ATLANTIC CITY — Frank Ferry’s relationship with the late, legendary Atlantic City powerbroker Enoch “Nucky” Johnson grew out of a 1964 legal case in which Ferry, then a young lawyer appointed assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New Jersey, helped Johnson beat an attempt by the U.S. Department of Justice to collect $20,000 from a tax-evasion conviction 23 years prior. The two remained close friends for the next four years, until Johnson’s death in 1968.

Attorney and author Frank J. Ferry

It is nearly a certainty that nobody still alive knows more than Ferry about the life of Nucky Johnson, who bestowed his memoir upon Ferry and is the subject of his book Nucky: The Real Story of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Boss. Ferry began writing the book 13 years ago and just released it in January during a book signing at A.C.’s historic Knife & Fork Inn.

Along with Johnson’s memoirs and a close personal relationship with him, Ferry researched his life through transcripts of FBI interviews, trial testimony, and recollections from stories told to him by his mother, who also knew Johnson well. This Saturday, March 9, at 11am, Ferry will discuss his book at the Atlantic City Free Public Library’s second-floor meeting room (1 N. Tennessee Ave.) The discussion is free and open to the public, and registration is not required.

Call 345-2269, ext. 3112, for more information, or to learn more about Nucky Johnson (whose fictionalized character in the award-winning HBO series Boardwalk Empire, Nucky Thompson, is based on Judge Nelson Johnson’s 2002 book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City), visit the library’s Atlantic City Experience Web site at atlanticcityexperience.org.

The HBO original series, Boardwalk Empire, has picked up two more Golden Globe nominations.

The noms were released Thursday morning.

Again, the award-winning series was nominated in the following categories:

DRAMA SERIES

“Breaking Bad”
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Downton Abbey”
“Homeland”
“The Newsroom”

DRAMA-ACTOR

Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire”
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, and will air live on NBC.

The following updates have been posted on the Downbeach Film Festival Web site:

The first…
1. We have cancelled the awards reception at Showboat on Sunday night. The awards ceremony at Dante Hall will be held as scheduled at 7 p.m.

and… regarding the Revel party:

2. CREDENTIAL UPDATE: For filmmakers and VIP pass holders attending the party at Revel, you must pick up credentials and wristbands outside the Orleans Room at Showboat Friday night between 6 and 9 p.m. If you come to Revel without them, security might deny entrance. We have no room to handle credentials at Revel. Best bet? Go to Showboat and attend an evening with Robert Downey, Sr. and see Putney Swope.

and now, for the festival venues:

The 2012 Atlantic City Cinefest announces four venues for film screenings: Presenting sponsor, Dante Hall Theater, will host films Saturday and Sunday. Showboat will host the opening night film on Friday night. Carnegie Center will show films on Saturday as well, and Golden Nugget will provide a second venue for Sunday afternoon.

Regarding special Saturday screening of Boardwalk Empire:
HBO has granted permission for the Downbeach Film Festival to screen a not-yet-aired episode of season three of “Boardwalk Empire” at the 2012 Atlantic City Cinefest. The episode will air at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 13 at Dante Hall Theater, 14 N. Mississippi Avenue. Terrence Winter, series creator, head writer and producer, will moderate the program and hold a Q&A afterwards in Dante Hall Theater, 14 N. Mississippi Ave., Atlantic City. The screening will precede a filmmaking panel discussion where Winter wil lbe one of the participants.

The schedule for the 2012 Atlantic City Cinefest includes:
SCHEDULE 2012 ATLANTIC CITY CINEFEST

Friday, October 12th

Showboat Atlantic City
ORLEANS ROOM

7 p.m.     An Evening with Robert Downey Sr. – $5
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
**Putney Swope (84 mins)

**For Open-Minded Mature Audiences

(more…)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The fifth annual Atlantic City Cinefest, presented by the Downbeach Film Festival, will feature a celebration of scare with the screening of three New Jersey horror films.

The Showroom in the Golden Nugget Atlantic City will host the event beginning 12:30pm on Sunday, Oct. 14.

Atlantic City filmmaker Keith Vaile’s Azrael will kick off the fright fest, a local film about the angel of death.

Another South Jersey film, Ticket to Hell, will follow, written by Ed McKeever and Kevin Orosz. The premise of this alarming adventure directed by Evelle Mitchell follows two horror fanatics from Jersey that use their lottery winnings to hire their favorite late night horror host to appear in a new documentary. Things turn hellish on this journey through South Jersey’s Pine Barrens and the infamous Ten Acres, starring Orosz, Jeremy Sless, and Ryan Loughney.

The world premiere of The Meat Puppet, directed by Joe Valenti and written by and starring Keith Collins, will act as the finale of the event. The film’s focus is Andrew “Drew” Shelton – a handsome, wealthy playboy with a voracious craving for human flesh. His favorite dish is beautiful women, whom he kills, prepares, and cooks to perfection. Unbeknownst to his guests, the lavish dinner parties he throws are catered by his latest victim, and also the forum for who will be the next dish du jour. The intensity increases with a cat and mouse game between Drew and a suspicious detective who has a hunch something isn’t right. The question arises if the cold-blooded killer is really who he seems to be, or if he’s just the Meat Puppet for an even more sadistic mastermind. Collins expressed the individuality of the psychological thriller, saying his piece is “the kind of horror movie that you don’t see anymore – it’s a great story with great characters.” The Meat Puppet is sure to satisfy its audience’s appetite for horror.

Tickets are $5 for a single show, $10 for the trio. Prefacing the three films will be a block of shorts beginning at 11am.

Click here for more info on the 2012 Atlantic City Cinefest, including appearances by Boardwalk Empire creator Terry Winter and Robert Downey Sr.

— Casey Harper

Now this is pretty funny…

The real 'Nucky.'

The Atlantic City Historical Museum, presented by the Atlantic City Free Public Library, has unveiled an exhibit dedicated to the 1920s. The exhibit, “The Atlantic City Experience: 1920s,” features information and photographs of Atlantic City boss Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, the man who is the inspiration behind Boardwalk Empire’s fictionalized character Nucky Thompson.

Other Atlantic City icons and landmarks synonymous with that decade are highlighted, including the first Miss America, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Mayor Edward L. Bader and various Boardwalk scenes.

Those wishing to learn more about Nucky’s empire and Atlantic City’s rich history can also visit the museum’s Web site. The site highlights many of the historical resources available at the Atlantic City Free Public Library and showcases them through online exhibits.

Call the museum at 347-5839 for more information.

Rolling Stone’s Web site has an interesting interactive feature for fans of the HBO show Boardwalk Empire.

Click here for RS’s “The Worst Acts of Betrayal on ‘Boardwalk Empire.’

And believe us, there will be more to come this season.

RELATED: Boardwalk Empire Season 3 Guide with candid Terry Winter interview.

RELATED: Terry Winter to speak and show upcoming episode of Boardwalk Empire in Atlantic City on Saturday, Oct. 13.

‘Boardwalk Empire’ 
Contests!

Enter to win an HBO Select version of The Complete Second Season of the HBO original series Boardwalk Empire with three ways to watch — on Blue-Ray, DVD and as downloads. You could also win an official Season Three poster.

To enter, leave a comment under the 9/14/12 cover story on Boardwalk Empire (using your correct e-mail address so we can contact winners) about what you are looking forward to in the upcoming 2012 season of the show.

Winners will be selected and contacted via e-mail. Entrants must be 21 or over. The deadline to leave your comment is Sept. 28, 2012 at noon (EST).

… that Caesars built.

The lobby at Caesars Atlantic City (above) has been readied for the upcoming season of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and the free screening of the third season’s premiere episode Saturday, Sept. 15 in Atlantic City. Click here for details.

Although all of the specifics are not set yet, Caesars Atlantic City WILL be hosting a screening of the premiere episode of the HBO original series Boardwalk Empire in the Circus Maximus Theater on Saturday, Sept. 15.

Season 1 premiere in Atlantic City

Season 2 premiere in Atlantic City

The premiere episode of season 3, “Resolution,” will debut on HBO Sunday, Sept. 16, at 9pm.

According to the show’s creator Terry Winter, the 2012 season of the multiple award-winning HBO series, starring Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, and based in Prohibition era Atlantic City — as well as Chicago, New York and Washington DC — is still being shot, with the season’s final two episodes to end filming in September.

“We are currently shooting episode 11 [and] we are in the process of prepping episode 12, which should start shooting in about a week and that will be it,” Winter told Atlantic City Weekly prior to the Labor Day holiday weekend. “We’ll wrap up at the end of September. So, yeah, we’re coming down the home stretch of season three.”

Click here for more on Boardwalk Empire.

Click here to join AC Weekly’s Boardwalk Empire Fan Club page on Facebook — and you may win an official poster from the third season of Boardwalk Empire.