Noir Factory

BEST OF 2017

There’s a tradition in the podcasting world that during the first week of a new year you look back at the episodes you’ve put out in the world.

I know, if it’s a podcasting tradition how old can it be, right?

Still, just like drinking too much on New Year’s Eve and stepping on the scale after the holidays, we look at one episode that seemed to resonate with our listeners more than any other.

Perhaps it’s because the subject of the episode is a self-made man, who showed more grit and determination than most.

Perhaps it’s because he rose to dizzying heights only to fall from a peak, again, of his own making.

Or perhaps its because he was a prohibition guy, and everyone loves a good drink.

Whatever the reason, our listeners fell for the story of George Remus-King of the Bootleggers.  And that makes episode 29 the best of 2017.

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“He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

George Remus was born on November 13th 1876 in Germany to Frank and Maria Remus, a working class family. He was the middle child with an older sister and younger brother and while he was still just a toddler, the family immigrated to the US.

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Noir Factory

Interrogation #4

Dmitri Matheny- Noir Jazz

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Crime Jazz: “The Femme Fatal. The cop on the beat. The hard-boiled detective. The saxophone under the street lamp in the fog. It’s the music of “Chinatown” and “Taxi Driver.”

-Dmitri Matheny

Find Dmitri’s work at www.dmitrimatheny.com

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Noir Factory Podcast

Case #35

Sexton Blake-Pulp Detective

“If there is a wrong to be righted, an evil to be redressed, or a rescue of the weak and suffering from the powerful, our hearty assistance can be readily obtained. We do nothing for hire here; we would cheerfully undertake to perform without a fee or a reward. But when your clients are wealthy, we are not so unjust to ourselves as to make a gratuitous offer of our services.”

-Sexton Blake

As the 19th century came to a close, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes was the undisputed heavyweight champ of popular fiction. From London to California, the exploits of the World’s Greatest Detective were the stuff of legend, and the public, more literate now than at any other time in history, were hungry for more.

And while Arthur Conan Doyle was hoping to distance himself from his great creation, one man, Henry Blyth, saw a hole in popular fiction that needed to be filled. And while he was just the man to do that, he saw no reason to re-invent the wheel.

Please stop by Facebook and "like" the Noir Factory. It don't cost nuthin'. 

We will be back the week of October 16th.

Noir Factory Podcast

Interrogation #3

Will Viharo: Gonzo Pulp Writer

Will Viharo is the author of the Vic Valentine series as well as the host of Seattle's Noir at the Bar, a seasonal showcase that combines author readings with alcohol, the way God intneded it. He is a writer that defies classification, with his work mixing humor, surrealism, gore, violence, and sex.

His newest work, Vic Valentine, International Man of Misery, is due out this fall and in this interrogation I get a chance to get the skinny from an unconventional writer, society observer, and all-around good guy.

You can connect with Will at www.thrillville.net

Cover Art provided by Matt Brown. You can find his work here.

Case #33: The Black Sox

I'm forever blowing ballgames,

pretty ballgames in the air.

I come from Chi, I hardly try,

just go to bat and fade and die.

Fortune's coming my way,

that's why I don't care.

I'm forever blowing ballgames,

and the gamblers treat us fair.

-Ring Lardner

You could say that it started with Charlie Comiskey, because a lot of things started with Charlie Comiskey in Chicago in 1919. Comiskey owned the Chicago White Sox, a serious contender in any year, and he enjoyed the reputation as a tightwad and a fierce negotiator.

I want to go on record by saying that although Comiskey fostered the reputation as a hard-guy and a tightwad, the payroll of the Chicago White Sox was one of the best in the league. The team was filled with solid players and had two bona fide stars on its roster; outfielder Joe Jackson and third baseman Buck Weaver. They each made over $6000 a year in 1919 and a lot of the other name players on the team made around half that. And that was about what they would have made on any other roster in the Bigs, so while money was a factor in the Black Sox Scandal, it wasn't the only factor.

Noir Factory 

Case #32

Alan Ladd and Box 13

“I'm the most insecure guy in Hollywood. If you had it good all your life, you figure it can't ever be bad, but when you've had it bad, you wonder how long a thing like this will last.”

-Alan Ladd

Alan Walbridge Ladd was born on September 3rd, 1913 in Hot Springs, Arkansas and was the only child of Ina Raleigh and Alan Ladd. Like most of the characters Ladd went onto play, his upbringing was rough and growing up was a constant struggle.

The family lost Alan's father, a freelance accountant, to a heart attack when Alan was only four. Shortly afterwards the family apartment was lost when Alan accidentally burned it down playing with matches.

After they lost their home Alan and his mother moved to Oklahoma City where she remarried. Afterwards they went to Pasadena, in a Grapes of Wrath-like journey,where his step-father found short-time work painting movie sets. Later in life, Ladd said they existed for long periods of time on nothing but potato soup.

NFL SuperPro

For a hero to fail, a lot of things has to happen. It has to be poorly thought out, ill conceived, and have little in terms of redeeming quality. Oh, and it should be created with ulterior motives.

Sounds pretty harsh? Then you just haven't met NFL SuperPro.

Space Cabbie!

Everyone has a hero. For cop's it's probably the Dark Knight and for soldiers I can imagine Captain America, depending on the army your in. But what about the ordinary guys? What about the accountants and pastry chefs or the mail carriers and DMV workers?

Fishermen, okay...we'll give you Aquaman.

But for the Lyft and Uber drivers out there, today's episode is for you!

I give you Space Cabbie!

The Blue Diamond

Some heroes are with us for ages and other are gone in the blink of an eye. If you are in the business of being a hero, particularly a super one, you never know how long you'll have. You just have to make sure that you use our time wisely.

That and you should punch a lot of Nazis.