Universal Pictures released the horror film House of Dracula, directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Martha O’Driscoll and Lionel Atwill, on this date.
House of Dracula actually features four different actors in the role of the Frankenstein Monster. In addition to Glenn Strange, Boris Karloff plays the Monster in footage lifted from Bride of Frankenstein and the climax uses scenes of both Lon Chaney Jr. and his stunt double, Eddie Parker, as the Monster from The Ghost of Frankenstein.
December 7, 1960 -
MGM released the science fiction film Village of the Damned, directed by Wolf Rilla and starring George Sanders on this date.
The eerie effect of the children's glowing eyes was created by matting a negative (reversed) image of their eyes over the pupils when they used their powers. The British print of the film contained no optical effects as the British Board of Film Classification considered them too frighting for an 'A' classification.
December 7, 1969 -
Another Rankin/Bass production, Frosty the Snowman, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.
June Foray provided the voices of Karen, the Teacher and the other children. However, starting with the third airing of the special, most of her recordings as Karen and the other children were replaced with the voices of actual young children.
December 7, 1979 -
Paramount Pictures released the science fiction film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, directed by Robert Wise and starring a bunch of TV actors on this date.
The producers and the cast were very worried about their appearances after being away from Star Trek for ten years. Special lighting and camera tricks were used to hide the cast's aging, and William Shatner went on a near-starvation diet prior to filming. However, in all subsequent Star Trek movies, it was decided to make the aging of the crew part of the story.
December 7, 2001 –
Steven Soderbergh's remake of franks Sinatra's 1960 summer vacation movie, Ocean’s Eleven, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts opened in US theaters on this date.
The cast did gamble during off hours. While there's disagreement between who won the most (George Clooney says Matt Damon, Damon says Brad Pitt), Clooney managed to lose 25 hands of blackjack in a row.
Today's holiday special: He'll be back, much like the Exterminator.
Today in History:
December 7, 43 BC -
Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, famous Roman writer and orator, literally gets his head handed to him on this date, when soldier in Marc Antony's army chopped off his head and right hand then displayed them in the Roman Forum.
Now there's a holiday display you don't see that often.
December 7, 185 -
Emperor Lo-Yang of China took a stroll on in his imperial garden on this evening and saw a Supernova.
Who knew he was such a Liz Phair fan?
December 7, 1907 -
Christmas Seals first went on sale in the United States went to raise funds to treat tuberculosis, after Emily Bissell, a social worker and activist, read about the program in an article by Jacob Riis.
It was on this day in 1941 that Japanese bombers attacked Pearl Harbor. The attack came after the United States had frozen Japanese assets and declared an embargo on shipments of petroleum to Japan.
On the morning of December 7, soldiers at Pearl Harbor were learning how to use a new device called radar, and they detected a large number of planes heading toward them. They telephoned an officer to ask him what to do. The officer said they must be American B-17s on their way to the base, and he told the soldiers not to worry about it.
A sailor named James Jones, who would go on to write the novel From Here to Eternity, was in the mess hall that morning.
There were ultimately 2,390 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor and 1,178 wounded. Two days after the attack, the Navy passed out postcards to the survivors and told them to write to their families, but not to describe what had happened. Some families did not get their postcards until this past February.
December 7, 1949 -
It's Tom Waits' birthday today.
Looks Like I'm Up Shit Creek Again -
(Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night -
Innocent When You Dream -
Ciao Bello -
And the Acme Corp. is once again pleased to sponsor the annual airing Christmas Classic, Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis (Please note - one our our loyal bunkies has pointed out that there is no Euclid Avenue in Minneapolis and the state did away with discretionary parole release in about 1982. Duly noted.)
As always, let's stay up all night, get drunk and sing really sad songs in a raspy voice in his honor. You know your good old doctor will.
December 7, 1968 -
The Rolling Stones released their album Beggar’s Banquet in the US (one day after it was released in the UK,) on this date.
They soon filmed a television extravaganza entitled The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. After reviewing the program, the Stones felt that they were upstaged by the Who’s performance and the film was shelved until 1996, when it was finally released officially.
December 7, 1972 -
Apollo 17, the sixth and last Apollo moon mission, was launched from Cape Canaveral on this date.
It will land on the Moon December 11 and Flight Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, will be the last men to step on the Moon for decades to come..
December 7, 19?? -
Sara Bareilles was born on this date.
We'll let her serenade Joan, the other birthday girl. (It would be very rude to ask either of them how old they are?)
And so it goes.
Before you go - I haven't checked into the website Isthishowyougoviral (and it's owner Mylo the Cat.) They have a great mashup of The Superfriends and The Wu-Tang Clan - don't ask, just watch:
You will never think of The Superfriends (or the song Triumph) again in the same way.
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