Life is what happens when you are making other plans~ John Lennon
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Showing posts with label 1950s pop culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1950s pop culture. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

The Hollywood Daughter by Kate Alcott

This novel, written by Kate Alcott, takes place in the 1950s and centers around Swedish film star Ingrid Bergman and the world of 1950s Hollywood, the Church and McCarthy-related Communist paranoia

Summary

-Los Angeles, 1950. Ingrid Bergman is a Swedish film star whose star is rising with the success of Casablanca. Her publicist is Gabriel Malloy, whose own seventeen year old daughter is Jessica "Jesse" Malloy. Jessica idolizes Ingrid for her elegance, beauty and as a second mother where her own devoutly religious mother falls short. One day, it's revealed that Ingrid Bergman has conducted an illicit affair with Italian film director Roberto Rosselini and had a child out of wedlock. Suddenly this scandal rocks Hollywood and the legions of fans are shocked. But none more so than Jessica, whose father is more or less demonized for trying to sell Ingrid Bergman in Hollywood. Over the years, Jesse has fleeting encounters with the film star and realizes that, over the years, there were a lot of secrets in her own family that stayed hidden for good reason

Friday, December 16, 2016

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Historic events in October

History

10/1/1946: 12 members of the Nazi Party are tried and sentenced to death at the International War Crimes Tribunal inn Nuremburg, Germany
10/1/1908: Henry Ford's "Model T" goes on sale for the first time
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10/2/1967: Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
10/3/1974: Frank Robinson becomes the first black baseball player to be hired by the Cleveland Indians
10/4/1957: The "Space Age" begins as the Russians launch their satellite, Sputnik, into space.
10/6/1927: The first "talkie" film debuted in New York. The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson was the first film using spoken dialogue
10/6/1846: George Westinghouse is born. He is an engineer and inventor, responsible for creating air brakes for trains and adoption of alternating current (AC) systems for electric power transmission
10/8/1871: The Great Fire of Chicago. Over 300 people were killed, 90,000 were left homeless
10/8/1993: Apartheid ends in South Africa. Economic sanctions against South Africa following the end of apartheid are lifted
10/9/1962: After 70 years of British rule, Uganda gets its independence
10/9/1940: Beatle member John Lennon is born in Liverpool, England. He was tragically murdered by a crazed fan in New York on 12/8/1980
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10/14/1964: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. becomes the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He donated the $54,000 to the Civil Rights Movement
10/15/1946: Nazi leader Hermann Goering committed suicide in his Nuremburg prison cell by swallowing a cyanide pill hours before his hanging for war crimes
10/16/1916: the first birth control clinic opens in Brooklyn, N.Y. by Margaret Sanger, a nurse who worked among the people on the Lower East Side
10/18/1945: "The Nuremburg Trials" begin with indictments against 24 former Nazi leaders including Hermann Goering and Albert Speer. This trial lasted 10 months, with the final verdict landing on Oct. 1, 1946. Twelve Nazis were sentenced to death by hanging, three to life imprisonment,  four to lesser terms, three were acquitted
10/19/1960: The US puts an embargo on Cuba, as the State Department banned all shipments from Cuba except food and medicine
10/19/1987: "Black Monday". The Wall Street stocks plunged 508 points, the largest one day drop in history
10/21/1967: largest anti-War protest in history. Thousands of anti-war protesters stormed the Pentagon during a protest against Vietnam. 250 were arrested. No shots were fired, but protesters were bit with nightsticks and rifle butts
10/24/1931: Chicago gangster Al "Scarface" Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for federal income tax evasion. In 1934, he was transferred to Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco. He received parole in 1939, during which, he was suffering from syphilis. He retired to his mansion in Miami Beach, where he died in 1947
10/26/1881: the famous "Shootout at the O.K. Corral" happens in Tombstone, Arizona. The shootout occurs between the Clanton and Earp families. Wyatt Earp, two of his brothers, and "Doc" Holliday, gunned down two members of the Clanton family and two others
10/28/1846: the ever famous "Donner Party". The group had 90 people in it, consisting of immigrants, families, businessmen, led by George and Jacob Donner. They became stranded in the Sierra mountains during a bad snowstorm and had to result to cannibalism to survive. There were just 48 people that survived
10/28/1919: The Volstead Act is passed. During Prohibition, drinks that contained more than one half of 1% alcohol was considered illegal. Called a "noble experiment" by Herbert Hoover, prohibition lasted 14 years and became the main source of profit for organized crime, which manufactured and sold the liquor they made in illegal bars or speakeasies
10/28/1914: Dr. Jonas Salk is born. He is a scientist who discovered a cure for the dreaded childhood disease polio. His vaccine reduced polio deaths in the U.S. by 95%
10/30/1990: The "Chunnel" is built. Connecting Great Britain to Europe, this underwater tunnel, which goes underneath the English Channel, allows people from England to go to Europe as well as the other way around
10/31/1941: Mount Rushmore is finished
10/31/1952: The U.S. tested its first hydrogen bomb at the Elugelab Atoll in the Pacific Marshall Islands

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Toy Hunter

Toy Hunter
-Jordan Hembrough searches the country for the worlds' rarest, coolest, most collectible retro toys ever, from Batman to Star Wars and beyond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Hunter

Season 1
Jersey Shore
-Air date: 8/15/2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rise from Ashland
-Air date: 8/15/2012
Texas Toy Step
-Air date: 8/22/2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Million Dollar Magazine
-Air date: 8/29/2012
Mississippi Menace
-Air date: 9/19/2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It's Chiller Time
-Air date: 9/12/2012
West Coast Wonders
-Air date: 10/10/2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Taking Tennessee
-Air date: 10/24/2012
Southern Space Chase
-Air date: 11/7/2012
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Boston Toy Party
-Air date: 11/14/2012
Houston the Toys Have Landed
-Air date: 11/28/2012
Comic Con NYC
-Air date: 12/5/2012
Hunt for Misfit Toys
-Air date: 12/12/2012

Season 2
KISS and Tell: Jordan gets his most high profile client yet- Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS is looking for some collectible KISS stuff. And Jordan manages to find him dolls of all 4 original members and a lunchbox with the band on it from their 'Love Gun' era. To make things more difficult, there is a major time constraint on it: Gene is scheduled to go on tour with KISS to promote their new album and he wants to have it done the week before he leaves
-Air date: 4/10/2013

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Toy Lovers
-Air date: 4/10/2013
Chi Toy-Town
-Air date: 4/17/2013








 
 
 
Finding Bigfoot
-Air date: 4/24/2013
Battle for Seattle
-Air date: 5/1/2013
Buying for Bonaduce
-Air date: 5/8/2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
80s Flashbax
-Air date: 5/15/2013
Nerd of Mouth
-Air date: 5/22/2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GI Jackpot
-Air date: 5/29/2013
Playing with Fire
-Air date: 6/5/2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Toy Tycoon
-Air date: 6/12/2013
Buck Rodgers Bet
-Air date: 6/19/2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Caribbean Booty
-Air date: 6/26/2013

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Grease

Grease
Summary
-Greaser Danny Zuko and Australian exchange student Sandy Olsen fall in love over the summer. It's the 1950s and in California! What they don't know until it's too late is that they'll both be attending Rydell High School. Danny's the leader of The T-Birds, a group of black leather jacket greasers and Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, led by Rizzo. They eventually fall back in love towards the end when Sandy becomes a greaser girl




Cast
-John Travolta: Danny Zuko
-Olivia Newton-John: Sandy Olsen
-Stockard Channing: Betty Rizzo
-Jeff Conaway: Kenickie
-Barry Pearl: Doody
-Michael Tucci: Sonny
-Kelly Ward: Putzie
-Didi Conn: Frenchy
-Jamie Connelly: Jan
-Dinah Manoff: Marty Maraschino
-Eve Arden: Principal McGee
-Sid Caesar: Coach Calhoun
-Susan Buckner: Patty Simcox
-Eddie Deezen: Eugene Felnick
-Annette Charles: Cha Cha DiGregorio

Did You Know?
-Olivia Newton-John had to be sewn into the spandex pants she wore at the carnival scene due to a zipper breaking
-Set in high school, most of the cast were well past their high school years. John Travolta was 23, Olivia Newton-John was 28, Stockard Channing was 33, Jeff Conaway was 26, Barry Pearl was 27, Michael Tucci was 31, Kelly Ward was 20, Didi Conn was 25, Jamie Donnelly was 30, Annette Charles was 29. Only Eddie Deezen, Dinah Manoff and Lorenzo Lamas were still teens, all 19
-Rydell High is a reference to Bobby Rydell, who had a major song, "Swingin' School" in 1960
-Harry Reems, who was known for porn movies such as Deep Throat, had cold feet about hiring him. They instead hired Sid Caesar to play Coach Calhoun
-Randall Kleiser, director of the film, hated the title song. Because the movie was set in the 1950s, he felt that the title song, with it's heavy disco beat and cynical lyrics was inappropriate
-The scene in Frenchy's bedroom where Rizzo is singing the line about Elvis, was filmed the day he died

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Porky's Revenge

Porky's Revenge

Plot
-Meat is a student at Angel Beach High School in Florida. One day, while oging home, he sees a shapely girl broken down on the side of the road. He soon learns her face is not right with her figure. Him and the rest of the guys soon learn that she is the daughter of their enemy, strip club owner Porky. They then learn he has re-opened his nightclub aboard a new riverboat.


-Meanwhile, right around the corner is the Angel Beach Basketball Championship. The guys learn that their coach owes money to Porky. But things take a turn for the worse when Porky's daughter develops a crush on Meat and tries to force him to have sex aboard the closed nightclub. When Porky hears of her crush, he and his men kidnap Meat from the senior prom and force him into a shotgun wedding.


Cast
-Dan Monahan: Pee Wee Morris
-Wyatt Knight: Tommy Turner
-Tony Ganios: Meat Tuperello
-Mark Herrier: Billy
-Kaki Hunter: Wendy Williams
-Scott Colomby: Brian Schwartz
-Nancy Parsons: Beulah Ballbricker
-Chuck Mitchell: Porky Wallace
-Wendy Feign: Blossom
-Kim Evenson: Inga
-Sandy Mielke: Snooky Kelton

Porky's II: The Next Day

Porky's II: The Next Day
Plot
-The students of Angel Beach High School are planning on putting on what they call "An Evening with Shakespeare". The local KKK branch is upset to hear that the one of the roles will be played by a student named John Henry, a Seminole Indian. Their efforts to put on the play are hampered by the gym teacher, Miss Beulah Ballbricker, who has enlisted the help of a religious fanatic named Reverend Bubba Flavel,  who, along with his religious people, will try and shut the play down.





-The KKK gets involved because one of the students in one of the plays, Romeo & Juliet, has a Seminole Indian named John Henry playing the lead, who will have to kiss a white girl. They start threatening the school and the boy himself. So it's up to the main crew to stop these major threats and protect anyone threatening Angel Beach


Cast
-Dan Monahan: Pee Wee
-Wyatt Knight: Tommy
-Mark Herrier: Billy
-Roger Wilson: Mickey
-Cyril O'Reilly: Tim
-Tony Ganios: Meat
-Kaki Hunter: Wendy
-Scott Colomby: Brian
-Nancy Parsons: Ballbricker
-Joseph Runningfox: John Henry
-Eric Christmas: Carter
-Bill Wiley: Reverend Flavel
-Cisse Cameron: Sandy Le Toi
-William Fuller: Klan Leader

Did You Know?