Showbiz History: American Hustle, Clue, and Dick Van Dyke
Sunday, December 13, 2020 at 7:40AM 
4 random things that happened on this day, December 13th, in showbiz history
1956 Historical drama Anastasia is released starring Yul Brynner and Ingrid Bergman. It will bring Bergman back into Hollywood's graces after her banishment due to her extramarital affair and win her her second Best Actress Oscar (though she doesn't attend the ceremony).
1957 Peyton Place which we discussed quite a bit this past summer premieres in NYC, becomes a smash hit and Oscar contender. The soapy drama about a mother and daughter and a small gossipy town is quickly adapted into a TV series...
1985 A memorable weekend in movie theaters. Jewel of the Nile, the fast sequel to Romancing the Stone was the new box office hit. Clue, the other wide opener, flopped. Now, many years years later, it's much beloved proving yet again that box office isn't everything.
The buzziest film opening that day was would-be major Oscar contender A Chorus Line: The Movie in limited release. But the movie disappointed critics and fans and had to settle for just 3 Oscar nominations: Film Editing, Original Song, and Sound.
2013 American Hustle and Saving Mr Banks (which we reminisced about this summer) hit movie theaters. They're both expected to blow up at the Oscars but only American Hustle does with shocking 10 nominations. It was the second year in a row that a David O. Russell film had scored the uncommon feat of receiving nominations in all four acting categories!
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 95th birthday today to Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Dick Van Dyke) who was born on this day way back in 1925. The movie musical star and sitcom star is one of the 25 oldest living film or television stars and still in good shape. We assume you saw his spirited tapping in Mary Poppins Returns just two years back when he was 93.
A selection of other showbiz people who were born on this day:
Oscar winners Jamie Foxx (Ray, Django Unchained) and Christopher Plummer (Beginners, The Sound of Music), plus Grammy favourite Taylor Swift, TV regular James Kyson (Lovecraft County, Heroes), the late Darlene Cates (What's Eating Gilberg Grape), the late Van Heflin, Composer Harry Gregson-Williams (Mulan, The Martian), Current cinematographer Peter Deming (The New Mutants, The Good Lord Bird), French actor Michaël Cohen aka the former Mr Emanuelle Béart (It Begins with the End, Them), and the late Oscar winning producer Richard D Zanuck (Driving Miss Daisy, Jaws, The Verdict)
Reader Comments (15)
The 10 for AH seems overly generous now esp the Bale,Cooper and Lawrence nods
Adams is also overrated in AH, markgordonuk.
The three actresses' performances in Clue are pure actressexual heaven.
I still love American Hustle. I've rewatched it a bunch of times. I haven't rewatched any of that year's other Best Picture nominees.
So Julie Andrews' two major costars share the same birthday? I assume Christopher Plummer is a tad younger than DVD?
That editing nomination for A Chorus Line is ridiculous. I thought the editing was terrible. All the dancing was choppy, and the movie kept cutting from the songs to "background" stuff that didn't matter. Although I guess maybe the editing at least tried to save it from the whole misguided endeavor to begin with? I really wish Spielberg decided to remake this one instead.
I adore Clue. One of my favorite movies. However, a problem that may have lead to it doing badly in theaters was the three endings were not included together like they are now. You had to pick a theater and certain times to get certain endings- it required multiple viewings (multiple times playing for tickets) to see all three endings. That sounds like a turn off and a greedy cash grab to me and I probably wouldn't do repeat viewings either. They should have just released all three ending together.
Clue is in my top 5 favorite comedies and it might be number 1, but I am always flipping between it and When Harry Met Sally. The cast is absolutely fantastic with my favorite performance being Lesley Ann Warren’s Mrs Scarlet. It’s my fiancé’s favorite film of all time.
Hey Jules, you have company, I will stick up for American Hustle. Especially the performances by Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper. It has such verve. I like a film that holds me in my seat and keeps surprising me.
Having seen Clue on its original release I can say that Tom G.'s take on its initial failure is correct. I went to see it and the theatre I saw it at was showing ending B. I loved the film and the ending but there was no way I was going to run to two other theatres (and they weren't close) to see endings A & C. I think that reticence really hurt the film because unless you saw the same ending as others you were talking to about it the film was no longer a shared experience.
It's funny, but when I saw "Clue" in the theaters, it showed all 3 endings. At the end of "A", the screen went black, and then the words "OR WAS IT...?" came on the screen, and it started "B".
Same with "B" to "C".
Maybe they changed it after the first weak weekend?
I had jumped off the David O. Russell bandwagon by American Hustle, but I still loved that movie, despite the miscasting of Lawrence.
Dick Van Dyke: "movie musical star and sitcom star"...and procedural star. Diagnosis Murder had a longer run than The Dick Van Dyke Show, as a matter of fact.
A Chorus Line (the film) is an abomination.
I cannot imagine IMAGINE how I would have felt to see CLUE released in theaters originally with 3 different endings separated out like that. I think I would've gone crazy as well especially since I'm such a completist. Anyways, love the film. It had NO right to be as smartly written and conceived as it had and yet.
Should I see CLUE? Everyone seems to love it now, but I remember when it came out, it was universally considered a third tier Mel Brooks wannabe by critics. I worked in a video store when it came out on VHS/Beta, and even mom-and-pop Friday night video renters turned their noses up at it for things like AIRPLANE! or MURDER BY DEATH. Gawd, even THE PRIVATE EYES seemed to be better liked at the time, and not just by kids. How things change.
I still like American Hustle but it has gotten overrated and I still feel like the performance that no one talks about more of in that film is from Jeremy Renner. He kind of stole the film from everyone by not over-acting. I actually felt bad for his character as someone who wanted to do something good for his community.
You’re On fire with these posts!!!
@markgordonuk Lawrence has that lovely, delicate moment with Jack Huston: that alone was worth the nomination. Everyone was surprised by Bale nod, though he was reliably good. In hindsight the only one I wouldn't have nominated is Adams...