Showbiz History: "The Story of Us" Hits Theaters, "You Light Up My Life" Tops the Charts
Monday, October 15, 2018 at 7:00AM 10 random things that happened on this day, October 15th, in showbiz history
1888 A letter written "From Hell" was postmarked on this day for the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee. Was it actually from Jack the Ripper? The letter is now lost and the murders were forever unsolved. The story has fascinated Hollywood forever. Anyone remember the movie From Hell (2001) with Johnny Depp and Heather Graham?
1917 Exotic dancer Mata Hari is executed in France for espionage. Many films have been made about her.
More after the jump including Joan Crawford, Penny Marshall, Michelle Pfeiffer, a missing hunk, and "You Light Up My Life"...
← 1937 The Bride Wore Red, starring Joan Crawford and her then-husband Franchot Tone opens in movie theaters. (You can click on the poster to the left to see it in its full 'tag-line hall of fame' glory)
1943 Happy 75th to Penny Marshall today, one of the most successful female directors of all time. Why did she stop making movies so abruptly after Riding in Cars With Boys (2001) we'll never know. She's one of only three female directors who've had more than one $100 million grossing live-action hit at the US box office (Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron are the other two).
1951 The first episode of I Love Lucy "The Girls Want to Go to the Nightclub" premieres on CBS...
1965 Steve McQueen and Ann-Margret star in The Cincinatti Kid, new in theaters.
1977 "You Light Up My Life," the classic single from the movie of the same name sung by Debby Boone hits #1 on the Billboard singles charts and stays there for 10 full weeks. In the movie it's sung by Kasey Cisyk with actress Didi Conn lipsynching (the switch to the singing voice is pretty hilarious in this clip since Conn had such a distinct speaking voice). The song will go on to win the Grammy, the ASCAP, the Golden Globe, and the Oscar for composer Joseph Brooks.
1993 Peter Weir's Fearless opens in movie theaters starring Jeff Bridges, the odd film about plane crash survivors nets a supporting actress nomination for Rosie Perez.
1999 The Story of Us starring Bruce Willis & Michelle Pfeiffer and Fight Club with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton both opened in movie theaters. I saw them both that weekend but because of my pfandom I went to the Pfeiffer pfirst.
This was a very strange memorable weekend in my life. I had recently moved to NYC and I had been invited to The Story of Us premiere on the 13th, two days prior -- I dont remember how as The Film Experience wasn't yet a thing. Due to some mix up they had to turn the civilians who were invited to the premiere away with passes to see the movie that weekend but I was able to see Pfeiffer in the pflesh for the very pfirst time (October 13th, 1999!) as she walked the red carpet of sorts (i.e. the sidewalk into the theater which had a red carpert). It was a super exciting weekend.
2010 Red opened wide in movie theaters starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren as gun wielding senior badasses, while Conviction, a true story / Hilary Swank vehicle began its platform release. Hilarious they had kind of equal success during awards season where they both had exactly one major thing to brag about (a Golden Globe Best Picture Comedy nomination for Red, and a SAG nomination for Best Actress for Hilary)
Today's Celebrity Birthdays
Oscar Winners: Jane Darwell (The Grapes of Wrath), Mario Puzo (The Godfather)
Oscar Nominees: Mervyn LeRoy (Random Harvest... he also later received an Honorary), Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay... yes, it's technically the country that is nominated in the foreign film category but whatever. We consider it the director, too)
Actors: Victor Banerjee, Simon Böer, Ali Faizal, Akin Gazi, John Getz, Devon Gummersall, Nigel Green, Linda Lavin, Gavin Lee, Bailee Madison, Brennan Mejia, Larry Miller, Chris Olivero (whatever happened to him?), Zak Orth, Jean Peters, Tanya Roberts, and Dominic West.
Directors: Matteo Garonne (Gomorra, Dogman), Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness)
Today's Birthday Suit
...courtesy of Matt Keeslar in the miniseries Dune (2000)
Whatever happened to him? He had a pretty good run in movies from the mid 90s through the mid 00s including well regarded or high profile things like Waiting for Guffman, Last Days of Disco, Scream 3, and cult favs like Psycho Beach Party, Splendor, and Urbania. But aside from a couple of TV guest gigs he hasn't worked onscreen since headlining the short lived TV show The Middleman 10 whole years ago. What gives? It's not like he was some hunk who couldn't act who aged out of beauty roles. He went to Juillard and was a good actor --- albeit often cast in 'hunk' roles.
Both previous incarnations of Dune onscreen provided plenty of homoeroticism. Do we think the new adaptation (Timothée Chalamet to star) will do the same?
Reader Comments (16)
Was the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever ineligible?
The Story of Us is Michelle's worst performance. Destiny is a motherfucker.
I have to agree Peggy Sue it is indeed her most histrionic unrealistic performance but acting opp Willis is hard.
Matt Keeslar in Guffman is adorable - and Corky's fixation on him is a pretty shrewd understanding of power/shame/desire, like a slapstick mini-Gods and Monsters.
Nice ass, by the way. I saw Cold War yesterday and I'm obsessed with the movie and the male lead. That's a man to drool for.
That's a really good question about Matt Keeslar (I remember him co-starring in a play at Playwright's Horizon's in '95 or '96 - while I was working there). I took the liberty of looking him up and Wikipedia had this to say:
Keeslar retired from acting in 2010 to pursue a career in science. He penned an essay about the struggles with his acting career and subsequent decision to enroll at Portland Community College.[2] He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Reed College with a biology degree in May 2014. His biology thesis explored the effects of antimalarials on the brains of frogs.[3] While at Reed he played the "Father" role in Sarah Ruhl's "Eurydice."
Very interesting. Hope he has no regrets. I always liked him.
From Hell still gets shown on cable channels fairly often. I like it - am a sucker for the mood and production design of it, but the ending is disappointing. I really liked Didi Conn when I was very young. That she's married to David Shire, well, in certain ways the entertainment industry is tiny (or can be, depending on career paths). And I was a big Matt Keeslar fan (saw all the things you listed, and even sought out his episode of Law and Order). It's good to hear he's doing well.
It's a testament to Pfeiffer's gifts that she could play those ordinary, down-to-earth suburban mom types so well. I never questioned her behind the wheel of a minivan or packing lunches, etc.
She just has this amazing knack for internalizing the mundane.
I wish she could get a role like The Kids Are All Right or Enough Said.
Hayden -- uff. that would be heaven.
I haven't seen the film, but based on the song alone I can't for the life of me understand how 'You Light Up My Life' beat 'Nobody Does It Better' for Best Original Song. then again, quite a few of the '70snl winners were pretty sappy.
Edward L -- it was a colossal hit that year. think "my heart will go on"
That puts it into perspective. Thanks!
"You Light Up My Life" remains one of the worst songs ever. Yet, it showed how extreme the year 1977 was in the world of music. The day that song was #1 in the U.S., the Sex Pistols were on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Those are 2 big extremes.
Love "Story of Us"!!!!
in teeny tiny type at the bottom of the bride wore red poster: directed by dorothy arzner
fascinating career. she invented the boom mike! she dated glinda the good witch! where's her biopic/film experience article?
I loved THE STORY OF US. One of the first films of Pfeiffer’s that made me fall completely in love with her (before I finally saw her earlier Oscar-nominated work).
MAJOR CRUSH on Matt Keeslar in Splendor, he photographed beautifully.
Those lips, those eyes... that body.... true Splendor.