on this day in history as it relates to the movies...
Dolores Del Río auditioning for Catwoman. No wait that's not right. Dolores Del Rio in Journey Into Fear (1943)1885 Carlo Montuori, famed cinematographer of Italian neorealism is born. He went on to lens the essential Bicycle Thief (1948)
1904 Dolores del Río, one of the first three Mexican actors to become movie stars in Hollywood (the others being her cousin Ramon Novarro and Lupe Vélez - they all started in silent films and moved into talkies), after which she used her fame and beauty as part of Mexican cinema's Golden Age with the occasional Hollywood film thrown in. Credits include: Bird of Paradise (1932), Flying Down To Rio (1933), Journey Into Fear (1943), Cheyenne Autumn (1964) and multiple Best Actress winning films in Mexico: Las Abandonadas (1944), El Niño y la Niebla (1953), and Doña Perfecta (1951).
1906 Alexandre Trauner, Oscar winning production designer. His credits include The Nun's Story (1959), The Apartment (1960, Oscar win) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975, Oscar nomination), Subway (1985), and 'Round Midnight (1986)
1923 Jean Hagen. I "caaaaiiiiinnnnt stan' it" that she didn't win the Oscar for Singin in the Rain (1952)
1926 Fifties beefcake Gordon Scott is born in Oregon. Later stars in five Tarzan movies (including one of the best of the franchise, Tarzan's Greatest Adventure) and sword and sandal flicks
More after the jump including The Princess Diaries, Unforgiven, Mamie Gummer's debut, and the Summer Olympics...
1936 Jesse Owens wins his first of four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics.Race (2016) starring Stephan James, released earlier this year, dramatizes that triumphant journey. Are you excited about the Summer Olympics starting this weekend?
1937 Steven Berkoff is born in London. After his breakthrough decade in the 70s (Nicholas and Alexandra, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon) he specialized in 80s blockbuster villains (Octopussy, Rambo, Beverly Hills Cop)
1940 Martin Sheen is born. Headlines two indisputable 70s classics Badlands and Apocalypse Now before the role which will come to define him in The West Wing (1999-2006). But currently he's ruining Grace & Frankie for me so I'm grumpy.
1943 General Patton slapped a private at an army hospital on this day during World War II. I always hated the movie Patton (1970) because it seemed like it was totally in love with its alpha male toxic masculinity. But I only saw the movie when I was little on TV. For those who saw it as an adult, is it more complicated than hagiography?
1950 Director John Landis is born (Animal House, Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Blues Brothers)
1958 Ana Kokkinos is born in Melbourne. Makes the racy potent LGBT drama Head On (1998). She's one of those several promising female directors who emerged in the 90s but the industry didn't get behind. Boo.
1967 Actor/Director/Beauty Mathieu Kassovitz of Amelie (2001) and La Haine (1995) fame is born in Paris.
1973 Perfect Guy who is Almost Human Michael Ealy is born in Maryland. He'll next star in the Jacob's Ladder remake
1979 More American Graffiti opens. The ill-fated film, a follow up to the 1973 smash hit, is a reminder that it's difficult to sequelize nostalgia even though Hollywood keeps trying.
Meryl & Mamie have made 3 films together: Heartburn, Evening, and Ricki and the Flash
1983 Overachieving Meryl Streep gives birth to second child Mamie Gummer 3 months and 23 days after winning her second Oscar (Sophie's Choice). Mamie makes her screen debut as her mama's toddler in Heartburn shortly thereafter.
1984 this happens to be our "year of the month" for August. The two big releases in theaters this weekend back then were the sci-fi film Philadelphia Experiment starring Michael Paré and Nancy Allen and the dramedy Grandview USA about a high-school senior (C Thomas Howell) and a mechanic (Jamie Lee Curtis)
1990 Whit Stillman's fresh smart funny Metropolitan opens. (An Oscar nomination for writing follows which we think he'll repeat this year for his comeback hit Love and Friendship)
1992 Unforgiven premieres in Los Angeles. 238 years later it wins 4 Oscars including Best Picture & Best Director for Clint Eastwood. (But, keeping it 100: Merchant/Ivory's Howards End shoulda won.)
2001 Anne Hathaway debuts in movie theaters! The Princess Diaries is not just her first film but her first major hit (there will be 11 more -- it's a sturdy box office track record -- and hopefully that number goes up when she gets back to work with more commitment)
2007 The Bourne Ultimatum opens in movie theaters, becomes smash hit. Becoming Jane also opens. It does not become one of Hathaway's dozen smash hits.
2012 The remake of Total Recall is released, proving that there was no need to remake it.
If you made it all the way until the end of the post...
