You Can’t Live on Love Alone

or "The Redhead and the Frenchman" by Linda Paris

It is a hot and lazy afternoon in July 1952. The city is Hollywood, California. The place is Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

A pretty young woman with flaming red hair walks up to the cashier, in broad daylight and says:

“Put all the money in the bag. There’s a man with a gun across the street making me do this.”

After collecting $55.91 she calmly walks around the corner from the theater and eventually gets into a taxi.

The woman was Colleen Bowman and she was 20 years old at the time.

Colleen was later arrested entering a Hollywood market, still carrying the bag with the money in it.

Meanwhile the police had followed a "suspicious looking man" from the theater. He was 20 year old Frenchman, Jack Lastrade and he had been holding Colleen’s coat for her as she robbed Grauman's Theater.

Lastrade told the police he knew nothing of the robbery and that Colleen was just a friend of his, however later when they saw each other at the police station the policemen noticed that they “embraced.”

While researching another subject I ran across this small story on page three of a Phoenix, Arizona newspaper and for some reason found myself fascinated by it.

I used to live in Hollywood, right down the street from Grauman's. Maybe that's what I found so interesting about this little snippet.

I've walked down those streets many times in the afternoon and know how dull and listless the days can become, in spite of the fact that you are in Hollywood, California.

The day to day dull-drum kicks in on Hollywood Blvd., just like it does in Topeka, Kansas.

I did a little more searching to find out what had happened to the exotic sounding couple and the female who was brazen enough to rob Grauman’s Chinese Theater by herself, in the middle of a typical afternoon.

Jack Lastrade and Colleen Bowmen met while both of them were working at a downtown department store. It must have been magic because before long they both left their job and ran off together, with not a penny between them.

Exactly 2 weeks before the robbery they walked out of their place of work believing that with their good looks and their love, that they would be able to build a life together.

Earlier in the day, Colleen had robbed 2 candy stores in the same area. She walked away from both with a whooping $6 total.

She later told police:

“I was hungry. I have been without food or a place to go. I decided I would pull the robbery to try and get some money for a place to sleep and something to eat.”

On July 30th Colleen entered a guilty plea and was put on probation but only on the conditions that she move back to Phoenix and never have anything to do with her French friend again.

She was also ordered to pay restitution to Grauman’s and the candy shops.

The candy store charges were dropped and the headline read:

“ROBBER REDHEAD MAY BE FREED”

Considering that it was not a violent crime, they didn’t point a gun at anyone and they only wanted money for food and shelter, I’m fine with the fact that Colleen Bowman was given another chance.

I do wonder what ever happened to Jack Lastrade and Colleen Bowman.

I hope they went on to have normal lives and the great Grauman’s Chinese Theater robbery of 1952, was the first and final chapter in their criminal careers.

It sounds more like an ill fated romantic adventure, both unrealistic and expensive in the end.

The redhead and the Frenchman.

It must have been an intense attraction for both of them to quit their jobs and run off together like that.

It didn’t take long for the couple to learn that life was not quite that easy.

As Colleen told the officers the day she was arrested:

“You can’t live on love alone.”

Paris Creative, LLC (copyright 2011, all rights reserved)