September 23, 1927 -
F. W. Murnau's silent classic, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, directed by, starring George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor, premiered in NYC on this date.
F.W. Murnau wanted Camilla Horn (with whom he had worked in Germany on Faust) for the part of "The Wife," but she was under contract to the German studio UFA at the time and they refused to loan her out, so the part went to Janet Gaynor.
September 23, 1944 -
Frank Capra's screwball comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace finally gets it US general release on this date. The film was based on a hit play and had to wait to be released until after it Broadway run had ended.
Cary Grant's (birth name), Archie Leach appears on a tombstone in the cemetery near the Brewster's house. In Grant's earlier picture, His Girl Friday, his character, Walter, responded to a threat by saying 'listen, the last man that said that to me was Archie Leach, just a week before he cut his throat'. As a gag, the 'departed' Mr. Leach was apparently interred in the Brooklyn cemetery by the Brewster's home.
September 23, 1962 -
The Jetsons debuted on ABC-TV's Sunday night's prime time lineup on this date. It was the network's first program ever to be broadcast in color.
The series displays several devices that did not exist at the time, such as a flatscreen television, newspaper on a computer-like screen, a computer virus, video chat, a tanning bed and a home treadmill. Today, those things are common in the real world.
September 23, 1967 -
The Letter by Box Tops topped the charts on this date.
This song is about a guy who gets a letter from his former love telling him that she wants him back, and the guy wants to fly out and see her immediately. The Nashville songwriter Wayne Carson Thompson wrote the song after his father gave him the line, "Give me a ticket for an aeroplane."
September 23, 1968 -
Lucille Ball's third TV series, Here's Lucy premiered on this date.
The series dropped out of the top 10 Nielsen ratings in its fifth season. This was the first time that a series starring Lucille Ball was not in the top 10. Because of this, Ball wanted to end the series, and a final episode was filmed. But CBS convinced Ball to return for one more season.
September 23, 1969 -
Marcus Welby MD, starring the not terribly sober Robert Young, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.
Elena Verdugo, who played Welby's nurse/assistant Consuelo on all but one episode of the series, got her start as a "femme fatale" in 1940s Westerns and horror films. Her most prominent role before Welby was as Wolf Man Larry Talbot's love interest in The House of Frankenstein.
September 23, 1970 -
The only American film Akira Kurosawa almost directed, Tora! Tora! Tora!, was released on this date. Akira Kurosawa agreed to direct the Japanese part of the film only because he was told that David Lean was to direct the American part. This was a lie, David Lean was never part of the project. When Kurosawa found out about this, he tried to get himself fired from the production - and succeeded.
When Akira Kurosawa was fired from the production, the Japanese sequences were at least three weeks behind schedule. Producer Elmo Williams solved the problem by hiring two Japanese directors to head two production units as replacements. Toshio Masuda handled the dramatic scenes. He had directed about 25 features in a decade. Kinji Fukasaku had experience directing large-scale action scenes and scenes involving special effects. Of all the time and money spent by Akira Kurosawa, less than one minute of the film he shot is in the final release version.
September 23, 1977 -
ABC Records breathed a huge sigh of relief when they were finally able to release the much delayed sixth studio album of the ultra-perfectionists Steely Dan's Aja on this date.
The album is pronounced "Asia," and was inspired by the continent. Steely Dan have several songs with a Far East influence, since Donald Fagen believes it is a symbol of sensuality. He told Rolling Stone magazine that the title came from a high school friend whose brother was in the army and came back with a Korean wife named Aja, although he wasn't sure how she spelled it.
September 23, 1977 -
David Bowie released one of his signature hits (co-written with Brian Eno,) Heroes on this date. The track features King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp.
Featured in this song are not only Brian Eno's synthesizer and Robert Fripp's guitar, but also producer Tony Visconti banging on a metal ashtray that was lying around the studio. Bowie released versions of this song in English, German, and French. The German version is called Helden; the French is Héros.
September 23, 1978 -
The short lived adventure series, The American Girls, starring Priscilla Barnes and Debra Clinger aired on CBS TV on this date.
Seven of the 11 episodes that were produced were actually aired.
September 23, 1979 -
The short lived comedy set at a white-shoe law firm, The Associates, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Martin Short, Alley Mills, Joe Regalbuto, Shelley Smith, and Tim Thomerson, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.
While the series only had 13 episodes (and only nine of them aired), The Associates was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
September 23, 1990 -
Ken Burns' powerful 11 hour miniseries The Civil War premiered on PBS on this date.
The series took six years to make. The war itself lasted four years.
September 23, 1992 -
NBC first introduced us to Paul and Jamie Buchman (and Murray) when Mad About You first premiered on this date.
Paul Reiser's production company is called Nuance Productions, after a line in the first film he appeared in, Diner: "You know what word I'm not comfortable with? Nuance. It's not a real word. Like "gesture". Gesture's a real word. With gesture you know where you stand. But nuance? I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong."
September 23, 2009 -
ABC-TV first introduced us to Jay Pritchett, his children and their families when the mockumentary Modern Family first premiered on this date.
Upon reading the script the first time, Ed O'Neill, himself a sitcom veteran after starring in Married... with Children for 11 seasons, exclaimed that he knew that the script was a winner, and that the show would last for at least 10 years.
Another unimportant moment in history
Today in History:
September 23, 480 BC -
It's the birthday of the Greek poet Euripides, born near Athens on this date.
September 23, 63 BC -
Gaius Octavius Thurinus (Augustus Caesar) was born on this day. The first real Roman Emperor, Caesar introduced the famous Pax Romana. This was a political policy which stated that any country which did not object to being conquered by Rome would be conquered by Rome.
Countries not wishing to be conquered by Rome stood in violation of this policy, and were therefore invaded until they agreed to be conquered. This ensured peace throughout the world.
September 23, 1779 -
During the Revolutionary War, while on break from Led Zeppelin, the American navy under Scotsman John Paul Jones (Robert Stack), commanding from Bonhomme Richard, defeated and captured the British man-of-war Serapis on this date. Jones, chose to name the ship after Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard’s Almanac.
Fierce fighting ensued, and when Richard began to sink, Serapis commander Richard Pearson called over to ask if Richard would surrender and Jones responded, "I have not yet begun to fight!"--a response that would become a slogan of the U.S. Navy. Pearson surrendered and Jones took control of Serapis. Imagine the amount of rum consumed (it was an American Ship - I'm sure there was no sodomy!)
The Bonhomme Richard sank two days after the battle.
September 23, 1939 -
Sigmund Freud was not having a good day. He had been suffering from the late stages of cancer of the jaw when he decided to commit suicide with the help of his personal physician, Max Schur on this date.
The good doctor administered 21 mg of morphine -- a lethal dose, in three large doses in the space of several hours. Sometimes 21 mg of morphine is just 21 mg of death.
September 23, 1949 -
Happy Birthday Bruce!
If you are of a certain age, at one point, Bruce meant everything to you.
September 23, 1950 -
Congress passes the McCarran Act, also known as The Internal Security Act of 1950, overriding Harry Truman's veto. The act provides for severe restrictions on civil liberties, suspension of free speech, and placing of undesirable Americans in concentration camps.
So watch it, bub.
Today we commemorate some of the greatest political pooches our country has ever known. On September 23, 1952, responding to accusations that he diverted $18,000 in contributions into his pocket, Senator Richard M. Nixon rescues his candidacy for Vice President by insisting that he had never accepted any money.
Although Nixon does admit he accepted a cocker spaniel named Checkers for his daughter Tricia. The televised monologue rescues his political career.
September 23, 1969 -
An article in the Northern Illinois University student newspaper propagated the rumor that Paul is dead.
And if you play I'm so Tired from the White Album (and smoke an enormous amount of dope,) you hear Paul McCartney Is Dead.
And so it goes
My sister lived at Schofield Barracks on Oahu when "Tora Tora Tora" was being filmed. Though the residents had been notified, they were still a bit frightened as the Japanese planes flew right above them, through the Kolekole Pass, on their way to Pearl Harbor.
ReplyDeleteI could imagine that would be quite scary
ReplyDeleteIndeed. They knew the party was over
ReplyDeleteIndeed. They knew the party was over
ReplyDelete