Even when I snuck into the Hollywood Theater when I was a teenager i could see tha the place had gotten long in the tooth. That whole lower block of Market Street had turned into skid row by then.I remember the place was dark inside. Not many people. Some sailors,some dirty old men,and one over sexed teenager. There was the runway going out between the seats. Texas Bobbi Roberts was the big draw. I once saw an old newspaper that dated back to the War. She was the big star then too. I think she was married to the owner,Bob Johnston. Well ol' Bobbi could still shake her boobies. She made the twirls on her pasties look like airplane propellers.
Eddie Ware was the comedian. He looked like that kids' entertainer Pinky Lee except the stuff that came out of his mouth would warrant a bar of soap . He'd do routines with the girls and everytime there was a joke,the drummer in the pit band would drop a bomb or hit a rim shot.
Next door to the Hollywood was the watering hole called the Sports Palace. It was owned by the same guy,Bob Johnston. After i had turned twenty one I went in there . It wasn't the first time for me. My father had taken me in there when I was a little kid. We were in the back room with Bob Johnston and Doc Kearns. At the time they had Archie Moore. I didn't know what they were really talking about,but I do remember them having a laugh over the Willard fight. Dempsey was handled by Kearns at that time.
I walked inside the Sports Palace like I said before. I was twenty one and didn't worry about being pinched.The cops never went inside . They knew Johnston could handle his own problems. The neighborhood and the two joints owned by Bob Johnston had yellowed with age even more.I recognized Johnston behind the bar. Most of the customers were at the back standing around old Stymie the piano player. They looked pretty drunk and were singing all the old favorites except substituting cuss words in the appropriate spots in the melodies.
Johnston drew me a draft. I looked at all the old fight pictures on the walls. They had darkened from all the cigarette smoke.
"Lot's of history here,"I said to the owner.
"Yes,but I don't talk about it much. You start talking about the past and the past becomes the present."
I looked over at group at the piano. They were singing"As Time Goes By." Insread of a "kiss is just a kiss",it was a "F is just a F".
"See ol' Stymie over there?"said the owner."He used to be Archie Moore's sparring partner when they still were drawing the color line."
"He plays pretty good."
"He's a better piano player than he was a fighter."
I looked at more of the old pictures.
"Didn't you have Dempsey?"
"That was my brother Charley. Him and Doc."
"What did you think of Dempsey?"
"The most protected fighter there ever was."
"He used to come to San Diego didn't he?"
"He'd come in here and go to the Foreign Club in Tijuana."
"I bet you made a lot of money in the fight game."
"I did OK. But my big score was next door and with the bar. The war years made rich."
"How's next door doing?"
"It's slow. With all the bars now where the girls are completely nude, and besides you can serve liquor in these joints.Burlesque girls won't work those places."
"Didn't Doc have "Archie Moore?"
"Him and my brother Charlie."
"Took a long time for Archie to get his shot."
"That was the deal.In order for him to have the title my brother and Doc would control him. Remember Doc was with Maxim that night in St. Louis."
"Really."
"It was hard making money with Joey. He couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag."
"You make it sound like fighting is a crooked sport."
"Son"he said looking close to me,"With characters like me and my brother,Doc Kearns,organized crime,not to mention every gambler in the world having a hand in it,do you really think the laundry is going to come out smelling clean?"
After hearing him say that,I swore I heard a rim shot.
The Hollywood Theater
Jack Dempsey
