Word from the TV Critics TV Tour is that TNT has picked up a pilot by former
Walking Dead showrunner, Frank Darabont (
Shawshank Redemption). Tentatively called
LA Noir and based on the book of the same title by John Buntin, the show will revolve around the LAPD's attempts to bring mobster Mickey Cohen to justice.
There is also a movie starring Josh Brolin,
The Gangster Squad that looks at that era as well. The production crew of
Gangster Squad took over a defunct supermarket and built a replica of Slapsy Maxie's nightclub and Mickey's bookie operations.
Set of
The Gangster Squad built inside a former supermarket in Bellflower.
The real Slapsy Maxie's in 1949.
Legend has it that former prize fighter Slapsy Rosenbloom was simply a front man for Cohen in the ownership of the nightclub. In reality, the nightclub was originally owned by famed men's fashionista, Sy Devore and his older brother, Al. Devore owned a very popular men's store on Vine near Sunset Blvd. As we've seen in previous posts in this thread, Vine Street was the west coast home to ABC and NBC's Radio broadcasts with CBS nearby. So, Devore's store was popular with the Hollywood crowd. Jerry Lewis has said that when he hit the big time he bought 100 suits in 1949 alone from Devore. Other customers included Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Bob Hope. He was also good friends with Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald so it was only natural that he would gravitate towards owning a nightclub.
Devore and Rosenbloom met because Slapsy was a frequent customer of the barber shop that was located in Devore's haberdashery.
So Sy and his brother bought themselves a nightclub and hired Slapsy to be the greeter. For a while, things were flush--Martin and Lewis made a big splash when they played the club, which also hosted performances by the likes of Jackie Gleason and Danny Thomas. Marti says that the Hollywood royalty who came by to see shows included Cary Grant, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Stewart, Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, John Garfield, Darryl Zanuck and Sam Goldwyn.
But competition was stiff and by 1950 the club had fallen on hard times, forcing Sy and Al to sell. Mickey Cohen bought the nightclub and moved his bookie operations upstairs.
In Ben Hecht's memoir, "A Child of the Century." he recounts a story about the nightclub. In 1947, the Oscar-winning screenwriter teamed up with Cohen to stage a benefit for the state of Israel at the club. According to Hecht's account, Cohen told him that he would handle the invitations. All Hecht had to do was give a brief speech. When Hecht saw how many people showed up, all flush with cash, he suggested that maybe he didn't need to give a speech after all. Cohen's bodyguard replied: "The speech is what Mr. Cohen wants to hear."
So as Hecht tells the tale, "I addressed a thousand bookies, ex-prize fighters, gamblers, jockeys, touts and all sorts of lawless and semi-lawless characters; and their womenfolk." The hat was passed and with Cohen standing in the footlights, his ferocious glare serving as a warning to any welchers, the crowd ponied up $200,000. When Cohen complained that the bums should've given even more, his bodyguard told him: "You can quit crabbin'. We raised two hundred G's. Furthermore, we been here three hours and nobody's taken a shot at us."
Sounds like both the tv show and the movie could be interesting!
Jimmy Rist, Sol Davis, Mickey Cohen and Mike Howard being booked by the LAPD on suspicion of murder.
Mickey Cohen's house at 513 Moreno Avenue in the upscale neighborhood of Brentwood.