Before Robert Mitchum's preacher terrorized audiences in The Night of the Hunter, there was Harry Powers, the real "Bluebeard of Quiet Dell."

In 1931, a Dutch immigrant calling himself Cornelius Pierson used lonely hearts letters to lure widows during the Great Depression. Two widows and three children never came home and became part of one of the most notorious murder cases of its era.

In this episode we trace how the case went from a trial held in an opera house to Davis Grubb's 1953 novel, and then to Charles Laughton's 1955 film noir classic starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters. Along the way, we look at how true crime shaped Hollywood horror, from The Night of the Hunter to Psycho and Ed Gein.

Content warning: This episode discusses real murders, including violence against children. Listener discretion is advised.

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The Motion Picture Production Code, or Hays Code, was built to keep Hollywood in line. So how did it collapse? In Part II of our deep dive into the Hays Code, we trace the slow-motion demolition of Hollywood's moral rulebook, one act of defiance at a time. A push-up bra Howard Hughes designed himself. An Otto Preminger comedy that said the quiet part out loud. A Frank Sinatra picture that put addiction front and center. A cross-dressing classic nobody rioted over. And the "damn" heard 'round the world.

From "The Outlaw" and "The Moon is Blue" to "Gone with the Wind," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," this is the story of the directors, the lawsuits, and the imported film about a "miracle" that quietly tightened the lid on the Code's coffin. But the reasons the Code fell, and the warning it leaves behind, are more relevant than you might think...

Once upon a time, Hollywood was the Wild West, with almost any subject up for grabs. Well, that didn't sit well with certain people, which led to the industry policing its own movies. This is part one of the story of the Hays Code, the Motion Picture Production Code that censored American film for more than thirty years. From the silent-era scandals and pre-Code excess that sparked a moral panic, to political fixer Will Hays, the Catholic Legion of Decency, and enforcer Joseph Breen, the "Production Code Czar" who decided what audiences were allowed to see.

Angela Lansbury's career was just hitting its peak when she uprooted her family, fled Los Angeles, and bought a house in County Cork, Ireland. But what made her leave--and what might've happened if she hadn't?

Welcome to Nitrate Nights: Stories from Hollywood's Cutting Room Floor. Wanna learn about the lesser-told tales from Hollywood's storied history? Look no further. Consider this short "episode" to be your introduction to the show--and its host. See you next time between the frames...

Links:

Website: nitratenightspod.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lobbyintros Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lobby_intros YouTube: https://youtube.com/@lobbyintros Everything else: lobbyintros.com