At 03:14 PM 19/01/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>Just got this notice about tonight's program Opening
Night. Kind of a
>strange double-bill.
>
>CBC TV Program, Thursday,
>January 19, 2006, 8:00 p.m.
>Black Widow/A Long Journey
>
>Black Widow
>A film noir musical drama loosely based on the Evelyn
Dick Torso murder
>case, starring Sarah Slean, Tom McCamus, Mary
Margaret O'Hara and Martin
>Tielli of the Rheostatics.
So did you watch it? How was it? How "loosely based" on the
original story?
The Evelyn Dick, Torso murder case scandalized Canada
immediately after the war. She was the daughter of a janitor
at the Hamilton Street Railway sheds, who had a lucrative if
somewhat bulky sideline re-selling used streetcar tickets.
One of the more recent books about the case suggests that he
was sexually abusing his daughter as well. Whatever the
reason, Evelyne was enrolled at the city's top, private,
Catholic finishing school, straining the financial resources
of this Protestant family. Evelyn did not fit in with the
other girls, and tried buying the affection of a few, to no
effect. It seems likely she was already turning tricks before
graduating.
But she wasn't working the streets. Within a short time of
graduating she and her mother were living in a home at least
twice the size of the modest bungalow where papa still
resided, and closer to the downtown action. There was another
apartment rented, working space, in one of the most
sought-after rental buildings of the time, surrounded by the
even bigger homes of the city's industrial and financial
establishment. Mom and daughter drove from one to the other
in a lightly-used Packard. Rumours spread that the pretty,
nun-educated, just-out-of-school girl was servicing the
Provinces most elite clientele.
Papa still had some influence on the family, however, hooking
his daughter up with John Dick, a Mennonite farm boy from
just outside the city, working as a streetcar conductor for
the HSR. Evelyn quickly married him, possibly as cover for
her business, possibly for other reasons. Dick misunderstood
his purpose, loudly protesting that the marriage hadn't been
consummated and, indeed, that he did not appear to be welcome
in her company. Defining the term half-smart, Dick began to
suspect Evelyn's financial means, and took to hiding in the
bushes outside her place of business, gathering proof of the
number of men who went in and out of the building. A short
time after that Dick's body was found by boys hiking on the
top edge of the Niagara Escarpment, which bisects the city.
Head and limbs were missing.
Hamilton was an industrial city enjoying the war-time boom,
the returning soldiers but still small enough that people
knew of one another. Everyone seemed to know someone who had
seen or met Evelyn. My mother, for instance, later recalled
serving Evelyn Dick at the counter of Kresge's 5&10.
Those sorts of connections. She was often seen in the company
of one of the city's top athletes, and sometimes, it was
suspected, big-wigs from Toronto. Supporting these rumours
was the counsel hired to defend Evelyn in court. Where did
the money come from to hire J.J. Robinette, soon to be the
country's top defense attorney? The Dick case is said to have
vaulted him into that status, so maybe he didn't become
expensive until after winning the case. Evelyn was found
not-guilty of the murder of her husband John.
She did serve time, however. During a search of the house
Evelyn shared with her mother, police found a suitcase
containing the corpse of a strangled baby, partially encased
in cement.
After serving her sentence, Evelyn disappeared. Periodically
there are rumours of her whereabouts. There have been at
least two books based on the case, a theatrical production
(later televised, I think) and now, a musical, not to mention
careers made and lost.
It pops up about every five years.
best, Kerry
------------------------------------------------------
Literary events Calendar (South Ont.) http://www.lit-electric.com
The evil men do lives after them http://www.murderoutthere.com
------------------------------------------------------
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:
rara-avis-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 20 Jan 2006 EST