Just Vote - you have no excuse today. Remember that voting is one of the only civic responsibilities you have as a citizen.
In case Election Day isn't enough, 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.)
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, 1944 -
The classic defining film-noir, The Woman in the Window, directed by Fritz Lang, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Edmund Breon, and Dan Duryea, went into general release on this date.
The movie is loosely based on the plot of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment," in which the criminal is invited by the investigator to aid in solving the crime. This plot twist appears both in Agatha Christie novels and TV dramas such as Columbo.
November 3, 1951 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Sleepy Time Possum, directed by Bob McKimson was released on this date.
Another hidden gem - these guys should have become recurring characters. .
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.
(If you must see Raymond Burr, check him out here )
November 3, 1954 -
The film-noir drama, Human Desire, directed by Fritz Lang, and starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford, opened in the US on this date.
Fritz Lang had desperately wanted Peter Lorre to play Jeff Warren, but Lang had treated Lorre so abusively during the making of M that the actor refused. Marlon Brando also rejected the role of Jeff Warren, saying "I cannot believe that the man who gave us the über dark Mabuse, the pathetic child murderer in M and the futuristic look at society, Metropolis (1927), would stoop to hustling such crap."
November 3, 1955 -
Another highlight from the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals, Guys and Dolls, premiered in NYC on this date.
Frank Sinatra loathed the non-singing Marlon Brando for getting the starring role, while Sinatra got a lesser part. His nickname for the sometimes barely coherent Brando was "Mumbles."
November 3, 1956 –
CBS TV aired the film, The Wizard of Oz the first time, on this date.
Although a moderate success when released theatrically in 1939, it is now recognized as the most-watched film in television history.
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.
When Sissy Spacek was preparing for her character, she isolated herself from the rest of the ensemble, decorated her dressing room with heavy religious iconography and studied Gustave Doré's illustrated Bible. She studied "the body language of people being stoned for their sins," starting or ending every scene in one of those positions.
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.
November 3, 1995 -
The Thanksgiving comedy-drama, Home for the Holidays, directed by Jody Foster and starring Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Guttenberg, Cynthia Stevenson, Claire Danes, Austin Pendleton, and David Strathairn, opened in the US on this date.
Robert Downey Jr. publicly admitted to using heroin during the making of this film. Jodie Foster wrote him a letter praising his work, but warning him that he could not keep doing this on other films.
Today's moment of Zen
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.
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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