It gets even better, Monsterpal: Franchot Tone was apparently kinkier than one would ever imagine, and as our esteemed Mr. Weaver has already noted, when it came to women he liked to slum; and that's putting it mildly. He was briefly acquainted with the Black Dahlia, Beth Short, not long before her shocking death but was never to the best of my knowledge a serious suspect in her murder case. The man's self-esteem was, or so it seems, deeply damaged, and he liked it when women dumped on him; and he apparently insisted upon it. Warning for those easily shocked by real life horror:



The aforementioned is all speculation,--and second hand, not made up by me--and one should probably take it with a grain of salt; preferably several. When it comes to the Black Dahlia case one suspect who's been widely discussed is none other than Orson Welles. It's said that if one closely watches some of Welles' films made just prior to the Beth Short murder one can see clues. I have, and I can't. Anyway, from Frederick Kerr to John Kerr to Franchot Tone to the Black Dahlia, then Orson Welles, is a fun ride. The Black Dahlia murder is, needless to say, far grislier than anything dreamt up on the Uni back lot back in the day, yet unlike Franlenstein, Dracula, the Mummy and the Wolf Man, it's true .