The Marx Brothers film, A Day at the Races, opened on this date. The film ends with the famous words, 'Tomorrow is another day' -
The "Grand Steeplechase" sequence at the end had to be shot twice. Both times a crew member persuaded Chico Marx to gamble on it and not only to bet on the outcome of a rigged non-race, but to bet on a horse other than the one scripted to win. Chico, all his life an avid gambler, could offer as excuse only, "The odds were 20 to one."
June 11, 1978 -
Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John opened, on this date. No one was touched inappropriately during a massage while this trailer was being made.
When Olivia Newton-John was cast as Sandy, her character's background had to be changed to accommodate Newton-John's own background. In the original Broadway musical Sandy was an all-American girl and her last name was Dumbrowski.
June 11, 1982 -
Steven Spielberg's film, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, opened on this date.
The late Michael Jackson owned one of the E.T. puppets. As far as we know, there was no inappropriate touching of the puppet while in the possession of the late Mr. Jackson.
June 11, 1986 -
John Hughes' comic masterpiece, Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released, on this date.
To produce the desired drugged-out effect for his role as the drug addict in the police station, Charlie Sheen purportedly stayed awake for more than 48 hours before the scene was shot. (Yeah, right ).
June 11, 1993 -
It was 20 years ago today that Steven Spielberg's science fiction thriller, Jurassic Park, opened.
Generally speaking, any shot of a full dinosaur was computer-generated, but shots of parts of dinosaurs were of animatronics.
Today in History:
June 11 is an important day for American football fans and seems almost inevitably slated to someday become a national holiday. It's the birthdays of Vince Lombardi (1913) and Joe Montana (1956). Mr Lombardi played at Fordham University and was a Latin and chemistry teacher in New Jersey before becoming the head coach of the Green Bay Packers at the age of 46. They had won only one of 12 games the season before he was hired; they won seven his first year. Over the course of his brief career, the Packers won five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowls (Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II, in that order).
It was Coach Lombardi's background in Latin that persuaded the NFL to use Roman numerals to number the Super Bowls.
"Winning isn't everything," Coach Lombardi famously declared, "but it's awfully darn important in competitive endeavors." (He was the first NFL coach to hire a publicist and his statements were often edited for distribution to the Green Bay press corps.)
Over the course of his career, Joe Montana completed 3409 of 5391 passes and threw 273 touchdowns. In the playoffs, he completed 460 of 734 passes and threw 45 touchdowns. As a starter, he won 117 and lost 47 regular season games (for those who need to know.)
Upon his retirement, the town of Ismay, Montana, changed its name to Joe. The town of Joe, Rhode Island, attempted to change the name of its state to Montana, but was prohibited from doing so by heavily-monied special interests.
Adrienne Barbeau and Gene Wilder were also born on this day, neither of whom ever won a Super Bowl.
June 11, 1881 -
A phantom vessel appears in the sky to the passengers and crew of the ship Bacchante on this date, including Price Albert Victor and Prince George, both sons of the Prince of Wales.
June 11, 1910 -
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, filmmaker, scientist and explorer was born on this date.
Among his many and varied accomplishments, he co-developed the Aqua-Lung diving apparatus. BP executives are still very lucky that the Captain is no longer with us or there would be some major ass kicking going on.
June 11, 1939 -
Queen Elizabeth II, then a princess, and her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth tasted their first hot dogs at a White House party hosted by President and Mrs. Roosevelt on this date.
Royal physicians report that they believe that her Majesty has owed her longevity to the fact that she has not yet passed the remains of the meal.
June 11, 1955 -
An Austin-Healy and Mercedes-Benz collided at the Le Mans Grand Prixon this date. The Mercedes drove into a dirt retaining wall, disintegrated, and the hood, chassis, and various auto parts sliced through the spectator crowd.
83 were killed and 100 others were missing various "parts".
They bought their tickets, they knew their chances.
June 11, 1962 -
Frank Morris and the brothers John and Clarence Anglin became the only prisoners to successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island on this date.
The following morning the officers awoke to find dummies lying in their beds and the prisoners missing. The FBI conducted one of the largest manhunts since the Lindbergh kidnapping to no avail. Bits of the raft and life preservers were later found in the bay. Also found was a waterproof bag containing personal effects of the Anglins. Although the authorities never found any bodies, they were certain the men had drowned. They pointed out that there were no robberies or car thefts that could have been attributed to them, as well as the fact that the men were habitual criminals and yet were never arrested again.
However it was shown on MythBusters, that the raft could have possibly landed at the Marin Headlands, raising possible doubt over Morris' and the Anglins' deaths. The film Escape from Alcatraz is based on the famous escape. Morris was played by Clint Eastwood.
June 11, 1963 -
Governor George Wallace stands in the schoolhouse door, blocking admission of two 'colored students' (Vivian Malone and James Hood) to the University of Alabama. This became known as the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door.
Wallace stood aside only after being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and the Alabama National Guard. However, there is evidence that the entire encounter was partially or wholly coordinated with the Kennedy administration to allow Wallace to save face with Alabama voters.
And so it goes.
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