chinatown – SMB Noir

January 1942 issue ~ cover art by Milton Luros

January 1942 issue

cover art by Milton Luros

~ Walter C. Brown, “The Parrot That Wouldn’t Talk”, 1^st of 4 Sgt. Dennis O’Hara, aka Sah-Jin – NYC Chinatown squad

~ D.L. Champion, “What’s Money?”, 6^th of 26 with Sackler, 7^th of 30 stories in BM

~ C.P. Donnell, Jr., “5 Shrieks at 10”, 7th of 16 with Colonel Walter (Doc) Rennie, USA Medical Corps psychiatrist, 7th of 20 stories in BM

~ J. Lane Linkletter, “The Shadowy Line”, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Robert Reeves, “Bail Bait”, 6^th of 10 with PI Cellini Smith, 8^th of 12 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

February 1928 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Tom Curry, “Under Cover”, ‘DeVrite, NYPD undercover ‘secret agent’, 1^st of 7, subtitled ‘The Receiver’, 20^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Yellow Shadows, 19th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, in Chinatown with Helen Chadwick and Ngat T’oy; “headnote to story provides valuable data (background)”, 29th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The 19^th Murder”, last of 4 Continental Op stories that will go together to make up Red Harvest (Knopf hc, 1929), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 35th of 51 stories in BM

~ Charles T. Hickey, “Left Helps the Cops”, ‘Lefty McRae, crook’, author’s only story in BM

~ Victor Shaw, “The Tommy-Knocker”, Dan Craig & hard rock mining, 2^nd with Craig, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ David Thibault, “The Contract”, ‘Louisiana lumber swamps in Mississippi Delta, Irish dialect’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “Leather Mask and Cowhide Vest”, ‘Western’, 2nd of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Soft Goods”, ‘Little Bennie, a hood, & Charlie Harmer, detective, in Center City’, 18th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

1990 Paramount picture

The city's different at night. The air smells better. It's harder to see that the oil rigs outnumber the palm trees and it's almost like the good old days. At least the way I'd
like to remember them. Stay in this business long enough and every street leads to a place you'd like to forget. Every case brings back memories of what might have been, and every skirt reminds you of another woman. 

Or, if you've got it bad enough, the same woman.

1990 Paramount picture

better image than previously posted

sequel to Chinatown, written by Robert Towne, directed by Jack Nicholson

poster illustration by Rodriquez

You’re a very nosy fellow, kitty cat.

Chinatown, 1974

Jack Nicholson sliced by Roman Polanski

September 1931 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

September 1931 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Carroll John Daly, “Death for Two”, 42nd of 53 with RW, Race ‘Williams pinch-hits for his friend, Sergeant O’Rourke’, reprinted in Shooting out of Turn: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.3 (Altus, 2017), 54th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Promise to Pay”, 37th of 73 Ed Jenkins, with Lui Sing Fong, patriarchal master of Chinatown, 2nd of 3 connected stories (7/1931 and 12/1931), 54th of 99 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Sound of Guns”, 16th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, ‘set in NYC’, 22nd of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Pearls are Tears”, 6th of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 34 of 67 stories in BM

~ Stewart Stirling, (‘possible pseud. of Stewart Sterling?’), “Pushover”, 4^th of 8 stories with ‘Johnny Hi Gear, a.k.a. K-5, Undercover Agent’, ‘…& boxing fix’ [Sterling and Stirling were pen names of Nathaniel Prentice Winchell, 20 total stories in BM]. Reprinted in Boomerang Dice: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Johnny Hi Gear (Steeger Books, 2020).

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Red Terrace”, ‘Alan Van Cleve, wealthy sportsman, man-about-town, 2nd (of 6) segment in The Skyline Murders series; printed as separate stories rather than conventional serial’; pub. as Killer’s Carnival (1932) under pseudonym of Temple Field’, 50th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]