March 7: First Woman Director Honored

On this date in History ... March 7, 2010:  

Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman director to win a Best Director Academy Award. Among those also nominated that year was her ex-husband, James Cameron, for his film "Avatar". 

In her acceptance speech she said,  "I hope I'm the first of many [women], and of course, I'd love to just think of myself as a filmmaker. And I long for the day when that modifier can be a moot point.”

MARCH: WOMEN IN HISTORY MONTH

March 2: Dr. Seuss

On this date in History ..... 1904:

Theodor Seuss Geisel is born in Mass. Twenty years later, after being removed from his editor-in-chief position of a college humor magazine with Dartmouth College for drinking in his dorm on campus, which was in violation not only of school policy but of Prohibition Law, he was forced to invent his pen name of “Dr. Seuss” (his middle name which was also his mother's maiden name) so he could be published. He published 44 books and only 4 of them were not written in rhyme. 

His father, a brewmaster, wanting his son to be a professor, so after graduating from Dartmouth, Geisel went to Oxford University in England where he met his wife. The year they were married, he dropped out of school and came back to America where he began earning a living as a cartoonist and eventually drawing cartoon-like advertisements for Standard Oil, a job he held for fifteen years.

Viking Press gave him his introduction to illustrating children’s books. Geisel’s first book “And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street” was rejected 27 times before it was published, becoming the first of 44 books to be published by the author.  (Only four of those books were not written in rhyme.)

He also drew propaganda posters and made animated training films for the War Department during WWII, featured a character named “Private Snafu”.

Click "here" to see a video of "Private Snafu"

In 1954, Life Magazine published an article criticizing children’s reading levels. Two publishing houses challenged him to write a children’s book using only 200 vocabulary words. The challenge was met with the Seuss icon book of “Cat in the Hat.”

“At the time of his death on September 24, 1991, Ted had written and illustrated 44 children's books, including such all-time favorites as Green Eggs and Ham, Oh, the Places You'll Go, Fox in Socks, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His books had been translated into more than 15 languages. Over 200 million copies had found their way into homes and hearts around the world.

Besides the books, his works have provided the source for eleven children's television specials, a Broadway musical and a feature-length motion picture. Other major motion pictures are on the way.

His honors included two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.”    (Quote Source: http://www.catinthehat.org/history.htm )

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December 15: Gone With the Wind

On this date in History ..... 1939:

The movie “Gone With the Wind” premiers in Atlanta Georgia.  There is too much trivia to list all of them, but some interesting pieces of info are:

·         Tickets for the premiere were 40 times the normal price.

·         The movie never mentions the death of Abraham Lincoln after the end of the Civil War.

·         It was the first color film to win “Best Picture”.  It was also the longest film (4 hrs) to win the award.

·         It won 10 awards, a record held for 20 yrs until “Ben Hur” surpassed it.

Clark Gable as "Rhett Butler"

·         Clark Gable lost “Best Actor” to Robert Donat of “Goodbye Mr. Chips”.





 

Vivian Leigh as "Scarlett O'Hara"

 

·         1400 actresses were interviewed for the role of Scarlett. The public was asked to vote on their choice on who should get the role.  Vivian Leigh got one vote.

·         Clark Gable almost quit when he found he would have to cry (after Scarlett’s miscarriage). de Haviland convinced him to stay.

Hattie McDaniel as "Mammy"

·         Gable also threatened to boycott the premiere when he found that Hattie McDaniel would be unable to attend due to racial segregation laws. She convinced him to go.

·         Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American performer to win an Academy Award (for Best Supporting Actress) for her performance, and the first African-American to attend the Academy Awards as a guest and not a servant.

·         When Gary Cooper turned down the role for Rhett Butler, he was passionately against it. He is quoted saying both, "Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history," and, "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."

·         Rhett’s closing line has been voted the #1 movie line of all time.


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November 19: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

On this date in History ... 1975:

The movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is first shown in theaters in New York. It was made with an estimated budget of $4.4 million and grossed $112 million. 

 

Many of the extras in the movie were actual mental patients.

It went on to become the first film in four decades to win in all five of the major Academy Award categories: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Adapted) and Best Picture.  Winning in all of these categories is known as “The Grand Slam” and has been done by only two other movies: “It Happened One Night” in 1934 and “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1991. 

“Cuckoo’s Nest” was Jack Nicholson’s first Oscar win, despite four previous nominations. The role was originally offered to James Caan and then to Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman.

Video clip of "The Juicy Fruit" scene