Author Archives: dcaligari

August 24, 1979 –NBC-TV introduced the girls of Eastland School, an all-girls boarding school in Peekskill, New York, to audiences when The Facts of Life premiered on this date. The pilot Rough Housing may have been the very first children’s program on network television to discuss gender confusion and sexual identity crises among youth; asContinue reading “Taking the good, for the very first time”

August 24, 1937 –William Wyler’s crime-drama film, Dead End, opened in NYC on this date. William Wyler originally wanted to film on location on the streets of New York, but producer Samuel Goldwyn insisted that the movie be made in the studio. Art director Richard Day was assigned to design the sets and made oneContinue reading “Dead End premiered”

August 24, 1977 – The third in a series of films based on the Peanuts comic strip, Race For You Life, Charlie Brown, directed by Bill Melendez and Phil Roman, and voiced by Duncan Watson, Stuart Brotman, Gail Davis, Liam Martin, and Melanie Kohn, opened on this date. This is the only theatrical Peanuts filmContinue reading “Race For You Life, Charlie Brown premiered”

August 24, 1985 –Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ single, Real Love went to No. 1 on the Billboard country singles chart on this date. The song, the title track from Parton’s latest album, was Parton and Rogers’ second country chart-topper as a duet act.

August 24, 1967 –Encouraged by Pattie Harrison, The Beatles and their partners – minus Ringo and Maureen Starkey, whose second child, Jason, had been born just five days earlier -attended a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, London, on this date. This was a highly creative period for TheContinue reading “Some lectures you just shouldn’t attend”

August 23, 1980 –David Bowie’s single , Ashes To Ashes went to No. 1 on the UK charts on this date. This song can be seen as a sequel to Bowie’s 1969 hit, Space Oddity. It revisits the fictional astronaut, Major Tom, who is now in space. He has regained communication with Ground Control andContinue reading “Ashes to Ashes topped the charts”

August 23, 1946 – Howard Hawks’ noir classic, The Big Sleep, starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Dorothy Malone, opened in NYC on this date. According to Lauren Bacall, production was such fun that they got a memo from Jack L. Warner saying, “Word has reached me that you are having fun on the set.Continue reading “The Big Sleep premiered”

August 23, 1965 – The British science fiction film, Dr. Who and the Daleks, directed by Gordon Flemyng, and starring Peter Cushing, Roy Castle, Jennie Linden, and Roberta Tovey was released on this date. Contrary to popular belief, it was not inconsistent for The Doctor to be shown as a human scientist named Dr. Who.Continue reading “Dr. Who and the Daleks premiered”

August 22, 1946 –The last of Alfred Hitchcock’s wartime thrillers, Notorious, opened on this date. After filming had ended, Cary Grant kept the famous UNICA key. A few years later he gave the key to his great friend and co-star Ingrid Bergman, saying that the key had given him luck and hoped it would doContinue reading “Notorious premiered”

August 22, 1972 – The movie that introduced Monty Python and its seminal brand of comedy to American audiences, And Now for Something Completely Different, premiered in the U.S. on this date. This movie was filmed between the first and second seasons of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. It contains several sketches that had been writtenContinue reading “THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!”