settima

USA

Trash (Paul Morrissey, 1970)

Feb

23

freebie: Paul Morrissey born

Trash (1970)

Jane Forth, Paul Morrissey, and Joe Dallesandro in a publicity photo for Trash. DP: Paul Morrissey.

Freebie: Paul Morrissey born (1938 – 2024)

“Just because people throw it out and don't have any use for it, doesn't mean it's garbage.”

– Holly

Murders in the Zoo (A. Edward Sutherland, 1933)

Feb

20

Murders in the Zoo (1933)

A couple walks into a room, only to discover a lifeless man and a headless snake. DP: Ernest Haller.

“You don't think I sat there all evening with an eight-foot mamba in my pocket?”

– Eric Gorman

The List of Adrian Messenger (John Huston, 1963)

Feb

16

The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)

Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm (Dana Wynter), Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), and Raoul Le Borg (Jacques Roux). DP: Joseph MacDonald.

“There's nary a conspiracy. And if I'm right about this, it's a far older sin than politics.”

– Adrian Messenger

Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)

Feb

14

St. Valentine's Day

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Sugar, Josephine, Daphne, and Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopators rehearse Runnin’ Wild on the sleeper train to sunny Florida. DP: Charles Lang.

A movie about romance, of the Mafia, for St. Valentine's Day.

 

Musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) witness a killing by the Mob at the St. Valentine's Dance where they were hired to perform. In an attempt to escape the Chicagoan gangsters, they go overcover as Josephine and Daphne (“Well, I never did like the name Geraldine.”) in an all-gall jazz band, and fall head over heels for ukelele player Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe).

“Real diamonds! They must be worth their weight in gold!”

– Sugar Kane Kowalczyk

The opening shootout was directly inspired by the February 14 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre (graphic), and shares an actor from one of its most famous adaptations, Scarface (1932); George Raft as the wonderfully named Spats Colombo.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)

Feb

14

1925

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

The winning lottery numbers of February 14, 1925. DP: Ted D. McCord.

“A thousand men, say, go searchin' for gold. After six months, one of them's lucky: one out of a thousand. His find represents not only his own labor, but that of nine hundred and ninety-nine others to boot. That's six thousand months, five hundred years, scramblin' over a mountain, goin' hungry and thirsty. An ounce of gold, mister, is worth what it is because of the human labor that went into the findin' and the gettin' of it.”

– Howard

Lord of the Flies (Peter Brook, 1963)

Feb

8

Boy Scouts of America

Lord of the Flies (1963)

Using Piggy's glasses, the boys light their first signal fire. DP: Tom Hollyman.

Someone prepares something for the founding of the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.

“His specs — use them as burning glasses!”

William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954)

The boys collectively gather firewood to light a beacon, then come up with the idea to light the fire with the help of one of the kid's glasses.

3 Women (Robert Altman, 1977)

Feb

7

1970

3 Women (1977)

Millie Lammoreaux's Social Security card, issued on February 7, 1970. DP: Charles Rosher Jr.

“Got a lot to write about today. You.”

– Millie Lammoreaux

Madam Satan (Cecil B. DeMille, 1930)

Feb

4

Charles Lindbergh's born

Madam Satan (1930)

You're cordially invited to Mr. James Wade's “Masquerade”, aboard the Zeppelin – CB – P – 55. Do wear a mask. DP: Harold Rosson.

A movie about aviation for that eugenicist Charles Lindbergh's birthday.

“I don't want your husband. I want a parachute!”

– Trixie

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1987)

Feb

4

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)

A brunette Barbie doll representing Karen Carpenter makes a statement in front of the White House. DP: Barry Ellsworth.

“Mother, didn't you know there are children starving in Africa?”

– “Karen Carpenter”

America America (Elia Kazan, 1963)

Feb

2

New Amsterdam

America America (1963)

Stavros (Stathis Giallelis) and other passengers on the ship. Their faces are reflected in a glass pane, showing dozens waiting at what appears to be Ellis Island. DP: Haskell Wexler.

A film about New York to commemorate the incorporation of New Amsterdam. The official Bales' rule states the year 1624, but that is the year of settlement, and even that is one year off. To cut a long story short, New Amsterdam was incorporated as a city on February 2, 1653.

“My name is Elia Kazan. I am a Greek by blood, a Turk by birth and an American because my uncle made a journey.”

– Elia Kazan, voice-over

America America tells the story of director Kazan's grandfather through the life of the Greek Stavros Topouzoglou (Stathis Giallelis), who was adamant to start anew, in New York.