1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,199 Speaker 1: It was the race of a lifetime, and the stakes 7 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 1: had never been higher. The course was treacherous, a winding, 8 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: single lane dirt road through swamps and forests, then across 9 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: a winding mountain path. And to make matters worse, the 10 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: drivers would attempt this route entirely at night and without headlights. 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: A wrong turn in the dark could be deadly, but 12 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,279 Speaker 1: the payoff was worth the risk. The winner would walk 13 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: away with a massive purse and the loser could leave 14 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: in handcuffs. Because this wasn't the INND five hundred, and 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: the racers weren't professional drivers, they were bootleggers. During America's 16 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: prohibition era, illegal whiskey and moonshine runners became some of 17 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: the best getaway drivers in the country. There was a 18 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: lot of money to be made by transporting liquor from 19 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: world distilleries to speakeasies in the city, provided they didn't 20 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: get caught. The roads were heavily patrolled by the FEDS, 21 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: so runners did everything they could to give themselves an edge. 22 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: They bought the best cars on the market, like Ford's 23 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: powerful V eight, then modified them to the perfect getaway vehicles. 24 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: They souped up the engines and ripped out the back seats. 25 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: They added suspension springs so the car's frames wouldn't sag 26 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: under the weight of contraband and alert the cops. Some 27 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: bootleggers even rig their vehicles with gadgets straight out of 28 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: a Bond film. Cars were capable of emitting smoke screens 29 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: and oil slicks, or dumping nails into the path of 30 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: their pursuers, but no gadget or upgrade could match experience 31 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: behind the wheel. The bootleggers weren't moving liquor or retooling 32 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: their rides. They kept up their skills by racing one 33 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: another at local fairgrounds. Now, these races weren't supposed to 34 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: be serious, at least at first. There were no cash 35 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: prizes and no tickets sold, so a lot of drivers 36 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: were surprised when people started to show up and watch 37 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: At this point, the American auto racing scene was pretty 38 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: much limited to triple A races like the Indy five hundred. 39 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: These were expensive, high class events attended by wealthy businessmen 40 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: and their families. The amateur bootlegger races were the exact opposite. 41 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: The cars were stock, the drivers were amateur, and the 42 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: audiences were working class. The courses were so dusty that 43 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: everyone went home the color of rust. But what these 44 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: races lacked in frills, they made up for in spectacle. 45 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: Reckless Roy Hall, for example, who had multiple convictions to 46 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: his name, could be seen tearing around turns so fast 47 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: his vehicle briefly lifted onto two wheels. Meanwhile, Bill Blair Senior, 48 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: a bootlegger from North Carolina, demonstrated the one hundred and 49 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: eighty degree hair pin turns that he had perfected while 50 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: evading atf agents. The combination of the talents and the 51 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: guts on display caused the races to surge in popularity, 52 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: with audiences showing up in droves. The drivers started earning 53 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: real money, maybe not bootleg level money, but enough that 54 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: when national prohibition ended in nineteen thirty three, they kept 55 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: on racing. And while that was happening an entire industry 56 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: of mechanics and garages. The folks that serviced those booze 57 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: runner vehicles transitioned to meet the needs of stock car racers. 58 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: Even the promoters and team managers had roots in the 59 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: illegal liquor trade. By nineteen forty seven, it was time 60 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: to make things official. A group of former bootleggers met 61 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: in Daytona Beach, Florida to standardize the rules for their 62 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: fledgling sport. By the time they left the meeting, they 63 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: had formed a brand new racing association, which would see 64 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: a rapid and meteoric expansion in the coming years. Among 65 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: those early rules was an agreement that drivers couldn't be 66 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: sponsored by liquor companies. Ironic perhaps, but also clever. The 67 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: league thought that if they were ever going to become mainstream, 68 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: they would need to distance themselves from their criminal past. 69 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: The rebranding was a success. The sport took off and 70 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: eventually became the biggest auto racing league in the US, 71 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: and today a few people remember that NASCAR was created 72 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: by a bunch of professional bootleggers. Let's do a thought 73 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: experiment right now. Think about your local movie theater. What's 74 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: the first thing that you can picture in your mind. 75 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: Is it the smell of the popcorn, or maybe the 76 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: feeling of the seat cushion under you as you settle 77 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: in and watch the latest blockbuster. Whatever it is, Going 78 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,239 Speaker 1: to a movie theater and watching a film is something 79 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: almost everyone has experienced at least once in their lives. 80 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: Well back in nineteen sixty one, film changed the movie 81 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: going experience forever, and we're still feeling the effects of 82 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: this today. British director Alfred Hitchcock was looking for his 83 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: next big project. He had just finished North By Northwest 84 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: starring Carrie Grant, the exciting spy thriller that had stars 85 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: fighting for their lives atop Mount Rushmore. But rather than 86 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: go bigger for his next film, he took a page 87 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,919 Speaker 1: literally from his assistant Peggy Robertson. Robertson had read a 88 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: review of a new novel by the author Robert Block. 89 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: Inspired by the story of a Wisconsin farmer turned gravedigger 90 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: and murderer, the book told the story of a lonely 91 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,359 Speaker 1: motel caretaker with a strange fascination with his mother. Robertson 92 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: gave Hitchcock a copy of Block's novel Psycho and the 93 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: rest was history. Except that's not where the story ends. 94 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: In fact, it's just the beginning, because Hitchcock new Psycho's 95 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: success was going to hinge on one thing, the element 96 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: of surprise. So to avoid any potential audience members from 97 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: reading the novel ahead of time and ruining the twistwear 98 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: spoiler alert the main character is killed halfway through the story, 99 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: he had Peggy buy up every copy of the book 100 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: she could find. Hitchcock then bought the rights to the 101 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: film for Block's novel for nine five hundred dollars and 102 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: went to Paramount with his pitch. But they weren't too receptive. 103 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: For one, the studio had already turned down the book 104 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: based on its unsavory plot. The executives didn't want to 105 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: spend a lot of money. North By Northwest By the 106 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: Way had cost them about five million dollars, so Hitchcock 107 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: eased their fears by promising to film the movie in 108 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: black and white, and to avoid undue cost to the studio, 109 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: he used his crew from the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series. 110 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: When that didn't work, he said that he would pay 111 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: for it himself. All Paramount had to do was distribute it, 112 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: and finally they agreed. It took almost three months to film, 113 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: but by the end Hitchcock had a tightly wound horror 114 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: thriller featuring killer performances from the likes of Anthony Perkins 115 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: as Norman Bates and Janetly as Marion Crane. But he 116 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: also had a big problem on his hands. You see, 117 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: Marion's death happens almost an hour into the film. Now today, 118 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: if someone is five or ten minutes late to a movie, 119 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: the most they miss are the trailers or maybe the 120 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: opening scene. But before nineteen sixty, theaters showed their films 121 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: on a loop. They would open the doors and start 122 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: their projectors. Customers who bought tickets might catch the film 123 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: at the beginning, or maybe even just the last few scenes, 124 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: and then when it was over, they would sit and 125 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: wait for the picture to start again and watch it 126 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: until it reached the point where they had walked in. 127 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: Hitchcock couldn't have that. He didn't want audiences coming in 128 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: late and missing the crucial scene where Marian dies. Even 129 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: more so, he didn't want people learning the truth about 130 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: Norman Bates before they'd even seen what comes before, so 131 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: he and the studio ink to deal with the theaters, 132 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: he forced them to adopt specific showtimes for Psycho. Now 133 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: at first the theaters objected, but then they realized that 134 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: they would make a lot more money by turning Hitchcock's 135 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: film into an exclusive You had to be there event, 136 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: oh and anyone who came late was not allowed into 137 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: the theater. The director even had a bunch of cardboard 138 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: cutouts of himself made up with an explanation of this 139 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: new rule, which read, we won't allow you to cheat yourself. 140 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: You must see Psycho from beginning to end to enjoy 141 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: it fully, and these were placed in theater lobbies for 142 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: patrons to see as they walked in. Well, Hitchcock's gamble worked. 143 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: Audiences lined up in droves to see Psycho as intended, 144 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: and the theaters loved how designated showtimes gave them a 145 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: clear view of their busiest times of the day, as 146 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: well as the ideal times to clean the theaters. Pretty soon, 147 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: Psycho wasn't the only appointment only film being shown. Other 148 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: movies followed suit, and the whole concept of showing films 149 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: on a loop went the way of the Betamax. So 150 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: the next time you make plans to see a new 151 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: horror film, or a Victorian drama or a buddy cop 152 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: comedy in the theaters, you can thank Alfred Hitchcock. And 153 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: the next time you freak out about taking a shower alone, 154 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: well you can thank him for that as well. I 155 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 156 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 157 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. This show 158 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,440 Speaker 1: was created by me, Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 159 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 160 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 161 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 162 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.