According to the National Pasta Association, Americans consume about 20 pounds of pasta per person each year. Italians eat more than 3 times that amount. During the 1980s, macaroni, which was traditionally considered a “blue-collar” down-home meal, was transformed into the more upscale “pasta.” As more and more people began to have fun with it and romanticize it throughout the ’60s and ’70s, its image began to change along with its name.
October 17, 1916 -
A Daughter of the Gods opens in New York City. It contained what is considered the first complete nude scene by a major star.
The character Anitia, played by Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman, is shown nude in a waterfall; however, her body is mostly covered by her hair. It is the first U.S. film production to cost $1 million to produce. Although a few stills remain, the film is considered lost.
October 17, 1939 -
Frank Capra's contribution to the Golden age of Hollywood, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, premiered in Washington D.C. on this date.
Bitterly denounced by Washington insiders angry at its allegations of corruption, yet banned by fascist states in Europe who were afraid it showed that democracy works.
October 17, 1944 -
The little known and under appreciated drama directed by Clifford Odets, None But the Lonely Heart, starring Cary Grant, Ethel Barrymore and Barry Fitzgerald, was released on this date.
This film marked a return to the big screen after an 11-year absence by star Ethel Barrymore. Prior to making this film, Barrymore had considered movie appearances an inferior art to the stage. However, her time on set, her critical acclaim, and her hefty paycheck changed her mind. After making this film, she moved from New York to California so she could concentrate on making movies instead of Broadway plays
October 17, 1956 -
Producer Michael Todd's adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, starring David Niven, Shirley Maclaine, Cantinflas and just about every other actor in Hollywood, premiered in New York on this date.
After winning the Oscar, producer Mike Todd rented Madison Square Garden and threw a huge party. Over 18,000 guests attended, and the celebration frequently threatened to degenerate into all-out chaos. Todd himself called the party a disaster.
October 17, 1957 -
MGM released the film that contained the sequence that some have called, "Elvis Presley's greatest moment on screen," when Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis premiered in Memphis, Tennessee, on this date.
Originally choreographer Alex Romero created a dance for the song Jailhouse Rock that was in a style apropos for a more classically trained dancer than Elvis Presley. When Romero realized that his plans for the number were never going to work, he asked Elvis how would he normally move to the song, leading Elvis to become the uncredited choreographer for what many consider his most famous dance number in all of his movies.
(Please note: this is the film that Elvis is scourged for your sins. Only you know how much clothing you should remove to receive the healing benefits from St. Elvis. As always, place one hand upon the screen and the other upon your bare (or nearly bare) afflicted region.)
October 17, 1958 -
What is considered a comeback special, An Evening with Fred Astaire premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
The special was the first color show pre-recorded on videotape at NBC's new state-of-the-art 'Color City' studios in Burbank, California.
October 17, 1966 -
Another iconic film from the 60s, Georgy Girl, starring James Mason, Lynn Redgrave and Alan Bates, premiered in the US on this date.
Vanessa Redgrave backed out of the role of Georgy just before shooting started. Her sister Lynn picked up the part instead.
October 17, 1968 -
One of the defining police crime dramas of the 60's, Bullitt starring Steven McQueen premiered on this date.
While filming the scene where the giant airliner taxis just above Steve McQueen, observers were shocked that no double was used. Asked if the producers couldn't have found a dummy, McQueen wryly replied, "They did."
October 17, 1975 -
The British science fiction television series Space: 1999, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson without the use of Supermarionation, starring Barbara Bain and Martin Landau, premiered in the US on this date.
Originally conceived as a new season of UFO, which would've been set twenty years further into the future with the title UFO 2. The plot would have had the aliens from that series trying to destroy SHADO's moonbase by knocking the moon out of orbit. According to UFO's Ed Bishop (Commander Ed Straker), several scripts for UFO's aborted second season ended up being reworked as early Space: 1999 episodes.
October 17, 1998 –
The first big hit for Barenaked Ladies, One Week hit No.1 on this date
The band has said that this song is about a big fight in a relationship. The lyrics are essentially meaningless, but wildly entertaining, showing off their clever wordplay in a rapid-fire interplay between their lead singers, Ed Robertson and Steven Page. Robertson wrote the song.
October 17, 1988 -
The Traveling Wilburys release their debut single, Handle With Care, (the B-side is Margarita,) on this date.
The group made a music video for this song that proved quite popular on VH1. Directed by David Leland, it has a sepia tone to give it a dusty, old-timey feel as we see the group performing the song around a microphone. It's the only Traveling Wilburys video they made while Roy Orbison was still alive. Just two months after the album was released, Orbison died of a heart attack.
October 17, 2005 –
Stephen Colbert brilliant takes on cable-news punditry, The Colbert Report premiered on Comedy Central on this date.
On the set, there is an artificial fireplace with the engraving "Videri Quam Esse", meaning, "to seem to be rather than to be". It is a play on the traditional Latin phrase "esse quam videri", or, "to be, rather than to seem to be", reflecting Colbert's mock right-wing personality.
Another ACME Safety Film
(I'm sure it doesn't seem like it but this has to be an abbreviated posting today - I'm having some very difficult technical issues with my computer.)
Today in History:
The Sixth Crusade ended on this date in 1244 after the Saracens ("Infidels") defeated the Franks ("Infidels") at Gaza.
October 17, 1777 -
At one of the turning points of the American Revolution, British General John Burgoyne surrendered to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, N.Y. on this date.
The surrender demonstrating American determination to gain independence. After the surrender, France sided with the Americans, and other countries began to get involved and align themselves against Britain.
October 17, 1814 -
Late on a Monday afternoon on this date, one of the 800lb iron restraining hoop fell off one of the two giant porter vats at the the Meux and Company Brewery on London’s Tottenham Court Road. A clerk made a note of the occurrence but thought no more of it until about an hour later when the wooden staves of the vat burst.
The vat, which was full to the brim with 3,550 barrels (more than a million pints) of finest 10-month-old Meux’s Porter, created a tsunami of beer, bursting the other behemoth vat. The resulting flood, weighing close to 600 tons, plus wood and metal from the vat knocked out the wall of the brewery and gushed into the street, drowning eight and injuring dozens more. A ninth final victim actually succumbed some days later of alcohol poisoning.
What a way to go!
October 17, 1961 -
Henri Matisse's Le Bateau went on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art. 47 days later, the curator learned from an art student the painting had been hung upside down.
October 17, 1966 -
The 23rd Street Fire was an incident that took place in the Flatiron District neighborhood of New York City, on this date. A group of firefighters from the New York City Fire Department responding to a fire at 7 East 22nd Street entered a building at 6 East 23rd Street as part of an effort to fight the fire.
Twelve firefighters were killed after the floor collapsed, the largest loss of life in the department's history until the collapse of the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks of 2001.
October 17, 1967 -
The play Hair, full of dancing naked people, unshaven armpits, and body odor, opens at the 299-seat Anspacher Theater on Broadway on this date. At the time, the musical's depiction of the use of illegal drugs, sexuality, profanity, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy.
The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of the "rock musical", utilizing a racially-integrated cast, and by inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-in" finale.
October 17, 1979 -
... I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love..
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a Roman Catholic nun who cared for the sick and poor, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, on this date.
She may have been canonized but what she really wanted to do was direct.
October 17, 1984 -
The New York Times ran an article entitled CIA Primer Tells Nicaraguan Rebels How to Kill. The story describes the secret manual Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare which the CIA furnished to the Contras in Nicaragua.
The booklet instructed how to kidnap and assassinate civil officials, such as judges and police.
Most people do not have access to the CIA's gift shop and Barnes and Noble no longer sells the primer but you can order it from Amazon.
(You didn't hear it from me.)
October 17, 1989 -
The Loma Prieta earthquake struck San Francisco on this date. The damaging earthquake was notable for being the first in history to be broadcast on live TV.
The World Series was being played there at the time and cameras covering the event live were able to capture the devastating scenes.
And so it goes
I have an LP with songs that were written for Hair but didn't make it into the final production. The record is called "DisinHAIRited." Honest!
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