According to William Goldman, when he first wrote the script and sent it out for consideration, only one studio wanted to buy it, and that was with the proviso that the two lead characters did not flee to South America. When Goldman protested that that was what had happened, the studio head responded, “I don’t give a shit. All I know is John Wayne don’t run away.” Goldman rewrote the script, “didn’t change it more than a few pages, and subsequently found that every studio wanted it.”
William Goldman said that many young people saw the super posse in ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,’ as a metaphor for the government and authority during the years of anti-war protests. He said his students said the similarity lay in the relentlessness by which both “would hunt you down.”
With nine wins, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ currently holds the record for the British Academy Awards (BAFTAs). It won for picture, actor (Robert Redford), actress (Katharine Ross, direction (George Roy Hill), screenplay, cinematography, film editing, sound, and score. It won every award it could, as its tenth nomination was a dual nomination for Best Actor.It was the top-grossing film of 1969, and today is considered one of Hollywood’s greatest westerns.Paul Newman said this was the most fun he’d ever had making a film~ and that he and Robert Redford drank a lot of beer in Mexico.Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed in 1968 in Utah, Colorado, and Mexico. It cost $6 million to film, but earned over $102 million at the box office in 1969, which would be around $725 million currently, adjusted for inflation.Continue reading →
During the 1950s the burlesque stripper, Candy Barr, received nationwide attention for her stripping career in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Then there were her encounters with the law, the death of her second husband, and her sentence to a prison term for drug possession. Candy Barr was a darling of the mob and had relationships with both Mickey Cohen and Jack Ruby. Whew!And below are a timeline of her sorted history, and the legendary Dallas strip clubs where it all began.Continue reading →
With a cigarette held between her scarlet red lips, Olivia Newton-John electrified John Travolta in the legendary movie musical of 1978. Throwback to the most scandalous rock’n’roll look of cinema.
In 2019 Julien’s Auctions organized a ‘Grease’ auction. Among the 500 items offered-up for auction were the hot black leather jacket, and skin tight leather pants worn by ‘Sandy,’ in the legendary finale scene. Much of the proceeds were donated to the Olivia Newton-JohnCancer Research Institute, created by the actress herself as she has battled breast cancer since 1992. The total sale of those two pieces alone fetched $405,700 dollars, or about 360,000 euros. Spanx founder Sara Blakely bought the pants.
GREASE was the highest-grossing movie of 1978. For a while, GREASE was the third highest-grossing movie of all time, behind Jaws (1975) and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977).Continue reading →
The newly completed Mormon Meteor III at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1938. Note the original exhaust manifold that was later replaced by individual stacks.
“This is the story about two men, father and son, their racing cars, their lives and the salt flats where they ran their most famous trials. Ab Jenkins was the son of Welsh immigrants, first a carpenter by trade and then a prominent building contractor, who grew up with the automobile and found a new career in driving cars fast but safely.”
THE LEGENDARY SAN FRANCISCO STRIPPER CAROL DODA, WHO PASSED IN 2015.
Carol Doda was a powerful pioneer that took the profession of stripping out of the shadowy margins of American society and gained worldwide fame as a topless dancer in the 1960s and ’70s. “San Francisco history is made up of characters, and Carol certainly was one of those, ” said Charlotte Shultz, chief protocol for San Francisco. “She changed Broadway and made news around the world. People said, ‘Only in San Francisco,’ and we didn’t mind people saying that.” ~VIA SFGATE
Kenny Roberts (#80) in action at the 1972 AMA National race in Salem; Salem AMA Motorcycle Slides Collection
In 1972, Kenny Roberts was a youthful 21 years old AMA Rookie of the Year. An immensely talented and thoroughly analytical rider, Roberts was already three years into his professional racing career, and two years into a factory Yamaha contract. However, he was still not much known outside of the USA. Roberts went on to finish 2nd in the AMA Grand National Championship that year, his first season as an expert class rider.
Kenny Roberts on the grid for the AMA National race at Salem, OR in 1972 with man wearing local Oregon Sidewinders club jacket in the background / Salem AMA Motorcycle Slides Collection
“Rita Moreno knew how to make her cheating boyfriend jealous long before the age of social media. The task is simple; just a three-step process. First, date screen legend Marlon Brando. Second, find evidence of his affair (what would be the first of many). Third, get asked on a date by Elvis Presley and accept. While this seems like a page of Old Hollywood fan fiction, this was, in fact, Moreno’s life.” –From the pages of Vanity Fair.
David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve who starred together in the 1983 movie, The Hunger.
“He’s worth idolizing. He’s extraordinary. That was a really interesting period. I wasn’t supposed to have kids, and I’m the oldest of nine and had mothered all of them, so I wasn’t ever in a mode where I was looking to settle down and raise a family, so that definitely changes the gene pool you’re dipping into.”
In 1949, Bettie Page moved to New York with aspirations of becoming an actress. It was there she met one of America’s first ‘fetish’ photographers, Irving Klaw. From 1952 to 1957, Page worked as a model for Klaw for both his photographs and films, earning her the media nickname, “The Queen of Bondage.”
“For years I had my hair parted down the middle in a ponytail, tucked down around the sides Well, I went and cut the bangs, and I’ve been wearing them ever since. They say it’s my trademark.”Continue reading →
The Munsters~ Lily (Yvonne de Carlo), Herman (Fred Gwynne, Eddie (Butch Patrick), Marilyn (Beverly Owen), Grandpa (Al Lewis), 1964. Though the show only ran from 1964-66, it’s still a TV classic.
The Selvedge Yard 