Author Archives: dcaligari

September 19, 1931 – Paramount released the Marx Brother’s third film, Monkey Business , co-starring Thelma Todd, on this date. Early in the movie, The Marx Brothers – playing stowaways concealed in barrels – harmonize unseen while performing the popular song Sweet Adeline‘ which is traditionally performed with four singers. It is debated whether HarpoContinue reading “The beer is warm, the women cold …”

September 19, 1936 – The Merrie Melodies short, Toytown Hall, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date. This is the first Merrie Melodies cartoon in which Carl Stalling gets musical credit onscreen.

September 19, 1953 – The Merrie Melodies short, Zipping Along, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, was released on this date. This is the first Roadrunner cartoon in which the coyote speaks. He shouts “Yeow!” when caught in the mousetraps and mimics the Roadrunner’s “Beep beep!” at theContinue reading “Zipping Along premiered”

September 19, 1970 –Reprise Records released Neil Young’s third studio album, After the Gold Rush, on this date. The album produced no major hits when it first came out and received a very negative review from Rolling Stone. Now, the album was seen as kicking off Young’s solo career, and was re-considered a few yearsContinue reading “Sailin’ heart ships through broken harbors”

September 18, 1971 –The fifth studio album by the Who, Who’s Next, reached No. 1 of the Billboard Charts in the U.K. on this date. In an interview with Billboard magazine in February 2010, Pete Townshend discussed how he feels now that 40 years on this and other Who songs take on a deeper meaning.Continue reading “Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals”

September 18, 1943 –The Merrie Melodies short, A Corny Concerto, directed by Bob Clamplett, and starring Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck(?),was released on this date. The identity of the black duckling in this short has prompted much debate among cartoon fans as to whether or not it is, in fact, DaffyContinue reading “A Corny Concerto premiered”

September 18, 1937 – The Merrie Melodies short, Dog Daze, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date. The dogs first shown in the exhibition booths are labeled Bulldog, Wolf Hound, Scottie, and Ralph Wolfe. The latter name (without the “e”) reappeared as a character name 16 years later in the Warner Brothers cartoonContinue reading “Dog Daze premiered”

September 18, 1933 – The Looney Tunes short, Bosko’s Picture Show, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, starring Bosko, was released on this date. This is the last Looney Tunes short produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising for Leon Schlesinger Productions and Warner Bros. The duo moved on to produce cartoons for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,Continue reading “Bosko’s Picture Show premiered”

Today is National Cheeseburger Day. As with most things, many people and restaurants are claiming the cheeseburgers’ origin, going as far back as 1926, when a sloppy 16 year old Lionel Sternberger, while working at his father’s Pasadena, California sandwich shop, dropped a slice of cheese on a burger he was cooking. Although I shouldContinue reading “Tried to amend my carnivorous habit”

September 18, 1951 –20th Century Fox premiered the science fiction classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Robert Wise and starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal, in New York, on this date. One of the reasons Michael Rennie was cast as Klaatu was that he was generally unknown to American audiences, and wouldContinue reading “Klaatu barada nikto. Klaatu barada nikto”