November 21, 2018 • 25 mins
What brought Marlene Marie Evans to Hollywood? Hank begins to uncover evidence that the police missed.
Performances by Joe Manganiello, Constance Zimmer, Camilla Luddington, Mike Colter, Rebecca Field, Travis Willingham, Patrick Ezell, Ally Ruddy, Tom Sibley, Cree Summer, and Oliver Vaquer.
“Angel Eyes” performed by Desi Dennis-Dylan. Piano arrangement by James Harper. Composed by Matt Dennis. Lyrics by Earl Brent.
Directed by E. Ryan Martz. Written by Oliver Vaquer. Story by E. Ryan Martz and Oliver Vaquer. Sound Design by Joel Raabe. Produced by Vox Populi.
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Oliver Vaquer @Oliver_Vaquer
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
A note to the listener. The following story contains some
adult content and language. Welcome back to the podcast. Full disclosure.
Before we get started, I want you to know that
there's a lot of ground to cover in this episode,
a lot of history, and I promise it's all necessary, necessary,
(00:25):
because Marlene Marie Evans was a real person, not just
a body found in a parking lot. So I hope
you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did.
(00:50):
I already answered the detective's questions when they went through
all of the things. I'm just following up to see
if there's anything that cops may missed. They've pretty thorough.
Please Glass, Yeah, all right, but I gotta make it brief.
All I can tell you is what I know, all right.
(01:12):
She was a sweetheart, a bit of a neat freak,
always funcks him with her hair. When she first moved in.
She was a Shylottle brunette girl who loved ile of Lucy.
She would never miss a Monday Night. She got the
biggest kick out of the little cartoon Lucy and Daisy.
Before every episode you two together a line, No, I
mean day. She was at the doctor's office at the
(01:33):
jewelry counter bullocks. But you had to come home at
some point. You're telling me you didn't see your roommate
except for Monday's No, not really. Why is that she
spent a lot of time in her room. When I
asked her what she was always doing in there, she said,
reading plays and practicing addiction and stuff like that. Six
nights a week. Even Jane Mansfield took a night off
(01:56):
from diction. Look, I don't know what to tell you,
a buddy, glad don't look over there. There's no one
over there. Why aren't you telling me, Gladys, nothing looked
me in the eyes. Nothing looked me in the eyes.
And tell me that Marlene were part time at a
doctor's office during the day and was home every night
in her room, but you never saw each other. She
(02:19):
didn't want a parents to know what. She didn't want
her parents to know. Didn't want her parents to know what, Gladys.
She started working knights as a cocktail waitress where Cereos,
Cereals Jazz joined up on Sunset. Yeah, I know what
Cereos is. It's a pretty swank nightclub. She got it
(02:40):
in the head. Will someone got it in her head?
That if she started sling and drink, she'd have a
better chance of getting discovered by some real high role
is her words, not mine. I mean I told her
she'd have to go to Vegas for those. I think
she meant big wigs, as if some producer was going
to see this cocktail waitress as the next Marilyn Monroe
and put her on the cover of Life the next day.
And around one was that, I don't know a few
(03:03):
months before maybe do you ever mention any trouble there,
anyone she had any problems with? But, like I said,
passing ships, which was fine, I was tired of hearing
all about Hollywood talk all the time. You may be
in the wrong town for that. I just part of
me felt bad for her. How do you mean? Look,
I'm not trying to degrade this poor girl. God rest
(03:26):
the soul. I'm just pointing out she was pretty, but
nothing remarkable. And the way she went on and on
about what was filming and when she was going to
get a big break enough that the star was born nonsense.
Mm hmm. I wish you would just have settled down
with it. A nice doctor that's real stability, not not
the one she worked with. Obviously, but when was the
last time you saw her? Two days before they found her,
(03:50):
my girlfriend, Sylvia was moving back to Michigan with her
fiance Berry, and stopped over to say goodbye before they
hit the road. After that, I went to work, and
I assumed that's where Marlene was going, because she said
she was working that evening She said she was working, yeah,
And the morning after that I had the early shift,
so I assume she was still in a room when
I left. Any of this helping. I'm not in trouble,
(04:12):
am I she she didn't want to parents tonight. No trouble.
Thank you for your help. Hey, how can we not
bringing any of this down? I got a photographic memory.
Well that's it. You're real, sweetheart. Gladys. You're welcome from
(04:37):
Vot's Popula and the Los Angeles. Harold, this is the
Angel of fine ainking in no ground, because my Angels.
(05:02):
There's a small town in southern Idaho between the Snake
River and the Albion Mountains with no noticeable connection to Hollywood.
A sign on the edge of town reads Burley, a
great place to live. The population of Burley has hovered
around ten thousand for many years now, but back in
the fifties it was just over half of that Interstate
eighty four had yet to be built, so the highway
(05:24):
ran right through main Street, making Burley quite the thoroughfare
for travelers needing rest. On a stretch equivalent to two
city blocks, you had your choice of four restaurants, the
Oregon Trail Cafe, Boyd's, Nelson's, or the Sportsman's Cafe. There
was the National Hotel, in Bank, the Idaho Bank and Trust,
right across the street, a thrift way drug store, a Texico,
(05:45):
and at the center of it all the Burly Theater,
an old vaudeville house built in seventeen and later converted
to accommodate a screen and projector. There was a perfect
little town that wrapped most evenings up by nine o'clock
seven o'clock on Sundays. But if you had grandiose fantasies
of fame and fortune, or desired the kind of glamours
shown on the silver screen, Burley might not keep you
(06:07):
as entertained as it did the majority of its residence.
So as soon as Marlene Marie Nudson was old enough,
she bought a one way bus ticket out of her
bustling hometown. She headed to Hollywood, California, to make her
dreams come true as Marlene Marie Evans and while you
can take the Girl out of Burley. When the detective
searched Marlene's apartment, what they found stuck in the mirror
(06:29):
of her vanity was a photograph of a sea of
people outside of her hometown theater. The caption read in
celebration of Shirley Temple's birthday circa nineteen thirty six. Perhaps
she dreamt that one day all those people would be
standing on Main Street celebrating her. There's only one way
(06:50):
to keep warm, stripped down to your painting suit, that is,
if you're a girl. Our first story takes us to Idaho.
Who we are fifty beautiful girls up for the title
of Miss flash Bull. Let's see what develops in this
photographer's holiday. Here are the ten best. Marlene was one
of the ten finalists for Miss Flashbulb. She won a
(07:12):
very small trophy, but hey, a trophy is a trophy, right,
I've never won a trophy and she got to keep
the Catalina swimsuits she wore during the pageant that was
the only contest entry of hers that I could find,
but that's certainly not because there were a shortage of
them in Boca Raton, Florida, a bevy of beauties out
for the title of Miss Bicycle of nineteen fifty two,
(07:33):
one of the snappiest titles of the century. Later that summer,
the very first Miss Universe took place in Long Beach, California.
I don't know whether or not the excitement of that
event played a role in her decision making process, but
the following year, Marlene headed west. I found this clip
at u c l A's Film and television archive, but
(07:53):
at this point it's got to be somewhere on the
internet before we carry on with a program. How about
some Harrington? Why yes, I love some Harrington. There really
is more flavor and every spiritful. And remember, with Father's
(08:18):
Day just around the corner, wouldn't it be nice to
surprise Dad this Sunday morning with a cup of rich,
smooth Harrington instant coffee. That was Marlene's first professional acting gig,
a live sponsor ad during the Dewey Bowers Review Hour.
She turns to camera during the jingle, lift the cup
(08:38):
to her mouth and then with eyes and a smile
as wide as the lens. She delivers her line. I'm
sure it's a little cheesy, but it was the nine fifties,
the era of ah Chucks and Gee Whizz. And what
you notice about Marlene immediately was that she wasn't the
girl next door type. She was very simply put a
girl from next door, not play by any strap, but
(09:00):
definitely more of a Merry Anne than a Ginger and
she was a perfect fit. This clip was dug up
by the press from the vaults of Classic Pictures shortly
after Marlene's death. It's her screen test for a small
role in the nture Aimless Lute and Bally. Who can
you take a few steps forward for me? Um without
(09:22):
your hand in your pockets? Right there? Okay, fell us?
Your name and are you're reading for? My name is
Marley Marie Evans. I'm five ft six and I'm reading
for the role of Lady Babcock. And where are you from?
Marley Early? I'd hill tell me one thing you love
(09:43):
about Early? Oh there are so many things. Just one
is fun? Okay. Well, my my mother she used to
take me to Nelson's, her friend, and Net was the
piano player in the lounge. There we used to sit
and listen to ant A Gershwin for what seemed like ours.
It's wonderful was my mother's favorite? Was that enough? Perfect?
(10:09):
Whenever you're ready, Pardons to start the scene. Oh, of course,
I'm so sorry. I couldn't believe his character. I couldn't.
I couldn't believe his behavior. Yes, dear, I thought that
it was absolutely dreadful, Yes, dear dreadful. Charles. Are you
(10:31):
listening to a word I'm saying? I don't understand why
we make the drive out here every summer? Great? Please
thoughts your name again? Marlene Marie Evans. Marlene didn't get
the role in Vali Who, but she did land her
first on screen role in another of classics movies called
(10:53):
Broadway Tangle. She has two lines as a department store
sales girl regarding the price of a child's kaleidoscope, opposite
the film's lead Geane Hagen. Now I'm not going to
go into the entirety of Marlene's resume here. I'm simply
trying to paint a picture for you. So many Hollywood
hopeful as actors and actresses arrived every day by the
bus load, literally to make their mark to this day.
(11:14):
They still do, but where so few actually make it.
Marlene was already working. I'm not saying that from a
few lines in a commercial and two speaking lines in
a little known romantic comedy. Marlene was destined for stardom,
but she was working. She was doing exactly what she
came to Hollywood to do, and at the very least,
she had a promising future one cut tragically short. It's
(11:39):
just crazy to think that she would have does. She'd
be all but forgotten if not for your grandfather. Well,
we hope, yeah, hopefully. Yeah. I have a lot of
listening to do. This bottle of blue label was extremely
generous of you. No, no, no, not at all. I please,
I was I was taught to never show up anywhere
empty handed. Thank you. No, I didn't. I didn't mean
yet open it now, I not. I think it's the
(12:01):
perfect way to mark the moment. I'm not gonna argue
with you. Thanks. So, do you have any early memories
of your family? Good ones? No, they don't have to
be No, No I do. Uh. He used to read
(12:23):
me three little kittens, remember that? Oh the candy dish
so in between the club chairs, which I wasn't supposed
to touch. But come on, who leaves an unattended candy
dish in a house with kids? That was my favorite
thing about visiting Gigi. See, I clearly remember the recorder.
(12:44):
Oh interesting. So so he didn't buy them any phone
once he became a private investigator. Oh no, he always
had it. I remember pressing the buttons and speaking into it,
and then he would play it back, and I thought
it was funny that my voice was coming out of it.
And sometimes I'd see him talking into it, and I'd
sit in one of the club chairs across the room
(13:05):
and listen. Oh god, those club chairs were the ugliest color,
color of puke. Oh they'd be worth a fortune. Now.
G was ahead of our time. He used to record himself.
He had his wingback leather chair in the corner on
the front room where he'd sit when he read the paper.
(13:26):
These rituals of Hanks were some of my favorite moments
on his tapes. As I began listening, I expected to
hear this. I don't know, Sam Spade, Humphrey Bogart type
serves me right for watching too many movies. Instead, though,
I found a cop who loved to read poetry. If
(13:51):
you're up against the bruiser and you're getting knocked about.
Grin if you're feeling pretty groggy and your lick beyond
a doubt. Rn. I remember his police uniform. The squad
car was a big deal. Anytime the squad car showed up,
it was like Christmas. He would surprise us during a
(14:13):
shift and he would put me in the driver's seat
and put his hat on my head and let me
turn on the lights. Don't let him see your funking.
Let him know with every clout, though your face is
battered to a pulpe, your blooming heart is stout. Just
stand upon your pins until the beggar knocks you out
and grin. But most of what I know about him
(14:38):
is from my mother. Such as he loved being a cop.
Nothing made him happier. He would have done it for free.
It was all he used to talk about. But but, but,
and as happy as it would make him. She was
never happy about the fact that he was a cop.
(15:00):
I shouldn't say never happy, but it clearly didn't help
their marriage. M Was it the hours and the danger. No,
not the danger, not on the job anyway, and that
was the fifties. The danger was that he would have
won too many with the boys after work, stay out
all night, hitting on the girls in dispatch. She was
(15:23):
a mother of two. That was enough stress on its own,
and it only got worse when he started his own agency.
No red tape, no partner, no set hours, no one
to answer to about that. Um. How much do you
know about the circumstances that led to him leaving the
l a p D. I know some, but this is
(15:43):
more her department. I found all of the newspaper clippings
he kept. Wow, So this is what the papers said.
And there are a couple of names to remember to
understand exactly what went down. First, the Honorable Benton Francis Hughes.
He was a judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court
(16:04):
at the time Hank was on the police force. The
other is Benton's son, Forrest Hughes. Forrest was attending Dartmouth
majoring in finance with a minor in Russian, probably two
hits off his father. Anyway, the the short of it is,
Forrest was home for a break during the summer. Hank
comes across a drunken forest one night while he's off
(16:25):
duty outside the King Eddie Saloon. Apparently he'd beat the
crap out of Forest, broke his jaw, fractured his eye
socket for no apparent reason. Right, But mom, Hank's best friend, Ed,
a fellow cop, was with Hank that night, and that's
(16:46):
not in the paper. No, it's not. They said Hank
acted alone. My mother said, my father swore that he
and Ed saved a girl that night. He and Ed
came out of the ball are and took the alley.
They heard a struggle and found this guy trying to
force himself on a young woman. But there's also no
(17:06):
mention of a girl anywhere in the clippings. Just off
duty cop assaults judge's son and no word. Nope. A
little background on ed Hess. At that time, Ed was
one of less than sixty black officers in the l A.
P D. It's no question that he faced racism, both
from those he did his best to protect and serve
(17:27):
and also under a police chief who at that time
made certain that any officer of color faced almost impossible
odds when it came to being promoted. While he's not
in the report from the following tape, I do know
that Ed was there that night, and my best guess
is that if Ed was in an off duty altercation.
It would have been exponentially worse for him than for Hank.
(17:47):
Thank you. This is a big help. I want to
know exactly who I'm dealing with here. The last thing
I need is to track this guy down to find
out he's a gun runner for the mob. No, no, no,
there's nothing like that on his rap sheet. In a
couple of beanies talking us orderly, and you got to
get along the way. Hey, you know something? You got
funnier money, still breathing down your neck? Hell, I wish
(18:09):
How do you mean there's nobody around me? I had
four walls and in box and a filing cabinet. It
sounds like my office. You got windows, of course they
have windows. And then it's not like your office. And
he luck with the girl nothing, she's a ghost. Damn
(18:31):
should have stayed. What are you gonna do? Walker bruised
white girl into my hospital. I had my back and
two whiskeys. I had no problem inmitting my part in it.
It wouldn't have changed the thing. Still a judge's kid,
Still a judge's kid. Hell. He wasn't even at the
station long enough to make a damn phone call. A
little ship you know death duties bad. The only time
(18:57):
outside has been with you. I could always use the
company on a steak out if you missed me so much, sweetheart,
No thanks, I need my pension. Damn. I'm sorry. Man.
He relax, and I know you didn't mean nothing by it.
But I'll tell you what. Give me that apology again,
but this time louder. For the record. I don't understand
(19:21):
why you can't just write it down like the rest
of us. That you can't write down the background noise
of the way a person stutters or pauses, and you
can't write down how somebody sounds like a liar. Why
would I lie to you? Not you? It's just easier
for me. Yet I can't explain it. Yeah, because you
made a life of ship. What if I just really
(19:42):
love the sound of your beautiful voice and just stupid.
After I finished my first visit with Beth and Phillis
and returned to Los Angeles, I went to one of
the herald sources of the L A. T. D. To
see if they could find anything regarding Hank's dismissal with
the pulled was his personnel file. As it turns out,
Hank Briggs wasn't fired. Hank Briggs chose to resign from
(20:07):
the l a p D instead of putting his future
in the hands of a disciplinary committee of speers. Had
they decided to remove him from the force, and let's
be honest, there was a Superior Court judge hanging over
this whole thing, he would have been fired. Had that happened,
Hank would have lost his ability to be a licensed
private detective. So by resigning, he basically took a plea
(20:27):
deal that allowed him to keep doing what he loved.
He had this artist c for camera. I never even
heard of Argus before, but apparently it was affordable and
had a quick learning curve. This was his business card,
serving Los Angeles in strict Confidence, which he later changed
to serving Hollywood in strict confidence. He kept clippings of
(20:51):
certain cases. There's corporate embezzlement, one about an exoneration involving
a witness. The prosecution was hiding drugs being dealta a
studio A lot. I mean, all all these cases, but
he's not mentioned in any of them. Ah, but that
wouldn't exactly have been serving in strict confidence. But it's
never mind. I answered my own question. So the Briggs
(21:15):
Detective Agency was born, and Hank Briggs wasn't a company more.
And because he was no longer a cop, there was
an entire world of information and new methods of collecting
that information now available to him, especially in some of
the cedier areas of Los Angeles is underbelly where even
a reliable informant never told the police everything they knew.
(21:37):
And let's not forget that Hank also had ed offering
him help when he was able to. It would seem
that it was the best of both worlds. Really, except
for one detail. Hank wasn't a company. Moore m artists
(22:00):
It okay, this is the document the maiden voyage of
the s. S. Briggs makes. She float m There's nothing
gained by whining, and you're not that kind of stuff.
(22:23):
You're a fighter from a way back, and you won't
take a rebuff. Your trouble is that you don't know
when you have had enough, don't give in. If fates
you down, you just get up and take another cuff.
You may bank on it that there is no philosophy
(22:44):
like bluff and grin. The Angel the Vine As a
podcast produced by Vox popular on behalf of the Los
Angeles Herald. Thank you for listening to the Angel of Vine.
(23:08):
If you'd like to support us, please leave us a
review and tell your friends to subscribe it. The Angel
of Vine is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and
all major podcast apps. If you can't wait for the
next episode of The Angel of Vine, episodes three through
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well as Angel of Vine bonus episodes, extended episodes, and
(23:31):
add free episodes. Go to Stitcher Premium dot com slash
Angel and use promo code Angel to get your first
month of Stitcher Premium free. The Angel of Vine is
directed by e Ryan Martz, written by Oliver Vacare, story
about e. Ryan Marts, Jason Salwalt, and Oliver Vakare. Sound
designed by Joel Robbie. Produced by Vox Populi in association
(23:52):
with Forever Dog Podcast Network. This episode's performances by Joe Manganello,
Constant Zimmer, Kamilla Luddington, Mike Coulter, Rebecca Field, Travis William Patrick,
Eazel Ali Ready, Tom Sibley, Cree Summer, and Oliver Vacare.
Angelis is performed by Desy Dennis Delon piano and arrangement
(24:16):
by James Harper, composed by Matt Dennis, Lyrics by Earl
Brent from downtown Los Angeles. This has been the Angel
of Vine. You'll hear more from us soon. Oh is
(24:37):
my a Joe? Excuse me while lie deep peace. It
(25:00):
is his is
A note to the listener. The following story contains some
adult content and language. Welcome back to the podcast. Full disclosure.
Before we get started, I want you to know that
there's a lot of ground to cover in this episode,
a lot of history, and I promise it's all necessary, necessary,
(00:25):
because Marlene Marie Evans was a real person, not just
a body found in a parking lot. So I hope
you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did.
(00:50):
I already answered the detective's questions when they went through
all of the things. I'm just following up to see
if there's anything that cops may missed. They've pretty thorough.
Please Glass, Yeah, all right, but I gotta make it brief.
All I can tell you is what I know, all right.
(01:12):
She was a sweetheart, a bit of a neat freak,
always funcks him with her hair. When she first moved in.
She was a Shylottle brunette girl who loved ile of Lucy.
She would never miss a Monday Night. She got the
biggest kick out of the little cartoon Lucy and Daisy.
Before every episode you two together a line, No, I
mean day. She was at the doctor's office at the
(01:33):
jewelry counter bullocks. But you had to come home at
some point. You're telling me you didn't see your roommate
except for Monday's No, not really. Why is that she
spent a lot of time in her room. When I
asked her what she was always doing in there, she said,
reading plays and practicing addiction and stuff like that. Six
nights a week. Even Jane Mansfield took a night off
(01:56):
from diction. Look, I don't know what to tell you,
a buddy, glad don't look over there. There's no one
over there. Why aren't you telling me, Gladys, nothing looked
me in the eyes. Nothing looked me in the eyes.
And tell me that Marlene were part time at a
doctor's office during the day and was home every night
in her room, but you never saw each other. She
(02:19):
didn't want a parents to know what. She didn't want
her parents to know. Didn't want her parents to know what, Gladys.
She started working knights as a cocktail waitress where Cereos,
Cereals Jazz joined up on Sunset. Yeah, I know what
Cereos is. It's a pretty swank nightclub. She got it
(02:40):
in the head. Will someone got it in her head?
That if she started sling and drink, she'd have a
better chance of getting discovered by some real high role
is her words, not mine. I mean I told her
she'd have to go to Vegas for those. I think
she meant big wigs, as if some producer was going
to see this cocktail waitress as the next Marilyn Monroe
and put her on the cover of Life the next day.
And around one was that, I don't know a few
(03:03):
months before maybe do you ever mention any trouble there,
anyone she had any problems with? But, like I said,
passing ships, which was fine, I was tired of hearing
all about Hollywood talk all the time. You may be
in the wrong town for that. I just part of
me felt bad for her. How do you mean? Look,
I'm not trying to degrade this poor girl. God rest
(03:26):
the soul. I'm just pointing out she was pretty, but
nothing remarkable. And the way she went on and on
about what was filming and when she was going to
get a big break enough that the star was born nonsense.
Mm hmm. I wish you would just have settled down
with it. A nice doctor that's real stability, not not
the one she worked with. Obviously, but when was the
last time you saw her? Two days before they found her,
(03:50):
my girlfriend, Sylvia was moving back to Michigan with her
fiance Berry, and stopped over to say goodbye before they
hit the road. After that, I went to work, and
I assumed that's where Marlene was going, because she said
she was working that evening She said she was working, yeah,
And the morning after that I had the early shift,
so I assume she was still in a room when
I left. Any of this helping. I'm not in trouble,
(04:12):
am I she she didn't want to parents tonight. No trouble.
Thank you for your help. Hey, how can we not
bringing any of this down? I got a photographic memory.
Well that's it. You're real, sweetheart. Gladys. You're welcome from
(04:37):
Vot's Popula and the Los Angeles. Harold, this is the
Angel of fine ainking in no ground, because my Angels.
(05:02):
There's a small town in southern Idaho between the Snake
River and the Albion Mountains with no noticeable connection to Hollywood.
A sign on the edge of town reads Burley, a
great place to live. The population of Burley has hovered
around ten thousand for many years now, but back in
the fifties it was just over half of that Interstate
eighty four had yet to be built, so the highway
(05:24):
ran right through main Street, making Burley quite the thoroughfare
for travelers needing rest. On a stretch equivalent to two
city blocks, you had your choice of four restaurants, the
Oregon Trail Cafe, Boyd's, Nelson's, or the Sportsman's Cafe. There
was the National Hotel, in Bank, the Idaho Bank and Trust,
right across the street, a thrift way drug store, a Texico,
(05:45):
and at the center of it all the Burly Theater,
an old vaudeville house built in seventeen and later converted
to accommodate a screen and projector. There was a perfect
little town that wrapped most evenings up by nine o'clock
seven o'clock on Sundays. But if you had grandiose fantasies
of fame and fortune, or desired the kind of glamours
shown on the silver screen, Burley might not keep you
(06:07):
as entertained as it did the majority of its residence.
So as soon as Marlene Marie Nudson was old enough,
she bought a one way bus ticket out of her
bustling hometown. She headed to Hollywood, California, to make her
dreams come true as Marlene Marie Evans and while you
can take the Girl out of Burley. When the detective
searched Marlene's apartment, what they found stuck in the mirror
(06:29):
of her vanity was a photograph of a sea of
people outside of her hometown theater. The caption read in
celebration of Shirley Temple's birthday circa nineteen thirty six. Perhaps
she dreamt that one day all those people would be
standing on Main Street celebrating her. There's only one way
(06:50):
to keep warm, stripped down to your painting suit, that is,
if you're a girl. Our first story takes us to Idaho.
Who we are fifty beautiful girls up for the title
of Miss flash Bull. Let's see what develops in this
photographer's holiday. Here are the ten best. Marlene was one
of the ten finalists for Miss Flashbulb. She won a
(07:12):
very small trophy, but hey, a trophy is a trophy, right,
I've never won a trophy and she got to keep
the Catalina swimsuits she wore during the pageant that was
the only contest entry of hers that I could find,
but that's certainly not because there were a shortage of
them in Boca Raton, Florida, a bevy of beauties out
for the title of Miss Bicycle of nineteen fifty two,
(07:33):
one of the snappiest titles of the century. Later that summer,
the very first Miss Universe took place in Long Beach, California.
I don't know whether or not the excitement of that
event played a role in her decision making process, but
the following year, Marlene headed west. I found this clip
at u c l A's Film and television archive, but
(07:53):
at this point it's got to be somewhere on the
internet before we carry on with a program. How about
some Harrington? Why yes, I love some Harrington. There really
is more flavor and every spiritful. And remember, with Father's
(08:18):
Day just around the corner, wouldn't it be nice to
surprise Dad this Sunday morning with a cup of rich,
smooth Harrington instant coffee. That was Marlene's first professional acting gig,
a live sponsor ad during the Dewey Bowers Review Hour.
She turns to camera during the jingle, lift the cup
(08:38):
to her mouth and then with eyes and a smile
as wide as the lens. She delivers her line. I'm
sure it's a little cheesy, but it was the nine fifties,
the era of ah Chucks and Gee Whizz. And what
you notice about Marlene immediately was that she wasn't the
girl next door type. She was very simply put a
girl from next door, not play by any strap, but
(09:00):
definitely more of a Merry Anne than a Ginger and
she was a perfect fit. This clip was dug up
by the press from the vaults of Classic Pictures shortly
after Marlene's death. It's her screen test for a small
role in the nture Aimless Lute and Bally. Who can
you take a few steps forward for me? Um without
(09:22):
your hand in your pockets? Right there? Okay, fell us?
Your name and are you're reading for? My name is
Marley Marie Evans. I'm five ft six and I'm reading
for the role of Lady Babcock. And where are you from?
Marley Early? I'd hill tell me one thing you love
(09:43):
about Early? Oh there are so many things. Just one
is fun? Okay. Well, my my mother she used to
take me to Nelson's, her friend, and Net was the
piano player in the lounge. There we used to sit
and listen to ant A Gershwin for what seemed like ours.
It's wonderful was my mother's favorite? Was that enough? Perfect?
(10:09):
Whenever you're ready, Pardons to start the scene. Oh, of course,
I'm so sorry. I couldn't believe his character. I couldn't.
I couldn't believe his behavior. Yes, dear, I thought that
it was absolutely dreadful, Yes, dear dreadful. Charles. Are you
(10:31):
listening to a word I'm saying? I don't understand why
we make the drive out here every summer? Great? Please
thoughts your name again? Marlene Marie Evans. Marlene didn't get
the role in Vali Who, but she did land her
first on screen role in another of classics movies called
(10:53):
Broadway Tangle. She has two lines as a department store
sales girl regarding the price of a child's kaleidoscope, opposite
the film's lead Geane Hagen. Now I'm not going to
go into the entirety of Marlene's resume here. I'm simply
trying to paint a picture for you. So many Hollywood
hopeful as actors and actresses arrived every day by the
bus load, literally to make their mark to this day.
(11:14):
They still do, but where so few actually make it.
Marlene was already working. I'm not saying that from a
few lines in a commercial and two speaking lines in
a little known romantic comedy. Marlene was destined for stardom,
but she was working. She was doing exactly what she
came to Hollywood to do, and at the very least,
she had a promising future one cut tragically short. It's
(11:39):
just crazy to think that she would have does. She'd
be all but forgotten if not for your grandfather. Well,
we hope, yeah, hopefully. Yeah. I have a lot of
listening to do. This bottle of blue label was extremely
generous of you. No, no, no, not at all. I please,
I was I was taught to never show up anywhere
empty handed. Thank you. No, I didn't. I didn't mean
yet open it now, I not. I think it's the
(12:01):
perfect way to mark the moment. I'm not gonna argue
with you. Thanks. So, do you have any early memories
of your family? Good ones? No, they don't have to
be No, No I do. Uh. He used to read
(12:23):
me three little kittens, remember that? Oh the candy dish
so in between the club chairs, which I wasn't supposed
to touch. But come on, who leaves an unattended candy
dish in a house with kids? That was my favorite
thing about visiting Gigi. See, I clearly remember the recorder.
(12:44):
Oh interesting. So so he didn't buy them any phone
once he became a private investigator. Oh no, he always
had it. I remember pressing the buttons and speaking into it,
and then he would play it back, and I thought
it was funny that my voice was coming out of it.
And sometimes I'd see him talking into it, and I'd
sit in one of the club chairs across the room
(13:05):
and listen. Oh god, those club chairs were the ugliest color,
color of puke. Oh they'd be worth a fortune. Now.
G was ahead of our time. He used to record himself.
He had his wingback leather chair in the corner on
the front room where he'd sit when he read the paper.
(13:26):
These rituals of Hanks were some of my favorite moments
on his tapes. As I began listening, I expected to
hear this. I don't know, Sam Spade, Humphrey Bogart type
serves me right for watching too many movies. Instead, though,
I found a cop who loved to read poetry. If
(13:51):
you're up against the bruiser and you're getting knocked about.
Grin if you're feeling pretty groggy and your lick beyond
a doubt. Rn. I remember his police uniform. The squad
car was a big deal. Anytime the squad car showed up,
it was like Christmas. He would surprise us during a
(14:13):
shift and he would put me in the driver's seat
and put his hat on my head and let me
turn on the lights. Don't let him see your funking.
Let him know with every clout, though your face is
battered to a pulpe, your blooming heart is stout. Just
stand upon your pins until the beggar knocks you out
and grin. But most of what I know about him
(14:38):
is from my mother. Such as he loved being a cop.
Nothing made him happier. He would have done it for free.
It was all he used to talk about. But but, but,
and as happy as it would make him. She was
never happy about the fact that he was a cop.
(15:00):
I shouldn't say never happy, but it clearly didn't help
their marriage. M Was it the hours and the danger. No,
not the danger, not on the job anyway, and that
was the fifties. The danger was that he would have
won too many with the boys after work, stay out
all night, hitting on the girls in dispatch. She was
(15:23):
a mother of two. That was enough stress on its own,
and it only got worse when he started his own agency.
No red tape, no partner, no set hours, no one
to answer to about that. Um. How much do you
know about the circumstances that led to him leaving the
l a p D. I know some, but this is
(15:43):
more her department. I found all of the newspaper clippings
he kept. Wow, So this is what the papers said.
And there are a couple of names to remember to
understand exactly what went down. First, the Honorable Benton Francis Hughes.
He was a judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court
(16:04):
at the time Hank was on the police force. The
other is Benton's son, Forrest Hughes. Forrest was attending Dartmouth
majoring in finance with a minor in Russian, probably two
hits off his father. Anyway, the the short of it is,
Forrest was home for a break during the summer. Hank
comes across a drunken forest one night while he's off
(16:25):
duty outside the King Eddie Saloon. Apparently he'd beat the
crap out of Forest, broke his jaw, fractured his eye
socket for no apparent reason. Right, But mom, Hank's best friend, Ed,
a fellow cop, was with Hank that night, and that's
(16:46):
not in the paper. No, it's not. They said Hank
acted alone. My mother said, my father swore that he
and Ed saved a girl that night. He and Ed
came out of the ball are and took the alley.
They heard a struggle and found this guy trying to
force himself on a young woman. But there's also no
(17:06):
mention of a girl anywhere in the clippings. Just off
duty cop assaults judge's son and no word. Nope. A
little background on ed Hess. At that time, Ed was
one of less than sixty black officers in the l A.
P D. It's no question that he faced racism, both
from those he did his best to protect and serve
(17:27):
and also under a police chief who at that time
made certain that any officer of color faced almost impossible
odds when it came to being promoted. While he's not
in the report from the following tape, I do know
that Ed was there that night, and my best guess
is that if Ed was in an off duty altercation.
It would have been exponentially worse for him than for Hank.
(17:47):
Thank you. This is a big help. I want to
know exactly who I'm dealing with here. The last thing
I need is to track this guy down to find
out he's a gun runner for the mob. No, no, no,
there's nothing like that on his rap sheet. In a
couple of beanies talking us orderly, and you got to
get along the way. Hey, you know something? You got
funnier money, still breathing down your neck? Hell, I wish
(18:09):
How do you mean there's nobody around me? I had
four walls and in box and a filing cabinet. It
sounds like my office. You got windows, of course they
have windows. And then it's not like your office. And
he luck with the girl nothing, she's a ghost. Damn
(18:31):
should have stayed. What are you gonna do? Walker bruised
white girl into my hospital. I had my back and
two whiskeys. I had no problem inmitting my part in it.
It wouldn't have changed the thing. Still a judge's kid,
Still a judge's kid. Hell. He wasn't even at the
station long enough to make a damn phone call. A
little ship you know death duties bad. The only time
(18:57):
outside has been with you. I could always use the
company on a steak out if you missed me so much, sweetheart,
No thanks, I need my pension. Damn. I'm sorry. Man.
He relax, and I know you didn't mean nothing by it.
But I'll tell you what. Give me that apology again,
but this time louder. For the record. I don't understand
(19:21):
why you can't just write it down like the rest
of us. That you can't write down the background noise
of the way a person stutters or pauses, and you
can't write down how somebody sounds like a liar. Why
would I lie to you? Not you? It's just easier
for me. Yet I can't explain it. Yeah, because you
made a life of ship. What if I just really
(19:42):
love the sound of your beautiful voice and just stupid.
After I finished my first visit with Beth and Phillis
and returned to Los Angeles, I went to one of
the herald sources of the L A. T. D. To
see if they could find anything regarding Hank's dismissal with
the pulled was his personnel file. As it turns out,
Hank Briggs wasn't fired. Hank Briggs chose to resign from
(20:07):
the l a p D instead of putting his future
in the hands of a disciplinary committee of speers. Had
they decided to remove him from the force, and let's
be honest, there was a Superior Court judge hanging over
this whole thing, he would have been fired. Had that happened,
Hank would have lost his ability to be a licensed
private detective. So by resigning, he basically took a plea
(20:27):
deal that allowed him to keep doing what he loved.
He had this artist c for camera. I never even
heard of Argus before, but apparently it was affordable and
had a quick learning curve. This was his business card,
serving Los Angeles in strict Confidence, which he later changed
to serving Hollywood in strict confidence. He kept clippings of
(20:51):
certain cases. There's corporate embezzlement, one about an exoneration involving
a witness. The prosecution was hiding drugs being dealta a
studio A lot. I mean, all all these cases, but
he's not mentioned in any of them. Ah, but that
wouldn't exactly have been serving in strict confidence. But it's
never mind. I answered my own question. So the Briggs
(21:15):
Detective Agency was born, and Hank Briggs wasn't a company more.
And because he was no longer a cop, there was
an entire world of information and new methods of collecting
that information now available to him, especially in some of
the cedier areas of Los Angeles is underbelly where even
a reliable informant never told the police everything they knew.
(21:37):
And let's not forget that Hank also had ed offering
him help when he was able to. It would seem
that it was the best of both worlds. Really, except
for one detail. Hank wasn't a company. Moore m artists
(22:00):
It okay, this is the document the maiden voyage of
the s. S. Briggs makes. She float m There's nothing
gained by whining, and you're not that kind of stuff.
(22:23):
You're a fighter from a way back, and you won't
take a rebuff. Your trouble is that you don't know
when you have had enough, don't give in. If fates
you down, you just get up and take another cuff.
You may bank on it that there is no philosophy
(22:44):
like bluff and grin. The Angel the Vine As a
podcast produced by Vox popular on behalf of the Los
Angeles Herald. Thank you for listening to the Angel of Vine.
(23:08):
If you'd like to support us, please leave us a
review and tell your friends to subscribe it. The Angel
of Vine is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and
all major podcast apps. If you can't wait for the
next episode of The Angel of Vine, episodes three through
five are available right now exclusively on Stitcher Premium, as
well as Angel of Vine bonus episodes, extended episodes, and
(23:31):
add free episodes. Go to Stitcher Premium dot com slash
Angel and use promo code Angel to get your first
month of Stitcher Premium free. The Angel of Vine is
directed by e Ryan Martz, written by Oliver Vacare, story
about e. Ryan Marts, Jason Salwalt, and Oliver Vakare. Sound
designed by Joel Robbie. Produced by Vox Populi in association
(23:52):
with Forever Dog Podcast Network. This episode's performances by Joe Manganello,
Constant Zimmer, Kamilla Luddington, Mike Coulter, Rebecca Field, Travis William Patrick,
Eazel Ali Ready, Tom Sibley, Cree Summer, and Oliver Vacare.
Angelis is performed by Desy Dennis Delon piano and arrangement
(24:16):
by James Harper, composed by Matt Dennis, Lyrics by Earl
Brent from downtown Los Angeles. This has been the Angel
of Vine. You'll hear more from us soon. Oh is
(24:37):
my a Joe? Excuse me while lie deep peace. It
(25:00):
is his is
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