If you've already done so, you can watch this and amuse yourself to learn that screenwriters Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar were standing on the set one day when an extra standing next to them said, "I don't know who wrote this stuff but they ought to be arrested...they should be in a different business." Kalmer, who was known as a rational and calm man, said to Ruby, "I'm going over to hit him. Who does he think he is? He's just an extra!" But before fisticuffs erupted, Kalmer and Ruby were informed that Chico Marx had paid the extra to rib the screenwriters, just for the hell of it.
Do you have friend running the NYC Marathon today?
Don't forget to remind them that the first guy who ran one died at the finish line.
Happy National Sandwich Day. It's celebrated on the birthday of John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, creator of the sandwich.
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.
Ernst Lubitsch disliked Gottfried Reinhardt and S.N. Behrman's original screenplay, so he commissioned a rewrite from Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch. Lubitsch himself made some significant uncredited contributions to the screenplay.
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.
Yasujirô Ozu and his longtime collaborator Kôgo Noda spent 103 days at a country inn in Chigasaka working on the screenplay. After that, shooting and editing advanced extremely quickly, meaning the film was in production for a total of four months.
Gojira premiered in Japan on this date in 1954.
One of the most famous legends regarding the production of this film has Ishirô Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya on the observation deck of one of Tokyo's buildings. They were planning Godzilla's path of destruction when visitors on the deck overheard their conversation and became concerned. The pair was stopped by authorities and questioned. (If you must see Raymond Burr, check him out here )
November 3, 1955 -
Another highlight from the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals, Guys and Dolls, premiered in NYC on this date.
After filming repeated takes of the scene where Sky (Marlon Brando) and Nathan (Frank Sinatra) first meet, they had to quit for the day when Sinatra had eaten too much cheesecake. He said he could not take one more bite. Brando, knowing how much Sinatra hated cheesecake, had purposely flubbed each take so that Sinatra would have to eat piece after piece of cheesecake. The next day, they came back and shot the scene perfectly on the first take.
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.
NBC considered making a Harry Mudd spin-off show after the success of I, Mudd. They assigned Gene Roddenberry to develop the idea, but being busy with Star Trek and other projects, he didn't have time for it, and the series was never conceived.
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.
Nancy Allen claims she never realized her character was going to be so evil until she saw the finished film. She thought she and John Travolta were playing such self-centered, bickering morons that they were there for comic relief. Piper Laurie also thought the character of Margaret White was so over the top that the film had to be a comedy.
November 3, 1978 -
Diff'rent Strokes premiered on NBC-TV on this date.
Gary Coleman's parents actually took all of his money that he made from this show. By the time he sued his parents, they had no money left. Coleman ended up working as a security guard for the final years of his life.
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.
When the show was broadcast in the U.K., many viewers wrote in to chide Charles Shaughnessy over his "imitation" English accent, and suggested he practice with co-star Daniel Davis on how to do a proper English accent. The cast found this quite amusing, as Shaughnessy is a native Englishman, born in London while Davis is an American, born in Arkansas.
Another book from the back shelves of The ACME Library
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, 1906 -
Anticipating ABBA, SOS was adopted as warning signal by first conference on wireless telegraphy on this date.
Previously, people had to stand on the deck of their sinking ships and scream their heads off in hopes that someone would hear them.
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.
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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