todayshappeningmovie: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

January 31 -Full Metal Jacket

Today’s film is a war movie with a scene that happens on January 31. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

FULL METAL JACKET

A group of marine recruits arrive at Parris Island and are placed under the command of Sgt. Hartman. One recruit, nicknammed “Gomer Pyle” fails at training, eventually kills Hartman and commits suicide. One of the recruits “Joker” is sent to Vietnam as a reporter for Stars and Stripes, where on January 31, 1968 [53:38 to 57:54], the Vietcong launch the Tet offensive. Joker joins a squad commanded by “Cowboy” a former fellow recruit in the Battle of Hue. After a sniper kills several members of the squad, the sniper, a teenage girl is wounded. Joker shoots her in a mercy killing.

Fire in the Streets by Eric Hammel (Contemporary Books, Chicago, 1991) at pages 34-35 gives the date the attack was launched

Director - Stanley Kubrick

Producer - Stanley Kubrick

Screenplay - Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford

Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar

Released – June 17, 1987

Runtime – 1 hour 56 minutes

Starring -

Matthew Modine as Private/Corporal/Sergeant James T. "Joker" Davis

Vincent D'Onofrio as Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence

R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman

Arliss Howard as Private/Sergeant Robert "Cowboy" Evans

Adam Baldwin as Sergeant "Animal Mother"

Dorian Harewood as Corporal "Eightball"

Kevyn Major Howard as Private First Class "Rafterman"

Ed O'Ross as Lieutenant Walter J. "Touchdown" Schinoski

John Terry as Lieutenant Lockhart

Kieron Jecchinis as Sergeant "Crazy Earl"

John Stafford as Doc Jay

Peter Edmund as Private "Snowball" Brown

Friday, January 30, 2015

January 30 - Bloody Sunday

Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on January 30. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

BLOODY SUNDAY

The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, led by a non-sectarian Protestant parliamentarian Ivan Cooper plans a peaceful march in LondonDerry for civil rights on January 30, 1972 [2:45 to 1:34:35] , while the government has banned all marches. The British government brings in the Army, which plans if shooting starts to shoot back. Cooper insists on marching in order to maintain his credibility in the civil rights movement. He communicates through the police that he does not want a confrontation, but the army ignores this statement. The march begins. However, British troops appear atop the wall separating Protestant and Catholic areas. Then at a point where the march is supposed to turn right, some of the crowd turns left. This brings them up against an army barricade. Cooper tries to get the marchers turned around, but then the army opens up with water cannon. Some youths start throwing stones, while the army responds with tear gas. Then the army opens fire hitting 2 people. This infuriates the crowd. Cooper and his cohorts address the marchers. The army moves forward to arrest the stone throwers. The army starts using live ammo, killing twelve and wounding 14. The army immediately claims its men were fired on. All is chaos at the hospital with relatives of the dead and wounded rubbing elbows with the army. Army troops plant nail bombs on a body. In exactly the opposite effect that the Army’s action was supposed to have, dozens of men join the IRA. Cooper is stunned by what has happened. He makes a speech condemning the army’s action.

A powerful film. This film shows that the violence only begot more violence that lasted for 25 years. Uses almost a documentary style.

The Troubles: Ireland’s Ordeal 1966-1996 and the Search for Peace by Tim Pat Coogan

(Roberts Rinehart Publishers, Boulder, CO, 1996) at page 134 and the film at 2:50 give the date of the march

Producer - Mark Redhead

Director - Paul Greengrass

Screenplay - Paul Greengrass

Runtime – 1 hour 45 minutes

Released – January 16, 2002

Starring –

James Nesbitt as Ivan Cooper

Simon Mann as Col Derek Wilford

Tim Pigott-Smith as Major General Ford

Nicholas Farrell as Brigadier Maclellan

Allan Gildea as Kevin McCorry

Gerard Crossan as Eamonn McCann

Mary Moulds as Bernadette Devlin

Thursday, January 29, 2015

January 29 - The Heroes of Desert Storm

Today’s movie is a war film with a scene that happens on January 29. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE HEROES OF DESERT STORM

Iraq invades and terrorizes Kuwait. In the USA Marine aviator Guy Hunter has just moved with his family to Camp Pendleton, California. American military members and reservists react to the invasion as the American government and the United Nations try to decide how to react. Due to the activation of American forces Ben Pennington does not get to say goodbye to his father and brother, Lt. Phoebe Jeter does not get to see her dying grandmother, Daniel Maldonado will miss the birth of his child and Gary Buckholz has to get married in rushed ceremony. A large number of American forces are moved to the Middle East. The bombing campaign begins. Ben Pennington is involved in a mission to destroy Iraqi radar sites. Stealth bombers and battleships attack the Iraqi positions. Capt. Steve Tate is conflicted after he shoots down an Iraqi jet. Back in Pennsylvania, Beverly Clark is dismayed to be activated and other families suffer through the separation. US pilot Devon Jones is shot down over Iraq, but he is rescued by Ben Pennington. Guy Hunter is shot down and captured, while starving Iraqi soldiers surrender at the border. The Iraqis torture the prisoners they have captured. On January 29, 1991 [50:09 to 53:08] the Iraqis attack Khafji and Marine corp medic Crumes goes forward to treat the wounded. After Iraq starts firing SCUD missiles, Lt. Jeter’s battery saves Gary Budkholz’s base, but learns that her grandmother has died. The Iraqis blow up oil wells and the invasion begins. Beverly Clark is killed in an Iraqi SCUD strike on a base in Dhahran. Two marines prevent the destruction of an Iraqi ammo dump. Beverly’s family learns of her death. An Iraqi convoy of fleeing vehicles is wiped out, resulting in the “Highway of Death.” With the war over the troops return home to cheers and hugs.

A docudrama war film. Combines actual footage with filmed sequences. In tone it is almost a propaganda film. Released only seven months after the events it portrays.

Desert Victory: The War for Kuwait by Norman Friedman ( Naval Institute Press,

Annapolis, MD, 1991) at page 198 gives the date of the start of the battle.

Producer - Johanna Persons

Director - Don Ohlmeyer

Screenplay - Lionel Chetwynd

Runtime – 1 hour 32 minutes

Released – October 6, 1991

Starring –

Angela Bassett as Phoebe Jeter

Daniel Baldwin as Benjamin Pennington

Steven Williams as ‘Big John’ Alston

Laura Leigh Hughes as Beverly Clark

Michael Champion as Guy Hunter

Gary Hershberger as Steve Tate

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

January 28 - Challenger

Today’s movie is a disaster drama with a scene that happened on January 28. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

CHALLENGER

The Challenger crew, Dick Scobee, Christa McAullife, Ron McNair, Elison Onizuka, Mike Smith, Greg Jarvis and Judith Resnick rehearse their in-flight broadcast. We then flashback to when Christa McAullife was selected as a teacher in space winner. Dick Scobee practices shuttle landings. Morton Thiokol engineers say they can’t do accurate tests with the booster rockets in a horizontal position. Ron McNair teaches karate. MT engineer Roger Boisjoly knows the O-rings could fail during a launch. Scobee meets Christa. NASA has a meeting about O-ring erosion at launch. Christa meets the rest of the crew. The commander and pilot work the simulator and practice post launch abort scenarios. Concerns are raised again about the O-rings. Julie Reznick and Christa McAullife become friends. Onizuka’s is wife is angry with him for always coming home late, leading to tension, while Mike Smith and wife have a very close relationship. Corporate politics at MT hamper the search for a solution to the O-ring problem. Ron McNair shows his son around the shuttle simulator and Scobee flies Christa on g-force acclimation flights. Christa misses her family and Greg Jarvis is added to the flight. The crew practice underwater and Christa upsets the NASA liaison by always being late for meetings. The crew has a press conference. Morton Thiokol says they have no data about O-ring performance at low temps and say the shuttle shouldn’t launch when there are extremely low temperatures on launch day. NASA is upset at this as they think this recommendation is based on no data. MT bows to NASA pressure and says launch. There is a hard freeze at the launch site. The crew boards Challenger on January 28, 1986 and the engines fire. [2:02:09 to 2:18:26]

A sentimentalized biopic of the crew. Doesn’t really get into their characters. Does show the bureaucracy that contributed to the disaster.

Air and Space Disasters of the World by Xavier Waterkeyn (New Holland Publishers, London, 2007) at pages 228 – 229 gives the date of the launch

Awards – The film won the Outstanding Sound Editing Emmy. It was also nominated for the Outstanding Sound Mixing Emmy at the 42^nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Producers - George Englund, Jr., Courtney Pledger and Debbie Robbins

Director - Ben Jordan

Screenplay – George Englund

Released - February 25, 1990

Runtime - 2 hours 40 minutes

Starring -

Karen Allen as Christa McAuliffe

Kristin Bond as Caroline McAuliffe

Kale Browne as Steven. McAuliffe

Peter Boyle as Roger Boisjoly

Barry Bostwick as Dick Scobee

Brian Kerwin as Michael J. Smith

Joe Morton as Dr. Ronald McNair

Keone Young as Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka

Richard Jenkins as Gregory B. Jarvis

Julie Fulton as Dr. Judith Resnik

Angela Bassett as Cheryl McNair

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

January 27 - Peter The Great

Today’s movie is a biographical drama waith a scene that happens on January 27. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

PETER THE GREAT

In 1682 Peter’s half-sister Sophia tries to use the Strelsi, a powerful military group to murder both Peter and his half–brother Ivan, so she can become ruler of Russia, by claiming Peter’s mother, Natalia wants to kill Ivan, and make Peter sole ruler. This plot fails, but Sofia is made regent instead of Natalia. Peter and Ivan are both crowned as Tsars of Russia. Later, Sophia pushes a plan to attack Azov, a fortress that controls access to the Black Sea that belongs to the Turks. Peter becomes interested in all things western. His mother finds a bride for him and they are married on January 27, 1689. [1:08:15 to 1:18:46] He and his wife don’t get along and he takes a mistress, Anna Mons from among the foreign colony. Peter exposes the fact that Sophia’s attack on Azov was totally crushed, instead of being the victory she proclaimed. Peter survives an assassination attempt and becomes a father to Alexis. Sophia tries to get rid of Peter again, but the troops remain loyal to him, and she is exiled. The church claims he’s possessed by the devil. Peter’s mother dies. He builds a fleet and uses it to attack and capture Azov. Peter and his wife don’t get along at all. Due to opposition to his policies, Peter sets up the secret police. He goes on a tour of Western Europe and selects a wife for Alexis. People opposed to Peter try to use his son Alexis against him. Sophia and Peter’s wife form a conspiracy against Peter. They convince Alexis that Peter intends for his illegitimate daughter with Anna Mons to become Czarina. Peter returns and stops the attempted coup. Alexis marries Charlotte, while Peter divorces his wife. He wants everyone to adopt European customs and clothing. Peter’s meeting with Charles XII of Sweden ends in failure and war begins. Peter arouses opposition by expropriating church bells for use in making cannon. Peter is defeated at Narva by Charles XII due to Russian traitors informing the Swedes of his plans. The war continues, with the Russians adopting a scorched earth policy until they finally crush the Swedes at Poltava. Alexis and his mistress flee to Vienna when his involvement in the anti-Peter plot is exposed. Peter sends agents who persuade him to return to Russia. Alexis renounces his right to the throne. He is extensively interrogated about the plot. Alexis is executed for treason.

An interesting and surprisingly well done historical drama about a man and an era that are little known in this country. The acting, sets and costumes are fantastic. It is even mostly historically accurate.

Peter the Great: A Biography by Lindsey Hughes (Yale University Press, London, 2002) at page 63 gives the date of his marriage

Producer - Marvin J. Chomsky

Director - Marvin J. Chomsky and Lawrence Schiller

Screenplay - Edward Anhalt

Running Time - 6 hours 11 minutes

Released - February 2, 1986

Awards: The film won the Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special (Dramatic Underscore), and Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Emmys. It was also nominated for the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Redgrave), Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries or a Special Emmys at the 38^th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Starring -

Maximilian Schell as Peter the Great

Vanessa Redgrave as Sophia Romanov

Jan Niklas as Peter the Great (as a young man)

Omar Sharif as Prince Feodor Romodanovsky

Laurence Olivier as William III of England

Trevor Howard as Sir Isaac Newton

Mel Ferrer as Frederick I of Prussia

Elsie Sommer as Queen Charlotte

Ursula Andress as Athalie

Renee Soutendijk as Anna Mons

Natalya Andreychenko as Eudoxia Lopukina

Christoph Eichorn as Charles XII of Sweden

Boris Plotnikov as Tsarevich Alexis

Monday, January 26, 2015

January 26 - Dragnet (1969)

Today’s movie is a crime drama with a scene that happens on January 26. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

DRAGNET

Sgt. Joe Friday returns early from vacation and is corralled into going to work as part of a security detail for a visiting Soviet official. He is pulled off of this to work on a case involving three missing girls. His partner Bill Gannon is getting ready to go on forced medical retirement due to ulcers. An interview with the brother of one of the missing girls turns up the fact that she was a member of a “Lonely Hearts” dating club. They go to the club. When the address “J. Johnson” gave turns out to be a fake, they get police artists to draw sketches of the suspect. The sketch from the brother’s description doesn’t match the one given by the dating club owner, Mrs. Kruger. The next day January 26, 1968 [31:58 to 1:23:55] Joe tries to get a child molester to confess. Then a body is found that matches the sketch given by the girl’s brother. They track the dead man to a hotel and the name Charles LeBorg. They go to the house he called from the hotel and find the dead man’s brother. They get a lead on where the dead man had dinner with someone last night. At the restaurant they get a description of the two men he dined with and their car. They turn out to be ex-cons, who are arrested by Friday and Gannon. Then another girl Betty Mason is reported missing after the time when LeBorg was killed so he can’t be the one kidnapping girls. At Betty Mason’s apartment they find a receipt for the two candy bar wrappers that were in the apartment. The store where they were purchased gives them a lead to a trailer park, but they find the suspect left the park only twenty minutes ago. The suspect is tracked and trapped in a dead end. He parks the trailer on the edge of a cliff in a driving rain storm. He holds the police at bay by threatening to push the trailer with the missing girl over the edge. Friday goes around, climbs the cliff from below, beats up the suspect and stops the trailer from going over the edge. After his arrest the suspect, Don Negler tells them where his tool box is located. Inside are photos of the kidnapped girls in bondage. Negler confesses to the murders. Gannon takes his forced medical retirement. However eight months later, Gannon has gotten rid of his ulcers and rejoins the force.

A decent police procedural. Fans of the sixties TV show will especially enjoy this. It is a time capsule view of another era in police procedure.

The date is given in the film at 32:00-01.

Producer – Jack Webb

Director - Jack Webb

Screenplay – Richard L. Breen

Runtime – 1 hour 35 minutes

Released – January 27, 1969

Cast –

Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday

Herry Morgan as Officer Bill Gannon

Vic Perrin as Don Negler

Gene Evans as Capt. Hugh Brown

Virginia Gregg as Mrs. Kruger

Gerald Michenaud as Claude LeBorg

Elizabeth Rogers as Eve Sorenson

John Roseboro as Sgt. Dave Bradford

Bobby Troup as George Freeman

Tom Williams as Melvin Gannon

Jack Ragotzy as Carl Rockwell

Sunday, January 25, 2015

January 25 - The Last King of Scotland

Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on January 25. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

On January 25, 1971 [03:11 to 07:21] Dr. Garrigan arrives in Uganda on the day of Idi Amin’s coup to work in a missionary clinic. Garrigan later meets Amin and becomes his personal physician. Garrigan becomes an advisor to Amin, but closes his eyes to the brutality of Amin’s regieme. Garrigan has an affair with one of Amin’s wives, Kay and Amin replaces Garrigans British passport wih a Ugandan one. Garrigan refuses the price of British Foreign Office aid to get out of the country – kill Amin. Kay becomes pregnant with Garrigan’s child, but after he can’t meet her for an abortion, she is arrested and killed. When Palestinians fly a hijacked Air France plane into Entebbe, Garrigan tries to kill Amin, but the plot is discovered and he is tortured. A Ugandan collegue enables Garrigan to escape when the non-Israeli passengers are released, at the cost of his own life.

The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget by Andrew Rice (Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2009) at page 89 gives the date of the coup

Director - Kevin MacDonald

Producers - Charles Steel, Lisa Bryer and Andrea Calderwood

Screenplay - Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock

Awards - The film won the Best Actor Oscar(Whitaker)

Released – September 27, 2006

Runtime – 2 hours 3 minutes

Starring -

Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin

James McAvoy as Nicholas Garrigan

Kerry Washington as Kay Amin

Gillian Anderson as Sarah Merrit

Simon McBurney as Stone

David Oyelowo as Dr. Junju

Saturday, January 24, 2015

January 24 - The One That Got Away

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on January 24. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Franz von Werra, a Luftwaffe fighter pilot is shot down over Britain and taken prisoner. He resists all attempts to extract information from him and is sent to a camp. He makes an escape attempt but is defeated more by the English weather than by the British army. He is transferred to another camp. Here he is involved in digging a tunnel. Werra pretends to be a Dutch pilot as part of a plan to steal an airplane. He almost succeeds. After this he is sent to Canada. While traveling by train to the camp on January 24, 1941[1:27:25 to 1:35:05] Werra jumped from the train. After almost freezing to death he managed to reach and cross the St. Lawrence river into the neutral United States. Werra returned to Germany and the Luftwaffe, but was shot down and killed

An interesting story about a little explored area of World War II history.

Top Secret Tales of World War II by William Breuer (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,

New York, 2000) at page 108 gives the date he leaped from the train

Producers - Julian Wintle and Earl St. John

Director - Roy Ward Baker

Screenplay - Howard Clewes

Runtime – 1 hour 51 minutes

Released - December 2, 1957

Starring -

Hardy Krüger as Franz von Werra

Michael Goodliffe as RAF interrogator Captain Henderson Bell

Colin Gordon as Army interrogator

Alec McCowen as duty officer, Hucknall

Terence Alexander as RAF intelligence officer

Jack Gwillim as Commandant, Grizedale

Andrew Faulds as Lieutenant, Grizedale

Julian Somers as booking clerk

Harry Lockart as German prisoner

Robert Crewdson as German prisoner

George Mikell as German prisoner

George Roubicek as German prisoner

John Van Eyssen as German prisoner

Frederick Jaeger as German prisoner

Richard Marner as German prisoner

Paul Hansard as German prisoner

Friday, January 23, 2015

January 23 - Kramer vs. Kramer

Today’s movie is a drama with a scene that happens on January 23. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

KRAMER VS KRAMER

Ted Kramer is a hard-working ad executive who has just landed a big account after months of effort. When he comes home his wife tells him she is leaving him and their son Billy and departs. After a lot of adjustment both Ted and Billy adjust to their new situation. Ted befriends his neighbor Margaret Phelps, a divorced mom who had advised Joanna to leave Ted if she was not happy. Billy gets hurt in an accident on the jungle gym and Ted carries him through Manhattan’s streets to the hospital. After 15 months Joanna returns and wants custody of Billy, but Ted fights her. Ted gets fired because he had spent too much time focused on Billy and not work, but he gets a new, albeit lower paying job within 24 hours. After a court hearing that shows Joanna is a flake she still wins custody and Ted, to spare Billy further trauma doesn’t appeal. On January 23^rd when Joanna is supposed to have her first visitation with Billy, she shows up, says she knows Billy’s home is with Ted and leaves without taking him. [1:38:13 to 1:42:34]

A sad movie about the problems caused by divorce.

Date of visitation given in film at 1:34:47-48

Producers - Richard Fischoff and Stanley R. Jaffe

Director - Robert Benton

Awards – The movie won the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hoffman), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Streep) Oscars. It was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actor (Henry), Best Supporting Actress (Alexander), Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography Oscars at the 52^nd Academy Awards.

Screenplay - Robert Benton

Runtime – 1 hour 45 minutes

Released – December 19, 1979

Staring –

Dustin Hoffman as Ted Kramer

Meryl Streep as Joanna Kramer

Justin Henry as Billy Kramer

Jane Alexander as Margaret Phelps

Petra King as Petie Phelps

Melissa Morell as Kim Phelps

Howard Duff as John Shaunessy

George Coe as Jim O'Connor

JoBeth Williams as Phyllis Bernard

Howland Chamberlain as Judge Atkins

Thursday, January 22, 2015

January 22 - Red Tails

Today’s film is a war movie with a scene that happens on January 22. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

RED TAILS

The 332^nd Fighter group made up of African-American pilots and flying antiquated P-40 fighters is only allowed to carry out ground attack missions against the German supply lines and they wonder if the results they achieve are worth the sacrifices they make. Their commander Col. Bullard is in Washington, fighting attempts to have the unit disbanded. They get a break when they are ordered to provide air cover for the Anzio landings a/k/a Operation Shingle. On January 22, 1944 [30:32 to 44:35] they cover the Anzio landings. After "Lightning" Little is almost shot down, they follow a damaged German plane back to its base and destroy the airfield. However, “Junior" Gannon is partially blinded as a result of injuries sustained in the attack. The unit is transferred to provide close bomber support. Instead of enduring racial insults, Lightning engages in a bar room brawl. The squadron gets brand new P-51 Mustang fighter planes. On their first bomber support mission, no bombers are shot down, but Junior is. Lightning had smooth talked the medical officer into clearing Junior to fly, in spite of his poor vision. Returning from the mission Lightning and Deke Watkins strafe a destroyer, heavily damaging it. However, Deke is hit and barely survives a crash landing back at base and is sent home on a medical discharge. Junior is sent to a POW camp. Lightning, who had often been insubordinate to his commander, Capt. "Easy" Julian makes a deal with him. If Julian will give up the alcohol he had been using to ease his self-doubt, Lighting will obey him from now on. Lightning proposes to his Italian girlfriend Sophia. Junior escapes from the POW camp. Sophia accepts Lightning’s proposal. The unit is informed that Junior was killed in the escape. The unit is supposed to cover the first bomber raid to Berlin only part way, but when the unit that was to relieve them does not show they follow them all the way there. They are attacked by Me 262 jets. Lightning saves Easy, but is shot down and killed. Sophia is devastated by Lightning’s death. Junior returns to the unit having actually managed to escape. The squadron is awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.

A good movie. The aerial combat scenes are very well done. The personal interaction scenes at the base create believable, likeable characters

A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II by Gerhard L. Weinberg (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1994) at page 661 gives date of Anzio landing.

Producers - Rick McCallum, Chas. Floyd Johnson and George Lucas

Director -Anthony Hemingway

Screenplay - John Ridley and Aaron McGruder

Runtime – 2 hours 1minute

Released – January 20, 2012

Cast - Terrence Howard as Col. A.J. Bullard ,Nate Parker as Capt. Martin "Easy" Julian

Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Major Emanuel Stance, Ne-Yo as 2nd Lt. Andrew "Smokey" Salem

David Oyelowo as 1st Lt. Joe "Lightning" Little, Marcus T. Paulk as "Deke" Watkins

Tristan Wilds as 2nd Lt. Ray "Ray Gun" or "Junior" Gannon, Daniela Ruah as Sofia

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

January 21 - Curtin

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on January 21. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

CURTIN

John Curtin becomes Prime Minister of Australia. He is friends with Tatsuo Kawai, the Ambassador from Japan, who opposes his countries militarist plans. The Australian military tell him the counties armed forces are positioned to promote British interests and not Australian security. Tatsuo hints a war may be starting very soon. After the Japanese attack, Curtin delivers the Australian declaration of war to Tatsuo. It is a blow when the HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales are sunk by the Japanese. At the request of the military Curtin asks that MacArthur be appointed Supreme Commander in Australia. Curtin is incensed when it is proposed that a council to run the Pacific War be set up in London. He pushes for a closer alliance with the USA. On January 21, 1942 [ 26:16 to 28:35] Curtin is angered when he learns of Churchill’s plans to abandon Singapore. Curtin backs up his military and forces the British to send the two Australian divisions returning from the Middle East directly to Australia. The argument about this aggravates his poor health and he eventually is hospitalized for severe gastritis. The entire country is shocked when the Japanese bomb the city of Darwin. Churchill tries to divert the Australian troops to Burma anyway, but Curtin has the ships sail to Australia without escort or air cover. He disappears for nine hours and his staff fears that Curtin has fallen off the wagon, but he hasn’t. He obsesses over the safety of the troops and is overjoyed when they reach Perth. MacArthur is appointed Supreme Commander.

A very good biopic. As an American I didn’t know very much about Curtin. After seeing this film I can see why some Australians consider him to be their greatest Prime Minister.

Date given in the film at 26:19

Producers - Andrew Wiseman and Richard Keddie

Director - Jessica Hobbs

Screenplay - Alison Nisselle

Runtime – 1 hour 30 minutes

Released – April 22, 2007

Starring –

William McInnes as John Curtin

Noni Hazlehurst as Mrs. Elsie Curtin

Asher Keddie as Miss Elsie Curtin

Ben Esler as John Curtin, Jr.

Geoff Morrell as Ben Chifley

Bille Brown as Robert Menzies

Paul English as H. V. Evatt

Frank Gallacher as Jack Beasley

William Zappa as General Vernon Sturdee

Shingo Usami as Tatsuo Kawai

Robert Grubb as Percy Spender

Tony Rickards as Eddie Ward

Drew Lindo as Arthur Fadden

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

January 20 - The Hawaiians

Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on January 20. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE HAWAIIANS

Black Sheep Whip Hoxworth returns to Hawaii and staffs his sugarcane plantation with Chinese indentured laborers, including Mun Ki and his concubine Nyuk Tsin. He wants to eventually return to China with his children, while Nyuk does not. Whip steals pineapples from French Guinea and starts raising them in Hawaii. Whip marries Purity, who is descended from Hawaiian royalty, but due to inbreeding, she eventually goes insane. When Mun Ki contracts leprosy, Nyuk goes with him to the leper colony.When she returns to civilization after his death, she finds her children are prospering. Then plague breaks out in Chinatown. On January 20, 1900 [2:04:09 to 2:09:42] Chinatown is set on fire to contain the disease, but Nyuk and her oldest son Asia figure out a way to convert this disaster to their advantage. Then Whip’s son wants to marry Nyuk’s daughter.

Hawaii by James Mitchner (Random House, New York, 1959) at pages 590-591 give the date of the fire

Director - Tom Gries

Screenplay - James R. Webb

Producer - Walter Mirisch

Released – June 17, 1970

Runtime – 2 hours 14 minutes

Starring –

Charlton Heston as Whip Hoxworth

Mako as Mun Ki

Tina Chen as Nyuk Tsin

Geraldine Chaplin as Purity

Monday, January 19, 2015

January 19 - Jane Eyre (1973)

Today’s movie is a period drama with a scene that happens on January 19. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

JANE EYRE

Orphan Jane Eyre lives with her aunt, Mrs. Reed who doesn’t like her. Her mother’s brother Mr. Reed died when Jane was three. Jane is physically and emotionally abused by her aunt and cousins. Finally she is sent to Lowood Girls school on January 19, 18__ [Ep. 1 20:03 to 20:35]which is a charity school. She is abused by the director Mr. Brocklehurst, whose family lives in luxury, while the students starve and freeze. Her best friend Helen dies of ‘consumption’. Conditions at the school improve and eight years later Jane is teaching there. She advertises for a governess position and gets one reply, from Mrs. Fairfax at Thornfield Hall to care for Adele Varens, a young French girl. She arrives there and likes the child. One day out walking she encounters a horseman and he is thrown and slightly injured. Upon her return she learns that the rider was Mr. Rochester, the owner of Thornfield. Jane teaches Adele(who we learn is Mr. Rochester’s daughter with his former mistress, a French opera singer, who abandoned the girl) to play the piano, sketch and dance. Mr. Rochester and Jane become attracted to each other. Strange laughter is heard in the halls and one night Mr. Rochester’s bed catches on fire and would have killed him if Jane had not raised the alarm. A house party arrives including the woman Mr. Rochester is supposedly interested in marrying. A Mr. Mason arrives to stay and is stabbed by an unknown person. Jane gets a letter saying her aunt is dying. She goes to see her. Her aunt refuses her efforts at reconciliation, but gives Jane a letter she had withheld from John Eyre, her father’s brother saying he wanted Jane to live with him. The aunt replied that Jane had died. When her aunt dies Jane returns to Thornfield. Adele leaves for school and Mr. Rochester proposes. However, the wedding is stopped by the sudden appearance of the recovered Mr. Mason, who reveals that Mr. Rochester is already married to his now insane sister, who is kept locked up in a room at Thornfield and is responsible for the mysterious happenings there. Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go away with him and live together. Jane refuses and leaves. There is a second fire and Mr. Rochester is injured. Jane wanders for a while and gets sick, but ends up at the home of the Rivers, who nurse her back to health. Jane learns that her uncle John Eyre has left her his entire fortune. . Eventually Mr. Rivers proposes to her, but she refuses. She travels back to Thornfield, which is a ruin. She learns the first Mrs. Rochester died in the fire. Mr. Rochester was partially blinded in the fire and fears she will reject him due to this. She convinces him she still loves him and they become engaged He eventually recovers some of his sight. .

One of the classic novels. A great dramatic romance. This version is well paced and has good cinematography.

Director - Joan Craft

Screenplay - Robin Chapman

Released – 1973

Runtime – 4 hours 35 min

Starring –

Sorcha Cusack as Jane Eyre

Juliet Waley as young Jane

Michael Jayston as Edward Rochester

Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Fairfax

Stephanie Beacham as Blanche Ingram

Brenda Kempner as Bertha Rochester

Isabelle Rosin as Adele

Geoffrey Whitehead as St. John Rivers

Tina Heath as Helen Burns

Anne Tirard as Miss Scatcherd

Sunday, January 18, 2015

January 18 - The Lost Prince

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on January 18. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE LOST PRINCE

A Christmastime, 1908 Prince John, son of George, the Prince of Wales attends a party with his grandfather, Edward VIII. Later, in the spring he meets visitors, his cousins, the Russian Imperial family. John’s nanny, Lala is devoted to John and his brother George. John has epilepsy and is kept from public view. Edward VII dies and the Prince of Wales becomes George V. On the day of the funeral John meets emperor Wilhelm II and has a fit. John seems to not be very bright and is sent off to live in the country with Lala in total isolation. One day John slips away and walks up to a tea party with the King and the prime Minister and embarrasses them. John likes to work in the garden. John is finally recalled to London where George helps him observe a royal banquet. The Queen has a run in with a suffragette and John meets with his parents. That day, left by his father, who is distracted by news of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, John chases his father’s pet parrot over the palace and has another fit which is observed by the Queen and George. John is again sent away from London to a rather small, rustic house. George is sent to the naval academy. John sees his mother and grandmother. The Queen is insulted on a visit to a military hospital since she is German by birth. The King is pressured to change the families surname to Windsor. John has more fits. The king angrily rebuffs George’s attempt to get out of the navy. The King works to have the invitation to the Russian Imperial family to live in exile withdrawn and is then shocked when they are shot. John gives a recital for his parents. John dies with only Lala and George in attendance on January 18, 1919. Lala seems to be more broken up than the Queen. At his funeral all the servants who attended John show up to pay their respects.

A story that is in turn funny and sad. It is tragic in that John was ignored for the most part by his family. (Although I must say in their defense, the way John was treated was not much worse than the way all children of upper class families were treated at the turn of the last century) But, as George says John was the only one of the royal family who got to act how he wanted.

King George V by Harold Nicholson. Constable and Co., Ltd. London c. 1952 p.

Director - Stephen Poliakoff

Screenplay - Stephen Poliakoff

Awards - Won Emmy for outstanding miniseries.

Running Time - 3 hours

Released - January 19, 2003

Starring -

Daniel Williams as Prince John (younger)

Matthew James Thomas as Prince John (older)

Brock Everitt-Elwick as Prince George, Duke of Kent (younger)

Rollo Weeks as Prince George (older)

Gina McKee as Charlotte Bill

Tom Hollander as King George V

Miranda Richardson as Queen Mary

Bill Nighy as Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham

Bibi Andersson as Queen Alexandra

Ron Cook as David Lloyd George

Frank Finlay as H. H. Asquith

John Sessions as Henry Hansell

Michael Gambon as Edward VII

David Barrass as Kaiser Wilhelm II

Ivan Marevich as Tsar Nicholas II

Roz McCutcheonv as Princess Mary Adelaide

Gina McKee as Lala

Saturday, January 17, 2015

January 17 - The Four Feathers (2002)

Today’s movie is an action adventure film with a scene that happens on January 17. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE FOUR FEATHERS

Harry Faversham a newly commissioned British officer celebrates his engagement to Ethne. It is announced that the regiment is being sent to Sudan to rescue “Chinese” Gordon. Harry has serious doubts about the ethicality of the war and resigns his commission. His father, three friends, Edward, Jack and Trench and his fiancé all disown him, with Ethne and three friends sending him the white feather of cowardice. When he learns the regiment has come under attack, Harry journeys to the Sudan alone and becomes allied with Abou Fatma, an Arab. They discover the fortress of Abu Klea to which the regiment is marching has been overrun by the enemy. Harry sends Abou to warn the regiment, but they disregard him and march onwards. On January 17, 1885 [1:08:16 to 1:19:54], the regiment is attacked and has to form a defensive square. Edward Castleton, who had given Harry a feather is killed in this battle. Harry saves Jack’s life after he is blinded during the battle and gets him transported back to England, where Jack becomes engaged to Ethne. Harry rescues Trench from the prison where he was placed after being captured and returns with Trench to England. When Jack learns it was Harry who saved him, he releases Ethne from their engagement. Ethne reclaims her feather and Harry as her fiancée.

Director - Shekhar Kapur

Producers - Paul Feldsher, Robert Jaffe, Stanley R. Jaffe and Marty Katz

Screenplay - Mark Pellington, Bruce Joel Rubin, Greg Brooker, Michael Schiffer, Risa Bramon Garcia and Hossein Amini

Released –September 20, 2002

Runtime – 2 hours 11 minutes

Starring –

Heath Ledger as Harry Faversham

Wes Bentley as Jack Durrance

Djimon Hounsou as Abou Fatma

Kate Hudson as Ethne Eustace

Rupert Penry-Jones as Tom Willoughby

Kris Marshall as Edward Castleton

Michael Sheen as William Trench

Alex Jennings as Colonel Hamilton

James Cosmo as Colonel Sutch

Angela Douglas as Aunt Mary

Tim Pigott-Smith as General Faversham

Lucy Gordon as Isabelle

James Hillier as Drunken Corporal

Friday, January 16, 2015

January 16 - The Falcon and the Snowman

Today’s movie is an espionage drama with a scene that happens on January 16. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN

Boyce goes to work at a defense contractor and after reading a misrouted coomunique dealing with a CIA plot to remove the Australian Prime Minsiter decides to sell classified material to the USSR. Hie friend, drug addict Andrew Lee agrees to handle the actual delivery of info the Soviets. Lee wants to build up an espionage business for cash, while Boyce wants to get out of espionage all together. The Soivits no longer want to deal with Lee due his increasingly drug fueled erratic behavior. Lee tosses a note over the fence at the Soviet embassy in Mexico and is arrested and accused of murder. Under torture he admits to being a spy and is offered a choice return to the USA or go to the USSR he reurns to America to be arrested, On January 16, 1977 [1:58:09 to 2:03:51] Christopher Boyce is arrested for espionage and interrogated by the FBI

The Falcon and the Snowman by Robert Lindsey (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1979) at pages 249-260 gives the date of his arrest and confession

Director - John Schlesinger

Producers - Gabriel Katzka and John Schlesinger

Screenplay - Steven Zaillian

Released – January 25, 1985

Runtime – 2 hours 11 min.

Starring –

Timothy Hutton as Christopher Boyce

Sean Penn as Andrew Daulton Lee

Pat Hingle as Mr. Boyce

Joyce Van Patten as Mrs. Boyce

Richard Dysart as Dr. Lee

Priscilla Pointer as Mrs. Lee

Chris Makepeace as David Lee

Dorian Harewood as Gene

Macon McCalman as Larry Rogers

Jerry Hardin as Tony Owens

Lori Singer as Lana

David Suchet as Alex

Thursday, January 15, 2015

January 15 - Becoming Jane

Today’s film is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on January 15. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

BECOMING JANE

Jane Austen is the unmarried daughter of a poor clergyman who wants to be a writer. Barrister Tom LeFroy offends her by falling asleep while Jane is reading her work. Tom overcomes this poor first impression and they fall in love. However, Tom’s uncle Judge Langlois refuses to agree to their marriage, due to the poverty of Jane’s family. Tom rejects Jane and becomes engaged to someone else, with Jane following suit and accepting a suitor she had rejected earlier, due to lack of affection. Tom later returns and begs Jane to elope with him.On January 15, 1796 [1:32:14 to 1:46:17] Jane starts to elope with Tom LeFroy, but changes her mind when she learns that his family is dependent on the money Judge Langlois gives him and their marriage would reduce his entire family to poverty, which she feels in the loing run would destroy their happiness. Jane returns home, but ends her engagement. Twenty years later Jane, now an established author meets Tom again. He named his daughter Jane, after her.

Jane Austen’s Letters ed. by Deirdre Le Faye (Oxford University Press, New York, 1995) at pages 3-4 gives the date of their last meeting

Director - Julian Jarrold

Producers - Graham Broadbent, Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae

Screenplay - Kevin Hood and Sarah Williams

Released – March 9, 2007

Runtime – 2 hours

Starring -

Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen

James McAvoy as Thomas "Tom" Lefroy

Julie Walters as Mrs Austen

James Cromwell as Reverend George Austen

Maggie Smith as Lady Gresham

Lucy Cohu as Eliza, Comtesse de Feullide

Laurence Fox as Mr Wisley

Joe Anderson as Henry Austen

Ian Richardson as Lord Chief Judge Langlois of London

Sophie Vavasseur as Jane Lefroy

Anna Maxwell Martin as Cassandra Austen

Leo Bill as John Warren

Jessica Ashworth as Lucy Lefroy

Helen McCrory as Mrs Radcliffe

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Robert Fowle

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

January 14 - George Wallace

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on January 14. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

GEORGE WALLACE

In 1972 Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who’s running for the Democratic presidential nomination travels to Laurel, Maryland and is paralyzed in an assassination attempt. Back in 1955 Wallace was “Big” Jim Folsom’s successful gubernatorial campaign manager. Folsom is a liberal on race matters and Wallace is his political heir. In 1958 Wallace runs an economically progressive campaign, but the KKK supports the other more racist candidate and he loses and to top it off his wife, Lurleen, wants to leave him. We flash forward to Wallace’s inauguration as governor on January 14, 1963 where he says, “Segregation Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever”. [1:01:17 to 1:14:20] Wallace became the pro-segregation candidate and convinced his wife to stay. He calls out state troopers against demonstrations led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Birmingham. Wallace tells the US Attorney General “Bobbie” Kennedy that he will oppose the integration of the University of Alabama and makes his infamous ‘stand in the doorway’. His speech at Harvard University causes a riot. Wallace thinks the Sixth St. church bombing was caused by civil rights agitators, not the KKK. He calls out the troopers to stop marchers at the Raymond Pettus Bridge. His wife gets cancer. Wallace asks for a constitutional amendment so he can run again, but this is refused, so his wife runs for governor and wins, but dies in office. In 1970 he meets Cornelia Spivey whom he marries and Wallace is elected governor again. After he is paralyzed Wallace and his wife argue and later divorce. However, being shot causes him to have a change of heart and revert back to his earlier views on race. Wallace tries to apologize to “Big” Jim Folsom, whom he had spurned, but is refused. He does go to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the biggest African-American church in Montgomery, and apologizes.

A good although somewhat sanitized biopic of this controversial figure.

Carry Me Home by Diane McWhorter (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001) at page 311 gives the date of his inauguration.

Awards - The film won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (Sinise), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Winningham) and Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Frankenheimer) Emmys. It was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Jolie), Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special and Outstanding Miniseries at the 50^th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Producers - John Frankenheimer and Julian Krainin

Director - John Frankenheimer

Running Time – 2 hours 58 minutes

Released - August 24, 1997

Cast -

Gary Sinise as George Wallace

Angelina Jolie as Cornelia Wallace

Mare Winningham as Lurleen Wallace

Joe Don Baker as “Big’ Jim Folsom

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

January 13 - Flight 90:Disaster on the Potomac

Today’s film is a disaster movie that happens on January 13. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

FLIGHT 90: DISASTER ON THE POTOMAC

On January 13, 1982 we are introduced the people whose lives will intersect on Air Florida Flight 90 from Washington, D.C. to Tampa. Marilyn Nichols, a stewardess has just learned she is pregnant. Priscilla Tirado and her husband Jose are flying to take up a new job. Nikki Felch is going to a trip with her boss, Joe Stiley to Alabama, but her boyfriend David Frank wants to get married. Bert Hamilton is going on a business trip to Florida, but would rather stay with his wife and son. Roger Olian is a maintenance man at a mental hospital, married to Ginger, who works in the Naval Recruitment Office. Arland Williams is flying to Florida to close a bank for the Federal Reserve. Marilyn, Flight attendant Kelly Duncan and the plane leave Florida and fly to Washington. They land in Washington in a blinding snowstorm. After the passengers boarded the plane they had to sit for 50 minutes. This caused ice to accumulate on the plane. Most passengers ignore the stewardesses safety talk. The de-icing that was done was done improperly. The pilots seemed unconcerned about ice on the wings. When the plane tries to take off, ice on the sensors causes the pilots to have a false idea of their speed. The plane only gets to 352 feet altitude before it stalls. The plane hits the 14^th Street Bridge and crashes into the Potomac River. Bert Hamilton, Joe Stiley, Nikki Felch, Priscilla Tirado, Kelly Duncan and Arland Williams make it out of the plane and cling to a piece of wreckage in the freezing river. Roger Olain, who was on the bridge plunges into the river to try to help. Meanwhile, friends and relatives learn about the crash. Donald Usher and Melvin Windsor take off in their helicopter. Olain gets close enough to shout encouragement to the survivors. The helicopter rescues Bert Hamilton. When it returns Arland Williams passes the rescue line to Kelly Duncan. They pull Olain out of the river. Each time when offered the rope, Williams passed it on to Joe, Nikki and Priscilla. Joe is pulled to shore, but a stranger, Lenny Skutnik has to jump in and pull Priscilla to shore. By the time Nikki is rescued, Arland has slipped beneath the water. The survivors start to come to terms with what happened. [the entire film]

A pretty good docudrama. The film shows what caused the disaster and how the rescue happened. Gives credit to the self-sacrifice of Arland Williams.

Air and Space Disasters of the World by Xavier Waterkeyn (New Holland Publishers, London, 2007) at page 127 and the movie at 00:20 give the date of the crash.

Producers – Bill Finnegan and Patricia Finnegan

Director – Robert Michael Lewis

Screenplay – John McGreevey

Runtime – 1 hour 30 minutes

Released – April 1, 1984

Starring –

Jeanetta Arnette as Nikki Felch

Barry Corbin as Bert Hamilton

Stephen Macht as Joe Stiley

Richard Masur as Roger Olian

Chad Lowe as Al Hamilton

Ken Olin as David Frank

Donnelly Rhodes as Arland Williams

Jamie Rose as Marilyn Nichols

Monday, January 12, 2015

January 12 - Coach Carter

Today’s movie is a sports drama with a scene that happens on January 12. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

COACH CARTER

Ken Carter becomes the boys basketball coach at his former high school which was and is majority African-American and low income. The players on the Richmond Oilers are arrogant and disdainful. Carter forces them to sign contracts, agreeing to among other things to keep a 2.3 GPA. Carter’s own son transfers to the school. Carter works his players very hard, and they win their first game. Cruz, a player who had refused to sign the contract begs to be allowed back on the team and Carter lets him. The principal and some parents think Carter is being too hard on the players. Kenyon Stone who is now being looked at by scouts from some junior colleges has to deal with the fact that his girlfriend’s pregnancy no longer fits into his potential plans for the future. The team wins an invitational tournament, but after the team sneaks out to a party and Carter discovers the team has not achieved the GPA goal in the contract, he padlocks the gym, canceling practices and games. Many parents are outraged and the school board votes 4-2 to end the lockout on January 12, 1999 [ 1:47:55 to 1:48:22]. Carter had said he would quit if the board voted to end the lockout, but relents when he learns the players have decided on their own initiative to meet the GPA goal before they play again. Kenyon’s girlfriend gets an abortion while he gets a scholarship. The team does improve their grades and they end up in the state playoffs. They don’t win, but many of the players get basketball scholarship, something that would have been unimaginable at the start off the season.

A good sports film. This is one of the better basketball films. Jackson is very good. Some details of the story were changed for ‘artistic’ reasons.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=merron/coachcarter says the lockout started January 4, 1999 and ended eight days later on the twelfth

Producers - David Gale, Brian Robbins and Michael Tollin

Director - Thomas Carter

Screenplay - Mark Schwahn and John Gatins

Runtime – 2 hours 14 minutes

Released – January 14, 2005

Starring – Samuel L. Jackson as Ken Carter

Rob Brown as Kenyon Stone

Robert Ri'chard as Damien Carter

Rick Gonzalez as Timo Cruz

Nana Gbewonyo as Junior Battle

Antwon Tanner as Wormy

Channing Tatum as Jason Lyle

Ashanti as Kyra

Texas Battle as Maddux

Sunday, January 11, 2015

January 11 - A Song to Remember

Today’s movie is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on January 11. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

A SONG TO REMEMBER

Frederic Chopin is a piano prodigy and Polish patriot. He becomes involved in the secret underground anti-Russian Polish resistance, while his piano teacher wants him to move to Paris. After Frederic insults the Russian governor, he has to flee and move to Paris. After arriving in Paris, Frederic begins performing and meets the great pianist Franz Liszt and female author George Sand. Frederic is very upset to learn that two of his friends in Poland were arrested and executed for helping him escape. George Sands arranges a performance where in a darkened room everyone thinks they are listening to Liszt, but it is actually Chopin playing. Frederic and George go on a holiday to Majorca, where he writes many outstanding works. Frederic and his teacher Józef Elsner become estranged. Even though he is ill, and in spite of the opposition of George Sand, Frederic goes on a concert tour of Europe. On January 11, 18__ he plays in Berlin.[1:42:17 to 1:42:36] The money he earns is used to pay bribes to get imprisoned Polish patriots out of prison. The strain of the tour causes Frederic’s health to collapse and he dies.

An almost completely fictional biography having very little to do with Chopin’s real life. It is an entertaining story however. If you regard it as entertainment and not history it is a very enjoyable film.

The date is given at 1:42:20 on a poster.

Producer - B. F. Zeidman

Director - Charles Vidor

Screenplay - Sidney Buchman

Runtime – 1 hour 53 minutes

Released – January 18, 1945

Starring –

Cornel Wilde as Frédéric Chopin

Paul Muni as Józef Elsner

Ivan Triesault as Nicolas Chopin

Nina Foch as Constantia

Stephen Bekassy as Franz Liszt

Merle Oberon as George Sand

George Coulouris as Louis Pleyel

Howard Freeman as Friedrich Kalkbrenner