A dozen or more of the boys, including Waxey Gordon, kittied the bankroll. That gave them the privilege of putting their molls in the-cast and sitting in on rehearsals. In pictures, all night clubs are bigger than Radio City and every table is occupied by a wealthy playboy and his girl, both impeccably clad in evening clothes. The owner of the establishment is usually pictured as a sinister but suave character who does his masterminding in an elaborately furnished hidden office reached. This proprietor usually turns out to be a gangster with powerful connections.
Most night clubs are small places With postage-stamp dance floors.
The greatest number of them are sleazy, poorly patronized dives. Out of the thirty thousand or more such establishments, licensed throughout the nation, there are scarcely a handful that even pay expenses. It seems difficult to believe that the underworld which now operates with such blue chips as railroads, banks, insurance companies, steamship lines, and hotel chains, should want to bother with such paltry stuff. Nevertheless, the mob is heavily involved in night clubs and other branches of the amusement industry. I found it out a few years ago, when, after Frank Sinatra tool a poke at me, my curiosity led me to do a little detective work on him.