Chapter I: Front Matter

NEW YORK: _Confidential_!

_Books by_ Jack Lait _and_ Lee Mortimer

CHICAGO: CONFIDENTIAL! WASHINGTON: CONFIDENTIAL!

_By_ Jack Lait

HELP WANTED THE BIG HOUSE BROADWAY MELODY BEAST OF THE CITY PUT ON THE SPOT GANGSTER GIRL BEEF, IRON AND WINE (_short stories_) GUS THE BUS OUR WILL ROGERS WILL ROGERS' WIT AND WISDOM A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL WRITING

_By_ Lee Mortimer

NEW YORK BEHIND THE SCENES

NEW YORK:

Confidential!

by

JACK LAIT

and

LEE MORTIMER

_New Revised Edition_

CROWN PUBLISHERS, Inc. · NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT, 1948, 1951, BY CROWN PUBLISHERS INC.

_All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or a newspaper._

_Sixth Printing, February, 1951_ _Revised Edition, September, 1951_

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AMERICAN BOOK-KNICKERBOCKER PRESS, INC., NEW YORK

CONTENTS

Introduction vii

Part One--THE PLACES (Confidential)

1. My Little Gay Home in the East 3

2. The Canyon 7

3. The Main Drag 16

a. Give My Regards to Broadway 19

b. No Cover Charge 24

c. From the Circle to the Square 27

4. The Theatah 38

5. Swing Lane 43

6. East Side, Best Side 49

7. We Never Go There Any More 67

8. Where Men Wear Lace Lingerie 72

9. It's Not True 78

a. Chinatown 78

b. Little Tokyo 86

c. Koreans 89

d. Corregidor 89

10. Around the World in New York 91

a. Beer and Pretzels 91

b. Borscht and Blintzes 93

c. The Not-So-Blue Danube 100

d. Little Italy 100

e. Stromberry Poy 102

f. Modern Babel 102

11. Black Ghetto 104

12. And Ye Took Me In! 126

13. Up in Central Park 134

14. New York's Dormitories 138

Part Two--THE PEOPLE (Confidential) 143

15. The Minx in Minks 144

16. Guys and Pearls 151

17. Glamor Pusses 156

18. Models 161

19. Second from the End 169

20. Party Girls 179

21. It Could Only Happen on Broadway 182

a. The Carrot Top and the Opal 182

b. Edith Finds Love 185

c. Unto the Second Generation 187

d. The Good Deed 192

e. Gun Moll 194

22. White Way Wolves 200

23. The Noted and the Notorious 206

24. There is No Society 209

25. Hoodlums' Hierarchy 220

26. Hello Sucker! 231

27. No Pain, No Fun 236

Part Three--THE LOWDOWN (Confidential) 241

28. But You've Got to Get Here First 242

29. Room with Adjoining Blonde 250

30. Tips on the Town 259

31. Inside Stuff 270

32. Midnight Manners 277

33. Confidential Guide to New York 284

Part Four--THE APPENDIX (Confidential) 297

A. Backstage Phone Numbers 298

B. Ticket Stubs 299

C. Headwaiters' Names 301

D. Movie Company Talent Scouts 301

E. Glossary of Harlemisms 302

F. Gustatory Guide 305