Corruption And Style
Gene Fowler was an early 20th Century journalist who branched slightly into movies and books. Back then newspaper men turned phrases, borrowed from poets. (Mencken, Runyon, Hecht, Leibling) It seems to me that only Murray Kempton of the moderns rates with the old-timers, in terms of style and intelligence.
The Great Mouthpiece is a true story of a talented but corrupt New York lawyer, William Fallon, told with sympathy. Some of the best writing in it concerns the gangster element which he represented and counseled, most vividly Arnold Rothstein, of 1919 Black Sox scandal fame, who would bet high-rolling rubes about what color the next Rolls-Royce that rolled past them on the corner of 42nd and Broadway would be, and hired a fleet of vehicles with chauffeurs in order to make sure he won every bet. He would bet on anything but the weather, as there was no fixing that. As a consequence "even the tiny metal suppositories that nudged him into the hereafter were etched with IOU's."
The Great Mouthpiece is a tale of the important and the sleazy in 1920's New York, with a huge cast of characters and some polished episodes regarding individual court cases which Fallon took on. Anyone who enjoys reading about this Great Gatsby/Jimmy Walker milieu would appreciate this angle. But what makes the book memorable is Fowler's style, the sieve through which this mash is put.
Trial attorneys looking for tricks will not do well to follow Fallon's modus operandi, giving his entire closing argument to one juror only, followed by an 11-1 hung jury. Eventually, he was accused of bribing a juror, for which Fowler convicts and forgives him.
Of Fowler's other book-length productions, I would recommend Minutes of the Last Meeting, the story of a small group of drinking buddies which included John Barrymore, W.C. Fields, and himself; and Good Night Sweet Prince, his biography of his friend Barrymore.
