“Inspired by a True Story” is movie shorthand for “what you’re about to see is all b.s.”
Much against my better judgment, I forced myself to watch “Gangster Squad” again when it came out on DVD and “on demand.” Not that I expected it to improve. In fact, a second viewing (and I after the first 20 minutes I was fast-forwarding and pausing at the more egregious parts) merely highlights its many, many flaws.
Josh Brolin, left, as Sgt. John O’Mara with Anthony Mackie as Officer Coleman Harris in “Gangster Squad.” Drinking in uniform in a nightclub while on duty? I don’t think so.
Now that “Gangster Squad” is out on DVD and available “on demand,” I’m getting more questions about the film’s historical accuracy. Executive summary: There is almost none.
“Was Coleman Harris from ‘Gangster Squad’ a real person?” No. The LAPD in the 1940s was strictly segregated and its so-called gangster squad had no African American officers.
In fact, Mayor Tom Bradley, a former LAPD sergeant, said in a 1978 interview:
Wikipedia: Now you see it, now you don’t. The story is gone — at least for today. DoctorJoeE has been busy updating the Wallace Beery and Ted Healy entries.
Having been involved with Wikipedia for years, however, I would bet that another “citizen scholar” will restore the material eventually. Thus is the nature of Wikipedia: No matter how many times you fix it, someone will come along and break it all over again.
Wrapping up our third week (well, I did warn you that this would be long and tedious) of looking at the “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” yarn here’s where we stand:
Our friend DoctorJoeE has been at work on the Wallace Beery entry and I have to applaud Doc. This is how Wikipedia is supposed to work:
In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery — alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy — as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths.
Here’s a statement that I had bypassed earlier.
Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
And here is where we get to one of Wikipedia’s great amusements: long, turgid squabbles over the content of a post. (The protracted, impassioned rag chew over whether the entry should be titled “Black Dahlia” or “The Black Dahlia” remains a classic.)
This exchange involves DoctorJoeE, Geni and Finkellium, and watch them duke it out, folks. Am I the only one to notice the irony of a Wikipedia “citizen scholar” insisting that an old-school printed book can’t be challenged by what one finds online?
I particularly like the line about “The Fixers” being “meticulously researched,” considering all the holes I have shot in it.
In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery — alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy — as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths. This is a slow, paragraph by paragraph analysis and, yes, it’s tedious. I hope the research drudges in the audience will find it interesting.
Today we are going to look at the person who appears to be a main informant for the Forrester brothers’ book “The Three Stooges” in the Wallace Beery-Ted Healy yarn. It’s a fellow named Sam/Sammy Wolfe, born Samuel Glasser, who also performed as Sammy Glasser.
Wikipedia: Murder and Myth: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10
In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery — alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy — as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths. This is a slow, paragraph by paragraph analysis and, yes, it’s tedious. I hope the research drudges in the audience will find it interesting.
Well, in true revert war fashion, Ejonestexas has restored the “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” yarn in Healy’s Wikipedia entry.
Let’s take a look at the Talk page on Healy’s entry. This looks promising:
And here’s the Talk page entry on Wallace Beery’s entry:
Again, this is exactly how Wikipedia is supposed to work and I salute the appeal for sanity here. It will be interesting to watch this unfold.
In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery – alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy – as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths. This is a slow, paragraph by paragraph analysis and, yes, it’s tedious. I hope the research drudges in the audience will find it interesting.
The “Wallace Beery beat Ted Healy to death” yarn returns to Wallace Beery’s entry.
This photo of Marya Marco from “City Beneath the Sea” has been listed on EBay. You may recall that Marco came forward and identified herself as one of the women in photos released by Steve Hodel. which he found in his father’s belongings and which he claimed to be Elizabeth Short, therefore establishing a link between the two.
Here’s our mystery chap for Monday.
Update: In selecting a mystery movie, I usually avoid films that have just appeared on TCM, figuring that most Daily Mirror readers watch everything it airs. But this was such a bizarre discovery I had to break my rule.
In 2009, when I was doing the blog at The Times, I went through all of the clips on Raymond Chandler but somehow missed this little gem, so I wasn’t expecting anything other than a routine installment of the Falcon series — until I heard the name “Velma” and recognized Ward Bond as Moose Malloy.
Yes it’s Hans Conried… with a gun!
This ranks as one of the most peculiar movies I have seen and not just because Hans Conried has a gun. It’s so unlikely to see one of Chandler’s stories — which define Los Angeles — transplanted to New York.
Hollywood American Legion Post 43, courtesy of Mary Mallory.
World War I was a bruising, mentally jarring affair for returning American soldiers. Dazed, hardened, in pain, the men looked for an opportunity to gather together with like-minded individuals for camaraderie, comfort and counsel. The American Legion was formed in 1919 to give all veterans a place to congregate together in fellowship as well as memorial.
Hollywood formed its own post in 1919, chartered originally at Toberman Hall at 6416 Hollywood Blvd. Space was small in their rented facilities, so the group built a boxing arena called the American Legion Stadium at North El Centro Avenue and Selma Avenue to bring in a steady income and raise funds for constructing their own headquarters. Timing was perfect; boxing ranked among Americans’ favorite spectator sports and profits soared. Weekly, if not daily fights, occurred at the stadium, with boxing legend Max Baer and others throwing punches. Soon, Hollywood American Legion Post 43 ranked as one of the wealthiest branches in the country.
When I saw Philip DeJong’s photograph of Clare Bowen, I assumed it was a mistake because her left hand is on the trigger and her right hand is supporting the stock. But no. She is apparently left-handed.
For comparison, here is an unidentified African American Civil War soldier holding a similar rifle, obviously right-handed. (Right hand on the trigger, left hand supporting the stock).
Uh-oh!
Now you know why I use screen captures of Wikipedia rather than quoting it. One diligent individual using the handle Geni has edited the Wallace Beery entry to remove the story about him beating Ted Healy to death in the parking lot of the Trocadero – but the picture remains. So far.
The claim was removed by Geni yesterday.
Here is the now-missing version, saved in a screen capture:
My goodness! Geni has been busy! The Healy story is gone from the Thelma Todd entry.
It’s gone from the Albert Broccoli entry.
It’s gone from the Eddie Mannix entry.
It’s gone from the Howard Strickling entry.
It’s gone from the “Good Old Soak” entry.”
It’s even gone from the Trocadero entry, removed by user 2.103.219.187:
This is exactly how Wikipedia is supposed to operate. Which is good. But I am still troubled by the fact that claims can vanish so quickly. Now I’ll be watching for Wikipedia’s infamous “revert wars,” in which the material is restored.
That would be the Ted Healy entry:
In which Geni and DoctorJoeE slug it out in true Wikipedia fashion:
Note to DoctorJoeE: Adding the page numbers (Pages 175-178) is not going to make “The Fixers” any more accurate. The nonsense will just be easier to find.
This will be fun to watch!
In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery – alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy – as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths. This is a slow, paragraph by paragraph analysis and, yes, it’s tedious. I hope the research drudges in the audience will find it interesting.
In case you just tuned in, I am using the Wikipedia entry on Wallace Beery – alleging that he was involved in the death of Ted Healy – as a way to explore Wikipedia’s fundamental problems with accuracy and delve into Hollywood myths. This is a slow, paragraph by paragraph analysis and, yes, it’s tedious. I hope the research drudges in the audience will find it interesting.
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