Author Archives: dcaligari

May 23, 1929 –Walt Disney released the ninth film in the Mickey Mouse film series, The Karnival Kid on this date. This is first cartoon in which Mickey Mouse speaks. His first words are “Hot dogs!“

May 23, 1980 –Stanley Kubrick’s classic horror thriller The Shining, opened on this date (I remember seeing it at the midnight showing on this date in Time Square.) Stanley Kubrick, known for his compulsiveness and numerous retakes, got the difficult shot of blood pouring from the elevators in only three takes. This would be unremarkableContinue reading “Red Rum! Red Rum!”

May 23, 1984 –Sergio Leone’s epic crime drama, Once Upon a Time in America starring Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, and Treat Williams opened at the Cannes Film festive on this date. A few days before the film’s premiere in 1984, Treat Williams found out the two-hourContinue reading “Once Upon a Time in America premiered”

May 22, 1965 –The Beatles single, Ticket to Ride hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts on this date. Most Americans at the time, concluded the “ticket” was from British Railways, and “ride” was the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. McCartney confessed to his biographer Barry Miles that they were partly right.Continue reading “Ticket to Ride (or Ryde) topped the charts”

May 22, 1971 –The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers album, with a working zipper on the cover, hits #1 in the US, on this date. Andy Warhol designed the Sticky Fingers album cover. Before he started working on it, Mick Jagger send Warhol a note warning that a complicated design could cause nasty production delays, butContinue reading “Sticky Fingers rises to the top”

May 22, 1995 –The cast of the TV series, Laverne and Shirley somehow put their personal animosity with each other aside and reunited to appear on The Laverne & Shirley Reunion on ABC TV on this date. Watching the special, may leave you not so much basking in the glow of fond memories as muchContinue reading “A Laverne & Shirley Reunion Show”

May 22, 1974 –There is no real explanation – perhaps gambling debts – can explain the pairing of Julie Andrews and Jackie Gleason in the TV special, Julie Andrews & Jackie Gleason: How Sweet It Is, which air on ABC TV on this date. This special was produced specifically for the American market (with JackieContinue reading “I don’t remember seeing it”

May 22, 1992 –The man most of America went to bed with every night for 30 years, finally got tired of having to try to satisfy so many people. Johnny Carson’s final appearance on The Tonight Show was broadcast on this date. The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson remained a fixture on NBC through theContinue reading “Carson’s Tonight Show Finale”

The 36th annual Fleet Week New York will start today and continue through May 28th, and the U.S. Navy says about 2,600 Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen will be on hand to join in the “celebration of sea services.” As the old jokes goes: Take care lady, the streets are full of seamen. Remember nextContinue reading “Ahoy there”

May 21, 1971 –Regarded as one of the landmark recordings in pop music history, and one of the greatest albums of the 20th century, Marvin Gaye’s eleventh studio album What’s Going On, was released on this date. A loosely connected concept album of songs from the point of view of a Vietnam veteran returning toContinue reading “Marvin first asked us ‘What’s Going On’”