Author Archives: dcaligari

August 20, 1944 – The Merrie Melodies short, Dog Gone South, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Charlie Dog, was released on this date. This cartoon marks the second and final classic appearance of Colonel Shuffle.

August 20, 1941 –William Wyler’s pitch-perfect adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, and Teresa Wright, opened on this date. Bette Davis and William Wyler fought a great deal during filming. Disagreements ranged from Davis’s interpretation of the character (Wyler thought she should be more sympathetic) to the appearance ofContinue reading “The Little Foxes premiered”

August 20, 1969 –The horror film, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? directed by Lee H. Katzin and starring Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller and Mildred Dunnock, opened on this date. The third film in Robert Aldrich’s loose trilogy of psycho-biddy films (a subgenre of horror films featuring older women going insane),Continue reading “What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? premiered”

August 20, 1920 –The first commercial radio station begins operating in Detroit, Michigan with call sign 8MK (Now WWJ (Newsradio 950) ). (8MK went on the air without a license on this date. I understand that KDKA went on the air in Pittsburgh as the world’s first commercially licensed station on November 2, 1920.) TheContinue reading “On the radio (for the first time)”

August 19, 1964 –The Beatles first US tour began in San Francisco, California with their concert at the Cow Palace. They played ten songs to a crowd of over 17,000. The Beatles returned there for another concert in 1965.

August 19, 1972 –One of Al Green’s most popular releases, I’m Still in Love with You, spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, starting on this date. It would eventually go on to sell over one million copies. Rev. Al Green remembered the I’m Still in Love with You album cover inContinue reading “Spending my day thinking ’bout you, girl”

August 19, 1961 –The Looney Tunes short, The Pied Piper of Guadalupe, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Speedy Gonzales, was released on this date. The final Looney Tunes short starring Pepe Le Pew.

August 19, 1944 –The Merrie Melodies short, Birdy and the Beast, directed by Bob Clampett, and starring Tweety Bird, was released on this date. This is the first time Tweety was given his official name, as with his previous short, A Tale of Two Kitties, he was originally referred to as Orson in model sheets.

August 19, 1932 – The Marx Brothers‘ fourth movie, Horse Feathers, went into general release on this date. Although the present running time is very close to that of the original, there are still a few bits and pieces and lines of dialogue missing, due to re-editing in 1935 in order to bring the filmContinue reading “I think I got it. Is it “swordfish”?”

August 19, 1969 –The film adaptation of Arlo Guthrie’s song Alice’s Restaurant, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and William Obanhein, opened on this date After discovering that the character Officer Obie was modeled after him, actual Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Sheriff William Obanhein demanded that heContinue reading “Alice’s Restaurant premiered”