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Speaker 1: Ridiculous crime. It's a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: And and the Way Elizabeth Saren. What are you doing?

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Speaker 3: I'm just sitting here in the studio, you know, feeling

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Speaker 3: like a rock star.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, with your headphones on and your spangly.

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Speaker 3: And a microphone.

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Speaker 2: Wow, where'd you get those other pants?

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Speaker 3: Your mom?

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Speaker 2: Oh, I got a question for you, Smarty. Do you

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Speaker 2: know what's ridiculous?

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Speaker 3: I do ridiculous?

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Speaker 2: Better not be mom.

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Speaker 3: This is your mom. Man, No, it's this is another

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Speaker 3: inner thread of ridiculously cool.

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Speaker 2: Oh that's cool.

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Speaker 3: I'm not going to give you a mashup.

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Speaker 2: I'm no, it's too late in the year for my birthdays.

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Speaker 2: About your Christmas resent.

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Speaker 3: Unless you're mashing up a rude dude with absolute hilarity

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Speaker 3: and genius.

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Speaker 2: Oh.

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Speaker 3: So this is Melanie Leslie all right on Instagram super

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Speaker 3: Model ten thirteen, which is the ten thirteen like a

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Speaker 3: reference to Chris Carter X Files production company just dawned

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Speaker 3: on me.

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Speaker 4: Probably not.

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Speaker 3: I just exposed myself as a super nerd anyway, any heo. Okay,

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Speaker 3: So the interns forwarded this to me, this screenshot of

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Speaker 3: a message from Melanie, and it reads as such, and

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Speaker 3: away we go. Elizabeth's lifestyle brand would be sol this

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Speaker 3: capital s lt hs because vowels aren't the thing right

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Speaker 3: now for new companies. Haven't fully worked out a backronym,

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Speaker 3: but I think something like slow Living, table home and

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Speaker 3: sleep Online. Content would include extensive reviews of television programs,

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Speaker 3: essays on exploration of furry lifestyle, book recommendations and writing props,

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Speaker 3: pictures of plants, links to bad fan art being sold

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Speaker 3: on Etsy, and guest editorials by the likes of Nick

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Speaker 3: Offerman and friends. There would also be a comic strip

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Speaker 3: called Dark Elizabeth and a backpage piece of fiction about

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Speaker 3: the happenings at Slot's strip. Club. Brand would sell home

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Speaker 3: leisure wear like fluffy robes, pajamas, and Menocre fashion selection

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Speaker 3: would include everything from the most basic wear to Golden

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Speaker 3: Girls style and push into a missus roper territory. Wow,

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Speaker 3: this is the impetus for this. Was you mentioned that

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Speaker 3: I should have a lifestyle brand when I was telling

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Speaker 3: you the story of Martha Stewart. I didn't think that

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Speaker 3: that was something that would work. Melanie has hit the

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Speaker 3: nail on the head. There's a hole in the market

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Speaker 3: and it needs to go the line. This is just

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Speaker 3: I was so tickled by this. It's so smart and

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Speaker 3: so funny, and I'm what's interesting too is that, Okay,

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Speaker 3: I had to start like a public personal Instagram account

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Speaker 3: just you know, full disclosure. I'm probably gonna have to

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Speaker 3: do ads on there at some point.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: Advertisers love the rude dudes, and so whenever you guys

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Speaker 3: want their money, you guys get it anyway. So I

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Speaker 3: started it, but I was like, what are you going

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Speaker 3: to do? So I'm just putting stuff that I think

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Speaker 3: is cool or weird, and I feel like this is

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Speaker 3: gonna this is my roadmap because a lot of this

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Speaker 3: stuff is stuff I've been doing. I put fan art

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Speaker 3: up the other day.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so Melanie absolutely nailed your whole.

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Speaker 3: Melanie is my manager, is what I'm trying to get at.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's smart money.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. So I'm Elizabeth Dutton Crime on Instagram. If you

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Speaker 3: want to get in on the ground floor of I'm

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Speaker 3: gonna have to put that in the bike.

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Speaker 2: Oh I follow you.

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Speaker 3: That's right, and I follow you mane.

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Speaker 2: Well, I made an account that was all photography public,

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Speaker 2: just to so I could comment on your stuff and

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Speaker 2: people could be like, oh, that's that Zerring that guy. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: have a private account, but that's just for like family.

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Speaker 3: Same personal you know, boudoir of photos of you, you know,

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Speaker 3: the candids that you don't know I take with the

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Speaker 3: security can.

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Speaker 2: You take because mine is also that. It's all like

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Speaker 2: bubble bath photography.

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Speaker 3: I know, I just we just have both wait until

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Speaker 3: you're doing your boudoir photos and then I take screen

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Speaker 3: caps from the hidden cameras it's placed throughout your house.

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Speaker 2: And shots through the window of the bathroom.

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Speaker 3: You don't like it, I've seen the flat, But that's

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Speaker 3: why it's a private That's why it's a private account.

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Speaker 3: Just me and Dave looking he creeps. Is ridiculous.

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Speaker 2: A going to certify that one.

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Speaker 3: Thank you.

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Speaker 2: Well, if you got a second, I've got something that's,

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Speaker 2: oh my goodness, ridiculous.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah.

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Speaker 2: It's the love triangle of Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner and

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Speaker 2: Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes, I didn't see that. It's a

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Speaker 2: passionate affair of Elizabeth, or rather a set of affairs.

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Speaker 2: It's strange, it's ridiculous, it's criminal, and it even transforms

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Speaker 2: the city of Las Vegas. Also didn't know this fun fact.

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Speaker 2: You could say, it ends the rat pack era in

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Speaker 2: Las Vegas. Oh yeah, Elizabeth, this may be one of

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Speaker 2: the wildest stories I've ever found for you yet. This

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Speaker 2: is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heights,

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Speaker 2: and cons. It's always ninety nine percent murder free and

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Speaker 2: one hundred percent ridiculous.

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Speaker 3: Ridiculous Elizabeth story.

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Speaker 2: As I told you, it features three mid century titans

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Speaker 2: of American culture and they are in this crazy love triangle.

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Speaker 2: Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Howard and I've told you stories

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Speaker 2: about two of them, Sinatra and the kidnapping of his son, Sure,

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Speaker 2: and then Howard Hughes just sprinkled through some.

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Speaker 3: Episodes, Yeah, popped up in some of my stuff.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. But I think this is Ava Gardner's first

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Speaker 2: time on the show.

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Speaker 3: Welcome Eva.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, to now to set the stage, let's dip

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Speaker 2: back to nineteen forty nine, okay, and we'll start with

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Speaker 2: Frankie and Ava. They were both born in December behind you.

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Speaker 2: Sinatra was born on the twelfth, Ava Gardner was born

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Speaker 2: on the twenty fourth Christmas Eve, so this episode should

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Speaker 2: drop right between both of their birthdays. Consider a birthday surprise. Now,

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Speaker 2: Frank Sinatra. He started out in the era of swing music.

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Speaker 2: That's a singer. He'd do a tune or two before

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Speaker 2: like a big band backing him, okay, all right, And

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Speaker 2: then in forty three, during the war years, he goes

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Speaker 2: solo and old Blue Eyes becomes this overnight sensation as

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Speaker 2: a new type of star. Like long before there was

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Speaker 2: beatles Mania. The first mania literally was called Sinatra Mania.

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Speaker 2: That's where we get that portmanteuh yeah, well, I'm saying,

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Speaker 2: is the where we get the modern the repetition of Listomania.

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Speaker 2: So he's the forefather of it all, list.

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Speaker 3: Domino, Watergate of it all.

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Speaker 2: There you go, yeah, and this is the first time

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Speaker 2: someone uses it and they're like, hey, that really works. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So as I said, yeah, Frank Sinatra, he's his crooner

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Speaker 2: for the Bobby socks ers. They were the star struck

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Speaker 2: teen girls who are Bobby Socks and in the forties

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Speaker 2: they would swoon at the side of him and mostly

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Speaker 2: the sound of him, and Sinatra was this artist. He's

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Speaker 2: actually the artist who showed the recording industry that teenagers

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Speaker 2: could be a huge market. Before him, recorded music was

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Speaker 2: always made for and sold to adults. He's the one.

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Speaker 2: He's like, wait a minute, he's teams of money. So

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Speaker 2: Frank Sinatra changes the recording industry right there, right, Also,

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Speaker 2: as I said, huge star now. Starting in forty three,

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Speaker 2: which then lasts for the next like say, five years,

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Speaker 2: Sinatra is the number one most popular singer in the

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Speaker 2: annual poll of a downbeat magazine, which is basically a

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Speaker 2: music publication like Rolling Stone back in the forties. So

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Speaker 2: forty six we get his first album, The Voice of

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Speaker 2: Frank Sinatra. Right did they sell immediately? They know what

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Speaker 2: his appeal is. They're like, it's the voice. So then

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Speaker 2: comes forty eight, Sinatra starts to slip. He goes down

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Speaker 2: to number four in the poll. No, yes, Elizabeth, oh god,

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Speaker 2: this is this is the start of a slide in

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Speaker 2: his fame. So by forty nine, the music critics they

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Speaker 2: turn on them. They're like, always going down, let's cut

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Speaker 2: him down. So they do. But what did he care

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Speaker 2: because he was about to meet Ava Gardner. Now in

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Speaker 2: nineteen forty nine, Frank Sinatra is still on top of

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Speaker 2: the world. He's thirty three years old, and at that

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Speaker 2: time Ava Gardner also a young star, and she's still

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Speaker 2: on the rise. She started her acting career in like

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Speaker 2: forty one. So after she signs his contract with MGM Boom,

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Speaker 2: she becomes a starlet. And during the war years she's

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Speaker 2: mostly nabbing small parts in films or trying to figure

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Speaker 2: out what her appeal is. And then in forty six

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Speaker 2: she starts with Burt Lancaster in the movie The Killers,

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Speaker 2: the Temingwoy story that's turned into a film. Yeah, Ava Gardner,

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Speaker 2: she plays the fem tal in that noir film. The

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Speaker 2: movie huge hit makes her a huge star, so now

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Speaker 2: she's the next big thing. So in forty nine she's

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Speaker 2: this starlet who's become a major star and she's just

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Speaker 2: twenty six years old. Twenty six, Yes, Sinatra was a

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Speaker 2: thirty three and forty.

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Speaker 3: Nine so too big of an age cap No.

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Speaker 2: No, he vets for most of the year because he

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Speaker 2: would be thirty four in December, and you know, anyway,

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Speaker 2: you get the point, so.

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Speaker 3: I'll allow it is what I'm saying.

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Speaker 2: So that same year, forty nine, the sensational singer in

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Speaker 2: the Hollywood Starlet they meet at a party in Palm Springs.

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Speaker 2: Both of them are invited by the host, legendary studio

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Speaker 2: head Daryl Lefzanak.

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Speaker 3: Oh okay, right, So God, what a party that.

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Speaker 2: Must keet you imagine. Yeah, So when they first see

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Speaker 2: each other, they flirt a bit, they hit it off,

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Speaker 2: the two young stars. Now Sinatra convinces Ava Gardner to

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Speaker 2: leave the party with him, which she, of course eagerly does.

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Speaker 2: Now Sinatra is married at the time, but apparently he

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Speaker 2: doesn't care about that little fact. He takes one look

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Speaker 2: at Ava gar Arder he forgets all about his marital valves.

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Speaker 2: Oh great, she's not married, but based on how she

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Speaker 2: acts later in her life, it probably wouldn't have mattered

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Speaker 2: to her.

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Speaker 3: Also, but she knew, she knew he was married.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but he was like the marriage was on the rocks.

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Speaker 2: They were breaking up. He wanted to get a divorce,

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Speaker 2: but he's an Italian, he's a Catholic. He's like, I

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Speaker 2: can't get divorced. Until he eventually is like, okay, I'm

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Speaker 2: going to get a divorce, but at this point he doesn't. Anyway,

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Speaker 2: a drunk Sinatra drives him out into the dark of

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Speaker 2: the desert night because they are in this town, you know,

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Speaker 2: Palm Springs. Drive to Indio, which is about twenty miles

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Speaker 2: southeast of Palm Springs. It's now famous for hosting the

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Speaker 2: annual Coachella concert.

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Speaker 3: YEP, Okay, on that dark highway.

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Speaker 2: Yes, did they the dark Desert Highway.

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Speaker 3: Did they hit and kill a drifter at any point?

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Speaker 2: No, not that, not this one. Curious No, but Howard Hughes,

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Speaker 2: he did hit somebody and kill them, but it was

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Speaker 2: ruled a a negligent non homicide, not manslaughter. It was

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Speaker 2: the pedestrian's fault.

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Speaker 3: Well, no, the legal terminology. What he was actually charged

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Speaker 3: with was OOPSI day.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really big under Studio Grand So at the time,

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Speaker 2: India is this sleepy farm town of about five thousand people,

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Speaker 2: and they'd just gotten water from like you know how

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Speaker 2: Southern California is changing their water. So now it's about

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Speaker 2: to be it's.

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Speaker 3: Basically forget it, Jake.

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Speaker 4: It's Chinatown pretty much exactly.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So, since there isn't much to do in this

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Speaker 2: sleepy farm town, the young couple they park their car

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Speaker 2: and they like make out for a while. Totally. They're

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Speaker 2: swapping salider, enjoying some heavy petting.

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Speaker 3: It's just like one of them'sr one and canoodling. They're

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Speaker 3: like the beauty lady, Beauty, the best lady in the

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Speaker 3: tramp spaghetti thing.

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Speaker 2: That's canoodling.

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Speaker 3: Like, that's what canoodling means. Did you know that?

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Speaker 2: I did not know.

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Speaker 3: You share a piece of pasta.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you get fit closer and closer with

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Speaker 2: your faces, and then.

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Speaker 3: You're animated, and then you melt together and the reel

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Speaker 3: of film melts. That's canoodling.

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Speaker 2: Now, I know.

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Speaker 3: Anytime you see something, anytime you see it in the

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Speaker 3: rags in the magazine, Elizabeth told me.

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Speaker 2: But that is kids, that's can noodling.

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Speaker 3: You can go tell all the kids on the playground

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Speaker 3: like I can tell you.

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Speaker 2: You imagine my time when I'm not I can.

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Speaker 3: Tell you hate kids. You want to know what first

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Speaker 3: base is? Second base can noodle?

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Speaker 2: You're trying to get locked up?

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Speaker 3: Yes, after ladies and gentlemen, you want to know what

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Speaker 3: he doesn't lord.

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Speaker 2: So after they grow bored and kissing noodling, they're like,

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Speaker 2: you know, and and all the heavy petting's done, pawing

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Speaker 2: at each other, they climb out of Sinatra's car. Now,

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Speaker 2: being the sort of man he was, Sinatra has two

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Speaker 2: guns on him. Oh right, yeah, so.

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Speaker 3: That's that's like for real guns, not like not like

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Speaker 3: are fake guns or like, you know, you're not just.

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Speaker 2: I'm not using a euphemism. So the two of them

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Speaker 2: they have like wow, that's what they call two guns Sinatra.

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Speaker 2: She did say later on. Ava Garda did say about

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Speaker 2: Sinatra that he babe only weigh one hundred nineteen pounds,

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Speaker 2: but nineteen pounds of him is all yeah.

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Speaker 3: So good.

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Speaker 4: Yes, no, people are crass.

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Speaker 2: I'm telling you, and my grandmother once I have a

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Speaker 2: gardener at the farmer's market in la when she's a

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Speaker 2: very little girl, and the thing that she noticed was

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Speaker 2: that she had dirt behind her ears, and she was like,

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Speaker 2: she's dirty. How we heard about dirty Gyeah apparently?

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Speaker 3: Anyway, I want to know more.

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Speaker 2: The two of them have a good old time firing

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Speaker 2: these guns off into the desert darkness. But it's it's

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Speaker 2: a little farm town.

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Speaker 3: They hit a drifter.

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Speaker 2: No, what's with the drifter? They're not outside of town,

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Speaker 2: they are in town, so you'd Sinatra starts shooting out

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Speaker 2: some street lights, right, and then gun in hand, he

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Speaker 2: hands it to Ava. She decides to turn the firearm

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Speaker 2: on a storefront and she shoots out the window of

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Speaker 2: the local hardware store. What yes, I told you there

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Speaker 2: they are two peas in a little weird pod. Oh yeah, exactly. No,

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Speaker 2: these two shameless miscreants. They think it's fun to hear

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Speaker 2: glass break from gunfire. Somebody in Indio does not agree

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Speaker 2: with them, so they think that that's illegal.

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Speaker 3: And like the poor hardware guy is working late, like

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Speaker 3: stocking the shelves. No, he was gone to close his

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Speaker 3: middle finger off his hands.

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Speaker 2: It's like one two am. It's the small hours of

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Speaker 2: the morning.

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Speaker 3: Rank sat business owners work late zero.

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Speaker 2: This is true.

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Speaker 3: You need to respect the small business owners of this country.

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Speaker 2: So they are once this drunken, laughing pair with their

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Speaker 2: guns firing all around like their Yosemite Sam. They get

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Speaker 2: busted by the cops, right, but now to keep their

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Speaker 2: arrest out of the papers, some folks from the studio

294
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Speaker 2: come out and they pay off the local cops to

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Speaker 2: keep it quiet. It works because if you check newspapers

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Speaker 2: dot com like I did for a mention of this arrest,

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00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:47,360
Speaker 2: you will come up empty. Really anyway, when Abor Gardner

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Speaker 2: comes back.

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Speaker 3: Home, that's when studios were studios totally not trying to

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Speaker 3: buy each other up and make Casablanca into a sequel.

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Speaker 2: No buy off local cops.

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Speaker 3: They were, Yes, they were pick to paying off.

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Speaker 2: It should be justice to be perverted. So when Averagardner

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Speaker 2: comes back home the next day, her sister asked her

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Speaker 2: about her night out and how the party at Daryl

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00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,440
Speaker 2: left Zantak's place. When and Ava Gardner tells her sister

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Speaker 2: she spent the night with Frank Sinatra and they had

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Speaker 2: a wonderful time together. This marks the start of what

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Speaker 2: will become one of the twentieth centuries great love affairs. Yeah. Now, meanwhile,

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Speaker 2: there's the third angle in this love triangle. His name

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Speaker 2: Howard Hughes. So in forty nine, Howard Hughes is forty

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Speaker 2: three years old. He's the oldest of the three most

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Speaker 2: of the year, just like Sinatra and Ava Gardner, because

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Speaker 2: he's also born in December. In fact, he shares the

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Speaker 2: same birthday as Ava Gardner, December twenty four, So this

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Speaker 2: is now a triple birthdays day.

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Speaker 3: Fraternal twins separated yet birth. Yes they are by a

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Speaker 3: few years.

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Speaker 2: Yes they are. The mom took a really long one.

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Speaker 3: It was like a double gestation.

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Speaker 2: Like a full almost the whole child.

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Speaker 3: Before he came out early and she was late.

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Speaker 2: More he graduated and then she was born finally I'm.

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Speaker 3: Done with her teeth when she came out, Yeah, and.

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Speaker 2: A full head of hair. So Howard Hughes, He's born

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Speaker 2: wealthy since his father owned the Hughes Tool Company, which

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Speaker 2: made its money selling parts for the booming oil industry

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Speaker 2: drills and yes, ratchets. So his father was brilliant and

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Speaker 2: his son brilliant just like the dad. And he's got

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Speaker 2: this mind that's keen to event new things. He's handy

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Speaker 2: with technology, and from an early age, like at age twelve,

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Speaker 2: he transforms one of his dad's steam powered engines and

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Speaker 2: he puts it on his bicycle and makes the first

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Speaker 2: motorized bicycle in Houston.

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Speaker 3: You're kid, just in Houston, not in the world.

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00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, darn it because yeah anyway, So, at age nineteen

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Speaker 2: and nineteen twenty five, after both of his parents die

338
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Speaker 2: in very short succession, he inherits his father's fortune becomes

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Speaker 2: a boy millionaire. He immediately indulges in his two great

340
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:48,280
Speaker 2: lifelong loves. He learns to fly an airplane, and then

341
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Speaker 2: he also produces his first film. Now, the film industry

342
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,360
Speaker 2: is obviously in the silent era, but it's also just

343
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Speaker 2: starting to really pop off. So I'll leave aside his

344
00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,760
Speaker 2: success in aviation, because you can watch the movie The

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Speaker 2: Aviator if you want to see all that, right, and

346
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,280
Speaker 2: you know it's a whole constant striving to make bigger,

347
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Speaker 2: faster airplanes. It's great, right, But we'll focus on the

348
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,480
Speaker 2: film part of his time in Hollywood. So in twenty seven,

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Speaker 2: the third film he produces, wins the very first Academy

350
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Speaker 2: Award for the Best Director of a Comedy because back

351
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Speaker 2: then they had Best Director of a Comedy as opposed

352
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Speaker 2: to just Best Director. Yeah. Yeah, So just like that,

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Speaker 2: Howard Hughes becomes a rich and successful playboy in Hollywood

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Speaker 2: Man about town, right, So based on his age at

355
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,480
Speaker 2: the time, this also means he's whining and dining young

356
00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,760
Speaker 2: starlits and over the US. For example, Howard Hughes dates

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Speaker 2: Catherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Betty Davis, Olivia de havilin Ginger Rogers,

358
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Speaker 2: Hetty Lamar, Gene Tierney. He also dates a young Yvonne

359
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Speaker 2: de Carlo, which if you don't recognize that name aka

360
00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,239
Speaker 2: the vampire mom on The Munsters, Yes, she was an

361
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,800
Speaker 2: actress back of the day. So yeah, he's going around

362
00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,160
Speaker 2: town to going hey, who's that redhead? Who's that blonde?

363
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Speaker 2: He's hitting everything he can right. Skipping ahead to nineteen

364
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,879
Speaker 2: forty eight, a year before Frank meets Ava, he takes

365
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Speaker 2: over Rko Pictures, which makes him a full fledged studio head. Yeah,

366
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,920
Speaker 2: so Howard Hughes, you know, keep in mind, this is

367
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Speaker 2: about two years after he had a near fatal plane

368
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Speaker 2: crash where he slammed his experimental plane into a neighborhood

369
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,200
Speaker 2: in Beverly Hills. Yeah, it's really well done in the aviator,

370
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:20,560
Speaker 2: So check that out if you want to see what

371
00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,400
Speaker 2: it's like. Anyway, it's a terrible crash. Damn near kills him,

372
00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,160
Speaker 2: like I'm saying. He sustains third degree burns all over

373
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Speaker 2: his body. He breaks multiple ribs, he breaks his collar bone,

374
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Speaker 2: he collapses a lung. The crash was so like powerful

375
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,040
Speaker 2: his heart switched sides in his chest.

376
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Speaker 3: You're kidding.

377
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,720
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, So that plane crash one of many leaves

378
00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,800
Speaker 2: Howard Hughes is somewhat broken man. But the next year

379
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:44,120
Speaker 2: he gets right back to work, climbs back into the cockpit,

380
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:49,840
Speaker 2: flies on his herculean plane aka the Spruce Goose. Yeah flight, Okay, so.

381
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,720
Speaker 3: Meanwill I think I've seen the aviator.

382
00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:53,600
Speaker 2: Oh you haven't. Oh, I think I'll show it to

383
00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,720
Speaker 2: you sometime. We come to early to work. Happens three hours.

384
00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:58,920
Speaker 2: You have to come really early.

385
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Speaker 4: Rely, they can do it, Okay, I think you'd enjoy it.

386
00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,760
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, at the same time, there's one starlet he's crushing

387
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,440
Speaker 2: on super hard Ava Gardner. So she's also being wooded

388
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,679
Speaker 2: by Sinatra at the same time, and she's also kind

389
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,200
Speaker 2: of stringing both metalalong. Right. Yeah, So by nineteen fifty one,

390
00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,400
Speaker 2: Howard Hughes is now obsessed with her trouble for him,

391
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,000
Speaker 2: she's now engaged to marry Frank Sinatra. So Howard Hughes

392
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 2: has her followed by private detectives just to see how

393
00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,040
Speaker 2: serious they are. Sure this marks the beginning of their

394
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,200
Speaker 2: toxic love triangle.

395
00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:30,480
Speaker 3: Well, and you get someone who has that much money

396
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,200
Speaker 3: and power, they're like, wow, why is this not happening?

397
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,399
Speaker 3: Totally I want it to happen.

398
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Speaker 2: And on my timeline.

399
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:36,800
Speaker 3: Yeah.

400
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,560
Speaker 2: So this brings us stories. First crazy story. In two thousand,

401
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,120
Speaker 2: the former pr man Jim Mahoney wrote a book called

402
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,640
Speaker 2: Get Mahoney, a Hollywood Insider's memoir. Right, And in the pages, yeah,

403
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,240
Speaker 2: he shared many stories of his time as a Hollywood fixer.

404
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,919
Speaker 2: He was a pr agent for Clark Gable, Gary Cooper,

405
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,320
Speaker 2: Frank Sinatra doing publicity for his book. He shared one

406
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,560
Speaker 2: story of a time when Frank Sinatra tried to kill

407
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:03,399
Speaker 2: Howard Hughes. What, yes, So let's take a break after

408
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,880
Speaker 2: these messages. I will tell you what happened when Frank

409
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:29,680
Speaker 2: Sinatra tried to kill Howard Hughes. Oh my god, Elizabeth,

410
00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:38,320
Speaker 2: you ready to get murderous? Well, obviously nothing happens, so yeah, exactly.

411
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,439
Speaker 2: Apparently Howard Hughes did not care that Ava Gardner was

412
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:47,080
Speaker 2: engaged to marry the now divorced Frank Sinatra, since he'd

413
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,040
Speaker 2: been dating her before the two got engaged. And Howard Hughes, he's,

414
00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:51,840
Speaker 2: like I said, he's not ready to give up on

415
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,760
Speaker 2: their romance. I guess he thought he could finesse her

416
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:55,800
Speaker 2: away from Frank Sinata.

417
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:57,919
Speaker 3: Had he ever been involved with her prior?

418
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, he'd been like wooing her, romancing her. From what

419
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,879
Speaker 2: I read, he had not. He had not betted her,

420
00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,719
Speaker 2: He had not known her in a biblical sense, but

421
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:10,960
Speaker 2: he was trying real hard.

422
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,080
Speaker 3: Did they share a noodle?

423
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:18,640
Speaker 2: I cannot answer that question. But the pr man, mahoney,

424
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,480
Speaker 2: he tells this story of like well, Sinatra told him

425
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,000
Speaker 2: this story. So quote Eve and I weren't married yet,

426
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,480
Speaker 2: but he knew, damn well we were together. She told

427
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,199
Speaker 2: him to take a hike, but he wouldn't take no

428
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,200
Speaker 2: for an answer. He got a little out of hand.

429
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,119
Speaker 2: So one night I got a gun and went looking

430
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:38,080
Speaker 2: for him. Oh yeah, According to the Hollywood Fixer, the

431
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,159
Speaker 2: fuller story is quote, she was on the phone with

432
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:44,440
Speaker 2: Frank telling him that Hughes was bothering her. Hughes was

433
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,119
Speaker 2: a persistent son of him, and he wasn't taken no

434
00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,000
Speaker 2: for an answer. Frank hung up with Ava and he

435
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,000
Speaker 2: was enraged. It was late at night, and he got

436
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,760
Speaker 2: his gun and he said, I'm gonna go find Hughes,

437
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,720
Speaker 2: and when I do, I'm gonna kill him. So, being

438
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:00,760
Speaker 2: Frank Sinatra, we've already stabbed. Which she's going around with

439
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:02,640
Speaker 2: two guns on a date, she better believe. It wasn't

440
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:04,760
Speaker 2: hard for him to find a peace. So and he's

441
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,000
Speaker 2: also a man known for his temper and for his passions.

442
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,000
Speaker 2: So he does exactly that. He takes a loaded handgun

443
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,520
Speaker 2: and he hits up the sunset strip he goes from

444
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 2: one night club to the next looking for Howard Hughes.

445
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:18,159
Speaker 2: Can you imagine you're this doorman at a club on

446
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,840
Speaker 2: Sunset Strip and here comes a heated Frank Sinatra, possibly

447
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 2: with a gun in his hand. Yeah, and he's like,

448
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 2: have you seen Howard Hughes.

449
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,760
Speaker 3: I really like he's in the back. Head open the door.

450
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,560
Speaker 2: Anyway. Sinatra never catches up to Howard Hughes, not that night.

451
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,600
Speaker 2: Later that same year, nineteen fifty one, the couple does

452
00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,560
Speaker 2: get married, and at first it's a happy marriage. In fact,

453
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,160
Speaker 2: later on in her autobiography, Ava calls Sinatra the love

454
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,119
Speaker 2: of her life. No really, yeah, very sweet, right. However,

455
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,679
Speaker 2: Howard Hughes continues to be a thorn in the side

456
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:47,439
Speaker 2: of their love of thing.

457
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:48,879
Speaker 3: When they were married.

458
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 2: Ooh, not Howard Hughes. So Frank Sinatra marries Ava Gardner

459
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,639
Speaker 2: in fifty one. They were this glamorous couple. They're both attractive,

460
00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 2: passionate people. They also had their many, very well publicized

461
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 2: in very public fights and.

462
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,760
Speaker 3: Spout oh yeah and shitting it up together exactly.

463
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,359
Speaker 2: And they're basically like a gangster couple and she's the

464
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,000
Speaker 2: gangster mall and he's like so by the summer of

465
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 2: fifty three, though the married pair were now separated, did

466
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:15,920
Speaker 2: not last long.

467
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:16,720
Speaker 3: This marriage.

468
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 2: The very next year, in fifty four, Ava Gardner's already

469
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,680
Speaker 2: dating a new guy, a Spanish matador.

470
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,880
Speaker 3: Wait, a matador happens to be.

471
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,120
Speaker 2: The son of a famous matador, and so he lives

472
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 2: this very glamorous mid century life of his own, like

473
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,760
Speaker 2: he was friends with Pablo Picasso. Yeah wow yeah.

474
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,400
Speaker 4: So in meanwhile she's like, I'm sorry, Howard, I'm with.

475
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:41,480
Speaker 2: Pretty much. But meanwhile, Ava Gardner is still technically married

476
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,200
Speaker 2: to Sinatra, and he refuses to give up on their

477
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,679
Speaker 2: love affairs of them, No, it meant a lot to

478
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,919
Speaker 2: both of them. They both considered the other basically the

479
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:50,680
Speaker 2: love of their life.

480
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,240
Speaker 3: Sure, but like you know, they weren't afraid of break

481
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:55,119
Speaker 3: in marriage fouls.

482
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,159
Speaker 2: No, no, there's that. So in fifty four, as they

483
00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,080
Speaker 2: draw closer to finalizing their divorce, Our Sinatra is trying

484
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:04,359
Speaker 2: to still win her back. Trouble for him is, Howard

485
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 2: Hughes has never given up on his love for Ava Gardner.

486
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:10,919
Speaker 2: You never stood a chance.

487
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 4: Ever.

488
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,399
Speaker 2: In June fifty four, Frank Sinatra tries to reconcile with

489
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 2: Ava Gardner. He asked her to meet him in Lake Tahoe,

490
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,760
Speaker 2: which is at the time where she's staying in this

491
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,439
Speaker 2: lake front house in Lake Tahoe that belonged to You

492
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 2: guessed it, Howard Hughes. Oh, yeah, she's staying there to

493
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,960
Speaker 2: establish her six week residency in Nevada because if you

494
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 2: do that, then she can secure a divorce under Nevada

495
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,800
Speaker 2: law Sinatra. So yeah, now you better believe Howard Hughes

496
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,080
Speaker 2: is only too happy to provide a safe refuge to

497
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 2: her so she can get free of Sinatra. He's friend zoned,

498
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,160
Speaker 2: but basically so meanwhile, Frank Sinatra he's down in Las

499
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 2: Vegas where he's working at the Sands Casino. We'll get

500
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,159
Speaker 2: into that more and later, but for now, just know

501
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 2: that that's where he is. So they're both in Nevada

502
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,240
Speaker 2: on their way to getting divorced. Now, however, Frank, he

503
00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 2: I said, refusing to give up on their marriage, and

504
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:01,680
Speaker 2: so he's trying to win her back one last time,

505
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,840
Speaker 2: and Howard Hughes ain't having it. So he's been trying,

506
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 2: as they said, for years, I mean years to wed

507
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,840
Speaker 2: her and or bed Ava Gardner, and he's given her

508
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 2: his time his attention. He's given her luxurious gifts. I'm

509
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,880
Speaker 2: talking for coats, expensive jewelry, brand new cars, just plying

510
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,359
Speaker 2: her with gifts because he's Howard Hughes and he just

511
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,240
Speaker 2: had it like that. He's like, what do I care?

512
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,040
Speaker 2: But despite all of his money, he can't buy her love.

513
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,560
Speaker 2: So what does he do? Well, Howard Hughes hires a

514
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,840
Speaker 2: private detective to follow her around and let him know

515
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 2: what all she's doing and who all she's doing it with,

516
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:36,880
Speaker 2: so he can find the perfect moment to strike when

517
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,159
Speaker 2: she's down, when she's vulnerable, when she might be a

518
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:40,640
Speaker 2: little more open to him.

519
00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 4: Right so sick.

520
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,919
Speaker 2: You might think he'd already missed his moment after she

521
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,520
Speaker 2: agreed to marry Frank Sinatra, But his aviation career and

522
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 2: his multiple plane wrecks teach us. Howard Hughes don't give

523
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 2: up easily, so he sees their marriage it's just like

524
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:56,920
Speaker 2: a minder delay, a speed bump on the road of love.

525
00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,639
Speaker 2: So in fifty four, with her marriage to Sinatra on

526
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 2: the rock, Howard Hughes has got this private dick shadowing her.

527
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,040
Speaker 2: And not just any guy. This guy he hires to

528
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,879
Speaker 2: run surveillance on ava Gardner is a cat named Robert

529
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,360
Speaker 2: Mayhew and I'm not sure if you know that name,

530
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,879
Speaker 2: but it ranked familiar to me. Why don't know that

531
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:15,919
Speaker 2: he's a true spy. His name will later pop up

532
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,040
Speaker 2: in Washington d C. Circles when he's part of the

533
00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 2: CIA's efforts to assassinate Fidel Castro.

534
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 3: Eh, there it is, but.

535
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 2: That's all in the future. At the moment in fifty four,

536
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,640
Speaker 2: he's on the case for Howard Hughes, which means he's

537
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 2: not only following Ava Gardner around, he's also bugged her

538
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,360
Speaker 2: house in Lake Tahoe that Howard Hughes is loaned to her,

539
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,840
Speaker 2: and thanks to the bugs, Howard Hughes can hear what

540
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:37,679
Speaker 2: all she says and who else she's talking to on

541
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 2: the phone, and that Elizabeth is how Howard Hughes knows

542
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,960
Speaker 2: Ava Gardner's considering possibly reconciling where there's soon to be

543
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 2: ex husband Frank Sinatra.

544
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,720
Speaker 3: I feel like at this time, both in entertainment and

545
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 3: the culture, stalking was seen as like flattering and not terrifying.

546
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:56,439
Speaker 2: You see why it showed up in rom coms the

547
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 2: decades later.

548
00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:59,160
Speaker 3: With this Oh this guy just he won't stop tell

549
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:04,080
Speaker 3: my Grandpa wore me down. Yeah totally, yeah.

550
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 2: No, didn't mean no at the time, exactly. So Howard

551
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 2: Hughes knows he needs to prevent this meeting from going down.

552
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:12,280
Speaker 2: So what happens? How does he do it? Well? Rather

553
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:14,320
Speaker 2: than me tell you about it, Elizabeth, I'd like you

554
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:24,560
Speaker 2: to close your eyes and I'd like you to picture it.

555
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 2: It's a summer afternoon in nineteen fifty four, and you, Elizabeth,

556
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 2: are at Lake Tahoe. Because you are Frank Sinatra's oversized egos.

557
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 2: This also means it's your idea for Frank to make

558
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,360
Speaker 2: one more play to win back Ava Gardner. You are

559
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 2: why he's come to the house that she's staying at

560
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,639
Speaker 2: on the lakefront. Of course you don't know that Howard

561
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 2: Hughes loaned it to her, but that's not important right now.

562
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,800
Speaker 2: You and Frank have come to win back Ava. That's

563
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,600
Speaker 2: all you're focused on. When Frank arrives at the house,

564
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 2: he knocks on the door and she opens it, and

565
00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 2: he sees her, she sees him, and you swell with

566
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 2: romantic ardor she will be yours. You think you're sure

567
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 2: of it, and so astant as Frank tries to woo

568
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,920
Speaker 2: his wife back. It's not easy, but the couple's connection

569
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 2: is strong, and against her better judgment, she listens. Eventually

570
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,439
Speaker 2: she agrees to take a romantic boat ride with Frank

571
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,080
Speaker 2: out on Lake Tahoe. You thrill as she and Frank

572
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:22,680
Speaker 2: climb into the boat. It's one of those beautiful all

573
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,160
Speaker 2: wooden danzies with the deep v and the inboard engine.

574
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:28,879
Speaker 2: The boat purrs as it pulls away from the shore.

575
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,240
Speaker 2: The wind is light, the sun is warm. It's a

576
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,600
Speaker 2: beautiful day on Lake Tahoe, one perfect for lovers trying

577
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,640
Speaker 2: to find a way back to one another. Except there's

578
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 2: a surprise waiting for them. You don't notice it, but

579
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:43,440
Speaker 2: soon enough Frank does. There's a man following them in

580
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:46,400
Speaker 2: a second boat. Although he's a good distance behind them,

581
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,400
Speaker 2: it's clear that the man is following Frank and aba,

582
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 2: you hear Frank ask AbaF She knows who that is,

583
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 2: She says she can't possibly see him, not at this distance.

584
00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,600
Speaker 2: Being Frank Sinatra's ego, you begin to see red. Soon enough,

585
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 2: his anger takes over for you. You see Frank grip

586
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 2: the wheel and turn the boat hard. He accelerates right

587
00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 2: back at that second boat. You think, great, idea. No

588
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,040
Speaker 2: one treats Frank Sinatra like this. When the Private Dick

589
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,040
Speaker 2: Robert Mayhew, the spy guy Howard Hughes pays to keep

590
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,680
Speaker 2: tabs on Ava Gardner sees Frank Sinatra racing his boat

591
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 2: at him, he turns his boat. The roles have now reversed.

592
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,800
Speaker 2: The pursuer has become the pursued. You goat on Sinatra,

593
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 2: encouraging him to push the throttle so he can catch

594
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,080
Speaker 2: this man and beat him to a pulp. The Private

595
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 2: Dick is good and no stranger to a chase. He

596
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,840
Speaker 2: opens up a throttle on his boat and races back

597
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 2: to shore. The second boat slides across the clear blue

598
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:46,400
Speaker 2: waters of Lake Tahoe. It's an epic nautical chase. Unfortunately,

599
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 2: you see the mystery man's boat reach the sandy edge

600
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,520
Speaker 2: of the shore. He beaches it, and the spy guy

601
00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,720
Speaker 2: leaps from the boat and runs into the surrounding woods.

602
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 2: There's no way Frank will catch him. Of course, that

603
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,840
Speaker 2: doesn't stop him from He is donzie right to the

604
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,080
Speaker 2: shore where he beaches it. There too, Frank Sinatra stares

605
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,000
Speaker 2: impotently into the woods. He's lost sight of the mystery

606
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 2: man since you're his ego. You tell Frank that man's

607
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,200
Speaker 2: a punk. He's lucky Frank didn't catch him. What you

608
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,000
Speaker 2: don't tell Frank is that he just scared the hell

609
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 2: out of Ava Gardner, which is indeed what has happened.

610
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,920
Speaker 2: When Frank turns to her, he sees her fear and

611
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,920
Speaker 2: her recognition that she is over this toxic relationship. The

612
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 2: intended romantic boat trip has just confirmed for her that

613
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,200
Speaker 2: she can no longer be missus Frank Sinatra. The romance

614
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 2: is over?

615
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:39,239
Speaker 3: Why of her?

616
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,560
Speaker 2: Right? Yeah? Once you see that moment. So there you

617
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,800
Speaker 2: go the story of how Frank Sinatra fails to win

618
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,840
Speaker 2: back Ava Gardner because of two key factors, one his

619
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 2: ego driven temper and two his relentless love rival Howard Hughes.

620
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 2: So the very next month, in July fifty four, Ava

621
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 2: Gardner is scheduled to go through with their divorce proceedings.

622
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 2: She's got her day in court, but being her, she

623
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,160
Speaker 2: doesn't show up to court. She's a snow show and

624
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:09,480
Speaker 2: they then remain married on paper. Yes, wow, but Elizabeth,

625
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:10,960
Speaker 2: she has a very good reason not to show up

626
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 2: for her divorce.

627
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 3: She locked in Howard Hughes's basement.

628
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 2: No good, guess, So Sinatra still owes her a ton

629
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,640
Speaker 2: of money. Papa Gardner is now a major Hollywood star,

630
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,320
Speaker 2: and she has the money to lend, and Sinatra's yet

631
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 2: to pay her back, so she doesn't want to sever

632
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 2: their relationship before he pays off his debts. Interesting, okay,

633
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,440
Speaker 2: So she puts it in her autobiography. He is the

634
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:35,680
Speaker 2: great love of her life, but he's also a bit

635
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,400
Speaker 2: of like a welchm So it was, as some would say,

636
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:43,479
Speaker 2: a complicated relationship. Try as they might, they just no

637
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,640
Speaker 2: longer fit together. So that's hard to deny. Now, Elizabeth,

638
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 2: you may be wondering why was Ava Gardner loaning Frank

639
00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:52,520
Speaker 2: Sinatra money? I mean, becau isn't he friends with the mafia?

640
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,000
Speaker 2: Can't get money? Yeah, So it's a great question, Elizabeth.

641
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,440
Speaker 2: By the way, I know, and I have answers for you. Yeah.

642
00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,200
Speaker 2: To answer that, we have to dive back into Sinatra's career,

643
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,280
Speaker 2: the rise and the Fall and the rise again arc

644
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,440
Speaker 2: of Sinatra, because you see, in the early fifties, Avergardner

645
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,600
Speaker 2: star is on the rise, but Sinatra's career has experienced

646
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 2: a major setback. Now, I remember how I said Sinatra

647
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:14,680
Speaker 2: was the king of the swing era. He's the heart

648
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,360
Speaker 2: throb for all the Bobby Socksers, the focus of Sinatra mania. Yeah,

649
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 2: that was the nineteen forties. When the nineteen fifties roll around,

650
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,959
Speaker 2: Sinatra suddenly old hat. He's a taste of the past.

651
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 2: He's a reminder of the war years, and people want

652
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 2: to move on. The world is a change in a

653
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,600
Speaker 2: fast when the fifties hit the calendar.

654
00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 3: They want Elvis, the Pulvis pretty much.

655
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're getting into R and B. You know, they're

656
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,120
Speaker 2: really just start. It's popping off. So none of this

657
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,240
Speaker 2: is immediately apparent when Sinatra and aver Gardner first got

658
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,560
Speaker 2: married in fifty one, but it quickly becomes self evident

659
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 2: as the months in the years march on. But that's

660
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 2: not all. Frank Sinatra also loses his voice for a while.

661
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,320
Speaker 2: Really Yeah, that gives him a real scare because remember.

662
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 4: He is the voice, Yeah exactly.

663
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,400
Speaker 2: So without his voice, who is he? What is he?

664
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,520
Speaker 2: So he has this existential cre It gets real bad.

665
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,720
Speaker 2: Now his voice does come back, but the temporary loss

666
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,040
Speaker 2: makes him seem human and not some like heaven sent

667
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,440
Speaker 2: singer with a once in a generation set of pipes,

668
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,040
Speaker 2: right so by the end of fifty one, after he's

669
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 2: divorced his first wife and he marries Ava Gardner, his

670
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,320
Speaker 2: next big wave of bad news arrives. Hollywood is done

671
00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:22,240
Speaker 2: with Sinatra, so is his label, Columbia Records. Basically, now

672
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:24,360
Speaker 2: he can't get a job and so he has to

673
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 2: go elsewhere to find work. Where does he go? Las Vegas? Yeah,

674
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,600
Speaker 2: in fifty one, Las Vegas is far from the sin

675
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 2: city we think of, and gambling is legal and it's

676
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,760
Speaker 2: going down, but the people aren't yet coming. It's just

677
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:39,400
Speaker 2: there's still this oasis in the desert, the casinos. They

678
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,320
Speaker 2: need a draw to bring in the people. And Elizabeth

679
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:44,600
Speaker 2: I mentioned him just a second ago. The rumors were

680
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:47,760
Speaker 2: certainly true. The Mafia was the big power player in

681
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 2: early Vegas. Oh as you know you lived there. The

682
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,959
Speaker 2: place was essentially founded by the mobster Bugsy Seagull. And

683
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,440
Speaker 2: then the Chicago Outfit takes over the good news for Sinatras,

684
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,040
Speaker 2: he's in good stead with Sam g Conna, who runs

685
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,880
Speaker 2: the Chicago outfit. Yeah, so when Sinatra hits the skids

686
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 2: in Hollywood, the Mafia gives them a job in Vegas.

687
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,920
Speaker 2: It's more like a lifeline. But all This is dramatized

688
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,880
Speaker 2: in The Godfather with the Johnny Fontaine characters. I'd like

689
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,400
Speaker 2: to see this, you know. So anyway, in September of

690
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:20,560
Speaker 2: fifty one, Sinatra makes his Vegas debut at the Desert Inn. Meanwhile,

691
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:23,319
Speaker 2: Seeing Somewhat of a has been his record label. As

692
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 2: I said, Columbia. They drop him in fifty two. But

693
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,719
Speaker 2: in fifty two he's still married David Gardner, who's now

694
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,480
Speaker 2: a major Hollywood star. This causes trouble in their marriage

695
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 2: because they are headed in opposite directions. She's married to

696
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,879
Speaker 2: this has been yeah, and she's this rising star. Plus

697
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 2: Sinatra is a proud man. He can't stand that Ava's

698
00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,279
Speaker 2: career is hot and his is not sure. So this

699
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 2: is why Sinatra is forced to borrow money from his wife. Yeah, anyway,

700
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,359
Speaker 2: back to the movie The Godfather. Now you know how

701
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 2: the studio chief wakes up with a horsehead in the

702
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 2: bed with him and it was a signal that the

703
00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 2: studio chief needs to hire Johnny Fontaine for a new movie. Well,

704
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,120
Speaker 2: it's the moment when the Godfather famously makes him an

705
00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 2: offer he can't refuse. So the horse head is the

706
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:08,640
Speaker 2: threat that didn't actually happen in real life, but it

707
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,880
Speaker 2: dramatizes how Sinatra gets back into Hollywood because the mafia

708
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,879
Speaker 2: finesses it for him. The important point is he gets

709
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,400
Speaker 2: back into Hollywood in fifty three and the movie he

710
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:21,560
Speaker 2: stars in is called From Here to Eternity, and it's

711
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,920
Speaker 2: the major film of that year, wins all these Academy Awards,

712
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,560
Speaker 2: and Sinatra does such a good job in the film

713
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 2: as a character Maggio, he wins an Academy Award for

714
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 2: the film. And this is obviously early in fifty four

715
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:36,000
Speaker 2: because the Oscars of the next year. So in fifty three,

716
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:40,320
Speaker 2: Sinatra also signs with a new recording label, Capitol Records,

717
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,520
Speaker 2: which he starts making a lot of the records. People

718
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 2: think of him exactly right, So now in fifty four

719
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,240
Speaker 2: he's back on top. Baby. So however, the rough years

720
00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:53,080
Speaker 2: have done a number on his ego you and his

721
00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 2: easy charm, and it also has basically ruined his marriage

722
00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:59,560
Speaker 2: to Ava Gardner, which is why she wants to divorce him,

723
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:01,959
Speaker 2: because he's a bummer and he's and she's the big star.

724
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,280
Speaker 2: So his marriage David Gardner's coming apart, and being Sinatra,

725
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:07,359
Speaker 2: he begs her to stay, but she didn't want to.

726
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,840
Speaker 2: Even if Hollywood is now eager to re embrace Sinatra

727
00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:13,319
Speaker 2: and they can both be stars. Yeah, he's shown too

728
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:14,800
Speaker 2: much of who he is to hers. She's like, I

729
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 2: just can't deal with this anymore. So, since she's already

730
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:19,399
Speaker 2: seen the worst of him, she wants to know more

731
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,120
Speaker 2: of it. Obviously, she's conflicted about this, as their Lake

732
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,040
Speaker 2: Tahoe Bode adventure indicates. Now at this point, we're caught

733
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 2: up in time. Okay, we're back to fifty four. Now

734
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:30,600
Speaker 2: you may be wondering, how does Howard Hughes come back

735
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:31,400
Speaker 2: into this picture.

736
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:32,960
Speaker 3: I am wondering such a thing.

737
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 2: It's another great questioning, I know. I'll just say it

738
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,600
Speaker 2: comes down to two words. Las Vegas.

739
00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:39,160
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, makes sense.

740
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:41,520
Speaker 2: Now. Even though his star is ascend it once again,

741
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:44,440
Speaker 2: Sinatra doesn't turn his back on his mafia friends or

742
00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 2: their little gambling oasis into the desert. He'd learned the

743
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:50,520
Speaker 2: lesson that Hollywood, the recruding industry, they can be fickle,

744
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:53,239
Speaker 2: not like his mafia friends who had his back when

745
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,879
Speaker 2: he was down. So he stays loyal to them. He

746
00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,719
Speaker 2: helps them build Las Vegas into a top destination in

747
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,160
Speaker 2: the fifties, invites his famous friends to join him. This

748
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 2: leads to the creation of the rat Pack era. Oh right, now,

749
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 2: did you know that the rat pack originally referred to

750
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,600
Speaker 2: Humphrey Bogart's regular poker game.

751
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 3: Yes, I did, I thought you did.

752
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 2: Do you know who gave him the.

753
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:15,400
Speaker 3: Name that I don't know?

754
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,720
Speaker 2: His much younger wife, Lauren Bacall.

755
00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:19,839
Speaker 3: Really, she's the one.

756
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:21,960
Speaker 2: She came home one day she saw her husband and

757
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,399
Speaker 2: his famous friends playing poker yet again, and she called

758
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 2: them this rat pack. Oh you see your little rat

759
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:30,560
Speaker 2: packs together? So it was like an insult.

760
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:31,160
Speaker 3: Yeah.

761
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,000
Speaker 2: But one of the regulars at Bogie's weekly poker game

762
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,040
Speaker 2: is Frank Sinatra. So after Bogie passes away in the

763
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:40,359
Speaker 2: early fifties, Sinatra inherits the name, and soon its being

764
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,359
Speaker 2: used by the press to refer to him and his

765
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 2: famous friends like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior. So anyway,

766
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,040
Speaker 2: at the Sans Casino in Vegas, that's where the rat

767
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:52,919
Speaker 2: Pack becomes synonymous with cool, right, Yeah, In all, during

768
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:56,520
Speaker 2: the fifties, Vegas becomes synonymous with Sinatra and the rat Pack,

769
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,600
Speaker 2: and that's how Vegas becomes the place to be By

770
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:01,480
Speaker 2: the time get around to the early sixties and they're

771
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,480
Speaker 2: making like Ocean's eleven. So they'd put the time in

772
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:07,320
Speaker 2: during the fifties. So by the middle of that decade

773
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:11,440
Speaker 2: of the sixties, it's now become this highly profitable. The casinos,

774
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,319
Speaker 2: the real estate, that's all highly valuable. And that's why

775
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,560
Speaker 2: I would say that Sinatra built Las Vegas. He didn't obviously,

776
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,040
Speaker 2: but you know, yeah, but made Vegas cool and value.

777
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 3: We wouldn't have what it was without him, exactly.

778
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,920
Speaker 2: So this is what brings Howard Hughes to the desert

779
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:28,680
Speaker 2: to see what's what and what does he have?

780
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:30,960
Speaker 4: We know he has money.

781
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:33,959
Speaker 2: So this leads to the next chapter in the Frank

782
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,000
Speaker 2: Sinatra Versus Howard Hughes love rivalry. For now, though, let's

783
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 2: take a short break, and after these messages we will

784
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 2: get to round three.

785
00:38:41,120 --> 00:39:03,000
Speaker 4: Yeah we're back, Elizabeth, Yes we are.

786
00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:05,480
Speaker 2: Now you're ready to hit the next round of Frank

787
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:06,799
Speaker 2: Sinatra versus Howard.

788
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 3: Here, Oh you better believe it?

789
00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 2: Good, good now, But first though, catch back up with

790
00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:15,920
Speaker 2: Ava Gardner. What's she doing at all this time? So

791
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,279
Speaker 2: by the start of the nineteen sixties, she's moved on

792
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:21,560
Speaker 2: from both men. Their little love triangle is basically broken up,

793
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:24,440
Speaker 2: yet both men still have this soft spot for her.

794
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:25,840
Speaker 3: What about the Matador?

795
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:28,279
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he's long, he's long. Ah yeah, But like,

796
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 2: why are they still so hard up for Ava Gardner

797
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:32,840
Speaker 2: Because Elizabeth, she's Ava Gardener.

798
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's that, there's that little detail.

799
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:39,520
Speaker 2: Meanwhile, at the same time, she's cozying up to Fidel Castro,

800
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 2: like justin Trudeau's mom. Yeah. Basically, So, as you know,

801
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,839
Speaker 2: the Cuban Revolution ends on New Year's Eve nineteen fifty eight,

802
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 2: and so on January first, nineteen fifty nine, Fidel Castro

803
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 2: and Jacovara and their band of rebels march into Havana,

804
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:02,080
Speaker 2: which is also dramatized in the Guy Universe, sits in

805
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 2: the sequel Godfather Part two.

806
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:05,719
Speaker 4: Yeah, anyway, Godfather.

807
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:10,480
Speaker 2: Later that same year, fifty nine, Ava Gardner travels to

808
00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:13,839
Speaker 2: Cuba to meet Fidel Castro because you see, in fifty nine,

809
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:16,840
Speaker 2: the Cuban Revolution had yet to commit to communism. It

810
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:18,760
Speaker 2: was actually trying to make an appeal to the United

811
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:21,439
Speaker 2: States to back their play, which means it was still

812
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,760
Speaker 2: cool for famous Americans to visit this new revolutionary state.

813
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,400
Speaker 2: And so that's what Ava Gardner does because she's have

814
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:29,239
Speaker 2: a gardener, and she does whatever the hellse she wants

815
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,439
Speaker 2: to do. Yeah, so the story goes. Ava Gardner meets

816
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:34,919
Speaker 2: up with Fidel and Shay at the Havanah Hilton, which

817
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:37,239
Speaker 2: is where they have like their office on the penthouse,

818
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:41,280
Speaker 2: and she and Fidel hit it off just like Sinatra

819
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:44,080
Speaker 2: and Howard Hughes. Fidel Castro was also charmed by her,

820
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,080
Speaker 2: and for a moment it seems like there's gonna be

821
00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,839
Speaker 2: a new fourth member in their love triangle. Oh no,

822
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:53,719
Speaker 2: Castro squire's Ava Gardner around Havana. He's this potent and

823
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,680
Speaker 2: for some a romantic figure, and she's taken with him.

824
00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:58,640
Speaker 3: She's like, is there anywhere we can go to just

825
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:01,240
Speaker 3: shoot up a small dist He's.

826
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,760
Speaker 2: Like, I've got to point at one. So one account

827
00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:07,640
Speaker 2: from her biographer Li sever in the book Ava Gardner

828
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,520
Speaker 2: Love is Nothing quote, they sat on the balcony overlooking

829
00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 2: the whole city, drank Kuba libres, and Castro told her

830
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,400
Speaker 2: about the revolution and his dream of a prosperous and

831
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:22,719
Speaker 2: equitable future for his nation. So as Ava swoons over

832
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:25,479
Speaker 2: Fidel Castro the way the Bobby Soxers used to swoon

833
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:28,319
Speaker 2: over her ex husband Sinatra there's just one thing that

834
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:32,279
Speaker 2: stands in their way. And it wasn't Howard Hughes the CIA. No,

835
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:36,080
Speaker 2: not even the CIA. It's Fidel's translator who was also

836
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:40,000
Speaker 2: his mistress. No, a woman named Marita Lorenz.

837
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 3: Oh I would her translations must have been amazing.

838
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,880
Speaker 2: Completely and so she's sea boom. But Fidel speaks English

839
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,759
Speaker 2: enough that he understands, Yeah, he doesn't really need the translator,

840
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:53,120
Speaker 2: but she is his translator, so to basically translate him

841
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 2: to the people who don't speak Spanish, because to.

842
00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 3: Speak I think you're a cow and you should go home.

843
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,479
Speaker 2: So this is Marita Lorenz. She sees what's going down

844
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 2: and she's determined to put a stop to it, right,

845
00:42:09,719 --> 00:42:12,160
Speaker 2: so she confronts have a Gardener in the lobby of

846
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,200
Speaker 2: the Havannah Hilton and tells this big Hollywood star to

847
00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:18,640
Speaker 2: stay away from her. Man now drunk on Kuba Libres,

848
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:22,879
Speaker 2: have a Gardener calls the translator a little oh yeah,

849
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:26,080
Speaker 2: I told you dirt beyond the ears accuses her of

850
00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:30,560
Speaker 2: trying to keep Fidel from her. So the scene gets ugly,

851
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:34,560
Speaker 2: like a gardner slaps Mariita Lorenz in the face, and

852
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,440
Speaker 2: apparently it's a loud enough, like violent enough slap that

853
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:41,600
Speaker 2: one of Fiddel's bodyguards draws his gun. Yeah, and and

854
00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:44,360
Speaker 2: then yeah, seriously, like perhaps this drunk Hollywood star is

855
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:47,040
Speaker 2: actually an assassin sent by the American They don't know.

856
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not above the CIA exactly. Anyway, So

857
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:53,960
Speaker 2: Bedel sees the trouble that this jealousy is causing and

858
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:56,640
Speaker 2: he decides he has a nation to run. Come on,

859
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:05,960
Speaker 2: So Fidel tells Ava adios, and that was that. At

860
00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:08,239
Speaker 2: this point, let's tip back to Las Vegas. Now that

861
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:11,479
Speaker 2: we know what Ava Gardner is doing, catch back, check

862
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,360
Speaker 2: in with Sinatra and Howard Hughes. As I told you,

863
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:16,800
Speaker 2: by the early sixties, Sinatra and his rat pack buddies,

864
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:19,399
Speaker 2: they've made Vegas cool. They've made it the hottest, most

865
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:22,640
Speaker 2: glamorous night spot in America. And they also made Vegas

866
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:25,960
Speaker 2: like obviously very lucrative and valuable. So Howard Hughes, who

867
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,360
Speaker 2: is now a recluse, is also still one of the

868
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,080
Speaker 2: richest men of in America. He's essentially a billionaire, one

869
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,520
Speaker 2: of the first billionaires. Yeah, I think if he may

870
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 2: even be the first, I don't know. But he decides

871
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:37,040
Speaker 2: to see what he can do to buy a piece

872
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:40,879
Speaker 2: of Vegas. But everyone knows Vegas is Sinatra's town, right,

873
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:44,319
Speaker 2: So this guarantees there's gonna be fireworks if and when

874
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:48,359
Speaker 2: Howard Hughes tries to grab what's Sinatra's again. So they're

875
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:50,480
Speaker 2: both still in love with Ava Gardner and that that

876
00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:53,840
Speaker 2: is still a simmering tension underneath all what they're doing.

877
00:43:53,960 --> 00:44:00,400
Speaker 3: Howard's like sending boxes of fingernails here, Mason jarz y'arin

878
00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:01,120
Speaker 3: keep thinks.

879
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:05,920
Speaker 2: So fast forward to sixty seven. Frank Sinatra has his

880
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,279
Speaker 2: regular residency at the Sands Casino. Twice a year he's

881
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:12,319
Speaker 2: there and whenever Ava Gardener's in town, he invites her

882
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:14,880
Speaker 2: to come see him, typically after his show, where they

883
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,920
Speaker 2: can be alone. The trouble is, so does the reclusive

884
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:20,920
Speaker 2: Howard Hughes. In fact, there are times when both men

885
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:23,520
Speaker 2: are staying at the Sands and both men are waiting

886
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 2: and hoping that Ava Garden will come to see them.

887
00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:26,440
Speaker 3: Wow.

888
00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:28,600
Speaker 2: Yes, that's what I'm telling you, Like they burn for

889
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,120
Speaker 2: her for a long wow. And also both men are

890
00:44:31,239 --> 00:44:33,840
Speaker 2: very well aware of the other and his ongoing affections

891
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:37,160
Speaker 2: for Ava, So they're still competing against each other. Yeah, anyway,

892
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:39,800
Speaker 2: sixty seven, Guess who buys the Sands casino.

893
00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:42,239
Speaker 3: Howard Hughes yea.

894
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:45,960
Speaker 2: As Time Magazine reported and it's September twenty second, nineteen

895
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,799
Speaker 2: sixty seven edition, Howard Hughes sixty one has quietly been

896
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:52,920
Speaker 2: making news of his own picking up properties around Las Vegas.

897
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,400
Speaker 2: He has, in addition to the Sands and desert In,

898
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:59,320
Speaker 2: bought Alamo Airways and the Crupp ranch in Red Rock Canyon,

899
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:03,000
Speaker 2: Hughes are already owned thirty thousand acres of Nevada land.

900
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:07,120
Speaker 2: Why the intensive interest in Las Vegas? Primarily it is

901
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:11,080
Speaker 2: because Nevada has no income tax, a natural draw to Hughes,

902
00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:17,160
Speaker 2: whose net worth is over a billion. Yeah, I wanted

903
00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:20,640
Speaker 2: to bring it back for you, exactly. So there obviously

904
00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:23,800
Speaker 2: is another intensive interest in Las Vegas. And why he

905
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:25,960
Speaker 2: wants to buy it. I think he wants to buy

906
00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:28,880
Speaker 2: Sinatra's town. Oh yeah, all right, because you notice that

907
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:32,240
Speaker 2: Howard Hughes buys the desert In, then he buys the Sands,

908
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 2: the two places associated with Sinatras exactly. So at this point,

909
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:38,760
Speaker 2: the rap Pack they still have their regular super popular

910
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:41,680
Speaker 2: nightclub style shows. They're popping in ring A Ding Dinging

911
00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:43,759
Speaker 2: at each other, right, yeah, and it sure seems like

912
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:45,799
Speaker 2: it's only a matter of time until these two men

913
00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,920
Speaker 2: are going to have a Western style showdown at the Sands.

914
00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:51,879
Speaker 2: And keep in mind, Sinatra is never afraid of a fight,

915
00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:55,680
Speaker 2: literal or figurative. So there's this one time I found

916
00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:58,680
Speaker 2: researching this when a man in Las Vegas was heckling

917
00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:01,960
Speaker 2: and insulting Judy Garland's daughter, Liza Minelli. The reason why

918
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,239
Speaker 2: I say her daughter is at the time, she was

919
00:46:04,239 --> 00:46:08,000
Speaker 2: twelve years old and Judy invites Liza Minelly onto the

920
00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:10,359
Speaker 2: stage to sing with her, to perform a song. Right,

921
00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:12,440
Speaker 2: this is like before she's really done anything this.

922
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,320
Speaker 4: My daughter's like some blue ivy stuff, exactly.

923
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:19,839
Speaker 2: Totally blue ivy. So Sinatra, here's this man insulting lives

924
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,520
Speaker 2: of Manelli is as I said, twelve. So what does

925
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:26,680
Speaker 2: Sinatra do. He follows the heckler out of the performance

926
00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:29,640
Speaker 2: space and waits outside the bathroom for the man to

927
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:32,160
Speaker 2: come out, and when he does, Sinatra throws a left

928
00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:33,960
Speaker 2: right combo and drops the man.

929
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:35,160
Speaker 3: I love that.

930
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:39,359
Speaker 2: He's like, how dare you insulting? Yeah? Bum, So keep

931
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,200
Speaker 2: in mind a decade or so earlier, he'd also taken

932
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:44,160
Speaker 2: a gun out and hunted down Howard Hughes at the

933
00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:47,520
Speaker 2: nightclub on Sunset Strip. So what Sinatra could it do?

934
00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:50,800
Speaker 2: Now that Howard Hughes owns the Sands, it is clearly

935
00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:54,560
Speaker 2: making moves to buy Vegas ak his town. A fight

936
00:46:54,719 --> 00:46:58,279
Speaker 2: is guaranteed. So that is if the reclusive Howard Hughes

937
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:02,760
Speaker 2: ever managedes to emerge from his via sweet So what happens?

938
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:03,399
Speaker 2: Great question.

939
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:05,760
Speaker 3: I love when I asked these question.

940
00:47:05,640 --> 00:47:08,520
Speaker 2: Top of your game. So at this point, if you've

941
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:11,359
Speaker 2: heard of the Calniva Casino, you know the one, right, Yeah.

942
00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:14,279
Speaker 3: We talked about that in an episode. Where was it

943
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:15,240
Speaker 3: the abduction?

944
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:18,880
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, Yeah, but I've been out, you've been, so

945
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:19,880
Speaker 2: you personally know it.

946
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:20,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know where it is.

947
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:23,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, So when you picture that place, it's the casino

948
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:25,640
Speaker 2: that was located at Lake Tahoe right on the California

949
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:28,960
Speaker 2: Nevada border, thus the name cal Niva, which, as you

950
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:31,560
Speaker 2: may know, also was featured in the Godfather.

951
00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:33,319
Speaker 4: That's raight, so bringing it back.

952
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:35,840
Speaker 3: I love Lake Tahoe, by the way, Oh, you and

953
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,000
Speaker 3: I both so many people go up there. Now That's

954
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:38,680
Speaker 3: why I don't know.

955
00:47:38,880 --> 00:47:40,000
Speaker 2: It's hard to keep it blue and out.

956
00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:41,040
Speaker 3: It really is hard to keep it.

957
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:45,200
Speaker 2: So that casino is one that Sinatra bought obviously, or

958
00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:47,440
Speaker 2: you know, as we've told in the past, and naturally

959
00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:49,600
Speaker 2: many people believed it was a front for his friends

960
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,200
Speaker 2: in the mafia, since unlike them, Sinatra could own and

961
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:56,440
Speaker 2: have a state approved license to own a casino. So,

962
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,840
Speaker 2: according to the October fifteenth, nineteen sixty seven edition of

963
00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:04,080
Speaker 2: the The Fresno Bee, Sinatra paid approximately two hundred and

964
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:06,880
Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars for a twenty five percent interest in

965
00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:09,719
Speaker 2: Calniva Lodge, and it turned out to be a profitable

966
00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:13,600
Speaker 2: investment until nineteen sixty three, when the Nevada Gaming Commission

967
00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:19,000
Speaker 2: accused Sinatra of hosting Momo sam salvatore Giancana in Chalet

968
00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:22,080
Speaker 2: number fifty of the cal Niva. Sam Giancana is listed

969
00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:24,719
Speaker 2: by the Department of Justice as head of the Chicago

970
00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:26,760
Speaker 2: or Midwest branch of the Mafia.

971
00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:30,200
Speaker 3: So what a man can't go to the lake anymore.

972
00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:33,279
Speaker 2: He can't have your friends come by pie Zon.

973
00:48:34,160 --> 00:48:35,280
Speaker 3: Then that hit the Trai.

974
00:48:37,160 --> 00:48:39,720
Speaker 2: After all this, Sinatra is put in an awkward position.

975
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:42,759
Speaker 2: Back to The Fresno b when Sinatra was asked to

976
00:48:42,800 --> 00:48:46,440
Speaker 2: explain his hosting of Giancana. He replied in gutter language

977
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:49,240
Speaker 2: that he intended on his property to entertain anyone.

978
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:52,000
Speaker 3: He felt like, hell yeah.

979
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:54,960
Speaker 2: There's that Sinatra temper again, right anyway, his response does

980
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:58,760
Speaker 2: not improve matters with the authorities. Back to the Fresno

981
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:02,440
Speaker 2: b when subsequently the Gaming Commission filed a complaint against

982
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,000
Speaker 2: Sinatra in an attempt to lift the gambling license it

983
00:49:05,360 --> 00:49:08,759
Speaker 2: had granted him in September of nineteen sixty. Sinatra, rather

984
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:11,279
Speaker 2: than fight the complaint and exposed the extent of his

985
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:15,600
Speaker 2: underworld relationships handed in his license. He not only sold

986
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,839
Speaker 2: his gambling interest in Calneva, by then he owned more

987
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:21,759
Speaker 2: than sixty three percent, but also had to sell the

988
00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:24,840
Speaker 2: nine points five hundred thousand dollars ownership he had in

989
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:27,960
Speaker 2: the Sands hotel. So that's how Howard was able to

990
00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:31,000
Speaker 2: buy it and not buy it from Sinatra directly got it.

991
00:49:31,080 --> 00:49:34,280
Speaker 2: So in sixty seven, when Howard Hughes buys the casino outright,

992
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:37,640
Speaker 2: it means Sinatra now works for his former love rival.

993
00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:38,799
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, but.

994
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:41,840
Speaker 2: At the time Sinatra did still own part of the Calneva,

995
00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:44,840
Speaker 2: the part that was the hotel, not the casino. In

996
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:49,680
Speaker 2: the part but yeah, exactly so. Also, owning a hotel

997
00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:52,360
Speaker 2: not a casino is not nearly as lucrative.

998
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:53,920
Speaker 3: Oh, definitely right.

999
00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:56,960
Speaker 2: So for reasons, Sinatra is becoming convinced that if Howard

1000
00:49:57,040 --> 00:49:59,120
Speaker 2: Hughes wants him to keep singing at the Sands now

1001
00:49:59,160 --> 00:50:02,239
Speaker 2: that he owns this, his billionaire friend needs to buy

1002
00:50:02,280 --> 00:50:04,560
Speaker 2: out his interest in the Caliniva. He's just gonna make

1003
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:07,680
Speaker 2: it a sweetheart deal. So, according to the Fresno Beat,

1004
00:50:07,719 --> 00:50:11,520
Speaker 2: one of Sinatra's entourage tells a reporter that quote. When

1005
00:50:11,640 --> 00:50:14,640
Speaker 2: Frank booked himself into the Sands on August thirtieth, many

1006
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:16,760
Speaker 2: of us were sure that soon he would get Howard

1007
00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:19,920
Speaker 2: Hughes to take Calneva off his hands. After all, what

1008
00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:22,480
Speaker 2: does a million or two extra mean to Howard Hughes,

1009
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:25,680
Speaker 2: especially when a little thing like that can keep Frank happy.

1010
00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:28,600
Speaker 2: Let's face it, Frank was such a large factor in

1011
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:31,719
Speaker 2: making the Sands a success. He brought Dean Martin there,

1012
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:36,080
Speaker 2: Sammy Davis Junior, Joey Bishop, Edie Gourmet, and Steve Lawrence,

1013
00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:39,880
Speaker 2: plus all the high rollers their names attract. Surely Hughes

1014
00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:43,120
Speaker 2: would recognize that fact and play ball with Frank. The

1015
00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:46,160
Speaker 2: newspaper doesn't know the backstory, apparently, because there's a lot.

1016
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:49,000
Speaker 2: There's the one big reason why he would not play

1017
00:50:49,040 --> 00:50:51,640
Speaker 2: ball with Frank Sinatra, and it's shaped just like Ava Gardner.

1018
00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:55,760
Speaker 2: So Sinatra comes to the Sands looking for his casino

1019
00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:58,279
Speaker 2: real estate deal and he plays his show ring a

1020
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:01,040
Speaker 2: ding ding sing along right then he calls up Howard

1021
00:51:01,120 --> 00:51:04,399
Speaker 2: Hughes to talk business back to the Fresno Bee. As

1022
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:06,759
Speaker 2: a source tells of the reporter, Frank put in a

1023
00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:09,719
Speaker 2: call to Howard Hughes. Frank, you know, is a proud guy.

1024
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:13,280
Speaker 2: And when Hughes refused even to acknowledge the call, Frank

1025
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:15,440
Speaker 2: got sore, but I mean sore.

1026
00:51:16,320 --> 00:51:17,920
Speaker 3: So yeah, now.

1027
00:51:17,719 --> 00:51:21,080
Speaker 2: We've got some real trouble bruin. To get Howard Hughes's attention,

1028
00:51:21,239 --> 00:51:25,000
Speaker 2: Sinatra leaves Vegas during the Labor Day weekend, which is

1029
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:27,960
Speaker 2: a major money earner for the casinos.

1030
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:28,760
Speaker 3: Huge weekend.

1031
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:31,360
Speaker 2: Yeah. So after the weekend's over, Sinatra comes back to

1032
00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:34,080
Speaker 2: the Sands. He does his usual thing. He starts gambling,

1033
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:37,319
Speaker 2: playing blackjack. He gets drunk as he's gambling. Then he

1034
00:51:37,400 --> 00:51:39,560
Speaker 2: runs out of chips and he goes to the cashier's

1035
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:42,319
Speaker 2: cage to get more chips on his credit line, as

1036
00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:45,440
Speaker 2: a Fresno Bee reports it quote, the cashier said no,

1037
00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:48,680
Speaker 2: soap Frank at first thought he was kidding. The cashier

1038
00:51:48,760 --> 00:51:51,600
Speaker 2: said nope, it was on the level. He'd gotten orders

1039
00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:55,319
Speaker 2: from upstairs that Sinatra's markers henceforth would not be acceptable

1040
00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:59,759
Speaker 2: to the new management. So Howard Hughes cut him off. Yeah,

1041
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:03,640
Speaker 2: now Howard is trying to embarrass Sinatra in Vegas. That's

1042
00:52:03,719 --> 00:52:05,920
Speaker 2: just one move. Yeah, But Elizabeth, it's worse than that,

1043
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:09,160
Speaker 2: because the full story is Sinatra was in the casino partying,

1044
00:52:09,239 --> 00:52:12,839
Speaker 2: gambling with some of the Apollo astronauts when he asked

1045
00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:14,960
Speaker 2: to get the credit line and he gets denied. So

1046
00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:17,479
Speaker 2: now he's got no money to like feed. Yeah, it's bad.

1047
00:52:17,560 --> 00:52:20,879
Speaker 2: So to cover for his ego, Sinatra jokes at Howard Hughes,

1048
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:23,960
Speaker 2: rich as he is is still a tight one, but

1049
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:27,120
Speaker 2: you have to know that inwardly he's just burning with anger. Yeah,

1050
00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:30,680
Speaker 2: So that goes down on Thursday. By Sunday night, Sinatra

1051
00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:33,600
Speaker 2: is fuming mad. He's not giving up now he's looking

1052
00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:36,040
Speaker 2: to do something about it. So while he's gambling, he

1053
00:52:36,080 --> 00:52:39,239
Speaker 2: gets drunk. I'm talking real drunk, Jack Daniel's drunker. Then

1054
00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:41,479
Speaker 2: he starts to give the pit boss a hard time.

1055
00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:44,440
Speaker 2: He tells them they'll break both their legs.

1056
00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:45,320
Speaker 3: Okay.

1057
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:48,560
Speaker 2: He also points out I built this hotel from a sandpile,

1058
00:52:48,920 --> 00:52:52,040
Speaker 2: and he shouts in front of like stunned witnesses and onlookers,

1059
00:52:52,200 --> 00:52:55,839
Speaker 2: and before I'm through, that's what it'll be again. So

1060
00:52:56,239 --> 00:52:58,160
Speaker 2: this is when he goes looking for answers for why

1061
00:52:58,200 --> 00:53:00,520
Speaker 2: his credit line was cut off. He hops on a

1062
00:53:00,560 --> 00:53:03,759
Speaker 2: house phone. He has to speak to Carl Cohen, who

1063
00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:06,160
Speaker 2: is the casino manager and actually used to own the

1064
00:53:06,200 --> 00:53:09,480
Speaker 2: sand but he was a owner, so the call goes unanswered.

1065
00:53:09,560 --> 00:53:12,840
Speaker 2: That pisses Sinatra off. He starts to lose it. He

1066
00:53:12,880 --> 00:53:15,240
Speaker 2: has to speak to someone else. He knows he's again

1067
00:53:15,640 --> 00:53:18,800
Speaker 2: no answer, So now he really no one's taking his calls.

1068
00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:21,600
Speaker 2: He's losing it, right, So he tells the operator, you'd

1069
00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:23,480
Speaker 2: better get him and tell him I will tear up

1070
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:29,200
Speaker 2: this place. So, hearing the disturbance, a security guard confronts him,

1071
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:32,160
Speaker 2: and Sinatra tells the security guard, you're pretty tough with

1072
00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:34,600
Speaker 2: a gun onn't you well take that gun and shove

1073
00:53:34,640 --> 00:53:38,960
Speaker 2: it up you. Yeah, he's mad and drunk, So at

1074
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:41,839
Speaker 2: this point Sinatra goes back up to his suite and

1075
00:53:42,080 --> 00:53:45,120
Speaker 2: trashes it. Yeah, I'm talking like like Johnny Depp in

1076
00:53:45,239 --> 00:53:50,600
Speaker 2: the nineties, trashing a hotel, trashing a hotel led Zeppelin.

1077
00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:53,840
Speaker 2: I'm talking trashes it, right. But he's not satisfied, so

1078
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:57,480
Speaker 2: he goes back downstairs and demands to speak with Carl Cohen,

1079
00:53:57,760 --> 00:54:02,759
Speaker 2: the casino manager. So five five am on News Now

1080
00:54:02,960 --> 00:54:06,319
Speaker 2: Monday mornings. Yeah, Sinatra gets a hold of Cohen, who

1081
00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:08,520
Speaker 2: agrees to talk with Sinatra. He tells him to meet

1082
00:54:08,560 --> 00:54:11,239
Speaker 2: him in the hotel restaurant where he'll be having breakfast.

1083
00:54:11,480 --> 00:54:14,840
Speaker 2: Sinatra goes downstairs and he meets the casino manager. He

1084
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:17,520
Speaker 2: strides up to the table where Cohen is eating and

1085
00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:20,080
Speaker 2: demands to know why his marker is no longer good

1086
00:54:20,080 --> 00:54:22,920
Speaker 2: at the casino. Yeah, like why his credit line's been canceled.

1087
00:54:23,080 --> 00:54:25,520
Speaker 2: And Cohen tells him I don't know the hotel anymore.

1088
00:54:25,560 --> 00:54:29,120
Speaker 2: Frank Sinatra says, what are you so nervous about? Huh?

1089
00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:31,360
Speaker 2: And Cohen says he got out of bed for Frank,

1090
00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:35,320
Speaker 2: and Sonatra repeats himself, what are you so nervous about? Huh? Now, Cohen,

1091
00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:38,080
Speaker 2: whre's no pushover. This guy's been dealing with mobsters from

1092
00:54:38,120 --> 00:54:40,600
Speaker 2: the jump. Oh yeah, he says, I'm not gonna listen

1093
00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:43,719
Speaker 2: to this. He gets up to leave, and that's when

1094
00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:47,200
Speaker 2: Sinatra dumps his breakfast on the man's lap. But not

1095
00:54:47,239 --> 00:54:50,759
Speaker 2: only that, he scalds him with piping hot coffee. Oh no,

1096
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:53,440
Speaker 2: oh yeah, so that's over the line, right. The casino

1097
00:54:53,480 --> 00:54:56,360
Speaker 2: manager pops up. He puts his full two hundred and

1098
00:54:56,400 --> 00:54:59,880
Speaker 2: fifty pounds into one good right hand haymaker, and he

1099
00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:04,120
Speaker 2: deck Sinatra. Elizabeth, I'm talking like a real heavyweight punch.

1100
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:04,480
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1101
00:55:04,520 --> 00:55:07,840
Speaker 2: The blow knocks the caps off of Sinatra's two front teeth.

1102
00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:11,760
Speaker 2: What yes. Frank is stunned, he's there is He's grabbing

1103
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:14,480
Speaker 2: his split lip. His blood is pouring over his hands.

1104
00:55:14,719 --> 00:55:17,520
Speaker 2: Sinatra is like shouting at the casino manager, you broke

1105
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:21,840
Speaker 2: my teeth. I'll kill you, you son of him? All right. Now,

1106
00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:25,480
Speaker 2: Sinatra's right hand man is this guy Jilly Rizzo, and

1107
00:55:25,560 --> 00:55:27,920
Speaker 2: so he's there in the restaurant with Frank, and when

1108
00:55:27,960 --> 00:55:31,120
Speaker 2: he sees what Sinatra get popped, Rizzo reaches into his

1109
00:55:31,160 --> 00:55:34,760
Speaker 2: sport coat, presumably for a gun man, but a huge

1110
00:55:34,800 --> 00:55:37,600
Speaker 2: security guard is standing right behind Jilly Rizzo and he

1111
00:55:37,640 --> 00:55:40,960
Speaker 2: tells him remove your hand. Real slow, like because there

1112
00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:45,359
Speaker 2: used to anybody involved in this scene. So Sinatra, though,

1113
00:55:45,480 --> 00:55:48,400
Speaker 2: is not done. He grabs a chair and tries to

1114
00:55:48,520 --> 00:55:52,279
Speaker 2: brain Cohen with the chair. He misses, and he hits

1115
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:55,840
Speaker 2: the second security guard, sending that man to the hospital

1116
00:55:55,840 --> 00:55:57,040
Speaker 2: to get his head stitched together.

1117
00:55:57,520 --> 00:56:00,000
Speaker 3: Isn't wildly swing in a chair?

1118
00:56:00,440 --> 00:56:00,799
Speaker 2: Oh yeah?

1119
00:56:00,840 --> 00:56:04,200
Speaker 3: And then Snatra got no front teeth, blood everywhere exactly.

1120
00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:08,919
Speaker 2: So Snatra storms out as Jilly Rizzo's chasing him, going hey, wait, Frank, wait, wait, Frank,

1121
00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:12,720
Speaker 2: Frank Frank. So Sinatra still not done at this point.

1122
00:56:13,040 --> 00:56:16,000
Speaker 2: Steaming Sinatra hops in a golf cart he drives off.

1123
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:18,759
Speaker 3: That's a scene that is like because then it's like

1124
00:56:18,960 --> 00:56:23,560
Speaker 3: he gets in and then likes this slow roll away.

1125
00:56:23,040 --> 00:56:26,319
Speaker 2: So he there's these doors to the hotel, right the

1126
00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:29,400
Speaker 2: glass doors. He drives the golf cart right into the

1127
00:56:29,440 --> 00:56:32,880
Speaker 2: glass door, shattering it and just like apparently leaves it

1128
00:56:32,920 --> 00:56:35,880
Speaker 2: parked there, and then he grabs his stuff from his suite,

1129
00:56:35,920 --> 00:56:38,320
Speaker 2: catches a ride out to the airport, flies back to

1130
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:41,359
Speaker 2: Palm Springs. Okay, right, and this is where he gets

1131
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:43,319
Speaker 2: his private dentist who come out and meet him and

1132
00:56:43,320 --> 00:56:45,600
Speaker 2: repair his broken teeth. So that's why we don't ever

1133
00:56:45,600 --> 00:56:47,200
Speaker 2: see him with pictures without it, you know, with the

1134
00:56:47,280 --> 00:56:49,520
Speaker 2: you know, missing his two front Yeah, just the cat.

1135
00:56:49,600 --> 00:56:51,839
Speaker 3: That's the benefit of wealth and fame.

1136
00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:54,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Now at the time, the former private detective

1137
00:56:54,960 --> 00:56:58,760
Speaker 2: and wannabe Fidel Castro assassin for the CIA. Yeah, Robert

1138
00:56:58,800 --> 00:57:01,160
Speaker 2: Mayhew is now back where with Howard Hughes as the

1139
00:57:01,239 --> 00:57:04,719
Speaker 2: chief executive for his Nevada operations. Oh boy, Yeah, so

1140
00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:07,000
Speaker 2: he writes up a report of the events for the

1141
00:57:07,120 --> 00:57:10,520
Speaker 2: reclusive Howard Hughes, and I quote. At six am today,

1142
00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:13,160
Speaker 2: Sinatra appeared at the Sands, made one hell of a

1143
00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:16,200
Speaker 2: scene and insisted on seeing Carl Cohen. He threatened to

1144
00:57:16,280 --> 00:57:19,280
Speaker 2: kill anyone who got in his way, used a vile language,

1145
00:57:19,320 --> 00:57:21,760
Speaker 2: and said he would beat up the telephone operators if

1146
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:24,600
Speaker 2: they did not connect him with Cohen, et cetera. In

1147
00:57:24,640 --> 00:57:27,720
Speaker 2: an effort to calm the situation, Carl agreed to meet him.

1148
00:57:27,760 --> 00:57:30,919
Speaker 2: Sinatra called Cohen every dirty name in the book, said

1149
00:57:30,960 --> 00:57:33,000
Speaker 2: he was going to kill him, pushed a table over

1150
00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:35,680
Speaker 2: on Carl, picked up a chair and attempted to hit

1151
00:57:35,760 --> 00:57:38,280
Speaker 2: Carl over the head. Carl Duck took a pass at

1152
00:57:38,320 --> 00:57:41,680
Speaker 2: Sinatra and floored him. So Elizabeth, you better believe the

1153
00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:44,919
Speaker 2: reclusive Howard Hughes got to kick out a report.

1154
00:57:44,720 --> 00:57:47,200
Speaker 3: His like spirit left his body for a little bit.

1155
00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:48,520
Speaker 3: He was like, this is amazing.

1156
00:57:48,960 --> 00:57:51,320
Speaker 2: So as the FRISD would be summed it all up. Quote.

1157
00:57:51,360 --> 00:57:54,760
Speaker 2: The entire fault, of course, can be attributed to Howard Hughes.

1158
00:57:54,960 --> 00:57:57,680
Speaker 2: He is just not interested in keeping his stars happy.

1159
00:57:58,520 --> 00:57:59,880
Speaker 3: Oh, or rather.

1160
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:02,040
Speaker 2: He was I'm not interested in keeping one very specific

1161
00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:06,480
Speaker 2: star happy. One Francis Albert Sinatra. So there's obviously one

1162
00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:10,000
Speaker 2: obvious reason have a gardener, right, So this fight marks

1163
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:13,520
Speaker 2: the end of Sinatra's sixteen year run at the Sands.

1164
00:58:13,800 --> 00:58:17,440
Speaker 2: As the Miami Herald reported in it's September thirteenth, nineteen

1165
00:58:17,560 --> 00:58:21,720
Speaker 2: sixty seven edition, a Sinatras spokesman announced the crooner had

1166
00:58:21,720 --> 00:58:24,480
Speaker 2: switched his allegiance through the medium of a three year

1167
00:58:24,600 --> 00:58:29,240
Speaker 2: contract to Caesar's Palace, a rival pleasure dome down the strip.

1168
00:58:29,680 --> 00:58:31,000
Speaker 3: Caesar's years in.

1169
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:31,800
Speaker 2: A pleasure dome.

1170
00:58:32,240 --> 00:58:33,360
Speaker 3: It is a pleasure dome.

1171
00:58:33,640 --> 00:58:37,400
Speaker 2: Now at this point, Vegas is never the same after this, Elizabeth,

1172
00:58:37,440 --> 00:58:39,600
Speaker 2: you could say that that fight marks the end of

1173
00:58:39,640 --> 00:58:42,520
Speaker 2: the rat pack era in Las Vegas. All for one

1174
00:58:42,520 --> 00:58:47,000
Speaker 2: simple reason and the two very jealous men who wanted

1175
00:58:47,040 --> 00:58:51,480
Speaker 2: to possess her. So what's our ridiculous takeaway here? Oh?

1176
00:58:51,560 --> 00:58:57,720
Speaker 3: Ava, you know she's no ethel Merman, she's no Rosemary Clooney,

1177
00:58:57,760 --> 00:58:59,560
Speaker 3: but you know she'll she'll do well.

1178
00:58:59,560 --> 00:59:03,320
Speaker 2: I would say another comparison would be Marilyn Monroe and

1179
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:06,600
Speaker 2: the Kennedys. You know, totally because also you get Sandy

1180
00:59:06,640 --> 00:59:10,200
Speaker 2: and Kana in that story too. Oh yeah, it's a

1181
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:13,720
Speaker 2: familiar to you may need to tell that one. So

1182
00:59:15,160 --> 00:59:16,480
Speaker 2: you in the mood for a talkback?

1183
00:59:16,600 --> 00:59:20,360
Speaker 3: I certainly wait. What's your ridiculous takeaway? You don't get

1184
00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:21,760
Speaker 3: off so easy, oh mine.

1185
00:59:22,640 --> 00:59:25,200
Speaker 2: You never mess with Frank Sinatra unless you're ready to

1186
00:59:25,280 --> 00:59:25,800
Speaker 2: duck him.

1187
00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:27,360
Speaker 3: Oh I have to agree with that.

1188
00:59:27,640 --> 00:59:29,680
Speaker 2: I got nothing. That's all I got for you. But

1189
00:59:29,760 --> 00:59:31,640
Speaker 2: I am in the mood for talkback, just to wash

1190
00:59:31,680 --> 00:59:42,320
Speaker 2: this story down. Oh my god, I let you.

1191
00:59:46,040 --> 00:59:46,440
Speaker 3: Guys.

1192
00:59:46,640 --> 00:59:48,920
Speaker 5: Why did I just hear my voice on a fire

1193
00:59:49,040 --> 00:59:51,120
Speaker 5: fest and you didn't even get to hear the end

1194
00:59:51,160 --> 00:59:55,600
Speaker 5: of the Orchid story. I'm quite shocked. You guys must

1195
00:59:55,680 --> 00:59:58,360
Speaker 5: not get a lot of these in. But the end

1196
00:59:58,440 --> 01:00:03,320
Speaker 5: of the Orchid story was I got to work it

1197
01:00:03,440 --> 01:00:09,040
Speaker 5: in because the website crashed and he said, well, just

1198
01:00:09,080 --> 01:00:11,520
Speaker 5: don't plant it in the ground, which I couldn't do anyways,

1199
01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:13,800
Speaker 5: because orchids are not known for growing in Canada.

1200
01:00:15,120 --> 01:00:21,840
Speaker 3: Is again, well, we wait back the line to you,

1201
01:00:24,840 --> 01:00:25,640
Speaker 3: but thank you for that.

1202
01:00:26,240 --> 01:00:29,360
Speaker 2: And unfortunately we do get a lot of these, so

1203
01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:31,680
Speaker 2: we probably in our email inbox it got lost.

1204
01:00:31,720 --> 01:00:33,919
Speaker 3: I don't know, no, I just think you know, there's

1205
01:00:33,960 --> 01:00:35,520
Speaker 3: just you got to go to the back of the line.

1206
01:00:35,560 --> 01:00:36,800
Speaker 3: You can get caught off you.

1207
01:00:37,080 --> 01:00:42,120
Speaker 2: Ye start over again. So uh, there you go. If

1208
01:00:42,560 --> 01:00:44,320
Speaker 2: that was amazing, I'm glad you enjoyed that.

1209
01:00:44,560 --> 01:00:44,880
Speaker 3: Thank you.

1210
01:00:45,000 --> 01:00:47,760
Speaker 2: As always, you can find us online at Ridiculous Crime

1211
01:00:47,800 --> 01:00:52,760
Speaker 2: on Blue Sky, Instagram, and uh obviously we love your talkback,

1212
01:00:52,800 --> 01:00:55,280
Speaker 2: so please go to the iHeart app download it, record

1213
01:00:55,280 --> 01:00:57,000
Speaker 2: a talk back and maybe you get to hear your

1214
01:00:57,080 --> 01:00:59,480
Speaker 2: voice you please, we'd like to hear it, and please

1215
01:00:59,480 --> 01:01:03,400
Speaker 2: also send a emails are Ridiculous Crime at gmail dot com.

1216
01:01:03,600 --> 01:01:05,720
Speaker 2: We're thinking about doing a mail bag episode, so we'd

1217
01:01:05,720 --> 01:01:09,200
Speaker 2: love to hear your crime confessions or stories from your

1218
01:01:09,200 --> 01:01:12,360
Speaker 2: hometown that don't involve you and family members. Whatever you got.

1219
01:01:13,080 --> 01:01:16,080
Speaker 2: And also we have our account Ridiculous Crime Pod on YouTube.

1220
01:01:16,120 --> 01:01:18,520
Speaker 2: Go check that out. It's got great animations, and we

1221
01:01:18,560 --> 01:01:22,960
Speaker 2: have the website Ridiculous Crime dot com, which has a

1222
01:01:23,120 --> 01:01:28,600
Speaker 2: merch and apparently was a vote nominated for the best

1223
01:01:28,640 --> 01:01:30,680
Speaker 2: sweater for Sweater Weather in twenty twenty.

1224
01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:33,400
Speaker 3: So I know you can only get on the website

1225
01:01:33,400 --> 01:01:34,439
Speaker 3: now with a retinal scan.

1226
01:01:34,880 --> 01:01:39,280
Speaker 2: I did not. Yeah, I couldn't get past the age verifications.

1227
01:01:40,080 --> 01:01:42,920
Speaker 3: You have to be eighty seven years old. Yeah, it's

1228
01:01:42,960 --> 01:01:43,600
Speaker 3: pretty cool.

1229
01:01:44,000 --> 01:01:46,520
Speaker 2: So there you go, Thank you for listening, and hey,

1230
01:01:46,680 --> 01:01:55,240
Speaker 2: we will catch you next crime. Ridiculous Crime is hosted

1231
01:01:55,280 --> 01:01:58,360
Speaker 2: by Elizabeth Utton and Zarin Brunette, produced and edited by

1232
01:01:58,440 --> 01:02:02,840
Speaker 2: Dean Martin's Ego and Easy Sense of Chill aka Dave Cousta,

1233
01:02:03,120 --> 01:02:07,520
Speaker 2: and starring Annalise Rucker as Judith the Matador. Research is

1234
01:02:07,520 --> 01:02:10,800
Speaker 2: by Sammy Davis Junior's Sense of Rhythm aka Marissa Brown

1235
01:02:10,840 --> 01:02:14,120
Speaker 2: and Jabbari Davis. Our theme song is by Frank Sinatra's

1236
01:02:14,240 --> 01:02:18,120
Speaker 2: musical ego aka Thomas Lee and Travis Dutton. The host

1237
01:02:18,200 --> 01:02:21,520
Speaker 2: wardrobe provided by Botany five hundred. Guest hair makeup by

1238
01:02:21,520 --> 01:02:25,800
Speaker 2: Sparkleshot and Mister Andre. Executive producers are Howard Hughes his

1239
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:30,680
Speaker 2: co pilots of his Spruce Goose Ben Bolan and Noel Brown.

1240
01:02:37,680 --> 01:02:39,800
Speaker 3: Why Say It one more time?

1241
01:02:42,520 --> 01:02:45,920
Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio four more podcasts.

1242
01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:49,160
Speaker 1: My heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

1243
01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:51,000
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.