The studio is still being aired out.
It's the Feast of San Lorenzo. St. Lawrence was said to have been martyred on an iron outdoor stove on this date in 258 AD. During his torture Lawrence cried out "I' m already done on this side and it is time to turn me over."
He is, of course, the patron saint of comedians and chefs. Interesting aside: the Perseid Meteor Shower has been known for years as the Tears of Saint Lawrence because they usually occur every year in mid-August, on or near Saint Lawrence's feast day. This year the event peaks the mornings of August 12 and 13 around 2 a.m.
August 10, 1950 -
Billy Wilder's caustic, black-hearted masterpiece, Sunset Boulevard premiered in New York City, on this date.
Montgomery Clift, signed to play the part of Joe Gillis, broke his contract just two weeks prior to the start of shooting. Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. Marlon Brando was considered, but the producers thought he was too much of an unknown as a film actor. Gene Kelly was then approached, but MGM refused to loan him out. Reluctantly, Wilder met with William Holden, whose films to that time had not impressed Wilder
August 10, 1960 -
The Rat Pack's summer vacation home movie, Ocean's Eleven, premiered on this date.
Shirley MacLaine shot her quick cameo during a break in filming The Apartment. Although she was offered a car for her work, she says she took the job as an excuse to hang out with her Rat Pack friends and see their Vegas show.
August 10, 1962 -
While not the worst film ever made - it is the sickest. The Brain That Wouldn't Die, premiered on this date.
I couldn't even begin to describe how warped this flick is - rent it this weekend.
Today in History:
August 10, 1628 -
The 228-foot Swedish warship Vasa, built by Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus to assist in his war with Poland, capsized and sank in Stockholm harbor on her maiden voyage because the ballast was insufficient to counterweight the 64 guns and ballast. Vasa was the most expensive and richly ornamented warship of its time in Sweden. Twenty-five men and women drowned when the ship sank.
The ship remains submerged until it is raised in 1961 to become a tourist attraction.
If you think I'm going to make a joke about the Polish Navy here, the joke's on you.
August 10, 1921 -
Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio at his summer home on the Canadian island of Campobello, New Brunswick. Mrs. Roosevelt acted as her partially paralyzed husband’s eyes and ears by traveling, observing and reporting her observations to him.
As First Lady, an author and newspaper columnist and, later, a delegate to the United Nations, Eleanor Roosevelt labored tirelessly for the poor and disadvantaged. In the words of historian John Kenneth Galbraith, she showed "more than any other person of her time, that an American could truly be a world citizen."
August 10, 1966 -
Last words of James French, sent to the Electric Chair by the state of Oklahoma: "How about this for a headline for tomorrow's paper? FRENCH FRIES."
There is nothing quite like a dying man who gives good copy.
August 10, 1969 -
Leno and Rosemary LaBianca are brutally murdered in their Los Feliz, California home by followers of Charles Manson.
They take some of their victims' blood and smear HELTER SKELTER on the refrigerator door.
August 10, 1977 -
Postal employee and avid dog listener David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, N.Y., accused of being the "Son of Sam" gunman responsible for six random slayings and seven woundings. Berkowitz is serving six consecutive terms of 25 years to life in state prison.
So much for the rantings of the neighbor's dog.
August 10, 1996 -
Heated by the sun, power lines begin to sag in Oregon. Somehow this triggers a series of failures which cascades throughout the Western states. Four million people lose electrical service in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Montana, and Texas.
It is probably the worst power outage in US history.
And so it goes.
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