Bologna & Baloney

Charles C Ebbets’s Lunch atop a skyscraper, 1932, photo posted at linkedin.com:

RIP actor Ron Ely, 86. Born in Texas, he is known best for starring in 57 episodes as TV’s Tarzan, but he did much more, career spanning 1958 to the present, one project to be released posthumously. Six-five, he was a natural for rugged, athletic characters. Most of his work came on the small screen. He did 18 episodes of The Aquanauts, 22 of a reboot of Sea Hunt, and numerous guest shots on popular prime time fare. He portrayed Superman in one episode of Superboy. He directed one episode of Tarzan. Married for almost 35 years, he was a father of three. Well done, Sir. Photo from Google Images:

SMH. Headline from nypost.com: “Beast of burden: Migrant crisis cost $150 billion in 2023, with crisis zones having to cut police, fire and services to cover costs: report.” And this line from an NYP editorial: “… nearly one-third of expensive border-surveillance towers don’t work…” Waste and inefficiency, so typical of government. Unfortunately, the private sector is also affected. Headline from newsmax.com: “Bankers Lose Track of up to $41B in Climate Funds.”

Fodder for sci-fi writers, from NYP: “Start-up claims to have ‘successfully’ achieved first ‘chat’ between two dreaming humans: ‘Could unlock new dimensions’.”

It’s National Bologna Day, not to be confused with National Baloney Day, which is every day, exemplified most by politicians… Headline from foxnews.com: “Fried bologna sandwich is both cowboy ‘comfort food’ and ‘five-star dining’.”

Last night the Grit channel, 31–3 on OTA in NYC, ran another western I hadn’t known existed, Town Tamer (1965), starring Dana Andrews as the eponymous lead and Terry Moore, the latter of Mighty Joe Young (1949) fame. The supporting cast is a cinephile’s dream: Pat O’Brien, Lon Chaney Jr., Bruce Cabot, Lyle Bettger, Richard Arlen, Barton MacClane, Richard Jaekel, DeForest Kelly, Philip Carey, Sonny Tufts, Colleen Grey, Don “Red” Barry, Jeanne Cagney. It’s the story of a fight for a town about to be linked to a railroad. It’s so-so. The movie is noteworthy because of the creative team. Frank Gruber adapted his novel to the screen. He began by writing stories for pulp fiction ‘zines, at least 300 in all, and wrote more than 60 novels. There are 55 titles under his name at IMDb, screen career spanning 1939-’68, a misleading figure, as he wrote 73 episodes alone of Shotgun Slade and 54 of Tales of Wells Fargo. His most notable screenplays are probably his adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce: Dressed to Kill (1946) and Terror by Night (1946). Married from 1931 until he succumbed to a heart attack at 65 in ’69, he was a father of two… Town Tamer was helmed by L.A.-born Lesley Selander, the most prolific director ever of westerns, at least 107. Overall, there are 147 titles under his name at IMDB, screen career spanning 1936-’68. He was also active in TV: nine episodes of Fury, 54 of Lassie, 28 of Cannonball and 46 of Laramie. He passed away at 79 in ’79. I was unable to find any info on family. Photos of these Hollywood stalwarts from Google Images, Gruber left:

Beautiful but windy day. My thanks to the guy who took a chance on a DVD player sealed in its box, French inscriptions, and to the young woman who delivered two more bags of books. Half went to the free kiosk. The others would be highly marketable if people were buying books. The inventory is stellar.

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