Showbiz History: Fargo, La Femme Nikita, Captain Marvel, and more...
Monday, March 8, 2021 at 9:00AM 7 random things that happened on this day, March 8th, in showbiz history
1935 The Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy musical Naughty Marietta opens in theaters. It will go on the receive two Oscar nominations: Best Picture and Best Sound Recording. This is one of the first really old movies I ever saw in movie theaters as my parents occassionally took us to the local repertory theater (just a five minute drive away). The only memory I have of it is Jeanette MacDonald singing "Sweet Mystery of Life". When I finally saw Young Frankenstein on cable or DVD many years later (I was very late to that movie) I laughed so hard at Madeline Kahn busting that song out while having sex with the Frankenstein monster. The scene is hilarious even without context, of course, but I had loved the song as a child which made the scene twice as funny. Mel Brooks was 9 years old when Naughty Marietta came out. Maybe his parents also took him to see it?
1985 Mask, starring Cher, opens in theaters, one of that year's best films...
Though it's an adult-centric drama that becomes one of the year's biggest hits and receives two Globe nominations for acting -- all of which are usually good signs for Oscar attention -- the Academy turns their noses up; They only nominated it for Best Makeup (which it won).
1991 Happy 30th anniversary to the French assassin thriller La Femme Nikita which opened in the US on this day, continuing its journey to major international hit status. It won Anne Parillaud the César for Best Actress and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film. Within a handful of years it spawned both an American remake (starring Bridget Fonda) and a Canadian TV series which ran for 5 seasons.
1996 Happy 25th anniversary to Oscar-nominated classic Fargo. The Coen brothers snowy noir opened in limited release on this day. It would win Frances McDormand the first of her two Best Actress Oscars. If she is nominated and wins the Oscar for Nomadland she will be in extremely rare Oscar territory. The only actors who have ever won more than two leading Oscars are Katharine Hepburn and Daniel Day-Lewis. The only other three-time winners (Streep, Bergman, Nicholson, Brennan) all nabbed at least one of their Oscars in the supporting category)
2013 Identify Thief starring Melissa McCarthy is the top new release, opening with big box office, and cementing McCarthy as a bankable star in her first leading role after the Bridesmaids level up.
2019 Captain Marvel opens to mega-bucks as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first female-led movie. Despite their trailblazing of the superhero franchise as the most popular movie genre, they didn't get their first as the DC Extended Universe's Wonder-Woman had been a smash hit two years earlier.
2020 On this day just last year Max von Sydow died. We should have known right then that 2020 was about to go down the toilet.
Today's birthday suit
Cyd Charisse, one of the greatest dancers who ever lived, was born on this day 99 years ago. We'll have to celebrate her Centennial next March which should be fun because...those movies! Brigadoon, Singin' in the Rain, It's Always Fair Weather, Silk Stockings, The Harvey Girls, and The Band Wagon.
Boris KodjoeOther showbiz birthdays today: Austrian-American hunk Boris Kodjoe (Surrogates, Code Black, Brown Sugar) pictured left, James Van der Beek (Dawson's Creek, Rules of Attraction), Camryn Manheim (The Practice, Happiness), Aidan Quinn (Desperately Seeking Susan, Legends of the Fall), Cynthia Rothrock (China O'Brien, The Martial Arts Kid), Freddie Prinze Jr (She's All That, Scooby Doo), Susan Clark (Webster, Porkys), Boris Kodjoe (Surrogates, Code Black), Leon (Cool Runnings, The Temptations), Nora-Jane Noone (The Descent, Brooklyn), Milana Vayntrub (Love, This is Us), Barbara Eve Harris (Messiah, The Wilds), Kit Connor (His Dark Materials, Rocketman), and writer/director Thomas Bezucha (Big Eden, Let Him Go).
And late greats like... Oscar winner Claire Trevor (Key Largo, High & Mighty), Sean McClory (The Quiet Man, The Dead), and Oscar nominee Lynn Redgrave (Georgy's Girl, Gods and Monsters)
Reader Comments (11)
That is a terrific picture of Cyd Charisse and her amazing legs. They go on forever.
Mask was reportedly snubbed due to director Peter Bogdanovich's multi-millionaire lawsuit against Universal for replacing the Bruce Springsteen score with music by Bob Seger when rights became problematic. Bogdanovich argued the change violated his contractual final cut. The argument then was that the lawsuit was so ugly that AMPAS didn't vote for the film to appear neutral.
Cher presented at the Oscar ceremony in a Bob Mackie over the top ensemble that made headlines the next day.
That 1985 Actress race was insanely competitive!
I fell for Boris Kodjoe during his run on the SOUL FOOD series (and TLC’s “Red Light Special” music video). Miss seeing him in more projects, and he did pop up on a show I was rewatching (EVE on HBO Max) which made me wonder what he was up to now (he’s a series regular on the network drama STATION 19).
Cher was overlooked for Jessica Lange who had no precursor support,A big shock i'd have thought in 85..
Cher shared the Cannes Best Actress award with Norma Aleandro (The Official Story). Then, Aleandro was crowned best actress by the NY Film Critics. They were both left out of the Oscar roster.
It was one of the most difficult years we could remember:
Winner Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful
Meryl Streep for Out of Africa
Whoopi Goldberg for The Color Purple
Anne Bancroft for Agnes of God
and
Jessica Lange for Sweet Dreams.
Who took Cher and Aleandro's spots?
I'd say Anne Bancroft and Jessica Lange. Lange had received no precursor nominations, and Bancroft only one from the GG.
Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy are for the lyrical song
Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy movies are for MGM what Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are for RKO in the 1930s. Beautiful, sexy and modern - together or with other partners - , they have made producers and exhibitors happy with their popularity - and box office - and are considered responsible for popularize opera among the general public. Naughty Marietta was the first of eight films together and is fun with a great production design and costumes and of course, great soundtrack.
La Femme Nikita, great series with the won-der-ful Roy Dupuis.
Cyd Charisse, beauty queen of her time, was married to a beauty king, Tony Martin.
Marcos -- it was a pity really since Cher is so excellent (way better than Bancroft that year). Sweet Dreams is yet another reminder that their is nothing Oscar likes as much as biopics about musicians. which is why i've been predicting Andra Days since before the Globe win.