Having to hit the ground running

(It's the first day of Versofest and we have to do the load in. I woke up late and it pouring outside. Obviously, I apologize ahead of time for the abbreviated posting.)


April 3, 1942 -
Another Technicolor fantasy from the Korda brothers, The Jungle Book, starring Sabu, premiered in NYC on this date.



Although this movie was set in India, the production was actually shot in California, USA.


April 3, 1953 -
TV Guide was published for the first time on this date.

The cover was a photo of Lucille Ball's infant son Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV.


April 3,1956 -
Elvis Presley performed on The Milton Berle Show. The show was broadcast live from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock.



Elvis played the songs Heartbreak Hotel, Money, Honey, and Blue Suede Shoes. I would not suggest that you place you hand upon the screen - the power you feel emanating from the TV is probably coming from Uncle Miltie's pants and you don't know where that's been.


April 3, 1971 –
The Temptations had their third of four No. #1 Billboard charting hits with Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) on this date.



This was the last single for the Temptations with Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams in the group. Eddie started a solo career and in 1973 scored his biggest hit with Keep On Truckin'. Williams remained on salary as an advisor, but was plagued with personal problems - he was separated from his wife, owed back taxes and was being treated for alcoholism. He committed suicide in 1973 at age 34.


April 3, 1977 -
Lion's Gate Films released Robert Altman's fever dream movie, 3 Women, starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule in NYC on this date.



Director Robert Altman based the film's title, locations, and cast members on a series of dreams he had. Even Altman admitted that he wasn't sure what the ending would be, although he did have a loose theory about it.


April 3, 1982 -
I Love Rock 'n' Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts topped the charts on this date. The song was number 1 on the Billboard charts for two months after 23 major record labels refused to give her a deal.



The video was directed by Arnold Levine, who also did many of the Loverboy and Bruce Springsteen clips. Jett wore a red leather outfit to the shoot, which took place at New York club called Private's with an assortment of fans that showed up that day forming the crowd. When Jett and Levine looked at the edit, the colors were a mess, with way too much red and mauve in the shots because of poor fashion choices. This was not the rock and roll video they imagined, but when Jett saw the black-and-white work copy, she loved it. Without the color, the clip looked gritty and retro, which is what they were going for.


April 3, 2010 -
Matt Smith makes his first appearance as the 11th Doctor in BBC program Doctor Who during The Eleventh Hour episode, on this date.



One clothing retailer reported that in the month following the airing of this episode in which the Doctor declared that "bow ties are cool," its bow tie sales increased by 94%.


Another Job posting from The ACME Employment Agency


Today in History:

April 3, 1860 -
The Pony Express made its first run on this date. The Pony Express became the quickest and most reliable mail delivery method in the newly developed American West, and covered land from Missouri to California in under ten days.



Though the Pony Express only lasted for about a year, it deeply impacted the development of the West. The Pony Express would be put out of business just eighteen months later with the completion of the first transcontinental telegraph line in October 1861.


Things were not looking good for the Outlaw Jesse James. With his gang depleted by arrests, deaths, and defections, Jesse thought he had only two men left whom he could trust: brothers Bob and Charley Ford. Frank James had decided to retire and attempt to settle down. Joe Walsh had not yet been born. Little did he, Jesse, know that Bob Ford had been conducting secret negotiations with Thomas T. Crittenden, the Missouri governor, to bring in Jesse James.

On April 3, 1882, as James prepared for another robbery, and as all good bank robbers did, he decided to go some little housekeeping. It was a rare moment: He had his guns off, having removed them earlier when the unusual heat forced him to remove his coat; as he moved in and out of the house, he feared the pistols would attract attention from the several passers-by. Seizing the opportunity, the Fords drew their revolvers. Bob was the fastest, firing a shot into the back of Jesse's head, cooling him off and killing him instantly.



The assassination proved a national sensation. The Fords made no attempt to hide their role; as crowds pressed into the little house in St. Joseph to see the dead bandit, they surrendered to the authorities, pleaded guilty, were sentenced to hang, and were promptly pardoned by the governor. Indeed, the governor's quick pardon suggested that he was well aware that the brothers intended to kill, rather than capture, Jesse James. (The Ford brothers, like many who knew James, never believed it was practical to try to capture such a dangerous man.) The implication that the chief executive of Missouri conspired to kill a private citizen startled the public and helped create a new legend in James.



The Fords received a portion of the reward (some of it also went to law enforcement officials active in the plan) and fled Missouri, which now fully embraced the outlaw who had long divided public opinion in the state. Zerelda, Jesse’s mother, appeared at the coroner’s inquest, deeply anguished, and loudly denounced Dick Liddil, a former gang member who was cooperating with state authorities. Charley Ford committed suicide in May 1884. Bob Ford was killed by a shotgun blast to the throat in his tent saloon in Creede, Colorado, on June 8, 1892. His killer, Edward Capehart O'Kelley, was sentenced to life in prison. Because of health problems, his sentence was commuted, and O'Kelley was released on October 3, 1902.


Insufferable Bastards are not to be confused with Evil Bastards. Insufferable Bastards correct your pronunciation, order mesclun salad, and belittle your appreciation of hamburgers; Evil Bastards kill millions of people and launch world wars.



Ironically, this week marks the anniversary of one of this century’s Evilest Bastards coming to power: Joe Stalin became Secretary General of the Communist Party on April 3, 1922.


April 3, 1924 -
The brilliant actor and total loon Marlon Brando was born on this date.



It's almost hard to remember that Brando was one of the more beautiful and talented actor (and owner of one of the most voracious sexual appetites) of his generation.  (Since this is a somewhat respectable blog, I will merely say that it has been reported that Mr. Brando would have carnal relations with anything with a pulse.)



Interesting fact: according to Brando, the great love of his life was Wally Cox (his childhood friend.)



Brando was quoted as saying: "If Wally had been a woman, I would have married him and we would have lived happily ever after." After TV's Mr. Peepers and the voice of Underdog died, Brando kept his ashes in his bedroom for 30 years and conversed with them nightly. Eventually, the ashes (Wally's) were eventually scattered with his (Marlon's) own.


April 3, 1924 -
The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you'll grow out of it.

Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff, singer and actress, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on this date.  She turns to singing when a car accident wrecks her dreams of becoming a professional dancer.



I bet you never thought about Marlon Brando and Doris Day in the same universe.


On April 3, 1930, Ras Tafari was proclaimed Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (his coronation occurred on November 3, 1930.)

This ultimately resulted in Bob Marley.




April 3, 1936 -
The state of New Jersey extended one final courtesy to Bruno Hauptmann and offered him the hot seat for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby on this date.



(as previously discussed, a crime he probably did not commit.)


April 3, 1942 -
Mr. Las Vegas, Carson Wayne Newton, was born on this date.



Mr. Newton, your love of plastic surgery has affected your thinking, especially about your love of Mr. Trump.  But we like you anyway.


April 3, 1958 -
One of the Baldwin brothers, I think the not-so-husky but very hairy one (only in comparison with his brothers), Alexander Rae Baldwin III was born on this date.



Alec has three younger brothers, all actors and two younger sisters, who are not brothers or actors. It is common knowledge that there was another Baldwin brother, Gummo, who was eaten by his siblings during some freakish childhood shopping accident at a Long Island Wegman's, although you didn't hear it from me.


April 3, 1966 -
Soviet Union's Luna 10 became the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon on this date.



No amount of Preparation H helped President Johnson's hemorrhoidal flare up on this date.


April 3, 1968 -
... It really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountain top, and I don't mind....



Less than 24 hours before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers.



And so it goes.