Jim Mitchell’s funeral was held today. He died of a heart attack, and he was buried next to his brother, Art, whom he shot 16 years ago. Even though San Francisco has a relatively short history compared to London or even New York City, its history is as colorful as a rainbow flag.
The Mitchell Brothers built a pornography empire, including making the famous porno Behind the Green Door. Even though I’ve never been inside their strip club (I’m way too cheap to pay for blue balls), I’ve always found the mural of the whales on the side wall to be pretty funny. I also liked how they battled our ex-mayor Senator Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein is highly respected, although I find her petty and more Republican than Ronald Reagan. But as Noah Cross says in Chinatown, “Course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.” She became mayor when Mayor Moscone was shot by Dan White, a fact she exploited in her Senate campaign.
Anyhoo, Feinstein tried to close the Mitchell Brother Theater for two decades and lost every time. The brothers knew the nasty art of San Francisco politics:
The battle resulted in the brothers obtaining Feinstein's unlisted phone number and placing it on the theater marquee with the words, "For a Good Time, Call ..."
The brothers entered the rarified air of SF history when Jim shot Art:
It was February 27, 1991. Jim went to see Artie and they got into a bad argument. Even as Artie's girlfriend was screaming to a 911 operator, gunshots could be heard. Officers came and found Jim walking around in a daze and carrying a .22 rifle and a .38 Smith and Wesson Special. Inside Artie's house, they found Artie in the bedroom. He had been shot through the eye, abdomen and right arm by a .22, and he was dead. Eight spent cartridges were picked up in the room.
Jim was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which is a strange term innit? Does anyone want to volunteer to slaughter this man? He was sentenced to six years. I’m not sure why a man who brings a rifle to a “intervention” and then proceeds to shoot his victim three times (and apparently is a bad shot since he fired eight shots) is not in jail longer than that, but in America if you have money you can kill with impunity.
With Jim’s passing is the passing of a certain San Francisco time period. The seventies in SF were violent, sexual, and insane. Jim Jones was preaching and booking a flight to Guyana. Dan White climbed in a basement window on the capitol building. The Zodiac Killer was taking lethal cab rides. It must have been a hellova time. At least rent was cheaper back then.
So goodbye, Mr. Mitchell. I assume you’re going to hell, where your brother is waiting for you. And, ooh boy, is he going to give you such a pinch!
The Mitchell Brothers built a pornography empire, including making the famous porno Behind the Green Door. Even though I’ve never been inside their strip club (I’m way too cheap to pay for blue balls), I’ve always found the mural of the whales on the side wall to be pretty funny. I also liked how they battled our ex-mayor Senator Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein is highly respected, although I find her petty and more Republican than Ronald Reagan. But as Noah Cross says in Chinatown, “Course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.” She became mayor when Mayor Moscone was shot by Dan White, a fact she exploited in her Senate campaign.
Anyhoo, Feinstein tried to close the Mitchell Brother Theater for two decades and lost every time. The brothers knew the nasty art of San Francisco politics:
The battle resulted in the brothers obtaining Feinstein's unlisted phone number and placing it on the theater marquee with the words, "For a Good Time, Call ..."
The brothers entered the rarified air of SF history when Jim shot Art:
It was February 27, 1991. Jim went to see Artie and they got into a bad argument. Even as Artie's girlfriend was screaming to a 911 operator, gunshots could be heard. Officers came and found Jim walking around in a daze and carrying a .22 rifle and a .38 Smith and Wesson Special. Inside Artie's house, they found Artie in the bedroom. He had been shot through the eye, abdomen and right arm by a .22, and he was dead. Eight spent cartridges were picked up in the room.
Jim was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which is a strange term innit? Does anyone want to volunteer to slaughter this man? He was sentenced to six years. I’m not sure why a man who brings a rifle to a “intervention” and then proceeds to shoot his victim three times (and apparently is a bad shot since he fired eight shots) is not in jail longer than that, but in America if you have money you can kill with impunity.
With Jim’s passing is the passing of a certain San Francisco time period. The seventies in SF were violent, sexual, and insane. Jim Jones was preaching and booking a flight to Guyana. Dan White climbed in a basement window on the capitol building. The Zodiac Killer was taking lethal cab rides. It must have been a hellova time. At least rent was cheaper back then.
So goodbye, Mr. Mitchell. I assume you’re going to hell, where your brother is waiting for you. And, ooh boy, is he going to give you such a pinch!
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