My mission today—begin this brief blog with a story about the breasts that were once insured for one million dollars and end with a crazy Nazi forger. See? There's something for everyone at Timecode. However, I must warn you up front: This is a two-parter. A taste this week and then next week, as Paul Harvey would croak: "the rest of the story." Let us begin.

In Las Vegas, where everything stays in Vegas unless your name is Orenthal, there are several Halls of Fame. There's a Pinball Hall of Fame. There's a Casino Legends Hall of Fame. There's a Game Show Hall of Fame and because I know you think I made that up here's the link; however, any Game Show Hall of Fame that hasn't inducted Bud Collyer, Garry Moore, or Bill Cullen is a Hall of Lame. But the Hall of Fame that we shall ogle for a bit is the Burlesque Hall of Fame. Now we're cookin'.

If you are an admirer of the ecdysiast's art you'll be familiar with a few of the inductees: Candy Bar, Sally Rand, Chesty Morgan, Blaze Starr. Out in front of them all, in every way —including her birthday: February 29th—is Tempest Storm, the most dimensionally gifted of them all. At nearly 80 she still attracts admirers from every compass point. At the height of her career, just about the time JFK started sniffing around, she had her acreage insured by Lloyd's for the previously mentioned million bucks. A publicity gimmick, to be sure, but sillier things have been insured. Me, for example.

As Ms. Storm's career sagged she met and married jazz singer Herb Jeffries, also at the tail end of his career. However, during the late 1930s singer Herb Jeffries was one of the most popular Western stars in the movies. Wrote his own songs, did his own stunts. At 96, Mr. Jeffries has yet to shed his mortal coil (though I should type faster to ensure the accuracy of this sentence) and I hope that he's sharing stories of the glory of those days in the saddle.

For readers who've never heard of Herb Jeffries (or Jeffrey, as he was sometimes credited) I present this poster from one of his hits. Other films included Harlem on the Prairie, Two-Gun Man from Harlem, and Harlem Rides the Range.

Like baseball of the period, movie theaters in many parts of the country were segregated while producers delivered "product" especially geared toward the "negro patron". Well, isn't that special. From a 1938 issue of Boxoffice®, I found the full-page ad below "pridefully" announcing a new line of "all-negro product". Strangely, the phrase that caught my eye was just beneath: "independent white features of quality". Yes, I like a good independent white feature. Napoleon Dynamite was awesome.

Sack Amusement Enterprises, founded in 1920 by white Mississippi businessman Alfred N. Sack, specialized in films and shorts for African-American audiences. Though responsible for significant production funds, films from Sack were mostly produced, directed, and written by black artists. Many of these films exist today and Netflix is just a few keystrokes away. Sadly, many are gone and forgotten.

I wonder as I look at this ad if I can just brush it off as a relic of the past, think it sad and move past it, that we're all grown up now and the notion of films for blacks by blacks for black theaters is gone, gone with the wind. But, then I look at Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, an independent black film that grossed $64 million. Stunning, really for an independent film. Total gross outside the US? Fifty grand. Anyone brave enough to explain that?

Okay, so the Sack ad is weird and odd and sad. You ain't seen nothin' yet, to quote Jolson, though I probably shouldn't do that just now. From the same volume of Boxoffice® I bring you maximum ugliness. I'll have more on this next Saturday. Enjoy?

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