MOVIE DIALOG OF THE DAY ― JOE KIDD (1972)

Connection with the previous post (BE COOL): Elmore Leonard wrote the books both movies were based on and he wrote the screenplay for Joe Kidd.

RATINGS: IMDB ―6.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes ―86%, ME ― 81%



Frank Harlan: There’s supposed to be a road west of here we could save some time

Joe Kidd: Game doesn’t walk down roads. We’re supposed to be huntin’ mule deer.

Frank Harlan: If we find some walkin’ down the road which doesn’t seem likely does it?

Joe Kidd: Well we’ve had company now for about a mile

Frank Harlan: Where at?

Joe Kidd: Both sides of us.

Frank Harlan: I don’t see a goddam thing. How many of them.

Joe Kidd: Three maybe more.

 Robert Duvall as Frank Harlan and Clint Eastwood as Joe Kidd

Trivia (From IMDB):

Writer Elmore Leonard certainly did know something about classic firearms. From Frank Harlan's Custom Savage 99 (1899), Olin Mingo's Remington-Keene sporter (1880) in .45-70, Lamarr Simms Mauser C-96 (1896) broomhandle, and Joe's Cased Ross Rifle sporter model M-10 (1910) in .280 Ross. Leonard took special care to ensure all weapons (even the optics) were period accurate for that movie, being set in pre-statehood New Mexico territory (1912).

In an interview given to French student Emmanuel Laborit in 1990, John Sturges said he had a lot of problems directing Clint Eastwood, and regretted that he did not resign during filming.

The custom Savage 99 that Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall) carries, is a left hand model.

In the original script, Luis Chama was a more heroic and multi-layered character, but Clint Eastwood wanted to be seen as the hero, so this was changed throughout filming. John Saxon said "Clint needed to be the guy who dealt with all the action, so in the end, Chama was smeared with self-serving and cowardice, so it was clear who the main hero was." Saxon attended a NOSOTROS meeting, a Latin American organization opposed to stereotypes, and publicly apologized for playing such a dubious character.

This is the last time someone else (John Sturges) directed Clint Eastwood in a western. Eastwood's next four westerns would not only be his last, but were all directed by Eastwood.

The exact date of the movie is not given, but judging by the number of stars on the American flag flying on top of the Sinola County courthouse (45 stars), it would imply that this movie is set between 1896 and 1912. Utah was admitted into the Union on 4 January 1896 as the 45th state, and New Mexico was admitted as the 46th state on 6 January 1912.

 THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 12

December 12 is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 19 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Thursday or Friday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Tuesday or Sunday (56).

NATIONAL AMBROSIA DAY 

A truck bomb explodes at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, killing five. Five other explosives were attempted within an hour. An hour later, a car parked outside the French Embassy blew up, leaving a massive 30 foot hole in the embassy security wall. None were killed and only five people were wounded.  

1408 – The Order of the Dragon: The Order of the Dragon was first created on December 12, 1408 by Emperor Sigismund, then King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia.

1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the Constitution.


1812 – The French invasion of Russia under Napolean Boneparte comes to an end.


1871 – Pierre (Jules) Janssen discovers dark lines in solar corona spectrum.


1901 – Guglielmo Marconi sends the first transatlantic radio signal, from Poldhu in Cornwall to Newfoundland.

1914 – The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average occurs, down 24.39%.


1925 – Arthur Heinman coins the term "motel" and opens the Milestone Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA.


1945 – A Special Court of justice convicts Dutch Nazi leader Anton Mussert and sentences him to death.


1951 – New York Yankee center fielder and future Hall of Fame player, Joe DiMaggio, announces his retirement.


1983 – A truck bomb explodes at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, killing five. Five other explosives were attempted within an hour. An hour later, a car parked outside the French Embassy blew up, leaving a massive 30 foot hole in the embassy security wall. None were killed and only five people were wounded. 


1988 – On this day in 1980, American oil tycoon Armand Hammer pays $5,126,000 at auction for a notebook containing writings by the legendary artist Leonardo da Vinci.

1995 – A constitutional amendment to make it illegal to physically desecrate the American flag was defeated in the senate by a vote of 63-36 (67 required to pass).


1997 – A federal judge sentences Autumn Jackson, who claims to be Bill Cosby's daughter, to 26 months in jail for trying to extort $40 million from him.


2000 – General Motors declares that it will begin to phase out the 103-year old Oldsmobile, the oldest automotive brand in the United States.

2013 – The United States announces sanctions on the two dozen companies who assisted Iran with their nuclear program.

2018 – China build 88 of the world's 143 skyscrapers in 2018, more than any other country ever (buildings over 656 feet tall).

2020 – China's Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, SAYS (no pledges, not insures, not guarantees) his country will reduce carbon emissions by 65% by 2030.

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1745 – John Jay, American jurist and politician, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)

1805 – Henry Wells, American businessman, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1878)

1915 – Frank Sinatra, American singer, actor, and producer (d. 1998)

1924 – Ed Koch, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 105th Mayor of New York City (d. 2013)

1928 – Helen Frankenthaler, American painter and academic (d. 2011)

1952 – Cathy Rigby, American gymnast

From Wikipedia and Google.

 THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 11

December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 20 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Wednesday or Thursday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Saturday (56).

Today would have been my father's 96th birthday. He died in July 2011. Happy Birthday, Dad.

NATIONAL NOODLE RING DAY 

My father would have been 100 today (12/11/21). Happy birthday, Dad.

FEATURED — 1941


1941 – Adolf Hitler declares war on the United States, bringing America, which had been neutral, into the European conflict. 


1792 – France's King Louis XVI goes on trial, accused of high treason and crimes against the state.


1936 – After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne.

1944 – The city of Toronto, Canada, is battered with its worst-ever snowfall on this day in 1944. Twenty-one people died as a result of the record storm, in which nearly 20 inches of snow fell in a single day.


1951 – New York Yankee center fielder and subsequent Hall of Fame inductee, Joe DiMaggio, announces his baseball retirement.


1961 – In Israel, Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes during WWII.


1971 – The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed.

1972 – Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17) became the 11th and 12th (and last) men on the Moon.


1980 – The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (known as either CERCLA or Superfund) is enacted by the U.S. Congress.


1994 – In the largest Russian military offensive since the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks pour into the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya.


1997 – Delegates from 150 industrial nations attending a United Nations climate conference in Kyoto, Japan, reach agreement on a protocol to control heat-trapping greenhouse gases (the Kyoto Protocol); the protocol committed nations to roll back greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels.


2008 – Bernard Madoff is arrested in New York and charged with securities fraud in a massive $65 billion Ponzi scheme.


2012 – British physicist, Stephen Hawking, wins the $3 million Fundamental Physics Prize, the most lucrative academic prize in the world.

2017 – Rahul Gandhi, son of former Premier Rajiv Gandhi, is elected leader of the Indian National COngress. And you thought the Bushes were bad.


TODAY'S BIRTHS

1725 – George Mason, American lawyer and politician (d. 1792)

1803 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (d. 1869)

1843 – Robert Koch, German microbiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)

1882 – Max Born, German physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)

1923 – Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-born American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (d. 2013)

1925 – Paul Greengard, American neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

1949 – Christina Onassis, American-born Greek/Argentine businesswoman, socialite, and heiress (d. 1988)

From Wikipedia and Google, ex as noted.

 THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 10

December 10 is the 344th day of the year (345th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 21 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

NOBEL PRIZE DAY 

1317 – The "Nyköping Banquet" - King Birger of Sweden treacherously seizes his two brothers Valdemar, Duke of Finland and Eric, Duke of Södermanland, who were subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle. 

1520 – Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.

1684 – Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley.

1799 – France adopts the meter as its official unit of length.

1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea –  Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.

1898 – Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.

1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.  They are a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, and/or scientific advances. 

The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901. Medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold, and later from 18 carat green gold plated with a 24 carat gold coating. Between 1901 and 2015, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences were awarded 573 times to 900 people and organisations. With some receiving the Nobel Prize more than once, this makes a total of 23 organisations, and 870 individuals—of whom 48 were women.

1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.

1907 – The worst night of the Brown Dog affair in London, when 1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected.

1909 – Sewden's Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1941 – World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya.

1949 – Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army lead by Communist Mao Zedong begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.

  

1978 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1989 – Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.

1994 – Rwandan Genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommends that UNAMIR stand down.

1996 – The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela.

2009 – Barack Obama accepts the Nobel Peace Prize (foe doing nothing at all).

2013 – Mary Barra of GM becomes the first female CEO of a major U.S. automotive company.

2016 – Terrorist bombing outside a stadium in Istanbul, 38 killed and 166 injured.

2017 – Governor Jerry Brown tours Southern California wildfires and declares them "the new normal."

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1830 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886)

1911 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (d. 1974)

1913 – Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)

From Wikipedia and Google, ex as noted.

 THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― DECEMBER 9

December 9 is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 22 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Monday or Tuesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Thursday or Saturday (56).

NATIONAL PASTRY DAY 

536 – Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flee the capital.  

1775 – American Revolutionary War: British troops lose the Battle of Great Bridge, and leave Virginia soon afterward. 

1835 – Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captures San Antonio, Texas.

1861 – American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress. It was established following the embarrassing Union defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, at the instigation of Senator Zachariah T. Chandler of Michigan, and continued until May 1865. Its purpose was to investigate such matters as illicit trade with the Confederate states, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of Union battle losses. The Committee was also involved in supporting the war effort through various means, including endorsing emancipation, the use of black soldiers, and the appointment of generals who were known to be aggressive fighters. It was chaired throughout by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio, and became identified with the Radical Republicans who wanted more aggressive war policies than those of Abraham Lincoln.

1872 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African-American governor of a in the United States.

1911 – A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee (the Cross Mountain Mine), kills 84 miners despite rescue efforts led by the United States Bureau of Mines. The likely cause of the explosion was the ignition of dust and gas released by a roof fall. The Cross Mountain Mine operation was one of the first major rescue efforts carried out by the Bureau of Mines. Although only 5 of the 89 miners trapped by the explosion were rescued, the bureau collected invaluable information that aided later mine rescue efforts. The rescue effort also helped the bureau's public image, and ensured continued funding in the future.

1935 – Walter Liggett, American newspaper editor and muckraker, is killed in a gangland murder. In Minneapolis/St. Paul during the 1930s, Liggett worked as an investigative journalist and editor of the newspaper Midwest American. He specialized in exposés of Minneapolis and Saint Paul organized crime and their connections to corrupt politicians.

1935 – The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, is awarded for the first time. The winner is halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago.

1946 – The "Subsequent Nuremberg trials" begin with the "Doctors' trial", prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.

1948 – The Genocide Convention is adopted. More accurately, The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948 as General Assembly Resolution 260. The Convention entered into force on 12 January 1951. It defines genocide in legal terms, and is the culmination of years of campaigning by lawyer Raphael Lemkin. Yair Auron writes "When Raphael Lemkin coined the word genocide in 1944 he cited the 1915 annihilation of Armenians as a seminal example of genocide." All participating countries are advised to prevent and punish actions of genocide in war and in peacetime. The number of states that have ratified the convention is currently 143.

1950 – Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass secrets involving the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

1953 – The Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company. N.B.: The Wikipedia reference is flacid with respect to the actual issues of the time.

1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Air Force executes an airdrop of Indian Army units, bypassing Pakistani defenses.

1979 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.

2003 – A blast in the center of Moscow's Red Square kills six people and wounds several more. According to police, a female suicide bomber set off an explosive belt on a busy street close to the Moscow Kremlin, killing six people and injuring 44. Moscow's mayor Yuri Luzhkov reported speculation that the bomber had intended to target the nearby Moscow City Hall or State Duma instead. According to the investigation, the suicide bomber was identified as Khadishat (in other sources - Khedizhi) Mangerieva, a widow of a Chechen rebel commander of Kurchaloyevsky District, Ruslan Mangeriev, who was killed during the Second Chechen War.

2008 – The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

2015 – Attack on Kanduhar Airport by Taliban forces kills at least 37 before Afghan forces can retake control.

2015 – Another Socialist, Germany's Angela Merkel, is named Time Magazine's "Person of the year."

2021 – ACTOR Jussie Smollett is found guilty on five counts of falsely reporting a hate crime in 2019.

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1608 – John Milton, English poet and philosopher (d. 1674)

1883 – Joseph Pilates, German-American fitness expert, developed Pilates (d. 1967)

1905 – Dalton Trumbo, American author and screenwriter (d. 1976)

1932 – Donald Byrd, American trumpet player and academic (d. 2013)

1944 – Bob O'Connor, American businessman and politician, 57th Mayor of Pittsburgh (d. 2006)

From Wikipedia and Google, ex as noted.