Letters

Well, that’s really Joe Bonomo scuttling so crazily up that bell tower for most of the difficult and dangerous stunts, most specifically, for the daring slide down ropes. (Bonomo, a famous Turkish-American strongman/stuntman, was also responsible for inventing Bonomo Turkish Taffy — if anyone remembers that.) While Chaney certainly did some of his own stunts in the film, Joe Bonomo, and indeed â all stuntmen, should be able, at long last, to share in the glories of what elevated certain stars into the limelight.

—Angus Black
Los Angeles

BOUNCER ALERT!

DEAR EDITOR:

Re: your Top Jimmy obituary [May 25–31]. I was only fortunate enough to enjoy Top Jimmy’s music toward the latter part of his career, mostly at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach. Even though regular attendees of the Blue, my husband and I used to always make a date to be there when we knew he was coming through town. His raspy style, backed by a great band, gave us hours of enjoyment, which we will fortunately be able to enjoy into the future as we developed quite a decent collection of his work. Deepest sympathy to family and friends.

—Marilys Crombie
Long Beach

JOEL SILVER, ON THE OTHER HAND . . .

DEAR EDITOR:

Re: Ella Taylor’s review of Pearl Harbor [“Bombs Away,” June 1–7]. I haven’t seen the movie, and it may very well be awful, but does anything coming out of the Bruckheimer factory actually stand a chance with you guys? Come on, be honest.

—Wendy Hall
Los Angeles

THE EDITOR REPLIES: Hold your horses! Back in ’98, Enemy of the State made Pick of the Week. Honest.

DEAR EDITOR:

Good for Ella Taylor for drawing attention to the New Yorker article “The American Raj.” The hoopla the U.S. Navy contributed to the movie Pearl Harbor is more evidence that pre–World War II Navy elitism is alive and well (as John Gregory Dunne also pointed out).

—Fred A. Bender
North Hollywood

DEAR EDITOR:

Please inform Ms. Taylor (and her editor) that the military action of the Japanese navy was not an “invasion,” but an attack. The Japanese never seriously entertained the thought of invading Hawaii, since it was not part of their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity plan.

—Ron Spicer
Los Angeles

congratulations

At last Saturday’s L.A. Press Club Awards, L.A. Weekly won both first and second place in three categaories: Charles Rappleye took first place and Celeste Fremon second in Investigative Reporting; Nancy Rommelmann was awarded the top honor for Entertainment News while Brendan Bernhard won second; and Ben Ehrenreich scored first in Entertainment Reviews with Steven Mikulan second.

CORRECTION

The following sentences from a Concert Pick of the Week (June 1–7) should have been credited to Robert Palmer, as cited in Nelson George’s The Death of Rhythm & Blues: “Brown and his band treated every instrument as though it were a drum. Horns played single-note bursts that were sprung against downbeats, bass lines were broken into choppy two- or three-note patterns.”