Category: On this date

Sidney Poitier’s first film was No Way Out

No Way Out (1950) is an excellent film that starred Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier who died today. It was Poitier’s film debut. It was released on DVD in 2006 as part of the Fox Film Noir series. It’s an excellent film and not well known today.

The Times They Are A-Changin’ released on 1/3/64

One of the few Dylan albums where the album title was a song title

His last strictly folk music album although his next one was also acoustic

Think I’ll do a covers post now

Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton was born on December 28, 1950. He had three music careers. He was a teenage star with the Box Tops in the 1960s and a great but not popular at the time run with Big Star. He later had a solo career.

There’s a fine book about him A Man Called Destruction by Holly George-Warren. There’s a fine film about Big Star called Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. The Replacements recorded a song about him.

JFK assassination – 11/22/63

I was in fifth grade when Kennedy was assassinated. It was a “9/11” or “Pearl Harbor” moment for anyone old enough to know what was going on. I recall being sent home from school. It was a lot more shocking then than it would be now when gun violence is much more frequent.

I saw Kennedy when he ran for president. I was seven so I don’t remember what he said. I do remember that his hair was a bright rust color.

Manos: The Hands of Fate

“Manos: The Hands of Fate” was released on this day in 1966. It is one of the worst films ever and was the subject of a well-known Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. It’s available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Moonlight Graham was real

Moonlight Graham, a character in the film Field of Dreams and Shoeless Joe, the novel it was based on, was real. He really did appear in one major league game. His birthday was yesterday.

The Fosbury Flop

Its very rare to have one person totally change a sport but Dick Fosbury revolutionized the way people did the high jump.

He passed away on March 12, 2023.