Hit and Run 1957 - as shown on Noir Alley TMC

Notes by Bill Russo Watch it on pay channel TMC on Eddie Muller's Noir Alley or view it here for free. From 1957, it's 'Hit and Run' starring Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, and Vince Edwards. Directed by Hugo Haas. As an actor, director and producer he was one of the least appreciated moguls in Hollywood, but he knew the secrets of success. He rounded up some pretty good stories and decent actors and actresses and knocked out about a dozen B films in the 1950s. He financed and produced and directed his own films, usually on a budget of about $100,000 - at a time when the Hollywood establishment was spending on average, 1 and a half million bucks for each film produced. Hugo laughed all the way to the bank. This was the last of about 5 or 6 films Cleo Moore made for Haas. Vince Edwards went on to fame on the Ben Casey TV series. The guy who plays a doctor in this movie, John Zaremba, was cast as a hospital administrator on Ben Casey. One other little note, Dolores Reed who plays Miranda in Hit and Run, was dating the director Hugo Hass at the time she was cast. One more little note - something to look for - a song spot by Ella Mae Morse, one of the top pre-rockers of the 1940s. Her musical style mixed country, with jazz and blues - and long before Sinatra earned his first big hit, Ella had the first gold record for Capitol, Cow Cow Boogie in 1942. In 1943, her recording of Get on Board Little Children rocketed up the R&B charts making her one of the first white singers to crack into the Rhythm and Blues hit parade.

 Scenes from a Florida Summer in Lake Worth Beach

50 miles North of Miami Beach

Notes by Bill Russo

When a two-foot Iguana meets a four-foot-tall bird.........

 Iggy wanna go hide on top of a hedge! 

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The pier at Lake Worth Beach

City of Lake Worth Beach, South Florida

Dinner in Benny's on the Beach atop the pier - pricey but priceless!

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It is an 84-degree afternoon in So Fla

but there is nobody in the pool at the condo

because a tropical storm is rapidly approaching.

It will rain buckets for about an hour and then the sun will

come out again, and the people will flood back to the pool.  This is life in paradise - So Fla, East Coast, 50 miles above Miami Beach. 

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Notes by Bill Russo 

Music is like people, no matter where you come from, we are all related. Hank Ballard who wrote and sang the first version of The Twist, was one of the leading R & B guys of early Rock n Roll...but when asked who fired his passion for singing, he cited none other than Gene Autry, The Singing Cowboy and in particular Gene's signature hit, 'Back in the Saddle Again'.
 

 Notes by Bill Russo

Vaudeville was breathing its last gasp as the 1940s rolled around, and comic/film star Mischa Auer (My Man Godfrey) was packing them in at Big-town, in Lowes State Theater at 1540 Broadway, Times Square, New York City, East Coast America

The Secret of 3 Skelton Key

More than a century ago, lighthouse builders sailed to a desolate flat rock a hundred miles further west than the last inhabited island of the Florida Keys. They discovered the rotted remains of three escaped convicts and gave the island a name -Three Skeleton Key.  As unlucky as the tiny rocky island was for those convicts, it was even worse for the three lightkeepers who form the cast of this tale - The Secret of 3 Skeleton Key.   Click to watch for free on my YouTube Channel.

 

Journalism is as dead as this executed killer!

Opinion by Bill Russo

Journalism is as dead as the convict killed today (Thursday, August 25, 2022) by Oklahoma. He was the first of 25 convicted killers the state plans to terminate between now and 2024.

The story of the execution that was written and distributed by Metro news said, "Coddington was placed on death row after he beat 73-year-old Albert Hale to death with a hammer in 1997. He was 24-years-old at the time and battling a severe drug and alcohol addiction."

Please note that the writer of the news item said, "He was 24-years-old at the time and battling a severe drug and alcohol addiction."

No, he was not battling drug addiction. He was a drug addict!

And instead of battling drug addiction he beat a 73-year-old man to death with a hammer. Oklahoma did not beat James Coddington to death with a hammer.

He was given a last meal of two cheeseburgers, two crunchy fish sandwiches, two large fries and a large soda - and a short time later he was sedated and given the needle of death.

There's no more 'Sparky' and no more gallows, and no more firing squads................................................................

....just a little, tiny needle.

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        BEWARE THE DEADLY BUNK BED

Use a bunk bed only as a last resort - they are dangerous!  As a young boy I fell out of one but was lucky and was not hurt. After a bad bump on the head from the plunge, I refused to sleep on the bunk, so my older brother volunteered for the duty.  

You especially don't want to be in a jail-house bunk bed, so don't smoke and drink and break laws......you don't want to 'haft a' fight Spike for the rights to the lower berth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

------ Did you have a bunk bed as a child? Do you remember falling out of it, or seeing your brother roll off the edge? If so, you're not alone.

A study shows that bunk bed-related injuries are quite common. Researchers at Ohio State University tracked emergency room bunk bed-related injuries across the U.S. 

They looked at injuries to an estimated 572,580 children and adolescents younger than 21.

Mothers of sons may not be surprised to learn that bunk bed mishaps happened more frequently (nearly 61%) to boys and young men.

Here are more of the findings, leading with the most common types of injuries:

Nearly 30% of injuries were cuts

24% of injuries were bruises or scrapes

19% of injuries were bone fractures

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 Your house might be haunted...... if pictures start suddenly sliding off the wall and smashing loudly on the floor 

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 or more likely it is those cheap dollar store adhesive hooks you are using!

 

You Asked For it - Amazing Acts Performed on Demand - Host Art Baker

Notes by Bill Russo As a young boy in the early 1950s, this was one of my favorite TV shows. Host Art Baker showcases amazing performers based on requests from viewers. Included in this episode is a knife thrower who flings sharp blades at a lady strapped to a spinning disc, while he balances on a tightrope! Also featured is an Octopus hunter who lands about 150 pounds of the ugly suckers, and a guy who dresses half-naked ladies in about 30 seconds!

NBC Eyewitness: The Story of Television - from1948, when there were abou...

Notes by Bill Russo From February 26, 1948. Ben Grauer hosts a show explaining the 'miracle' of television. It's live TV and it was a learn-as-you-go experience for the TV staff as well as the few thousand viewers who had a tiny 8 or10 inch receiver. Grauer, a longtime radio man, looks uncomfortable and flubs a few lines in his introduction and that's something he rarely did in his radio work. The sound goes off at one point. There's some great history in the broadcast though and also a few 'live' sketches including one with a character who sounds like Regis Philbin and another with a German scientist who has trouble with his lines. There were no cue cards or teleprompters back then.

Suddenly - Frank Sinatra's award-winning follow-up performance to From H...

Crooner and Bobby-sox singer from the 1940s Frank Sinatra, grew up in the 1950s, and became the talk of Hollywood for his Academy Award portrayal of a doomed WW-2 G.I. named Maggio, in From Here to Eternity. Many insiders considered him a one-hit-wonder, but his brilliant portrayal of a maniacal presidential assassin in "Suddenly" won high praise from the critics and from audiences around the world.

Also appearing in the film is Paul Frees in a rare screen appearance. Owner of a four-octave vocal range, Frees was better known for voicing hundreds of cartoon characters including Boris Badenov in Rocky and Bullwinkle, and dozens more for Walt Disney and several other major studios.