Author Archives: dcaligari

October 20, 1939 –The ninth Marx Brothers film, At the Circus, debuted on this date. Buster Keaton worked on the film as a gag man. His career was on the downside, and he was forced to work for scale. His complex and sometimes belabored gags did not work well with The Marx Brothers’ brand ofContinue reading “At the Circus premiered”

October 20, 1980 –U2 released their debut album, Boy, produced by Steve Lillywhite, on this date. It doesn’t yield any hits but I Will Follow becomes one of their most popular songs.

October 19, 1973 –David Bowie released his seventh album Pin Ups, which features supermodel Twiggy on the front cover, is released on this date. The album is a collection of cover versions of some of the singer’s favourite songs, including tracks by Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, The Who, The Yardbirds and The Kinks.

October 19, 1984 –One of the greatest concert movies, the Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathon Demme opens in the US on this date. Jonathan Demme wanted to shoot additional performance footage on a soundstage made to recreate the Pantages Theater. The band vetoed this idea because they thought the lack ofContinue reading “Stop Making Sense premiered”

October 19, 1966 –The first pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau (they went on to work together in 11 additional films), The Fortune Cookie, opened on this date. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau bonded early in the production process, finding a connection in their mutual love of football. They would remain friends the restContinue reading “The Fortune Cookie premiered”

Several sources, including the eponymously named Facebook page, lists today as International Gin and Tonic Day. Some cite April 9th as the date, although that is usually seen as National Gin and Tonic Day. I’m up for celebrating on both dates. (But don’t confuse it with World Gin Day which always falls on the secondContinue reading “Never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast.”

The third Friday in October has been set aside to celebrate Global Champagne Awareness Day (or International Champagne Day) and boy, oh boy, do I need to celebrate something. Most champagne-lovers will already know that, in order for the sparkling nectar to be classified as “champagne“, the wine must come from the Champagne province inContinue reading “In victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it.”

October 18, 1957 –Given almost complete control of the program, the eponymously named The Frank Sinatra Show, a variety/drama anthology series, debuted on ABC on this date. Sinatra wanted to do a dramatic television series, while the ABC television network wanted him to host a variety show. The star and the network compromised – 13Continue reading “The Frank Sinatra Show premiered”

October 18, 1974 –The highly influential independent film, A Woman Under the Influence, directed by John Cassavetes, starring Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk debuted on this date. John Cassavetes could not find a distributor for the film after completion, and was at one point literally carrying the reels under his arm, from one theater toContinue reading “A Woman Under the Influence premiered”

October 18, 1975 – The second-ever episode of Saturday Night Live was notable for the reunion of Simon & Garfunkel on this date. This show marked the first public appearance of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel together since 1972. There are 10 musical performances in this episode, the most ever for the show. The NotContinue reading “Paul and Artie get back together (for the first time)”