Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho captivated audiences and is one of the go-tos when people talk about the invention of the slasher genre. It was, for certain, a film of firsts, and one of those firsts just so happened to be the first time a toilet was seen flushing on the big screen! (On TV, the first episode of Leave It to Beaver in 1957, was the first TV program to show a toilet, sort of. In the epsiode Captain Jack, you could see shots of a toilet tank, but not the toilet itself. The first time we heard a toilet flush on TV was during an episode of All in the Family, in 1971. )
Happy Halloween! But remember, Halloween: it's a large secret East Coast syndicate backed primarily by Big Sugar and Dental Schools.
Once again, I will not suggest that you go as a sociopath - we've had enough of them recently.
I'd have written more but I'm way behind in adding dead mice and ground glass into kids candy bags.
(For all you parents - if your kids went trick or treating, sort your kids candy later tonight. It is not a crime to save all the good chocolate for yourself. Tell'em you have to test it for the corona virus.)
There is a Blue Moon this evening. The second full Moon occurring within a calendar month is usually bestowed this title.
If you listen closely, you may hear somebody whisper "please adore me," and when you looked the moon may have turned to gold. Either that, or you need to seek medical attention immediately.
October 31, 1912 -
The Musketeers of Pig Alley, directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Elmer Booth, Lillian Gish, Clara T. Bracy and Walter Miller, premiered in the US on this date. The film is thought to be the first film about organized crime.
In a street sequence, a young girl can be seen staring at the camera. This was not a mistake; D.W. Griffith had noticed that, in documentary films, people tended to stare at the camera, and felt that having her do just that would make the scene feel more realistic.
October 31, 1945 -
René Clair's adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic murder mystery And Then There Were None was released in the US on this date.
In recent years it has come to light that much of Agatha Christie's plot appears to have been inspired by a little-known 1930 play by Owen Davis titled The Ninth Guest, which utilized the same framework of people being brought together by an unknown host who proceeds to kill them one-by-one. Columbia Pictures' atmospheric 1934 movie version, The 9th Guest, has never been released on home video, but is now in the public domain.
October 31, 1949 -
Cecil B. DeMille's wonderfully campy (although not intentional) version of Samson and Delilah, starring Hedy LaMarr and Victor Mature premiered on this date.
Much discussion took place during the shooting of the scene where Samson kisses Delilah as to whether a man kisses a woman with his eyes closed or open. Victor Mature insisted that "a fellow would be a chump to close his eyes" when kissing Hedy Lamarr. In the final shot, Mature closed, opened, and then closed his eyes again.
October 31, 1986 -
Roland Joffé's powerful historical drama, The Mission, starring, Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Aidan Quinn, and Liam Neeson, premiered in the US on this date.
Many of the people who played the natives were indigenous South Americans who spoke little English. They were given free reign to say whatever lines they wanted. According to popular rumor, they are cursing up a storm in a few scenes.
Today in History:
October 31, 1926 -
Harry Houdini died in room 401 of Grace Hospital in Detroit on this date.
The escape artist was killed by diffuse peritonitis, after having undergone an emergency appendectomy.
Contrary to popular belief, the fatal appendicitis could not have been caused by a punch to the stomach.
October 31, 1950 -
I thought to myself, Join the army. It's free. So I figured while I'm here I'll lose a few pounds.
John Franklin Candy, the great Canadian comedian and actor, was born on this date.
October 31, 1984 -
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was not having a good day. Daughter of Nehru, the first prime minister of the newly independent India and fashion plate of the 60s, Mrs. Gandhi was running late for an interview with Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television. Two Sikh members of her bodyguard, annoyed with her involvement in the storming of the Golden Temple (The holiest of Sikh sites) took this moment to express their vexation with their boss and assassinated her on the spot.
This sparked Hindu-Sikh clashes across the country. Four days of anti-Sikh rioting followed in India. The government said more than 2,700 people, mostly Sikhs, were killed, while newspapers and human-rights groups put the death toll between 10,000 and 17,000.
Once again, people should be checking the references of their bodyguards more carefully.
October 31, 1993 -
Federico Fellini, considered as one of the most influential and widely revered film-makers of the 20th Century, passed away on this date.
He made some 24 films, including La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, and Amarcord, all hallmarks throughout the 50s and 60s Art House world.
October 31, 1993 -
The young phenom River Phoenix had an unfortunate time at the Viper Room in West Hollywood on this date.
An apocryphal story at the time was that River's last words were supposedly, "No paparazzi, I want anonymity", although the quote has become something of an urban legend. In fact, according to witnesses, River stumbled out of the nightclub and fell hard, face-first, onto the sidewalk (experts believed he likely died at that moment) before spasming violently against the pavement for eight minutes, never having uttered a word.
Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight -
you don't need to save anymore daylight.
And so it goes
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