The Baby In The Icebox
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The Baby In The Icebox
"The Baby in the Icebox" is a 1932 short story by James M. Cain and the first of his many works set in California during the Great Depression. Written as a first-person narrative in the style of Ring Lardner, "The Baby in the Icebox" anticipated his first novel published two years later, '' The Postman Always Rings Twice''. Plot summary Duke and Lura are a married couple operating a rural roadside motor camp, lunchroom and filling station in southern California during the Great Depression. A hired hand working for the couple, who remains unnamed in the story, serves as witness and commentator to what transpires. The narrator is secretly devoted to the beautiful Lura, a country woman of independent character and tremendous physical strength. Duke, prone to boasting, is less vital and self-assured than his wife. In hopes of drawing more customers, Duke decides to establish a feline exhibit. As such, he buys a number of untamed bobcats. Duke immediately proves inept at handling the a ...
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James M
James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (other), various kings named James * Saint James (other) * James (musician) * James, brother of Jesus Places Canada * James Bay, a large body of water * James, Ontario United Kingdom * James College, a college of the University of York United States * James, Georgia, an unincorporated community * James, Iowa, an unincorporated community * James City, North Carolina * James City County, Virginia ** James City (Virginia Company) ** James City Shire * James City, Pennsylvania * St. James City, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * ''James'' (2005 film), a Bollywood film * ''James'' (2008 film), an Irish short film * ''James'' (2022 film), an Indian Kannada-language film * James the Red Engine, a character in ''Thomas the Tank En ...
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The American Mercury
''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s. After a change in ownership in the 1940s, the magazine attracted conservative writers, including William F. Buckley. A second change in ownership in the 1950s turned the magazine into a far-right and virulently anti-Semitic publication. It was published monthly in New York City. The magazine went out of business in 1981, having spent the last 25 years of its existence in decline and controversy. History H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan had previously edited ''The Smart Set'' literary magazine, when not producing their own books and, in Mencken's case, regular journalism for ''The Baltimore Sun''. With their mutual book publisher Alfred A ...
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Roy Hoopes
Roy Hoopes (May 17, 1922 – December 8, 2009) was an American journalist, writer, and biographer who wrote the official biographies of James M. Cain and Ralph Ingersoll. Roy Hoopes was born on May 17, 1922, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Roy and Lydia Hoopes. After active duty in WWII in the Naval Reserves, he attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., completing his A.B. in 1943 and M.A. in 1948. He worked as a writer and editor for various magazines in D.C., including '' The Washingtonian, Path-finder, High Fidelity, Democratic Digest Playboy, and National Geographic''. From 1957-1977 he also had a weekly newspaper column for the ''Berkshire Eagle'' under the false name Peter Potomac. He was a member of the Oral History Association and the National Press Club. Hoopes wrote and co-wrote over 30 works of fiction and non-fiction. His most notable works include his biographies of James M. Cain, for which he won the Edgar Award in 1984, and Ralph Ingersoll, he also wr ...
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Sally Eilers
Dorothea Sally Eilers (December 11, 1908 – January 5, 1978) was an American actress. Early life Eilers was born in New York City to a Jewish-American mother, Paula (or Pauline) Schoenberger, and a German-American father, Hio Peter Eilers (an inventor). She had one sibling, a brother, Hio Peter Eilers Jr. When Eilers was young, she moved to Los Angeles with her parents, and in 1927 she graduated from Fairfax High School. Career She made her film debut in 1927 in ''The Red Mill'', directed by Roscoe Arbuckle. After several minor roles as an extra, in 1927–1928 she found work with Mack Sennett as one of his "flaming youth" comedians in several comedy short subjects, along with Carole Lombard, who had been a school friend. In 1928, she was voted as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars, a yearly list of young actresses selected by publicity people in the film business, with selection based on the actresses' having "shown the most promise during the past 12 months." Eilers was a po ...
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Richard Arlen
Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. After the war, he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important film role was in ''Vengeance of the Deep (1923 film), Vengeance of the Deep'' (1923). He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air ...
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She Made Her Bed
''She Made Her Bed'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Ralph Murphy and written by James M. Cain, Casey Robinson and Frank R. Adams. The film stars Richard Arlen, Sally Eilers, Robert Armstrong (actor), Robert Armstrong, Grace Bradley, Roscoe Ates and Charley Grapewin. It was released on March 9, 1934, by Paramount Pictures and was described at the time as a "social drama" film in which Arlen plays a "heroic villain." Plot Philandering Duke Gordon and his wife Lura run a roadside coffee shop and auto park in rural Southern California. Frustrated over her husband's most recent affair, Lura strikes up a romantically-tinged friendship with snake-oil salesman Wild Bill Smith, but this sours after Bill and Duke decide to purchase a Sumatran tiger as a special attraction for the Gordons' roadside establishment. Lura discovers she is pregnant -- with Duke's baby -- and attempts to repair things with her husband while asking Bill to leave. A year later, both Bi ...
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Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States (behind Universal Pictures), and the sole member of the Major film studio, "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor put 24 actors and actresses under contract and honored each with a star on the logo. In 1967, the number of stars was reduced to 22 and their hidden meaning was dropped. In 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. The company's headquarters and studios are located at 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, Motion Picture Associ ...
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Roy Hoopes
Roy Hoopes (1922-2009) was a journalist, author, and biographer who wrote more than 30 books official biographer of James M. Cain and Ralph Ingersoll. Roy Hoopes was born on May 17, 1922 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Roy and Lydia Hoopes. After active duty in WWII in the Naval Reserves, he attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., completing his A.B. in 1943 and M.A. in 1948. He worked as a writer and editor for various magazines in DC, including '' The Washingtonian, Path-finder, High Fidelity, Democratic Digest Playboy, and National Geographic''. From 1957-1977 he also had a weekly newspaper column for the ''Berkshire Eagle'' under the false name Peter Potomac. He was a member of the Oral History Association and the National Press Club. Hoopes wrote and co-wrote over 30 works of fiction and non-fiction. His most notable works include his biographies of James M. Cain, for which he won the Edgar Award in 1984, and Ralph Ingersoll, he also wrote novels and nonfictio ...
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Alfred A
Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlude)" and "Alfred (Outro)", songs by Eminem from the 2020 album ''Music to Be Murdered By'' Business and organisations * Alfred, a radio station in Shaftesbury, England *Alfred Music, an American music publisher *Alfred University, New York, U.S. *The Alfred Hospital, a hospital in Melbourne, Australia People * Alfred (name) includes a list of people and fictional characters called Alfred * Alfred the Great (848/49 – 899), or Alfred I, a king of the West Saxons and of the Anglo-Saxons Places Antarctica * Mount Alfred (Antarctica) Australia * Alfredtown, New South Wales * County of Alfred, South Australia Canada * Alfred and Plantagenet, Ontario * Alfred Island, Nunavut * Mount Alfred, British Columbia United States * Alfred, Maine ...
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Ventura, California
Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist destination, owing to its historic landmarks, beaches, and resorts. Ventura was founded by the Spanish in 1782, when Saint Junípero Serra established Mission San Buenaventura. Following the Mexican secularization of the Californian missions, San Buenaventura was granted by Governor Pío Pico to Don José de Arnaz as Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura and a small community arose. Following the American Conquest of California, San Buenaventura eventually incorporated as a city in 1866. The 1920s brought a major oil boom, which along with the post–World War II economic expansion, significantly developed and expanded Ventura. History Archaeological discoveries in the area suggest that humans have populated the region for at least 10,000 ...
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Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion began around September and led to the Wall Street stock market crash of October 24 (Black Thursday). It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. Devastating effects were seen in both rich and poor countries with falling personal income, prices, tax revenues, and profits. International trade fell by more than 50%, unemployment in the U.S. rose to 23% and ...
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Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named after the many oak trees present in the area. The city forms the central populated core of the Conejo Valley. Thousand Oaks was incorporated in 1964, but has since expanded to the west and east. Two-thirds of master-planned community of Westlake and most of Newbury Park, California, Newbury Park were annexed by the city during the late 1960s and 1970s. The Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County–Ventura County line crosses at the city's eastern border with Westlake Village, California, Westlake Village. The population was 126,966 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from 126,683 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Etymology One of the earliest names used for the area was Conejo Mountain Valley, as used b ...
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