Month: June 2022

The Watergate break-in was 50 years ago today

The world premiere of Double Indemnity (1944) was in Baltimore

I was reading about Double Indemnity today when I learned that the world premiere was at Keith’s Theatre in Baltimore (which has been demolished) on July 3, 1944. James M. Cain, author of the novel it was based on, was born in Annapolis, MD and had worked at the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Bill Haley and the Comets played at Keith’s on its last day in 1955.

Battle Cry (1955) also had its world premiere in Baltimore. It was at the since-demolished Stanley Theatre. Leon Uris, author of the novel, was born in Baltimore.

Modern directors from Baltimore John Waters and Barry Levinson have had world premieres of their films here. I saw Polyester (1981) at the Charles Theatre on the world premiere day. John Waters and Divine were there.

My one day as a movie extra

I was a movie extra for The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979). The scene was a presidential nominating convention. It was filmed in the Baltimore Arena, then the Civic Center which seats about 12,000. I know we did it on a holiday – I’m guessing it was Veteran’s Day 1978.

The extras were arranged through the school system (and maybe others). A friend’s wife worked for them. We had to wear suits. We had a tag that was hung around our necks and some people (not me) had signs representing the states.

There were nowhere close to all the people needed to fill the arena so what they did was place everyone in one section so it looked crowded. Then they moved us to another part. We cheered for Joe.

Alan Alda, who starred in the film, came out at the end of the day and spoke to us briefly. I assume they fed us but can’t recall. It took a whole day for something that lasts about a minute or two in the film. It was enlightening to see how long it took to film something that is so brief on screen.

They gave us a certificate with facsimile autographs from Alda and Mayor Schaefer. As you can see, the film had a different name at the time.

from IMDB:

Locations in the American state of Maryland, according to the picture’s production notes, doubled for settings set in Louisiana, Washington D.C., and Westchester, New York. These included residential, countryside, and government building locales. Noticeable landmark exteriors were filmed in the U.S. capital of Washington D.C.

Covers: Seven Nights to Rock

“Seven Nights to Rock” was originally recorded in 1956 by Moon Mullican. Nick Lowe and Asleep at the Wheel have covered it and Bruce Springsteen has performed it live.

Extremist Supreme Court may overturn the Miranda decision

Miranda rights, which require police warnings to people they interrogate, was decided in a 1966 Supreme Court decision. The right-wing extremist Supreme Court may overturn this decision. Terrible.

Lewis Hine

Lewis Hine was an excellent photographer in the early 20th century.