~ Malden Musings ~ Remembering Wally Brown

By Peter Levine

Sherman, set the WayBack Machine to Maldonia of yesteryear…

Thank the deity of your choice for YouTube Premium! After an exhaustive, cold and windy Saturday morning chasing grandchildren five-year-old Lana and three-year-old Milo around the house, I retired to the recliner that night to view some comfort (YouTube) TV, partake in a Ballantine Ale or two, then attack a plate of my sister Barbara’s famous chicken cutlets. The western TV classic “Cimarron City,” starring George Montgomery, was good for what ailed me. I hit pay dirt when I chose Episode 9 “A Respectable Girl” – first airing December 6, 1958. Who pops up on my screen at about the 16-minute mark but Malden boy (Hollywood movie star and comedian) Wally Brown!

Wally’s character is the owner of the Oklahoma Saloon in Cimarron: part of Oklahoma Territory, not yet a full-fledged card-carrying state yet. At a Town Hall meeting, he gets into a heated discussion with another townie about who should and should not be allowed to enjoy all that the city offers (sound familiar?). Wally says everybody should be allowed, especially the “saddle tramps” and “sodbusters” that accompany the cattle drives (good for business, he surmises). Wally’s character holds much sway in Cimarron. Sorta the Albert Spadafora, Debbie Burke, Ron Hogan, Dom Fermano, Toni Mertz, Mo Saab, Greg & Ed Lucey, Maria Luise, Neal Sullivan, Eric Rubin, Paul DeVincentis and Douglas Tran of the Old West. The show concludes with saddle tramps, drifters, dead enders, saints, sinners, losers and winners – everyone you have ever seen and all the rest in between – eventually being allowed to travel through the peaceful city of Cimarron and do business. Good for the bottom line! Worth catching the episode for the Malden connection alone.

Mr. Brown was born in 1904 and died in 1961. He is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in California and would have been 54 years old when he made this appearance. Wally once worked at Liggett’s Drug Store on Pleasant Street in Malden Square at about 23 Pleasant St. Liggett’s did business where Store 33 is now located, which is where Moe’s Smoke Shop was before that. Anthony’s Shoe Repair would have been at the corner of Middlesex and Pleasant, now the home of The Chinese Herbs Store.

Liggett’s was a classic old-school drugstore, the kind that seemed like it had been there forever. By the time I was a customer, its glory days had long passed, but you could still feel the echoes of its past in the worn tile floors and the wooden shelves stocked with everyday essentials. I’d stop before school, picking up a pack of Juicy Fruit, a Herald, Globe, Mad Magazine or Real Paper, just like countless others had done before me.

Once upon a time, Liggett’s was the heart of the Square – along with, of course, the Palace of Sweets two doors down (nod to Boy’s Life intended). You could just tell it had been the place to go, a gathering spot, a staple in the daily routine of the Square denizens.

Wally Brown likely worked there through high school, which would have been in the early 1920s or so. “Malden Musings” remembers Wally Brown and the days when places like Liggett’s were more than just stores – they were part of our story, part of our town’s soul.

And for you wise guys out there, no, I did not know Wally personally!

It is said in “Malden Musings”…

• Richie Bucci (MHS 1973): “Good morning, Pete, my name is Richard Bucci and thanks to your reporting I was made aware of Stef (Moro’s) passing in December, I was trying to reach out to him to get reacquainted and possibly attend this year’s Beanpot Tournament with him. I am a Class of ’73 survivor too, and thanks to your reporting I am able to keep up with the Malden local events and unfortunately obituaries. I currently reside in the Fresh Pond Area of Cambridge but still maintain a P.O. Box in Malden on Mountain Avenue. I grew up in the Waites Mount area of Malden but in High School hung out with the Devir/Amerige Park crews, including your brother Joe, Dave McNary, Andy and Paul Curran, Cliff Cioffi etc. Thanks again for helping me stay up to date with local Malden news and deep history. I was in Malden in August for the Bread of Life grand opening of their new food bank and shelter on Eastern Avenue, I was proud to make a donation to the cause a few months earlier. I hope your brother Joe is well, please give him my best. Please let me know of any tributes/observances in regard to Stef’s unfortunate passing. He was an old Suffolk Downs buddy of mine as well. Thank you again for all your good work!”
• Oh my, Jim Damiano gone five years. Don’t seem (expletive deleted) possible. A friend and protector since the third grade – in my mind’s eye Jimmy was “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” No better friend. Ever.
• Hot diggity dog and congratulations to me!! I have been chosen as an honoree by the San Rock committee to receive a participation certificate at the annual San Rock Festa Banquet this April. I am flattered and honored to accept this piece of paper knowing that I follow in the well-worn work boots of some of the greatest names from Edgeworth to receive this honor. Frankie Molis, John Wood, John Ragosa and Kevin Alkins will also be amongst the honorees to accept this much-coveted piece of paper on this memorable night. The 95th Anniversary Gala banquet is on Saturday, April 26, at Anthony’s on Canal Street, and tickets can be purchased by emailing st***********@ve*****.net or by calling the real patron Saint of the San Rock Feast, Joyce Mover, at 781-462-5043. “A splendid time is guaranteed for all.”
• I promise to keep my acceptance speech short and sweet, but I cannot guarantee that Kevin “Big Kev MaldenFlex” Alkins won’t milk his time in the spotlight for all it’s worth.
• I love Malden’s newest catchphrase, “hot diggity dog.” As silly as it may sound, it is really fun to speak. Say it. You’ll like it!
• Thanks to Tommy Lubin, I now know that Kasa on Broadway is alive, well and open for business. Cocktails and comfort food await you right next door to M&M Liquor (I miss you guys, by the way; I’ll be in soon) and the 621 Tavern on Broadway. Good as gold, as my father used to say! Thank you, Tommy, for the update and please say hello to Malden’s longest running/best bartender, Ralphie “Caveman” Kelly!
• Last week I mentioned one of Maldonia’s (many) unsung heroes, Butch Russell. I was overjoyed that he appreciated the acknowledgment. Too often, we honor veterans like Butch when they aren’t around to enjoy the recognition. Stay well, Butch, and thanks again.
• “Malden townie” being used derisively, just ain’t right, dagnabbit! I see ya on social media tossing this around whenever there’s a (expletive deleted) contest transpiring on one of those pages intended to bring Maldonians together, not apart. The name-calling, whether good-naturedly intended or not, is strictly a dead-end street, man (as we used to say in the ’70’s). As Michelle once quipped, “When they go low, we go high.” Words of wisdom.
• Step back into Maldonia history for a small glimpse of a vastly different world than we inhabit today – via John Macdonald, who was kind enough to contribute: “Our crowd spent our best years in Malden Square from Jennies Pizza by the Strand Theater (directly across the street from where City Hall sits today), back down to Bells Donut Shop and Signor Pizza and the Palace of Sweets where Alvin Long sold the Globe at midnight on Saturday nights from the middle of Pleasant St. I grew up in ‘The Square,’ and learned some things I never speak of but have been a moral compass throughout my life.” Thank you, John.
• Shout-out to Kenny Mayo for no other reason than he is one of the many, many hardworking postal workers in Malden who ensure you receive your junk mail in a timely fashion and with a smile no less. All the best, Kenny.

As Peter Falk’s iconic TV character Columbo would say, “Just one more thing, sir” – great to see the legendary Kevin Morrison out and about, “smelling the roses,” as we so fondly say in Malden! Mention K Mo’s name to any Maldonian of a certain age and watch their eyes light up like the lights at Amerige Park on a summer night. The man’s a local institution – retired Retirement Director at City Hall (yes, he even retired from retirement!), the most iconic softball umpire of our lifetime, a rock-solid goalie from Malden High’s famed Class of ’67, and, let’s be honest, the sharpest-elbowed player to ever grace the Amerige Park hoop court (sorry, Ace Howard, even sharper than yours!).

Kevin’s one of the good guys with a heart of gold to match. A walking, talking encyclopedia of Malden Lore, with a million stories tucked away inside that very large brain of his, for real. If you ever get the chance, pull up a bar stool – just be ready to laugh, learn and maybe even dodge an imaginary elbow or two as the adult beverages are consumed (always responsibly, of course)! Good day sunshine my friend, stay well.

—Peter is a longtime Malden resident and a regular contributor to The Malden Advocate. He can be reached at Pe*****@ao*.com for comments, compliments or criticisms.