THE ADVENTURES OF LIEUTENANT PETROSINO (1912) – This 47-minute silent movie was a rushed look at the career of New York City Police Detective Joseph Petrosino, who specialized in fighting organized crime. I meant to cover Petrosino years ago, but other topics kept taking priority.
Petrosino has become all but forgotten here in 2026, but he was once so popular that hundreds of thousands attended his funeral, which was declared a holiday in New York. He was murdered by organized crime in 1909, and his posthumous fame made him the hero of Dime Novels like old west figures Buffalo Bill Cody and others.
I’ll do more detailed examinations of Joseph Petrosino in the near future, but for now I will review this 1912 flick while peppering in a few notes about the man’s real-life saga which was far too broadly presented on the big screen.
THE REEL PETROSINO – Still in uniform, Joseph has made a name for himself as a tough cop capable of dealing with Italian gangs like the Black Hand, the Mafia and the Camorra. When Mafia bank robbers humiliate a pair of policemen who try taking them in, the storied Petrosino is sent for.
He quickly finds the gang, subdues them and drags two of them in to be booked as the others flee. The arrested criminals rat out their colleagues. That night at the dinner table, Joe brags to his wife Adelina about his exploits.
THE REAL PETROSINO – Born in 1860, Joseph Petrosino joined the New York City Police Department as a uniformed cop in 1883. He made excellent use of his fluency in Italian to solve crimes in Italian-American neighborhoods that were easy prey for organized gangs from the Old Country. Continue reading
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The 4th seeded NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STALLIONS fought it out with the 3 seeds – the BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE (Syracuse) BOBCATS – for the USCAA Division One title. At Halftime the Stallions clung to a 36-34 edge but after the break they made their move. NAU took the crown with an 89-74 triumph led by Jamarric Hammond’s Double Double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. 
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The Cinderella 6 seeds – the MIAMI UNIVERSITY AT HAMILTON HARRIERS – kept on dancing in this clash with the 2nd seeded UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI AT CLERMONT COUGARS. UC-Clermont watched their 43-32 advantage at the Half melt away as the Harriers came back to win the game 76-66. Kaleb Wanamaker led MU-Hamilton with a Double Double of THIRTY points and 12 rebounds. 
SIR GRAVES GHASTLY – Lawson J. Deming portrayed this vampire character whose eponymous movie show ran from January 1967 to November 1982 in Detroit – a longer run than most other classic Movie Hosts. His Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm program was even syndicated in Cleveland and Washington, DC for a year or two during the 1970s. 
At the start of each episode Sir Graves would emerge from a coffin and make with his signature laugh – “”Nyeeea-aaaa-haa-haaaaa.” At show’s end he would climb back into the coffin and pull down the lid. 
THE FLYING DOCTOR (1959-1960) – This installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television is a series that was based on the 1950s BBC radio show about Australia’s airborne doctors who tended to widely separated communities in the Outback. Previously, I covered the long-running Australian television series The Flying Doctors based on the same outfits. 
STANDOUT EPISODES: 
On March 9th, 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announced his successful vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes polio. 
SECOND SEMIFINAL – And in this game the 3 seeds – the BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE (Syracuse) BOBCATS – took on the 2nd seeded SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE FALCONS (should be Blue Falcons). SIC led 43-37 at the Half, only for the Bobcats to force Overtime with an 80-80 tie. In the extra session, BSC-Syracuse triumphed 92-87. Jordan Drain’s 25 points led the victors, while his fellow Bobcats Wayne Longmore and Khai Pugh logged Double Doubles of 15 points & 12 rebounds, and 13 points & 10 rebounds, respectively. 
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CONAN THE BARBARIAN Vol 1 #52 (Jul 1975) 
Conan finds the Ring of the Black Shadow, thus animating a huge statue of the Scorpion God which guards the ring to keep it out of human hands. Our hero fights the statue and renders it inert again with a sword through its “brain.”
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