Author Archives: dcaligari

July 17, 1943 – Originally released in B & W (re-release as a color version in 1968 and 1990,) Porky Pig’s Feat premiered on this date. This is the first time the Raymond Scott composition Powerhouse is used in a Warner Bros. cartoon. A rare appearance for Porky Pig (his last appearance in a blackContinue reading “Gosh, if B-Bugs Bunny was only here.”

July 17, 1959 – Alfred Hitchcock’s superlative North By Northwest, starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, opened on this date. This movie has been referred to as “the first James Bond film” due to its similarities with splashily colorful settings, secret agents, and an elegant, daring, wisecracking leading man opposite a sinister yet strangelyContinue reading “North By Northwest premiered”

July 17, 1966 – The first episode of Ultraman, a follow-up to Ultra Q, though not technically a sequel or spin-off, debuted on Japanese TV on this date. Due to its extensive special effects involving large-scale alien creatures, the production process was challenging, making such large-scale tokusatsu TV dramas (tokusatsu is a Japanese term forContinue reading “Ultraman premiered”

July 16, 1977 –The Commodores‘ single Easy was No. 1 on the R&B Billboard Charts on this date. Commodores lead singer Lionel Richie wrote this song, which became a crossover hit for the band, bringing them into pop and adult contemporary territory when they were previously pure funk. This led to more soft hits forContinue reading “Easy topped the charts”

July 16, 1951 –The Catcher in the Rye was published 74 years ago today. The book contained secret code words through which its author, J.D. Salinger, was able to transmit diabolical commands to his evil minions. Exactly six years after the Trinity test – and fourteen years later—the tunnel connecting France and Italy through MontContinue reading “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills”

July 16, 1969 –56 years ago on this date, the 363-foot-tall Apollo 11 space vehicle was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, at 9:37 a.m. (As I have gotten older, I have only now put it together that some sick puppies at NASA (probably some of the ‘Good Germans‘) arranged toContinue reading “On their way to history”

July 16, 1958 –The classic Vincent Price Sci-Fi film, The Fly, opened in San Francisco on this date. David Hedison suggested that his character wear progressive makeup effects that showed him in a mixed part human/part fly state when his face is finally revealed, instead of just a fully formed Fly mask as depicted inContinue reading “Help me! Help me!”

July 16, 1982 –A very silly movie, Young Doctors in Love, directed by Garry Marshall and starring Sean Young, Michael McKean, Harry Dean Stanton, Dabney Coleman, Patrick Macnee and Demi Moore, opened on this date. The movie featured a number of cameos and guest appearances by television stars from the ABC network’s soap operas. TheContinue reading “Young Doctors in Love premiered”

July 15, 2009 –45 years after he played at the Ed Sullivan Theater with The Beatles, Paul McCartney returned to the venue to appear on The Late Show With David Letterman. Earlier in the day, McCartney plays a few songs from the theater’s marquee, surprising the onlookers in Manhattan.