Author Archives: dcaligari

November 2, 1940 – Another funny Porky Pig Looney Tunes, The Sour Puss, premiered on this date. This is the first appearance of the gag where a character commits suicide after saying “Now I’ve seen everything!” The gag is most commonly used in cartoons directed by Bob Clampett and is often censored when the cartoonContinue reading “Well now I’ve seen everything!”

November 2, 1942 –Another Preston Sturges laugh out loud comedy, The Palm Beach Story, opened on this date. (Sturges, himself, had to shove a handkerchief in his mouth to avoid ruining a take by laughing.) In the long dolly shot of Joel McCrea and Mary Astor strolling on the pier from Rudy Vallee’s yacht, PrestonContinue reading “The Palm Beach Story premiered”

For the rest of those the dearly departed who didn’t make the cut yesterday for All Saint’s Day, take heart; remember today is All Souls Day, aka the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (the second day of Día de los Muertos.) In the late tenth or early eleventh century, Saint Odilo of Cluny decidedContinue reading “Those who live forever in our hearts”

The name November comes from the Latin “novem” which is the Latin for the nine. In the early Roman calendar, it was the ninth month. According to the Gregorian calendar, November is the eleventh month of the year. Go figure. The Roman Senate elected to name the eleventh month for Tiberus Caesar and since AugustusContinue reading “Today is a reminder of the beauty of new beginnings”

November 1, 1938 –The Alfred Hitchcock film, The Lady Vanishes, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave opened in the US on this date. In order to get a realistic effect, Alfred Hitchcock insisted that there should be no background music except at the beginning and the end. Between those two points, the only music heardContinue reading “The Lady Vanishes premiered”

November 1, 1967 –Warner Brothers released one of Paul Newman’s signature films, Cool Hand Luke on this date. While passing by the prison camp set, a San Joaquin County building inspector thought it was a recently constructed migrant workers’ complex, and posted “condemned” notices on the buildings for not being up to code.

November 1, 1994 –The first Nirvana album released following the death of Kurt Cobain, MTV Unplugged in New York was released on this date. The following week, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 310,500 copies, which was the highest first-week sales of Nirvana’s career.

October 31, 1963 –The Beatles returned to London today in 1963 from a short tour of Sweden, their first outside England. They were greeted at Heathrow airport by photographers, journalists, and hundreds of screaming fans, adding to the growing evidence that Beatlemania was going to be around for more than a few weeks. Ed SullivanContinue reading “Beatlemania proved more than a fad”

October 31, 1970 –Led Zeppelin started a four week run, on this date, at No.1 on the Billboard album chart with Led Zeppelin III, the bands second US chart topper. Although critics were typically confused over the change in musical style and gave the album a mixed response, Led Zeppelin III has since been acknowledgedContinue reading “We come from the land of the ice and snow …”

October 31, 1912 –D.W. Griffith’s film The Musketeers of Pig Alley, starring Elmer Booth, Lillian Gish, Clara T. Bracy and Walter Miller, first aired in the US on this date. The film is thought to be the first film about organized crime. In a street sequence, a young girl can be seen staring at theContinue reading “The Musketeers of Pig Alley premiered”