This day in history - December 15

[seamusTX]

1791 - The Bill of Rights went into effect.

One party held that the bill of rights was unnecessary, because the Constitution defined the powers of the government. We know how that turned out.

1914 - The American Radio Relay League was founded by Hiram Percy Maxim.

1939 - The movie Gone With the Wind opened in Atlanta.

It won ten Academy Awards the next year. More people have bought a ticket to Gone With the Wind than any other movie in U.S. history. Probably its inflation-adjusted gross receipts would also put it at the top of the scale.

1944 - Glenn Miller's plane disappeared over the English Channel.

Miller was an Army officer and popular leader of a swing band that had performed for U.S. troops in Europe. The WW II generation revered him the way later generations revered Elvis and Johnny Cash.

1978 - President Jimmy Carter recognized Communist China as "the" China in place of the nationalist government in Taiwan.

- Jim

[agbullet2k1]

To this day, I have never seen Gone with the Wind. It's on my list, but I just can't get excited about it.

[seamusTX]

I personally was not impressed by Gone With the Wind. I found the acting histrionic. But it clicked with audiences at the time it came out.

- Jim

[agbullet2k1]

I think Wizard of Oz had better lasting power. I also think the success of GWTW had more to do with lack of alternative entertainment than outstanding filmmaking. In that time, it was either book, radio, or movie. Movie was still new and exciting, so voila, the masses assemble. It would be the equivalent of someone creating holographic theater today. The production might be good, but it's worth will be inflated by being new, and people would go just to say they went. The production would begin to harbor a bit of nostalgia around it, and future generations will automatically label it a classic.

Not to say GWTW is bad, per se (again, haven't seen it), but I'm wary of any movie where everyone says "OMG you have to see it it's the best movie EVAR!!1!!one!"

[KaiserB]

I personally was not impressed by Gone With the Wind. I found the acting histrionic. But it clicked with audiences at the time it came out.

- Jim

If they ever remake Gone with the Wind they will have to get William Shatner to do the [over] acting.

[agbullet2k1]

I personally was not impressed by Gone With the Wind. I found the acting histrionic. But it clicked with audiences at the time it came out.

- Jim

If they ever remake Gone with the Wind they will have to get William Shatner to do the [over] acting.

They better hurry.

[seamusTX]

I agree about the novelty of movies in the 1930s, especially with the development of Technicolor being fairly recent.

Movies did have to compete with live team sports, boxing, and horseracing, though. Professional sports were not expensive to attend, and the last two were hugely popular at that time. People also did a lot more do-it-yourself entertainment than than they did now.

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

I agree about the novelty of movies in the 1930s, especially with the development of Technicolor being fairly recent.

Movies did have to compete with live team sports, boxing, and horseracing, though. Professional sports were not expensive to attend, and the last two were hugely popular at that time. People also did a lot more do-it-yourself entertainment than than they did now.

- Jim

"Frankly my dear, I don't give ......," was the most startling actor's movie statement of the time.

Boy howdy! If Vivian Leigh and Leslie Howard could see what passes for PG-13 today , they'd be spinning. Look how far we've come in the past 70 years, isn't it great? .

[seamusTX]

Ah, the good old days of the Hayes Code.

Today people just complain about the racial stereotypes.

- Jim

[DoubleJ]

1944 - Glenn Miller's plane disappeared over the English Channel.

Miller was an Army officer and popular leader of a swing band that had performed for U.S. troops in Europe. The WW II generation revered him the way later generations revered Elvis and Johnny Cash.

- Jim

Personal inspiration to me. Used to play trumpet in a 20-piece Big Band. When we started out, we took the name In The Mood, which as anyone knows, was one of Miller's signature songs.
We played, easily, half a dozen of his tunes, not to mention a couple by Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and even a few Stan Kenton (though he was much later) tunes.

man... that was good times....

[seamusTX]

The popularity of swing ties into my earlier comment about do-it-yourself entertainment. People used to go out for an elegant evening that included dancing (not the ape-like gyrations that came along later). Who does that any more?

- Jim

[DoubleJ]

I had some level of personal satisfaction in the "Swing Revival" in the late 90s with bands such as the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and or course, the Royal Crown Revue (the band in Jim Carrey's The Mask).
Seeing people my age doing swing dancing was fascinating. and seeing people my age actually listening to my band as if we were "cool" was quite the treat, as well. our crowds typically were made of older folks, and our main gigs were class of '47 50th year reunions and what-not.