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July 24, 1952 –Fred Zinnemann’s classic western, High Noon, starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, and Thomas Mitchell, opened in New York City, on this date. In 1951, after 25 years in show business, Gary Cooper’s professional reputation was in decline, and he was dropped from the “Motion Picture Herald’s” list of the top-ten box-office performers.Continue reading “High Noon premiered”

July 24, 1974 –The controversial film Death Wish, based on the novel by Brian Garfield, directed by Michael Winner and starring Charles Bronson was released in the US on this date. After the success of Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood was offered the role of Paul Kersey but declined, feeling he would be poorly cast. HeContinue reading “Death Wish opened”

July 24, 1948 –… Crumbly Crunchies are the bestLook delicious on your vestServe them to unwanted guestsStuff the mattress with the rest…. A great Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, Haredevil Hare, was released on this date. (It was the first appearance of Marvin the Martian, though he wasn’t named until decades later.) LookContinue reading “Another classic Bugs Bunny cartoon”

July 24, 1993 –UB40’s cover of the Elvis Presley song, Can’t Help Falling In Love, hits No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. Elvis Presley originally recorded this in 1961. UB40 were asked to record an Elvis tune of their choice for a new film called Honeymoon In Vegas. The band’s drummer, JamesContinue reading “Can’t Help Falling In Love topped the charts”

July 23, 1979 –Electric Light Orchestra dedicated the release, on this date, of the single Don’t Bring Me Down from their album Discovery to Skylab which had crashed back to Earth on July 11, 1979. (The song is the first ELO song without any strings.) Don’t Bring Me Down became the biggest hit ELO everContinue reading “Don’t Bring Me Down first went on sale”

July 23, 1987 –Columbia Pictures released the biopix about Richie Valens, La Bamba, starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, and Elizabeth Peña, on this date. Ritchie Valens’ family were so attached to Lou Diamond Phillips that when he was shooting the scene where Valens gets on the airplane that led him to hisContinue reading “La Bamba premiered”

July 23, 1950 –The Singing Cowboy Gene Autry’s series The Gene Autry Show, co-starring Pat Buttram, sponsored by Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum, premiered on CBS-TV, on this date. Two-thirds of the way through the first season’s production, Pat Buttram was severely injured in an explosion and was hospitalized for several months. In order to complete theContinue reading “The Gene Autry Show first aired”

July 23, 1904 –At the turn of the last century, ice-cream men were a breed apart. It was hard work making ice-cream and the rewards were few. “You don’t choose ice cream,” they said, “ice cream chooses you.” Well, Charles E. Menches was an ice-cream man. They say it ran in his veins. (They sayContinue reading “The story of the ice cream cone”

July 23, 1885 –One of the most famous residents of West 122th Street and Riverside Drive made a most fateful decision on this date. He decided to give up the ghost. In 1881, Ulysses S. Grant, American general, the eighteenth President of the United States and famous horseback riding drunk, purchased a house in NewContinue reading “The passing of President Grant”

July 22nd is Spooner’s Day, honoring Reverend William Archibald Spooner, a 19th Century British clergyman, who was born on this date in 1844. Spoonerisms are usually a two-word phrase in which the first letters (and occasionally the initial vowels) of the words are reversed. Reverend Spooner was adept at the art of the oopsy linguae,Continue reading “Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?”