Bonus Ep. 3—when Sally Stanford Kicked Humphrey Bogart Out of Her Flagship Pleasure Palace at 1144 in 1941

by kbronson | Jul 5, 2025 | Episodes

TRANSCRIPT

Hi, this is Knox Bronson at The Secret History of Frisco podcast. This bonus episode is about legends: specifically the infamous San Francisco madam Sally Stanford, movie star Humphrey Bogart, and how she barred him from her infamous bordello, and swashbuckling scalawag and movie star Errol Flynn, who enchanted her and all her girls with all the considerable charm he possessed while hiding there for two weeks, weathering a storm of bad publicity for decking a United States Marine at Finnochio’s nightclub in North Beach, known around the world for its dazzling array of singing, dancing, and lip-synching female impersonators.

[intermezzo]

Born into poverty in Baker County, Oregon, in 1903, Mabel Busby’s wild spirit showed itself early. She eloped at the age of 16 and accidentally ran straight into a life of crime, landing herself in prison for cashing checks that her husband had stolen. She had professed her innocence, claiming that she didn’t know the checks were stolen and I believe her. She was, after all, only sixteen. The county prosecutor promised her probation if she pled guilty. He was lying and, after she entered her guilty plea, the judge put her away. During her two-year sentence, she learned the art of bootlegging.

She also decided to never be broke or dependent on a man again.

The Secret History of Frisco

Elmer “Bones” Remmer

After stealing a million dollars from the Cal-Neva Lodge in the 40s, Bones came to San Francisco and became the king of vice.

Jimmie Tarantino

Editor of the Hollywood Life scandal sheet, extortionist, blackmailer, Freddie was the prince of smears and innuendo.

Bill Wren

Managing Editor of the SF Examiner, Bill Wren ran the city and didn’t like to pay the bookies when he lost a bet.

Bob Patterson

As Freddie Francisco, Bob was the biggest gossip columnist of all, also a convicted embezzler and thief. A great writer, too.

Shell Cooper

Bones Remmer’s lieutenant. Cooper and Varni’s bar was a feeder saloon to nearby brothels and filled with b-girls.

Sally Stanford

Sally ran the city’s high-end brothels, catering to the city’s power elite. She eventually became the mayor of Sausalito.

Frank Sinatra

Frank was an early investor in Hollywood Life magazine. After Jimmie shook him down for $8K, Jimmie had to leave LA.

Mickey Cohen

Mickey Cohen was Hollywood’s flamboyant gangster, the southern California equivalent to Bones Remmer

Thomas Lynch

San Francisco’s District Attorney. An ally of Bill Wren, he went after the purveyors sin in the city’s Tenderloin district.

Herb Caen

Gossip columnist at the SF Chronicle and creator of the modern myth of San Francisco, cool grey city of love.

Louella Parsons

Syndicated Queen of Gossip and screenwriter for William Randolph Hearst’s newspaper and radio empire.

Estes Kefhauver

The Senator’s committee revealde the extent and scope of organized crime’s influence over the United States.

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“Will Freddie Francisco, former inmate of Sing Sing, be permitted to sit arrogantly upon a throne of pen and ink and splash spiked words that cause tears and unhappiness to S.F. business men and their families?

“Freddie Francisco, alias Bob Patterson, once posed as a member of royalty. He assumed the title of a Count, under the name of Maximilian B.H.M. Carlton as the son of Marquis of Gahnst and a subaltern in the Black Watch regiment, and as such was arrested in Tucson, Arizona and on Jan. 27, 1928, was arrested for grand larceny by the Chicago Police. (Can you picture columnist Francisco as a count?)”—Jimmie Tarantino, Hollywood Life Magazine.

“It doesn’t take much to produce a good merchant of cash-and-carry love: just courage, an infinite capacity for perpetual suspicion, stamina on a 24-hour basis, the deathless conviction that the customer is always wrong, a fair knowledge of first aid, do-it-yourself gynecology, judo, and a tremendous sense of humor. Aside from these basic talents, a good madam must possess an understanding of female psychology (in the broadest sense), a knowledge of quick therapies for restoring drunks to a state of locomotion (out the door), and a grasp of techniques for the eradication of pimps. With these qualities, and a few others, you may develop into a self-respecting madam. —Madam Sally Stanford (allegedly ghost-written by Freddie Francisco himself)