Joe Brown's
Movies
(Joseph Castano)
Dressed To Kill, 1928
Road House, 1928
Me, Gangster, 1928
La Gringa/West of Zanzabar, 1928
Protection, 1928
In Old Arizona, 1929
The Ghost Talks, 1929
Protection, 1929
The Cockeyed World, 1929
Sunny Side Up, 1929
Born Reckless, 1930
Up The River, 1930
Men On Call, 1931
Sob Sister, 1931
Riders of the Purple Sage, 1931
Wicked, 1931
Rackety Rax, 1932
Dante's Inferno, 1935
Boy Friend, 1939
Young Mr. Lincoln, 1939 |
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FIVE
POINTERS
Five
Points Gangster Leaves The Bloody Angle Of Doyers Street
For A Movie Set In Hollywood! |
| In
1927 Winifred Sheehan, Vice President and General Manager of
Fox Studios, paid a visit to his old friend, Joe Brown (aka
Joseph Castano), at Brown's Place, an unmarked speakeasy/cabaret.
Joe's "jernt" was known only by its location, across from Earl
Carroll's Vanities, on 42nd Street. The speakeasy was the place
where New York City's elite could rub elbows with the underworld
and experience a vicarious thrill. Thanks to the passage of
the Eighteenth Amendment, constitutional prohibition created
a new era of gangsters who were romanticized in the headlines.
Hollywood was looking for a way to cash in on the gangster "popularity"
and directors were clamoring for gangster material that could
be incorporated into a movie script. This was the reason for
Winifred's visit to Brown's Place. Why not go to his old source
for the real lowdown on the underworld?
Joe opened up his best bottle of Irish whiskey in deference
to Winnie, an Irishman. As they raised their glasses in a
toast, Winnie told Joe that Hollywood needed his services.
"Whaddya mean?" said Joe.
"I have a job for you at Fox, telling the directors how gangsters
act and playing yourself in a new movie, "Dressed To Kill."
"You want me? Helluva way to earn the cakes!" replied Joe.
"You
ought to know all about the thugs, how they act!" said Winnie.
Joe
conferred with his bootlegging partner and pal, Owney Madden,
and they both agreed, Joe should accept Winnie's offer. In
later years, Owney would go to Hollywood and rescue Joe from
a possible gangland style slaying.
Winnie
and Joe first met when Joe was a bartender at the Chatham
Club on Doyers Street in Chinatown, around 1910. Winnie was
a reporter for The World and Joe would feed him colorful stories
about the nightlife and other "activities" going on around
New York City. Joe was careful to tone down his stories in
order to avoid breaking "omerta" and incurring the wrath of
his gangster pals. Years later, at his own cabaret and saloon
"jernt", The Old Mill, Joe would entertain other reporters
with his stories. Both Walter Winchell and Herbert Asbury
used Joe Brown as a source for information about the underworld.
Joe
Brown (Joseph Castano) was born in 1883 to Nicola and Teresa
Castano, immigrants from Naples, Italy. Joe was the second
oldest out of 14 siblings and their "home" was located in
the slums of Five Points. Nicola sold fancy cases (watches)
for a living but did not earn enough "slugs" to "stoke up
fourteen mouths." The children supplemented their meager diet
by "sneezing" (stealing) food, especially fruit. The Five
Points area of New York City contained the worst slums in
America. In order to survive slum life, Joe became part of
the Five Pointers when he was around sixteen. By 1900 the
Five Pointers were at their peak, with fifteen hundred members
under the control of Paul Kelly (Paolo Vaccarelli). Paul Kelly
used his New Brighton resort for planning various gang activities.
The Five Pointers "earned" their money from gambling, prostitutes,
Tammany Hall "political engagements", and the operations of
pickpockets, footpads, and loft burglars. The Five Pointers
were in constant battle with the Eastmans, a rival gang composed
of about twelve hundred warriors under the command of Monk
Eastman. Click on The
War Between New York Gang Chiefs: Monk Eastman and Paul Kelly.
In
1905, the members of the Five Pointers inner circle consisted
of Paul Kelly (Paolo Vaccarelli), Frankie Yale (Francesco
Uale), Joe Brown (Joseph Castano), Humpty Jackson, and Joe
Casseli. A photo was taken to commemorate the allegiance they
all had to each other.* The Five Pointers gang was one of
the forerunners of the American Mafia and training camp for
many of the twentieth century's most notorious gangsters.
Al Capone was brought into the Five Pointers by Frankie Yale
and was very close to Joe Brown. This was the reason Capone's
favorite alias was Al Brown.
MORE
TO COME!!
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This material was written by
Frances Carle(Asbury)
and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, copied or redistributed
in any form without permission. Most of the background information
was provided by Gregory J. Brown, grandson of Joe Brown. Gregory Brown
also provided the photograph of Joe Brown. *A drawing based on a photograph
taken of the original Five Pointers in 1905 will soon be added to
the website. |
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