THIS WEEK IN
FILM HISTORY

 

 

July 3, 1905: The long tradition of cinematic canine heroes begins in England with the debut of the seven-minute melodrama Rescued by Rover.

June 30, 1929: Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail, which nearly saw completion as a silent film, was re-shot with sound, becoming Britain's first "talkie."

June 29, 1933: Unable to overcome the scandal that plagued him 12 years earlier, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, 46, dies penniless of a heart attack.

June 30, 1933: The Screen Actors Guild is founded in Hollywood, presided over by actor Ralph Morgan.

June 29, 1934: The Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, launches a series of six films MGM will make featuring Dashiell Hammett's characters.

July 3, 1947: Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford and Bob Lewis open the Actors Studio in New York to teach Konstantin Stanislavsky's "Method" style of acting.

June 28, 1961: The search is on for the perfect James Bond, after United Artists announces it will produce seven films based on Ian Fleming's superspy.

June 29, 1967: Screen sex kitten Jayne Mansfield, 44, is killed in a car accident on a Louisiana highway. The sight of her wig nearby will stir up "beheading" rumors.

July 2, 1973: Betty Grable, the favorite actress and pin-up of many American G.I.s during World War II, dies of lung cancer at the age of 56.

June 30, 1983: Spanish-born director and master of cinematic surrealism Luis Buñuel dies in Mexico at 83.

June 30, 1989: Spike Lee's controversial look at race relations in a Brooklyn pizza parlor, Do the Right Thing, opens.

July 3, 1991: The most expensive movie up to its time, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, is released. Star Arnold Schwarzenegger's salary: a reported $15 million.

July 3, 1996: Debuting just in time for its namesake holiday, the sci-fi actioner Independence Day earns over $100 million in its opening week.

July 1, 1997: Robert Mitchum, sleepy-eyed tough guy and leading man from the '40s through the '90s, dies at age 79.

July 2, 1997: James Stewart, affable leading man and father figure from the '30s through the '90s, dies at age 89.

 

Birthdays...

Lindsay Lohan
Born: July 2, 1986

Liv Tyler
Born: July 1, 1977

John Cusack
Born: June 28, 1966

Tom Cruise
Born: July 3, 1962

Dan Aykroyd
Born: July 1, 1952

Kathy Bates
Born: June 28, 1948

Gary Busey
Born: June 29, 1944

Karen Black
Born: July 1, 1942

Sydney Pollack
Born: July 1, 1934

Leslie Caron
Born: July 1, 1931

Gina Lollobrigida
Born: July 4, 1927

Ken Russell
Born: July 3, 1927

Mel Brooks
Born: June 28, 1926

Eva Marie Saint
Born: July 4, 1924

Ray Harryhausen
Born: June 29, 1920

Susan Hayward
Born: June 30, 1917

Lena Horne
Born: June 30, 1917

Olivia de Havilland
Born: July 1, 1916

George Sanders
Born: July 3, 1906

Charles Laughton
Born: July 1, 1899

More passages:

Kerwin Mathews
Died: July 4, 2007

June Haver
Died: July 4, 2005

Marlon Brando
Died: July 1, 2004

Buddy Hackett
Died: June 30, 2003

Katharine Hepburn
Died: June 29, 2003

Rosemary Clooney
Died: June 29, 2002

Harold Nicholas
Died: July 3, 2000

Walter Matthau
Died: July 1, 2000

Sylvia Sidney
Died: July 1, 1999

Lana Turner
Died: June 29, 1995

Joe DeRita
Died: July 3, 1993

Lee Remick
Died: July 2, 1991