Eddie Muller & Paula Zahn: The Barbara Graham Story

Source:Classic Couple look at the Barbara Graham story that was featured on Turner Classic Movies last year.

"On Monday night, January 9, 2023, TCM programming focuses on True Crime. TCM host Eddie Muller will be joined by journalist and newscaster Paula Zahn for the special prime-time programming.

Paula Zahn brings to the discussion her work on On the Case With Paula Zahn an American documentary and news program broadcast on Investigation Discovery since October 18, 2009. The program, now in its 25th season, explores in-depth stories of crime mysteries and interviews with involved individuals, closest to the cases and includes expert analysis. Find where to watch On the Case With Paula Zahn here. Eddie Muller brings to the discussion his expertise as an author, move historian, film restorer, film festival programmer and founder of the Film Noir Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving America’s film noir heritage." 

From Classic Couple

"Henry Graham was addicted to illegal drugs and known as a hardened but low-level criminal. Through him, Barbara met his friends Jack Santo and Emmett "The Weasel" Perkins, both with criminal records. She started an affair with Perkins, who told her about a 64-year-old widow, Mabel Monohan,[7] who was alleged to keep a large amount of cash and jewelry in her home in Burbank, California.

Monohan was a retired vaudeville performer who had previously worked the Keith-Albee circuit. Her ex-son-in-law was 74-year-old Luther B. Scherer (1879–1957), a multi-millionaire who was well known through his ownership of various gambling clubs in locations such as Palm Springs and casinos in Las Vegas. It is speculated that he had deep ties to various crime syndicates. Monahan's daughter Iris had divorced Scherer two years prior and received the Burbank residence in the divorce settlement. Iris shortly thereafter married a different man and moved to New York, leaving her mother, Mabel Monohan, to reside in their former home. Monohan and Scherer had remained close friends after the divorce and their continued friendship piqued public interest, gossip, and rumors that would later prove deadly.[8] One rumor that was widely circulated amongst criminals and in local bars was that Scherer, due to his deep trust of Monohan, had left $100,000 ($1,044,292 value in 2022) cash stashed in a safe within the residence." 

From Wikipedia

I saw I Want To Live with Hollywood Goddess Susan Hayward, playing Barbara Graham, who definitely was a compulsive liar and career criminal.This was part of TCM's month long series about true crime films, with this film being one of them. And their Film Noir expert Eddie Muller hosted this series and had true crime journalist Paula Zahn as one of his guest on this series to talk about this movie. 

To give you an example of how weak the case against Barbara Graham was: imagine if Donald J. Trump was only convicted based on the testimony of Michael Cohen. For me, Donald Trump is a career criminal an conman, who until recently, was never caught committing any felonies. But Cohen alone, especially with his track record as a liar himself, wouldn't have been enough to get a credible conviction of Trump. 

Barbara Graham was basically convicted on the testimony of one of her co-defendants, William Upshaw, who was also a convicted felon. And that's the point that Paula Zahn was making here. And not just the weak case against Graham for 1st degree murder, but they gave her the death penalty based on a weak case. 

California for the last 30 years, maybe longer, has gotten the reputation has being a very hippie, left-wing state. A place where all the social radicals and left-wing political radicals can feel at home and as part of the mainstream. The official nickname of California is the People's Republic of California. 

But in the 1950s, California, except of perhaps San Francisco and the broader San Francisco area, fit in very well with 1950s, Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Phyllis Schlafly's and Pat Buchanan's culturally collectivist America, where every "real American" was supposed to be the same and believe in the same things. Not that difficult to get 1st degree murder convictions back then. 

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