Joe Louis in "The Phynx"

I can guess what you're thinking--what's a phynx? Let's investigate.

"The Phynx" is a film released briefly in May 1970 by Warner Brothers Studios. Warner finally released it on DVD in 2012, and I watched it recently on Turner Classic Movies. The movie is certainly not a classic, but it has some amusing moments.

A plot summary is hilarious enough. Communists in Albania have kidnapped a number of celebrities from American entertainment and sports worlds. I don't even remember why. In order to free the hostages, U.S. intelligence puts together a rock band from scratch and turns them into world superstars. The group's name? The Phynx, of course. Once famous, the group can appear in concert in Albania and rescue the celebrities.

But wait--there's a hitch. There's a secret map that will lead the musicians to the castle where the hostages are being kept. The map is drawn in three parts on the tummies of three beautiful young women residing in different European cities. In order to find the pieces, Phynx members must "examine" hundreds of women. After that exhausting ordeal, they put the map together and head for Albania.

Are you with me so far? 

Naturally, all the kidnapped celebrities are found and released. A major feature of this portion of the film is a sequence in which they are all introduced to us, the viewers, before leaving Albania. The list includes Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan (the most famous movie Tarzan and Jane), Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall (the Bowery Boys), Ed Sullivan, James Brown, Colonel Sanders, Guy Lombardo, Andy Devine, Ruby Keeler, Edgar Bergen, Butterfly McQueen, Jay Silverheels (Tonto), Rudy Vallee, Xavier Cugat, Trini Lopez, Dick Clark, Richard Pryor, Harold "Oddjob" Sakata, George Jessel, and Rhona Barrett.

Alabama native and former heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis was also included. As the stars leave the castle in horse-drawn carriages, no less, we see duos or trios of them cracking jokes. Johnny Weissmuller says "Me Tarzan, you Jane" to O'Sullivan, a phrase never uttered during any of their many movies together. Louis and Marilyn Maxwell are sitting together and Louis actually makes an income tax joke, referencing his well-known woes with the IRS over back taxes he owed. 

This film is crazy, baby, really far out. But I had fun watching it. The parade of mostly-aging, many-by-1970 forgotten stars is a shout-out to people who had  entertained millions across the decades. I remember often watching Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall as the Bowery Boys when I was a kid, on Saturday mornings, I guess. They weren't as funny as the Three Stooges, but were pretty amusing. I also appreciated the appearance of John Hart as the Lone Ranger. I much preferred him over Clayton Moore, whom he replaced in the 1952-53 season during a contract dispute. 

The list goes on. Dorothy Lamour! Martha Raye! Joan Blondell! Ed Sullivan! Ruby Keeler! Rudy Vallee! Clint Walker in a hilarious turn as a master sergeant! Oh, and there's Richard Pryer! Butterfly McQueen! Trini Lopez! Sadly, I'm old enough to know who all these people are/were. Check out the film's IMDB entry for a full cast list. 

I should note one other appearance. Actress Sally Struthers made her first film appearance, although uncredited, as the World's Number One Fan of The Phynx. 

Johnny Weissmuller, Cass Dailey, and Joe Louis make their grand entrance. Dailey [1915-1975] was an actress, comedian and singer.

Marilyn Maxwell and Joe Louis tell jokes in their carriage ride leaving Albania. Maxwell [1921-1972] was an actress and singer probably best known for her tours with Bob Hope to entertain the troops during World War II and the Korean War. 

Louis and Weissmuller looking serious earlier in the film. Who's that mysterious gentleman behind them??

Who Was Joseph E. Pullum?

Sometimes I'm researching something and follow it down a rabbit hole that leads to another rabbit hole. And here we are...

I recently watched PBS' "American Experience" episode on Alabama native Joe Louis and his June 1938 championship fight with Max Schmeling. Well worth watching, by the way. During the program I heard a song from the 1930's about Louis on the soundtrack. Hmm, I thought, I wonder who wrote and sang that ditty. A little time on Google led me to a 2001 New York Times article discussing  the songs written about Louis. In it the author noted that composer and music researcher Rena C. Kosersky has identified over 40 songs about the boxer from the 1930’s & 1940’s. The first was Joe Pullum’s “Joe Louis Is the Man” recorded 27 July 1935 in San Antonio. 

Lo and behold, Pullum was born in Anniston. Let's investigate. 

Wikipedia gives his birthdate as December 25, 1905, but Pullum's World War II draft registration card--filled out by Pullum on October 16, 1940, in Houston, Texas-- gives the date as December 20, 1907 [see below]. That earlier date appears in the California Death Index 1940-1997 [accessed via Ancestry.com]; Pullum died in Los Angeles on January 7, 1964. 

According to the Alabama Select Marriage Indexes, 1816-1942 [Ancestry.com], his parents William Pullum and Dora Ross were both Alabama natives and married in Calhoun County on April 3, 1898. The family moved not long after Joseph's birth, since the 1910 U.S. Census shows them living on Andrews Street in Houston, Texas. In addition to Joseph and his parents, the census lists two older siblings, William Jr. who was ten years old and Carlton, who was six. By the 1920 census, they had moved to Meyer Street and added sister Evelyn, who was eleven, and Mary A. Ross, presumably Dora's mother, to the family group. 

By 1930 only Joseph and his parents were listed in the household at 1211 Arthur Street. The record notes that he could read and write and worked as a presser in a cleaning shop. The 1937 City Directory for Houston has the same trio at the same address, but Joseph is working as a musician. His father was a porter. Brothers William, Jr. and Carlton and their wives are listed at other addresses in the city. 

Pullum made a total of 30 recordings on Bluebird Records between April 1934 and February 1936; most were done in San Antonio. A vocalist, Pullum worked with two pianists on those sessions, Rob Cooper and Andy Boy. In the 1940's he moved to Los Angeles and recorded with another pianist, Lloyd Glenn, for Swing Time Records in 1948. Other than a rumored demo made in 1953, that was the end of Pullum's recording career. 

Pullum appears in California voter registration records at two different addresses  in Los Angeles between 1946 until 1962. Wikipedia notes that although he died in Los Angeles, he was buried back in Houston. I was unable to find him listed in Find-A-Grave. All of his known recordings were reissued in 1995 on Document Records in two volumes available here and here. 

His very first recording was "Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?" on April 3, 1934, at the Texas Hotel in San Antonio. That number would become his most successful; he recorded several different versions including one titled "My Woman". The recording sold well and was covered by a number of other artists. 

Other songs recorded in the San Antonio sessions included "Mississippi Flood Blues", "Married Woman Blues", "Telephone Blues", "Dixie My Home", and "Cow, See That Train Comin'". 

Pullum is one of numerous blues artists whose lives are poorly documented. Questions here include why did the Pullums leave Anniston for Houston? One source quoted by Wikipedia says Pullum performed on a Houston radio station in  the late 1930's, but that station was absorbed by another in August 1932. Did Pullum perform in public venues such as clubs and roadhouses? Why did he move to Los Angeles, did he perform live there and what did he do for a living until his 1964 death? Where in Houston is he buried?

Perhaps some day at least some of these questions will be answered....

You can find some of Pullum's recordings on YouTube. "Joe Louis Is the Man" is here. 

Source: Wirz' American Music

Recorded August 13, 1935, in San Antonio with Andy Boy on piano

Source: Wirz' American Music

Pullum's entire recorded output was issued on two CDs in 1995 by Document Records; see links above. 

Source: Ancestry.com