in an interview by the Arizona Republic Newspaper, he was asked about his many patents that expired too early for him to capitalize on them
Alfred J. Gross
–
Photographed by Leo Sorel
Alfred J. Gross
–
FCC amateur radio license of Al Gross
19.
Joe Staton
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Joe Staton is an American illustrator and writer of comic books. Joe Staton grew up in Tennessee and graduated from Murray State University in 1970, Staton started his comics career at Charlton Comics in 1971 and gained notability as the artist of the super-hero series E-Man. Staton produced art for comics published by Charlton, Marvel. In these titles he illustrated stories including the origin of the JSA in DC Special #29. Staton also illustrated the solo adventures of two female JSA members created during the JSA revival – drawing Power Girl in Showcase and the Huntress. During that time, Staton additionally drew Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, the 1970s revival of the Doom Patrol in Showcase, in 1979, Staton began a two-and-a-half-year run on Green Lantern, during which he co-created the Omega Men with writer Marv Wolfman. Staton served as art director for First Comics for three years in the 1980s and he returned to DC Comics afterwards for a second run on Green Lantern and with writer Steve Englehart, oversaw the titles name change to Green Lantern Corps. Staton and Englehart also created the DC weekly crossover series Millennium, in addition, Staton illustrated Guy Gardner, The Huntress, The New Guardians and Superman & Bugs Bunny. As of the late 2000s, Staton draws DCs Scooby-Doo title for younger readers, on January 19,2011, Tribune Media Services announced that Staton and writer Mike Curtis would replace Dick Locher as the creative team of the Dick Tracy comic strip. The new creative team have worked together on Scooby-Doo, Richie Rich, Staton also illustrated Charles Santinos graphic novel adaptation of Ayn Rands Anthem. Joe Staton received an Inkpot Award in 1983, Staton and writer Mike Curtis received the Best Syndicated Strip Harvey Award for Dick Tracy in 2013,2014, and 2015. com
Joe Staton
–
Staton at the 2008
New York Comic Con.
20.
Flattop (Dick Tracy villain)
–
Flattop Jones, Sr. is a fictional character, a villain created by Chester Gould for the Dick Tracy comic strip and is the most popular one in the strips history. His nickname comes from his head that is perfectly flat on the top. For example, Flattop claims in the strip to be a hitman from Cookson Hills in Oklahoma. The comic strip also references Flattops involvement in the Kansas City Massacre, goulds character leads a gang of three hoods and is known as an Ace Killer in one newspaper headline shown in the comic strip. In the storyline in which Flattop is the villain, black marketeers hire him to eliminate Dick Tracy for a fee of $5000. As such, Flattop decides to blackmail his employers for an additional $50,000 lest he release the detective with the information Tracy needs to arrest them. Hiding in a room while the transaction is completed, Tracy learns that a resident living with her mother downstairs is a WAC who is learning morse code. Sure enough, Elong and her mother get the message and alert the police, however, even as Tracys partner, Pat Patton, is preparing for a rescue, Flattop, having closed his blackmail deal, prepares to shoot Tracy while hes surrounded by his henchmen. On Flattops count of three, Tracy interrupts the assassination by lunging at the killer and wrestles for his gun. In the struggle, Tracy manages to kill a henchman, Machine Gun Eddie, with a Tommy gun, while the police tend to Tracy, the detective suggests that it be publicly announced that he was found dead, anticipating that Flattops employers would contact the killer soon afterward. The black marketeers take the bait, call Flattops number to him for a celebration. However, Flattop escapes and becomes a hunted fugitive hampered by his distinctive appearance. This leads to a chase, during which Flattop stays in a boarding house while being extorted by the crooked child, Bud Jenkins. The child drowns in a lake while skating with expensive new skates he buys with the blackmail money and this leads Tracy to the boarding house, forcing Flattop to flee. When questioned, the realizes that the money could only have come from her roomer. This begins a sequence that lasts for six months beginning at the end of 1943. First, Flattop hides in a chimney and is stung by bees in a hive he disturbs there, eventually, Flattop hides out in a hotel, but the War Bonds blow out a window and betray his location. In desperation as the officer reports this to headquarters, he hides in the room of Vitamin Flintheart
Flattop (Dick Tracy villain)
–
Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Photo from the
FBI files.
21.
Dick Tracy (serial)
–
Dick Tracy is a 15-Chapter Republic movie serial starring Ralph Byrd based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by Alan James and Ray Taylor, Dick Tracys foe for this serial is the crime boss and Masked Mystery Villain The Spider/The Lame One and his Spider Ring. The Spiders minion, Dr. Moloch, performs an operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring. Subsequent chapters simply listed the stars on one screen and the supporting cast a second. This approach to cast display was used by Republic from its first serial through Haunted Harbor in 1944, occasionally, a new player or two might be added. Columbia only a few times adopted this approach to displaying the cast of its serials, pictures, and some independents also used star cameos in numbers of their b-pictures during the 1930s. John Dilson as Ellery Brewster Wedgwood Nowell as H. T, Dick Tracy was budgeted at $112,334 although the final negative cost was $127,640. It was the most expensive Republic serial until S O S Coast Guard was released later in the year and it was filmed between 30 November and 24 December 1936 under the working titles Adventures of Dick Tracy and The Spider Ring. The serials production number was 420, in this serial, Dick Tracy is a G-Man in San Francisco rather than a Midwestern city police detective as in the comic strip. Most of the Dick Tracy supporting cast and rogues gallery were also dropped and new, Dick Tracy creator Chester Gould approved the script despite these changes. There were three sequels to this serial and they were all permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a series or serial. That meant that Dick Tracys creator, Chester Gould, was paid for the rights to produce this serial. The only known version of this serial is a direct-to-TV movie edited and syndicated in the late 1980s. He goes on to write that Ralph Byrd played the part to the hilt, giving his portrayal such unbridled, Byrd become identified with the character following the release of this serial. The final chapter reunion between Dick and Gordon Tracy, as Gordon lies dying and his memory returns, is one of the few moments of emotional drama ever attempted in serials. This added to the quality of Dick Tracy, which was present in both this serial and Chester Goulds original strip. The Spider Strikes, The Bay Bridge, under attack from the Spiders sonic weapon, the Bridge of Terror, Dick Tracys plane is damaged by gunfire and crashes into a rail bridge. The Fur Pirates, Chasing his brother and the Spider Ring by motorboat, death Rides the Sky, Dick Tracy transfers to an unmanned, remote plane to save Junior but it is shot down by the Spider Ring
Dick Tracy (serial)
–
Dick Tracy
22.
Dick Tracy Returns
–
Dick Tracy Returns is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was the eleventh of the sixty six serials Republic produced and it was successful enough that two further sequels were released, in 1939 and 1941, and Byrd become so connected with the character he went on the play him in a subsequent television series. This serial charts Tracys efforts to capture the Stark Gang of Pa Stark, Tracy and his group must battle saboteurs and spies in his effort to bring down the Stark gang, a major crime family syndicate led by the vicious and brutal Pa Stark. Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy Lynne Roberts as Gwen Andrews Charles Middleton as Pa Stark, Pa Stark was based on the real criminal Ma Barker. Jerry Tucker as Junior David Sharpe as Agent Ron Merton, a newly trained agent and it was the most expensive Republic serial of 1938 and the most expensive Republic serial until The Lone Ranger Rides Again in 1939. It was the second most expensive of the four Dick Tracy serials and it was filmed between 10 June and 18 July 1938 under the working title Return of Dick Tracy. The serials production number was 791 and this serial, like all the sequels to the original 1937 Dick Tracy serial, was permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a series or serial. Therefore, Chester Gould was not paid again for the right to produce this serial, the special effects were created by Republics in-house team, the Lydecker brothers Earle D. The serial was re-released on 17 July 1948 between the first runs of Dangers of the Canadian Mounted and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the other two were only 12 chapters long. Dick Tracy Returns at the Internet Movie Database Dick Tracy Returns at AllMovie Dick Tracy Returns at Todd Gaults Movie Serial Experience
Dick Tracy Returns
–
Dick Tracy Returns
23.
Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.
–
Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was directed by the team of William Witney and John English with Ralph Byrd reprising his role from the earlier serials. It was the last of the four Dick Tracy serials produced by Republic, Dick Tracy and his allies find themselves up against a villain known as The Ghost, with the impossible ability of becoming invisible. It was filmed between 17 September and 24 October 1941 under the working titles Dick Tracy Strikes Again and Dick Tracys Revenge, the serials production number was 1097. The scenes of giant waves hitting New York were recycled from the RKO Pictures film Deluge, most of the cliffhangers were stock footage from previous Dick Tracy serials. However, the reuse of the highlights of previous Dick Tracy serials actually added to this serial, making it seem like a best of compilation. Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. s official release date is 27 December 1941, during Christmas week 1941, although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchange]s. The serial was re-released on 8 October 1952, under the title Dick Tracy vs. Phantom Empire and he goes on to describe Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. as one of the most outstanding of all serials. This was a popular serial when first released and, in the opinion of Harmon and Glut, Crime, Inc. at the Internet Movie Database Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc. at Todd Gaults Movie Serial Experience
Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.
–
Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.
24.
Dick Tracy (1945 film)
–
Dick Tracy is a 1945 American film noir pulp action film based on the Dick Tracy comic strip created by Chester Gould. The film is the first of four installment of the Dick Tracy film series, suspects flourish but Tracy must find the common link of extortion and revenge before more are killed. Morgan Conway as Dick Tracy, the detective, who lets nothing stand in the way of justice. Anne Jeffreys as Tess Trueheart, Tracys girlfriend, who falls victim to her boyfriends workoholism. Mike Mazurki as Alexis Splitface Banning, a psychotic ex-con who seeks revenge and his weapon is a sharp surgical knife. He has a big disfiguring scar across his face, Jane Greer as Jane Owens, a suspect. Lyle Latell as Pat Patton, Tracys bumbling assistant, joseph Crehan as Chief Brandon, the reliable chief of police. Mickey Kuhn as Junior, Tracys adopted son, trevor Bardette as Prof. Linwood J. Starling, a strange medium, and also a suspect. Morgan Wallace as Steve Owens, a stern businessman, milton Parsons as Deathridge the Undertaker, a mysterious, skeletal suspect. William Halligan as Mayor, the mayor of Chicago. Getting the rights to produce Dick Tracy from the creator, Chester Gould. This was the first in a series of Dick Tracy films produced by RKO, roberts, Garyn G. Dick Tracy and American Culture, Morality and Mythology, Text and Context. Jefferson, North Carolina, USA, McFarland & Company, london, England, UK, Continuum International Publishing Group. Wilt, David E. Hardboiled in Hollywood, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA, Bowling Green State University Popular Press
Dick Tracy (1945 film)
–
Theatrical poster
25.
Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
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Dick Tracy vs. Cueball is a 1946 American film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. The dark and moody film stars Morgan Conway as Dick Tracy in the installment of the Dick Tracy film series released by RKO Radio Pictures. Dick Tracy vs. Cueball was listed in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, luxurious diamonds are stolen but before the thief can safely hide them aboard an ocean liner he is strangled by ex-conman Cueball. Cueball takes the diamonds and is given refuge by Filthy Flora, madam of the Dripping Dagger Bar. Dick Tracy allows his attractive girlfriend Tess to act as a buyer for the diamonds but is put in danger when Cueball vows to eliminate. Morgan Conway as Dick Tracy - The unstoppable detective in search of Cueball, Dick Wessel as Harry Cueball Lake - A murderous diamond thief. Gets his name after his big, round head and he strangles his victims with a braided leather hatband. Anne Jeffreys as Tess Trueheart - Dick Tracys lovely girlfriend, lyle Latell as Pat Patton - Tracys bumbling partner. Esther Howard as Filthy Flora, madam of the Dripping Dagger, ian Keith as Vitamin Flintheart - An aged thespian and friend of Tracy. Max Wagner as Max - Dripping Dagger bartender, trevor Bardette, who played the doomed Professor Starling in the first Dick Tracy film makes a quick cameo as Cueballs first victim Lester Abbott. Milton Parsons appears in three of the four Dick Tracy films. In the first, he played the mysterious Mr. Deathridge, in one, he played Higby, Mr. Pricelesss assistant. His characters died in two of the pictures, ian Keith does a perfect impersonation of John Barrymore as Vitamin Flintheart. The underground workshop movie set in this movie was used in movie Confessions of Boston Blackie. Ironically enough, the hero in the Boston Blackie movie series is a jewelry thief turned private detective. Dick Tracy vs. Cueball at the Internet Movie Database Dick Tracy vs. Cueball is available for download at the Internet Archive
Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
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Theatrical poster
26.
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
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Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is a 1947 thriller film starring Ralph Byrd, Anne Gwynne, and Boris Karloff. The film is the fourth and final installment of the Dick Tracy film series released by RKO Radio Pictures, just out of jail, Gruesome goes to the Hangmans Knot saloon, where his old crime crony, Melody, is now playing piano. Gruesome takes him to a manufacturer, where X-Ray and a mysterious mastermind are in possession of a secret formula. Ignoring a warning not to anything, Gruesome sniffs a mysterious test tube that paralyzes him. He appears to be dead and is taken to the city morgue, Dick Tracy is at headquarters speaking with college professor Dr. A. Tomic, a scientist who suspects someone has been following him. At the morgue, Tracys sidekick Pat has his back turned when Gruesome wakes up, Pat describes him to Tracy as looking a lot like the actor Boris Karloff. At a bank where Tess Trueheart happens to be, Gruesome and Melody use nerve gas to incapacitate the customers and they rob the place of more than $100,000 and shoot a cop on the sidewalk before Tracy and his men arrive. Gruesome demands half of the loot from X-Ray. or else, Tracy tries to learn the secret of the formula from Dr. Tomics top assistant, Professor Learned, before going after Gruesome and his gang. It all ends in a shootout, with Gruesome shot by Tracy and then back at headquarters, Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy - The tough, square-jawed detective Anne Gwynne as Tess Truehart - Tracys girlfriend, who witnesses the bank robbery Boris Karloff as Gruesome - A corpse-like gangster. Skelton Knaggs as Rudolph X-Ray - Gruesomes spectacled henchman Edward Ashley as Dr. Lee Thal - an interested party, Learned - Prof. A. Tomic - a State U. physicist In 2007, Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome was shown on the horror hosted television series Cinema Insomnia. Apprehensive Films later released the Cinema Insomnia episode onto DVD, on October 16,2014, writer Mike Curtis and artist Joe Staton introduced a version of the Gruesome character into the Dick Tracy comic strip. They introduced a character inspired by Melody on October 27th of that year, the cartoonists carry the joke further. Gruesome had had surgery done to change his appearance, by a Dr. Einstein. And Gruesome gets drafted to portray Jonathon Brewster in a production of Arsenic, american band Poet Named Revolver, from Nashville, TN, released an album called Meets Gruesome. Recorded in 2007, first released in 2008, and reissued in 2014 by No Kings Record Cadre, with visual references to the film
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
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Theatrical Poster
27.
The Dick Tracy Show
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The Dick Tracy Show is an American animated television series based on Chester Goulds comic strip crime fighter. The series was produced from 1961 to 1962 by UPA. Tracy employed a series of cartoony subordinate flatfoots to fight crime each week, contacting them on his two-way wristwatch radio. Everett Sloane voiced Tracy, while Mel Blanc and Paul Frees voiced many of the characters, including, Joe Jitsu. He is an intelligent detective who fights with martial arts and he is named after the Japanese martial art of jujitsu. Benny Rubin provided his voice throughout the series, hemlock Holmes, a loud, bumbling, Cockney police bulldog voiced by Jerry Hausner. He is backed up by his own squad, The Retouchables. Heap OCalorie, a parody of Andy Devine, voiced by Uncle Johnny Coons and this red headed street cop has a serious weight problem and a penchant for stealing apples from an outdoor fruit stand. Before setting out on an assignment, Heap would invariably get the word on the street from a bongo-pounding beatnik who communicated solely by beating coded messages on his drums. Manuel Tijuana Guadalajara Tampico Go-Go Gomez, Jr. essentially a version of Speedy Gonzales, another Blanc character. Go-Go wears a big Sombrero and a big grin and is seen lounging in a hammock while waiting for an assignment. Whenever one of Tracys detectives found themselves in danger he would yell. The action would obediently screech to a halt and wait, while the detective called headquarters for further instructions, action would resume only after the sign-off catchphrase, Six-two and even, over and out was spoken at the end of the call. Villains taken from Dick Tracy creator Chester Goulds popular comic strip usually had names that served as descriptions of their appearance or some other peculiarity. All were paired with another villain for the cartoon series and they included Pruneface who worked with Itchy, Mumbles and Stooge Viller, Flattop and B. B. Eyes, The Brow and Oodles, and The Mole and Sketch Paree. Each pair of crooks had at least one member who smoked either a cigar or a cigarette on an extender, one villain created specifically for the cartoon was Cheater Gunsmoke, who appeared in two episodes. Gunsmoke was a Texas-sounding cigar smoker with a cloud of smoke obscuring his face. Out of all the villains in the cartoon, Stooge was the first to appear in the comic strip, some of the villains were given voices patterned after famous actors. Flattop sounded like Peter Lorre, B. B. Eyes like Edward G. Robinson, the cartoons seldom involved the title character
The Dick Tracy Show
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DVD release of the 1961 cartoon.
28.
Dick Tracy (video game)
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Another computer game, Dick Tracy, The Crime Solving Adventure, for Amiga and MS-DOS, developed by Distinctive Software and also published by Walt Disney Computer Software. Bandai released their version of Dick Tracy in August 1990, which was developed by Realtime Associates, the game was loosely based on the comic strip, and not the movie. The objective is to solve several mysteries without accusing the wrong person or shooting too many unarmed villains, each level starts out with a case to solve and some possible clues. The player drives Tracys vehicle through the city, avoiding snipers and other cars, to various locations mentioned in the clues, there is one car chase in each level. Once the player has collected enough clues, he can drive to the location where the perpetrator is, in the side-scrolling mode, Tracy can jump, duck, punch, shoot from his pistol, or collect more powerful weapons. These include full-auto Tommy guns and tear gas, the latter of which eliminates all on-screen enemies, if the player shoots unarmed crooks, then some of life energy is lost. The game provides two ways to restore health, one, if the player is down to 1/2 a life point, he can visit one of the police stations and recover an additional half point. The second requires a first-aid, a found in some levels that looks like a heart and is used by pressing B. The game is considered difficult to win, but there is a password feature to help players continue at a later time. The games introduction shows that Big Boy has escaped from the penitentiary and kidnapped Tess. The gameplay itself is purely level-based platforming, foregoing the overhead driving sequences of its NES counterpart, stylistically, the Game Boy version bears a strong resemblance to the side-scrolling mode of the NES version. Dick Tracy can punch and use the weapons, as well as grenades. This game also shares some common music with the NES version, each of the five levels contains 12 hidden pieces of a photograph used to solve a puzzle at the end of each level. At the end of level, Dick Tracy would fight one of the antagonists from the film, including Shoulders, Flattop. After defeating the boss, the player would need to solve the puzzle using the pieces found throughout the level to reveal a photo of the next boss to be pursued. If the puzzle could be solved within the period of time. For every two pieces placed correctly, the player would be awarded one extra hit point. If any of the pieces were missed or if the puzzle isnt solved in time
Dick Tracy (video game)
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Dick Tracy NES box art
Dick Tracy (video game)
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Dick Tracy patrolling the city (NES version)
Dick Tracy (video game)
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Dick Tracy Genesis box art
29.
Chief Yellow Horse
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Chief Yellow Horse, was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, from 1921 until 1922, an Oklahoma native, Yellow Horse, a Native American from the Pawnee tribe, was the first full-blooded American Indian to have played in the Major Leagues. Yellow Horse was born in United States Indian Territory to Clara, Yellow Horse was a full-blooded Native American since his parents were Native Americans of unmixed ancestry. Additionally, he was ordered to attend a school by the Indian Agency. It was at the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School that Yellow Horse started his baseball career, in 1917, he performed at a high level for the school, and compiled a win–loss record of 17–0. After Yellow Horse left Chilocco, he went to pitch for the Arkansas Travelers of the minor league Southern Association, in 1920, under the tutelage of Kid Elberfeld, he helped the team to its first championship. In 1921, Yellow Horse joined the Pittsburgh Pirates and his major league debut was on April 15 in relief of Earl Hamilton. The Pirates won the game 3–1 over Eppa Rixey and the Cincinnati Reds, later that year, he ruptured his arm and had to have surgery. His injury forced him to sit out two months, the next year, Yellow Horse injured his arm a second time. The injury was purportedly a result of a fall he took while drunk, over his two-year stay with the Pirates, Yellow Horse was used primarily as a reliever, and compiled a record of 8 wins and 4 losses. While with the Pirates, Yellow Horse befriended Rabbit Maranville, the relationship had a profound impact on his life as Maranville introduced Yellow Horse to alcohol, he began to drink substantial amounts of liquor on a frequent basis. Later in life, Yellow Horse identified himself as an alcoholic, unable to pitch in the major leagues, either because of his behavior and/or his injuries, Yellow Horse went to play minor league baseball. In 1923, he was sent to play with the Sacramento Senators of the Pacific Coast League, the next year, he suffered another serious arm injury and Sacramento traded him to Fort Worth, Texas. Shortly thereafter, Fort Worth returned him to Sacramento and he spent two more years with Sacramento when, in January 1926, Sacramento sold Moses to Omaha. He pitched the game of his professional career on May 1,1926. While Yellow Horse is believed to be the first full-blooded Native American to play major league baseball and these included Louis Sockalexis, Charles Albert Bender, and John Meyers. By 1923, news of Yellow Horses drinking problems reached the Pawnee tribal members in Oklahoma, in addition to the physical problems he had as a result of the drinking, this created tension between Yellow Horse and the tribe. After he retired from baseball, he spent the next 18 years working jobs that did not provide him with much disposable income and his continued drinking remained a divider between him and the tribe
Chief Yellow Horse
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Chief Yellow Horse
30.
Fearless Fosdick
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Fearless Fosdick is a long-running parody of Chester Goulds Dick Tracy. It appeared intermittently as a strip-within-a-strip, in Al Capps satirical hillbilly comic strip, cartoonist Al Capp would often use Lil Abner continuity as a narrative framing device, bookending the offbeat Fosdick sequences. Abner himself serves as a rustic Greek chorus—to introduce, comment upon, typically, an anxious Abner would race frantically to the mailbox or to the train delivering the morning newspapers, to get a glimpse of the latest cliffhanger episode. The next panel would reveal Abners POV of the feature under an iconic logo, subsequent installments would reinforce Abners obsessive immersion in the unfolding Fosdick continuity while at the same time recapping the story-within-a-story. While oblivious to the real world, Abner would be, as ever. Eventually, Capp would dispense with Abners introductory panels altogether, occasionally Fosdicks adventures would directly affect what happened to Abner, and the two storylines would artfully converge. The story-within-a-story often ironically paralleled and/or parodied the story itself, Capps Fearless Fosdick sequences proved over the years to be some of his most popular, according to M. Thomas Inge. Fearless Fosdick remains the only comic strip to achieve its own following. Fearless Fosdick is set in an unnamed, crime-infested American metropolis similar to Chicago and its urban setting stands in stark contrast with Lil Abners rural Dogpatch. Fosdick lives in squalor at the boarding house run by his dour, pitiless landlady. As the only member of the local Fearless Fosdick kiddie fan club, Abner had unwittingly vowed to do everything Fosdick does. In addition to being fearless, Fosdick is pure, underpaid and purposeful, Fearless is without doubt the worlds most idiotic detective. Although Fosdick is the hero of all red-blooded American boys, Daisy Mae detests him with venomous passion, all throughout Lil Abner, the neglected Daisy Mae finds herself in the ironic position of being jealous of a stoopid comical strip character. During a Fearless Fosdick sequence, I lose 20 million women, men enjoy Fosdicks bad aim, for example. In order to scare off a guy whos selling balloons without a license, men enjoy this sort of humor, but housewives dont seem to see anything funny about it. Although Fearless Fosdick began as a burlesque of Dick Tracy, it eventually grew beyond mere parody and developed its own distinctive. Like all of Capps creations, Fosdick gradually evolved into a broad, Capp would return to these themes again and again in Fearless Fosdick. Fearless Fosdick soon developed its own supporting cast, separate from Lil Abner
Fearless Fosdick
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Al Capp's Fearless Fosdick is featured in a Li'l Abner Sunday sequence from April 3, 1960. To see this image at full resolution, go to Hairy Green Eyeball.
Fearless Fosdick
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Fearless Fosdick and Bomb Face (May 30, 1943)
31.
Command Performance (radio)
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Not to be confused with Royal Variety Performance, which is often called the Command Performance, and Royal Command Performance. Command Performance was a program which originally aired between 1942 and 1949. The program was broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network with a shortwave transmission to the troops overseas. It was not broadcast over domestic U. S. radio stations, the program was produced before an audience in the Vine Street Playhouse in Hollywood, California, and recorded via electrical transcription. The weekly listening audience of military personnel was estimated at 95.5 million, top performers of the day appeared, including Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Fred Allen, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland and The Andrews Sisters. The first Command Performance was broadcast on March 1,1942 and it was under the aegis of the Office of War Information and its success paved the way for the creation of the Armed Forces Radio Service in May 1942. Time magazine described Command Performance as being, the best wartime program in America, a recorded version of the show was short-waved, all over the world, the next day. Hope emceed, tossed off a monologue and cross-fired with Crosby, a special treat in the vocal department was the version of Basin Street Blues that came out of the tonsil partnership of Bing Crosby and The Charioteers. At the outset, the AFRS was shortwaving the shows but the reception was often distorted or spoiled by fading, also many servicemen had no access to a shortwave receiver. These problems were resolved when the Armed Forces Radio Service sought permission from the four radio networks to record favorite programmes on 16 transcription discs. As many as seventy of these programmes were recorded and produced each week, especially for the forces, together with Command Performance, Mail Call. For Uncle Sam, there are no charges, the final episode of Command Performance—the 415th in the series—was produced in December 1949. The program was one of nine AFRS shows that were ended as a result of a cut by the Secretary of Defense. 162, a 55-minute musical adaptation of Dick Tracy, was broadcast on February 15,1945, Bing Crosby had the title role in Dick Tracy in B Flat with Dinah Shore as Tess Truheart and Jimmy Durante as The Mole. The supporting cast included Judy Garland, Cass Daley, Frank Sinatra, Frank Morgan, Bob Hope, Harry von Zell, Jerry Colonna, Lou Crosby, the Andrews Sisters and the Joe Lilley Chorus. The show managed to do what Tracy’s creator, cartoonist Chester Gould, had never done - marry Tracy to Tess, subsequent wedding scenes were interrupted by a bank robbery, a kidnapping and a hold-up with 13 people killed. Most of the songs were parodies and the entire show was one big laugh from beginning to end. The program generally ran for 30 minutes outside of holiday and other specials, a spinoff series, Request Performance, aired on CBS in 1945-46
Command Performance (radio)
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Command Performance radio broadcast c. 1944 with
Jane Russell,
Bob Hope and, in background,
Major Meredith Willson conducting the
AFRS band.
32.
Little Orphan Annie
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Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley, the plot follows the wide-ranging adventures of Annie, her dog Sandy and her benefactor Oliver Daddy Warbucks. Secondary characters include Punjab, the Asp and Mr. Am, the strip attracted adult readers with political commentary that targeted organized labor, the New Deal and communism. Following Grays death in 1968, several artists drew the strip and, for a time, Little Orphan Annie inspired a radio show in 1930, film adaptations by RKO in 1932 and Paramount in 1938 and a Broadway musical Annie in 1977. The strips popularity declined over the years, it was running in only 20 newspapers when it was cancelled on June 13,2010, the characters now appear occasionally as supporting ones in Dick Tracy. In Annies first year, the pattern that characterizes her story is set, with the major players – Annie. The story opens in a dreary, Dickensian orphanage where Annie is routinely abused by the cold, sarcastic matron, One day, the wealthy but mean-spirited Mrs. Warbucks takes Annie into her home on trial. She makes it clear that she does not like her, and tries to send her back to the Home, but one of her society friends catches her in the act, and she immediately changes her mind, to her disgust. Her husband Oliver, who returned from a trip, develops an instant paternal affection for Annie. Originally, the Warbucks had a dog named One-Lung, who liked Annie and their household staff also takes to Annie and they like her. However, the staff despises Mrs. Warbucks, the daughter of a nouveau riche plumbers assistant, cold-hearted Mrs. Warbucks sends Annie back to the Home numerous times, and the staff hates her for that. Daddy keeps thinking of her as his daughter, Mrs. Warbucks often argues with Oliver over how much he mortifies her when company comes and his affection for Annie. A very status-conscious woman, she feels that Oliver and Annie are ruining her socially, However, Oliver usually is able to put her in her place, especially when she criticizes Annie. In a series of strips from 1926, the snobbish Mrs. Warbucks, returning from a trip to Paris and his family was called the Herring Piffleberrys, ostensibly a wealthy European family. She and Selby walk off haughtily, leaving Annie in tears and Oliver furious at their cruel, later on, Selby would try the daisy routine on Mrs. Warbucks, but she would spank him because a bee flew out of the flowers and stung her on the nose. For this, Annie laughed at him, while Annie wasnt too upset about being moved, accepting the situation cheerfully as she usually seems to do, Susanne, the maid, was angered that Annie had been moved. It was clear that among the servants, feeling against Mrs. Warbucks ran high and public opinion was on the side of Annie and Oliver. Earlier on, the butler and the chauffeur voice their displeasure about Mrs. Warbucks and her abuse of Annie
Little Orphan Annie
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Cupples & Leon collection (1933)
Little Orphan Annie
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First Little Orphan Annie
Sunday page (November 2, 1924)
Little Orphan Annie
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Leonard Starr 's Little Orphan Annie
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