As the story goes, he was playing cards and did not want to leave the gaming table to eat. He asked for a serving of roast beef to be placed between two slices of bread so he could eat with his hands. Thus, the Sandwich was born.
To celebrate, begin gambling heavily, don't get up from the table for several hours and call for your manservant to bring you a slab of beef and two pieces of bread (and a piss pot.) Remember bunkies, Enjoy every sandwich!
November 3, 1939 -
One of the crown jewels of the 'Golden Age' of Hollywood, Ninotchka opened in New York on this date.
Curiously enough, this was the very movie Arnold Schwarzenegger studied when he was trying to find his character for Red Heat. The exercise - emulate Greta Garbo - was recommended to him by his director Walter Hill.
November 3, 1953 -
The quiet yet stunning masterpiece by Yasujirô Ozu, Tokyo Story, starring Chishu Ryu and Chieko Higashiyama, premiered in Japan on this date.
Although made in the early 1950s alongside many other Japanese films now considered classics (e.g., Rashomon, Ugetsu, and Gate of Hell), this didn't receive U.S. release until 1964, by which time Yasujirô Ozu was already dead.
Gojira premiered in Japan on this date in 1954.
Akira Kurosawa, was a lifelong friend of director Honda and included this film among his all time favorite movies. When discussing the film with his daughter Kurosawa said, "Imagine what you would do if a monster like Godzilla emerges! Normally one would forget and abandon his duty and simply flee! You won't? But the people in this movie properly and sincerely lead others, don't they. That is typical of Mr. Honda. I love it". In another interview, Kurosawa mentioned how Honda's films "remained popular because they were shot honestly and sincerely-they're naturally good". Suit actor Nakajima recalled that during filming, Kurosawa would occasionally show up and watch the film being shot.
November 3, 1955 -
Another highlight from the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals, Guys and Dolls, premiered in NYC on this date.
Gene Kelly was sought for the role of Sky Masterson, but MGM refused to loan Kelly to Samuel Goldwyn. Kelly had been so eager to play the part that he never forgave MGM for this, later stating "I was born to play Sky Masterson like Clark Gable was born to play Rhett Butler." Marilyn Monroe wanted to play Adelaide, but director Joseph L. Mankiewicz did not want to work with her again (she appeared briefly in All About Eve) and supposedly pretended he never got her phone messages. Animal lover Betty Grable was in talks to play Adelaide, but when she canceled a meeting with producer Samuel Goldwyn to be with her sick dog, who had to be taken to the vet with a broken leg, a miffed Goldwyn would not reschedule and dropped her from consideration. Judy Holliday was also briefly considered for the role.
November 3, 1962 –
The Crystals' single, He’s a Rebel, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on this date.
The Crystals did not sing on this. While at Liberty Records as the company's West Coast A&R head in 1962, producer Phil Spector heard Pitney's demo of the song. Knowing it would be a hit, he promptly resigned and his boss, Snuff Garrett, produced a version by Vikki Carr to be released as her first single. Spector assembled his musicians to do HIS version, but the Crystals were 3000 miles away in New York City; so he recruited The Blossoms - Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Gracia Nitzsche - to sing He's a Rebel.
November 3, 1967 -
Captain Kirk and the crew has a second run in with the con man, Harry Mudd and his army of androids when the Star Trek episode I, Mudd premiered on CBS-TV on this date.
During the filming, casting director Joseph D'Agosta was in a panic because he needed at least two female identical twins and couldn't find any suitable for the show. Then one night while driving home he saw Alyce Andrece and Rhae Andrece walking down a street. D'Agosta literally pulled up beside them, jumped out of his car and told them that they were going to be on television! (In some tellings of the story Gene Rodenberry is substituted for D'Agosta, but Steven Whitfield's The Making Of Star Trek confirms it was D'Agosta.)
November 3, 1971 -
Clint Eastwood's directorial debut, Play Misty For Me premiered in NYC on this date.
The storyline was originally set in Los Angeles, but at Clint Eastwood's insistence, this movie was shot in the more comfortable surroundings of Carmel-by-the-Sea, where he could shoot scenes at the local radio station, bars and restaurants, and friend's houses.
November 3, 1976 -
MGM's horror classic, based on Stephen King’s best-selling first novel, Carrie, directed by Brian De Palma and starring Sissy Spacek, premiered on this date.
Ever the stickler for authenticity, Sissy Spacek insisted that she - not a double - be the one whose hand shoots up out of Carrie's grave during Sue Snell's nightmare sequence, so she was positioned under the rocks and gravel. De Palma stated, "Sissy, come on, I'll get a stunt person. What do you want? To be buried in the ground?!" However, Spacek declared, "Brian, I have to do this." De Palma explains that they "had to bury her. Bury her! We had to put her in a box and stick her underneath the ground. Well, I had her husband bury her because I certainly didn't want to bury her. I used to walk around and set up the shot and every once in a while we'd hear Sissy: 'Are we ready yet?' 'Yeah, Sissy, we're going to be ready real soon.'"
November 3, 1978 -
Diff'rent Strokes premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
Both Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life were Norman Lear productions but for some reason he didn't put his name on the credits, opting for Tandem Productions (which is his production company) instead.
November 3, 1990 - The American public apparently went insane and Vanilla Ice's single, Ice Ice Baby was the number one single on the U.S. music charts, on this date.
The song clearly samples the 1980 song Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie, but Vanilla Ice never got permission to use it. No lawsuit was filed, but it is likely that Vanilla Ice agreed to pay Queen and Bowie a settlement. According to industry insider Hans Ebert, Brian May of Queen first heard this song in a disco in Germany. He asked the DJ what it was, and learned that it was #1 in the US.
November 3, 1993 -
Fran traveled for the first time over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield's door when, The Nanny, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.
After cancellation of her sitcom Princesses, Fran Drescher flew to Europe to meet her former co-star Twiggy. On her flight to London, she coincidentally sat next to CBS executive Jeff Sagansky and talked him into a development meeting upon her return to Los Angeles. Subsequently meeting Twiggy and her children in London, Drescher came up with the idea of this show, and pitched it later to Sagansky, convincing him to produce it.
Another ACME Safety Film
Today in History:
November 3, 1507 -
At the height of the Renaissance, a famous middle-aged Italian artist (who may or may not have weighed in the whole gravy vs. sauce debate - he was a gravy man) was commissioned by the husband of Lisa Gherardini to paint her on this date.
The work is known as the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda.) Little known fact: The painting cannot be bought or sold according to French heritage law.
November 3, 1957 -
However, some western researchers speculated, then later confirmed by declassified Soviet documents in 1993, that Laika was roasted when the satellite's heat shields were detached.
I wonder if the Explorer's Club served Hot Dogs in her honor that year.
November 3, 1964 -
In 1801, the Washington D.C. district was established as a US Congressional jurisdiction; this meant residents of Washington D.C. were unable to vote.
The passing of the 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution, in 1961, reversed this policy, allowing D.C. residents to vote. Residents of Washington D.C. were permitted to vote in a US Presidential election for the first time on this date.
November 3, 1988 –
Talk-show host Geraldo Rivera’s nose was broken as Roy Innis brawled with skinheads on his daytime show, Geraldo, on this date.
He did not press charges, claiming that he did not wish to be “tied up with the roaches” and also said that “if there ever was a case of deserved violence, this was it.”
November 3, 1993 -
Russian inventor Leon Theremin, famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, died on this date.
He first performed the theremin with the New York Philharmonic in 1928.
Thermin's instrument has shown up in the work of such diverse artist as Raymond Scott, Bernard Herrmann, The Beach Boys and Pink Floyd.
And so it goes
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