We had the good fortune of connecting with C.j. Walworth and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi C.J., what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My name is C.J. Walworth. My spec screenplay, ORTEGA HIGHWAY, is a neo-noir/film-noir, romantic-comedy casino caper. It placed well in a few top five contests, and won Finalist at the U.K.’s Page-Turner. My website, www.GatFinger.com, holds my spec screenplay scripts, artwork and related. Please take a look. In 1980, I won a red ribbon for my video FEEDBACK at the O.C. Fair. At that time, I chose the path of software development, but I kept a foot in the door with unpublished scripts and related literary works. Later in life, I picked-up my mom’s favorite pen and began writing in earnest. Family lore was my focus.

The Walworth family occupied front-row seats during the film-noir era in Los Angeles. In the mid-1920’s, my grandfather, Floyd Walworth, relocated from New York via Michigan to Los Angeles and secured a job with the Norton Detective Agency. The Norton Agency was run on expensive bank loans and cheap whiskey – and Grandpa Floyd didn’t drink much of the hard stuff.

When the 1930’s Great Depression arrived in L.A., the Norton firm floundered, and Grandpa Floyd was in a position to buy the company. He transformed the business from a dime-novel agency, into the powerhouse Walworth Detective Service, a first-class operation. (Reference: 22 Cal. App..2d 442. [Martin v. Leatham, 1937, Docket 11298.])

Grandpa Floyd served in World War One, in France, as a Gunnery Sergeant, and saw quite a bit of action. He found that the P.I. business was a lot easier to run, than getting shot at by well-trained Germans. One of his early customers was Manny, Moe and Jack of the Pep Boys. Another big client, Warner Brothers, had our family business protect some of their biggest stars and their properties. Other clients included Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Grandpa Floyd had a signed autograph from Mary Pickford up at his home in Lake Arrowhead.

By the late 1930s, The Walworth Detective Service offered “Special Officers, Chauffeurs, Body Guards,” etc., as shown in the newspaper ads. Grandpa Floyd told me that the doorknob puller business was great. His guards would walk foot patrols past maybe 100 business an hour. Grandpa had his guys test the doorknobs of the paying customers, and drop a handbill at each of the non-paying ones. His guard service pushed a lot of the crooks to other parts of the city, which in turn brought in more business. Pretty soon, he needed to use radio-dispatched cars. By the 1940s, the business expanded onto “watchemen, clock-pullers, armed guards and investigators.” The adverts below show the business adjusting to the times.

The Hollywood movie-making elite needed protection, too. So Grandpa’s agency did really well during the war years so he stocked-up on prime real estate. One example was a home on San Lorenzo Road, Palm Springs, which was later purchased by a famous Hollywood starlet. Another example was the
family house on Sierra Alta Way, near Beverly Hills.

The second world war came and with it, a need to protect the war factories. During the war, Grandpa Floyd expanded from one location into many, including Fullerton, north L.A., Long Beach and Santa Monica. After the war, he expanded and formed Veterans Guard Service, which employed many Vets returning from the war. L. Ron Hubbard was one of the men Grandpa Floyd employed after the war. (My Dad met Ron at a L.A. magic club, and he introduced him to Grandpa Floyd.)

One of the famous photographs of Mr. Hubbard shows him in a police uniform, with his police I.D.: the picture below shows a similar I.D. to the Walworth Detective Agency I.D. The company ran a contract-police force for a new city, possibly Bellflower, before it was incorporated, and was authorized to distribute these cards on an ad hoc basis. Interestingly, Scientology has a large operation near the old Walworth Detective Agency building, which was located at 8020 S. Vermont.

In the 1950s, my dad, Bud, joined the business and helped the company expand into the silent alarm business, which was very successful. My Dad found that he could easily find new customers by driving around the city and finding any competitor sign on any business, at any time of the day. When he found a sign, he would stop and undercut the competition.

During the 1960s, cash got a bit tight in the L.A. basin, so Bud would bend over backwards to keep a client. I remember him taking payment for alarm services in racing bumper stickers and patches. Another time, it was dry battery cells. More than once, fuel for the growing fleet of radio cars was traded. Bud would do anything to keep the cash flowing.

By the early-1970s, my Dad’s focus zeroed in on his largest competitor, and he maneuvered the Walworth Silent Alarms onto the Alarmco radar screen. Eventually Alarmco brass and their attorneys came a knocking. They wanted Bud to cease and desist from “stealing” their customers. Bud and Grandpa Floyd had a good laugh. Alarmco gents left angry. Bud increased his poaching and enlisted the entire foot patrol to scour the city. They hauled in an extra thousand customers in one year. Alarmco returned, hat in hand, and made a purchase offer that could not be ignored, so Grandpa Floyd sold and Walworth Silent Alarms was merged into Alarmco. Bud worked for Alarmco for a few years, but it wasn’t the same.

I was able to use family lore to build my first film-noir spec screenplay. I put the whole family into it. Grandpa became W.L. Norton, the step-father of protagonist Rick Mallik. Both characters show aspects of my Father, Bud, and how the two interacted. You might say that the family lore is the genesis of my spec film-noir screenplay, ORTEGA HIGHWAY. My next spec, SOLDIER AND THE CLOWN, explores real events from my mother’s side of the family. It is a kid-friendly story about two goofy modern-era friends who accidently open a time-portal back to the 1860’s Civil War.

ORTEGA HIGHWAY
A gruff but talented private detective, Rick Mallik, is hired by an Indian Casino to re-acquire a priceless artifact stolen by a murderous biker gang. His old flame, Elvis Martinez, is the Chief’s daughter and also the biker boss’s former squeeze. It’s complicated.
– Chinatown meets Ocean’s-Eleven meets The Thin-Man.
– Action-adventure, thriller, neo-noir, heist, romance.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My name is C.J. Walworth. My spec screenplay, ORTEGA HIGHWAY, is a neo-noir/film-noir, romantic-comedy casino caper. It placed well in a few top five contests, and won Finalist at the U.K.’s Page-Turner. My website, www.GatFinger.com, holds my spec screenplay scripts, artwork and related. Please take a look. In 1980, I won a red ribbon for my video FEEDBACK at the O.C. Fair. At that time, I chose the path of software development, but I kept a foot in the door with unpublished scripts and related literary works. Later in life, I picked-up my mom’s favorite pen and began writing in earnest. Family lore was my focus.

The Walworth family occupied front-row seats during the film-noir era in Los Angeles. In the mid-1920’s, my grandfather, Floyd Walworth, relocated from New York via Michigan to Los Angeles and secured a job with the Norton Detective Agency. The Norton Agency was run on expensive bank loans and cheap whiskey – and Grandpa Floyd didn’t drink much of the hard stuff.

When the 1930’s Great Depression arrived in L.A., the Norton firm floundered, and Grandpa Floyd was in a position to buy the company. He transformed the business from a dime-novel agency, into the powerhouse Walworth Detective Service, a first-class operation. (Reference: 22 Cal. App..2d 442. [Martin v. Leatham, 1937, Docket 11298.])

Grandpa Floyd served in World War One, in France, as a Gunnery Sergeant, and saw quite a bit of action. He found that the P.I. business was a lot easier to run, than getting shot at by well-trained Germans. One of his early customers was Manny, Moe and Jack of the Pep Boys. Another big client, Warner Brothers, had our family business protect some of their biggest stars and their properties. Other clients included Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Grandpa Floyd had a signed autograph from Mary Pickford up at his home in Lake Arrowhead.

By the late 1930s, The Walworth Detective Service offered “Special Officers, Chauffeurs, Body Guards,” etc., as shown in the newspaper ads. Grandpa Floyd told me that the doorknob puller business was great. His guards would walk foot patrols past maybe 100 business an hour. Grandpa had his guys test the doorknobs of the paying customers, and drop a handbill at each of the non-paying ones. His guard service pushed a lot of the crooks to other parts of the city, which in turn brought in more business. Pretty soon, he needed to use radio-dispatched cars. By the 1940s, the business expanded onto “watchemen, clock-pullers, armed guards and investigators.” The adverts below show the business adjusting to the times.

The Hollywood movie-making elite needed protection, too. So Grandpa’s agency did really well during the war years so he stocked-up on prime real estate. One example was a home on San Lorenzo Road, Palm Springs, which was later purchased by a famous Hollywood starlet. Another example was the
family house on Sierra Alta Way, near Beverly Hills.

The second world war came and with it, a need to protect the war factories. During the war, Grandpa Floyd expanded from one location into many, including Fullerton, north L.A., Long Beach and Santa Monica. After the war, he expanded and formed Veterans Guard Service, which employed many Vets returning from the war. L. Ron Hubbard was one of the men Grandpa Floyd employed after the war. (My Dad met Ron at a L.A. magic club, and he introduced him to Grandpa Floyd.)

One of the famous photographs of Mr. Hubbard shows him in a police uniform, with his police I.D.: the picture below shows a similar I.D. to the Walworth Detective Agency I.D. The company ran a contract-police force for a new city, possibly Bellflower, before it was incorporated, and was authorized to distribute these cards on an ad hoc basis. Interestingly, Scientology has a large operation near the old Walworth Detective Agency building, which was located at 8020 S. Vermont.

In the 1950s, my dad, Bud, joined the business and helped the company expand into the silent alarm business, which was very successful. My Dad found that he could easily find new customers by driving around the city and finding any competitor sign on any business, at any time of the day. When he found a sign, he would stop and undercut the competition.

During the 1960s, cash got a bit tight in the L.A. basin, so Bud would bend over backwards to keep a client. I remember him taking payment for alarm services in racing bumper stickers and patches. Another time, it was dry battery cells. More than once, fuel for the growing fleet of radio cars was traded. Bud would do anything to keep the cash flowing.

By the early-1970s, my Dad’s focus zeroed in on his largest competitor, and he maneuvered the Walworth Silent Alarms onto the Alarmco radar screen. Eventually Alarmco brass and their attorneys came a knocking. They wanted Bud to cease and desist from “stealing” their customers. Bud and Grandpa Floyd had a good laugh. Alarmco gents left angry. Bud increased his poaching and enlisted the entire foot patrol to scour the city. They hauled in an extra thousand customers in one year. Alarmco returned, hat in hand, and made a purchase offer that could not be ignored, so Grandpa Floyd sold and Walworth Silent Alarms was merged into Alarmco. Bud worked for Alarmco for a few years, but it wasn’t the same.

I was able to use family lore to build my first film-noir spec screenplay. I put the whole family into it. Grandpa became W.L. Norton, the step-father of protagonist Rick Mallik. Both characters show aspects of my Father, Bud, and how the two interacted. You might say that the family lore is the genesis of my spec film-noir screenplay, ORTEGA HIGHWAY. My next spec, SOLDIER AND THE CLOWN, explores real events from my mother’s side of the family. It is a kid-friendly story about two goofy modern-era friends who accidently open a time-portal back to the 1860’s Civil War.

ORTEGA HIGHWAY
A gruff but talented private detective, Rick Mallik, is hired by an Indian Casino to re-acquire a priceless artifact stolen by a murderous biker gang. His old flame, Elvis Martinez, is the Chief’s daughter and also the biker boss’s former squeeze. It’s complicated.
– Chinatown meets Ocean’s-Eleven meets The Thin-Man.
– Action-adventure, thriller, neo-noir, heist, romance.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The Pantry in L.A. has the best atmosphere for a film-noir buff. Family spent a lot of time at Tommy’s in Fountain Valley. Any Hamburger Hamlet was a gem, but it’s gone now. Langer’s Deli near 7th. Funny story. My dad was having lunch with his car-club buddies at Langer’s in the mid 1940’s, when a scheme developed. Down the road was a large cemetery. But, it was a bit too quiet for Bud, so he called in a report to the Coppers: “Dead people everywhere! Hurry!” He gave the address, hung-up the phone and waited. After a few minutes, sirens and cops from all over the city arrived. They stood around until a gruff chief detective arrived and demanded they cut the lollygagging and “get back to work.” My pops and his buddies were standing around, gawking, laughing. The chief dick approached. Most of the hoodlums decamped for the hills. My Dad had some downstairs brass. Well, the chief Dick asked my father some questions – and he didn’t like the answers, so the Dick hauled off and kicked my father, Bud, right in the.
The Dick kicked with such force, that he knocked a few loose teeth tight again. That day began my pop’s first day of his crank phone call rehabilitation stint – lasted about ten days, but he said it felt like two months. Rest of his life, on any interaction with the police, he would cross his legs. True story.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My stories are real stories, but with the names changed and a few literary rules broken, stretched, tweaked – a writer’s gunna do what a writer does do. I try to capture the essence of the characters and times and events that crossed my path. Another spec screenplay, SOLDIER AND THE CLOWN, recounts an ancestor from my Mom’s side, when he prized a pistol from a Confederate officer at Chancellorsville. In my research, I found the most shocking parallel: Protagonist David Ralston, my ancestor, had a best friend who shared the name of my best friend, Goodman. Well, when I found all these details, serendipity helped create a double-buddy time-travel war story. The pistol was prized from a Confederate who prized it from a Union General Wallace. General Wallace isn’t a household name, so I changed it to someone you might have heard of. And, I gave the pistol perceived magical powers and transformed it into an McGuffin. All in the day of the life of a writer.

Website: https://www.GatFinger.com

Other: www.Scriptrevolution.com
https://blcklst.com/dashboard/projects/142754

Image Credits
Author and also public domain

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