This Day in Indie History

Wordplay

The documentary Wordplay was released in theaters on this day in 2006. Recognized by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Chicago Critics Association Award, Satellite Award and Sundance Film Festival, the film takes a look at the historical and modern day forces behind the New York Times crossword puzzle and the fascinating world of puzzle addicts. Director Patrick Creadon follows five brilliant minds as they prepare for and compete in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, documentarian Ken Burns and former President Bill Clinton are just a few of the celebrity interviewees, who share their own experiences and love of the famous puzzle.

Factoid: Twentysomething Tyler Hinman, who won the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for the first time when Wordplay was shot in 2005, has won every year since!

June 17th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Wolf Creek

On this day in 2004, Australian director George McLean began shooting Wolf Creek. He wrote the film (which he also produced), inspired by the infamous exploits of the Backpack Killer in the 1990s. The film debuted in Australia at number one before performing impressively in the UK and U.S. as well.
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez were two notable supporters of the film, but the critical reception was polarized. Many objected to the graphic scenes of sadistic torture while others commended their effectiveness. Reaching U.S. theaters around the same time as the Tarantino-presented and similarly themed Hostel, Wolf Creek heralded the arrival of a new type of horror film inspired by the works of Japanese thrillmaster Takashi Miike.

Factoid: Takashi Miike makes a cameo as a patron at the torture chamber in Eli Roth’s Hostel.

June 14th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Steve Broidy

Steve Broidy was born on this day in 1905 in Malden, Massachusetts. Broidy worked in sales for an independent production company before stretches at Universal Studios and Warner Bros. studios. In 1933 he joined Monogram, a production company best known for pumping out B movies, and rose through the ranks until he was named president in 1945. In an attempt to create a new image for the company, Broidy presided over the transformation of Monogram into Allied Artists. The new label’s intention was to deliver more prestigious pictures with bigger budgets, but Allied Artists soon reverted to the type of tripe for which its preceding company was known. Broidy held the position of president until 1965, when he left to produce movies independently. His solo projects include The Fox, 80 Steps to Jonah and The Poseidon Adventure.

Factoid: Broidy was a celebrated philanthropist and Founding Life Chairman at Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

June 13th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Basil Rathbone

Basil Rathbone was born on this day in 1892 in Johannesburg, South Africa. His family moved to England when he was a toddler and he became interested in theater at a very young age. He became an accomplished stage actor and remained exclusively as such until the 1930s, when he eventually crossed over to film.
In many of his early roles, Rathbone was typecast as the villainous rake, a trend that continued throughout his career until he found his signature role as Sherlock Holmes in 1939’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. He played the famous sleuth in 16 films and over 200 radio broadcasts. By 1946, Rathbone was so tired of the role that he quit his Sherlock Holmes film series to go back to the stage. In the years after, his career found new life in television and he continued to act and do voice work until his death in 1967.

Factoid: Basil Rathbone is regarded as one of the most skilled swordsmen in the history of Hollywood, but only once was he allowed to win a swordfight on-screen.

June 12th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Sex and Lucía

Sex and Lucía opened in New York City and Los Angeles on this day in 2002. Written and directed by Julio Medem (The Lovers of the Arctic Circle), the film introduced Paz Vega, who would later go on to star in Spanglish and 10 Items or Less, to American audiences. Originally conceived as two separate stories, Medem wove the two narratives together to present a powerful study of love and personal relationships that is reminiscent of the work of Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, Babel) and created one of the most artfully erotic films of the decade. Both Medem and Vega received awards for their work, including a Best Actress Goya for the then-26-year-old actress. Julio Medem is currently in post-production on his next effort, Chaotic Ana.

Quotable: “During the rehearsals, I try to get to the center of the character with the actor, and once I feel we have captured the character, I get out and look at it from the outside. It’s a very intense process during which things start to change.”
--Julio Medem, discussing his his notoriously long rehearsal periods.

June 11th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Shia LaBeouf

In one April weekend, actor Shia LaBeouf, born this day in 1986, ensured himself a bona fide young star by starring in the #1 movie at the box office (Disturbia), hosting “Saturday Night Live” and announcing his participation in the next installment of the Indiana Jones epic. Born in Los Angeles, LaBeouf began his career performing stand-up at local comedy clubs. After guest spots on shows such as “The X-Files” and “ER” he landed a lead role on the Disney Channel series “Even Stevens,” for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award for his role as the scheming, mischievous Louis Stevens. LaBeouf soon transitioned to feature films by leading the casts of Holes and The Battle of Shaker Heights, and later guesting in I, Robot and Constantine. As his acting chops have grown, so have LaBeouf’s roles, including his latest in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Bobby. Next up you can hear his voice in the latest animated penguin tale Surf’s Up and see him once again challenging robot rule in the much-anticipated summer blockbuster, Transformers.

Quotable: “I am making a quality cucumber shake here."—Shia LaBeouf, as the quirky Louis Stevens.

June 10th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Robert Preston

The son of a garment maker, Robert Preston Meservey was born on this day in 1918 in Newton, Massachusetts. He grew up in Los Angeles, California and became involved in theater in high school. He dropped his last name and joined the Pasadena County Playhouse where he performed with a number of other up-and-comers and was eventually discovered. Preston gained notoriety when he became a favorite casting choice of director Cecil B. DeMille. The two collaborated three times in four years, but Preston openly detested his benefactor. He is probably best known for his portrayal of Harold Hill in 1962’s The Music Man.

Quotable: “A man can’t turn tail and run just because a little personal risk is involved. What did Shakespeare say? ‘Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave man… only 500’?” --Preston as Harold Hill in The Music Man

June 7th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Dean Martin

Dean Martin was born on this day in 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio. His real name was Dino Paul Crocetti, which he used until around 1940, when he started performing on radio broadcasts with local acts. In 1946, he teamed up with longtime comedy partner Jerry Lewis and together they achieved stardom. He took up acting and together the two starred in 11 films. In 1958, friction drove the comedy duo apart but Martin’s career continued to be a prosperous one. All told, Dean Martin appeared in 51 movies and hosted many television programs. He had his own show (under different names) for 19 years and had 40 Top 100 singles between 1951 and 1968. He died on Christmas Day, 1995.

Factoid: Only three of Martin’s songs ever went to number one: “That’s Amore,” “Memories Are Made of This” and “Everybody Loves Somebody.”

June 6th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Little Miss Sunshine

On this day in 2005, Little Miss Sunshine began shooting. With a budget of $8 million, the project was five years in the making as the moviemakers struggled to find financing. The film went on to debut at Sundance in 2006 where it received a standing ovation and an offer from Fox Searchlight Pictures for $10 million, one of the biggest offers ever made in festival’s history. By September 2006, Little Miss Sunshine was playing on 1,500 screens nationwide and had become a bona fide critical darling. By the end of the year, it had grossed nearly $60 million at the box office and been nominated for two Golden Globes and four Oscars (including Best Picture). Sunshine won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (for Alan Arkin) and Best Original Screenplay (for Michael Arndt).

Factoid: Abigail Breslin wore a fat suit to play Olive, whose dream it was to win the titular pageant.

June 5th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Cannibal Holocaust

Cannibal Holocaust started shooting on this day in 1980. Directed by Ruggero Deodato, this film was part of a wave of exploitation era Italian films about cannibals and easily the most recognized of all of them. Featuring the actual killings of seven animals, graphic scenes of cannibalism and a racist portrayal of Amazonian natives, Deodato’s commentary on violence in the media has been a subject of controversy from the moment of its release. After 10 days at the domestic box office, the film was seized under suspicion of being a snuff film (a rumor that endured for years). In response, several countries banned Cannibal Holocaust, including Australia and the U.K. Still, many critics have commended Deodato on his direction and the conscientious message the film conveyed. Holocaust remains one of the most notorious grindhouse films of all time.

Factoid: Ruggero Deodato makes a cameo appearance in Eli Roth’s upcoming Hostel: Part II.

June 3rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Morgan Freeman

On this day in 1937, Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. After four years as an Air Force mechanic, Freeman began his acting career on the stage before trying film in the 1970s. His breakout role was as New York pimp “Fast Black” in 1987’s Street Smart opposite Christopher Reeve, for which he earned an Oscar nomination. He followed this up with an extraordinary performance in 1989’s Driving Miss Daisy, garnering him a second nomination from the Academy. By the 1990s, his reputation as one of modern cinema’s foremost actors had been established. He supplements his acting career with frequent voice work, providing the narration for many of his own films as well as other major motion pictures such as 2005’s March of the Penguins.

Factoid: Morgan Freeman is the only African-American actor to appear in three Best Picture Oscar winners: Driving Miss Daisy, Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby.

May 31st, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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Clint Eastwood

One of today’s living legends was born on this day in 1930. Clint Eastwood began acting circa 1955, performing in B movies for Universal. A year and a half later, the studio dropped him (rumor being because a studio executive thought his Adam’s Apple was too big). Eastwood rebounded with a part on the long-running CBS western “Rawhide,” which led to his Man With No Name role in 1964 in Sergio Leone’s classic spaghetti western trilogy--A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Eastwood cemented his star status with the title role in Dirty Harry, a part he would reprise in its four sequels. Today he is equally well known as a talented director, having been nominated for three directing Oscars in the past four years and winning once. He has also served as producer on several of his films, accepting a Best Picture Academy Award in 2004 for Million Dollar Baby.

Factoid: On “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” Clint recounted how surprised he was to find himself starring in the hit film A Fistful of Dollars in 1964. The title had been The Magnificent Stranger up until days before the premiere and no one had clued him in.

May 30th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Howard Hawks

One of the most under-celebrated directors of his time, Howard Hawks was born on this day in 1896. Over his career, beginning in the pre-studio days of the 1910s, through the silent era and lasting into the early 1970s, Hawks directed nearly 50 films, including classics like Scarface (1932), Sergeant York (1941), The Big Sleep (1946) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Today he is remembered among the likes of great American directors like John Ford and Orson Welles, yet, the Academy recognized him with only one nomination, in 1942. John Ford won for The Grapes of Wrath that year, beating out Sergeant York and Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane. Hawks would not get his own Oscar until 1971, when the Academy voted to recognize him with a special award. Despite living in an era dominated by the studios, Hawks successfully produced and developed scripts for his own films, serving as a model for later writer-director-producers who would rise in esteem after the breakdown of the studio system.

Quotable: “A good movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes.”

May 29th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Bob Hope

Leslie Townes Hope was born in London on this day in 1903, the fifth of seven sons. His father, a stonemason, moved them to Cleveland, Ohio in 1907. Hope performed locally for several years and was discovered by comedian Fatty Arbuckle in 1925. A year later, he met George Burns and they traveled the vaudeville circuit with a pair of tap-dancing conjoined twins. He performed on several musicals and by the mid-1930s had begun doing films. It was around this time Leslie Townes Hope changed his name to Bob Hope, in response to a persistent nickname following him around: “Hopelessly.” Most of Hope’s fame came from his long tenure with radio and television (his relationship with NBC lasted over 60 years). Though never an Oscar winner, Hope is remembered as one of the great hosts of the Academy Awards, hosting or co-hosting 18 in all.

Quotable: “Welcome to the Academy Awards or, as it’s known at my house, Passover.”

May 28th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Saved!

Brian Dannelly’s Saved! went into limited release in the U.S. on this day in 2004. Produced by Michael Stipe’s Single Cell Pictures, Saved! was picked up for distribution by MGM/UA at Sundance earlier in the year. Dannelly wrote Saved! with his partner Michael Urban during their time together at the American Film Institute. They continue to work together and have several upcoming projects. Saved! was generally well-received as a smart, fair satire of Evangelical Christianity, but reactions among the religious community were varied. Dannelly staged several screenings for religious groups and used the film as a springboard for enlightened discourse. The success of this film paved the way for more serious material like the 2006 documentary Jesus Camp.

Factoid: Brian Dannelly dropped out of his Christian high school after receiving too many demerits.

May 28th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was born on this day in 1878 in Richmond, Virginia. His career as a performer began at six years old. At seven, Robinson left school to concentrate on dancing and by 15, “Bojangles” had become the toast of Broadway. In the late 1920s, the popularity of black revues grew among white audiences and Robinson became a star. He appeared in several Hollywood comedy musicals, usually playing servant characters in antebellum America. Though his stardom waned in the 1940s, he was still wildly popular among audiences until his death at the end of the decade.

Factoid: May 25th is National Tap Dancing Day, in honor of Robinson’s birthday.

May 24th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Lincoln Motion Picture Company

Noble Johnson, an established actor of the silent era, and his brother, George, founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company on this day in 1915. As the first studio owned and operated by African Americans, the company’s purpose, as Noble put it, was to present the African American “in his everyday life, a human being with human inclination and one of talent and intellect.” Having only a handful of employees and only finding booking opportunities in churches, schools and “Colored Only” theaters, Lincoln Motion Pictures failed to achieve any level of notoriety. Though the studio heroically struggled, it would close after five years, being credited with only six films. By Right of Birth was the studio’s last effort and the only one to accept white investors. The release proved unprofitable and ultimately the death blow to the venture. Still, these films served as a necessary response to disturbingly racist films like D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) and an example for African American moviemakers throughout cinema.

Factoid: George Johnson hired 10 of the prettiest girls he could find to sell tickets to the two-day premiere of By Right of Birth and succeeded in selling out the event. Unfortunately, this marketing strategy did not have the legs to capture the public’s interest.

May 23rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Robert Lansing

On this day in 1928, American actor Robert Lansing was born. His given name was Robert Brown, but he chose the surname “Lansing” after the capital city of Michigan. Lansing began acting in the 1950s on Broadway, a place he’d return to periodically throughout his career. In the decades that followed, he gained a reputation as a TV action star with series like “87th Precinct,” “Branded,” “The Man Who Never Was” and “The Equalizer.” He also made two notable appearances in the science fiction classics “Star Trek” and “The Twilight Zone.” Late in his career, he served as president of The Players, a fraternal club of theatrical professionals. He died in 1994 at the age of 66 shortly after filming the final episode of “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.”

Factoid: The series finale of “Kung Fu,” which aired three weeks after his death, was dedicated in memory of Robert Lansing.

May 23rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Schindler’s List

On this day in 1993, filming ended on Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, four days ahead of schedule. Spielberg had shopped the film around for years, eventually trading projects with Martin Scorsese to direct it himself. He personally interviewed several Holocaust survivors, sometimes incorporating their experiences into the script. This three-hour epic retold the true story of Oskar Schindler, a Sudeten German businessman who saved the lives of over 1,000 Polish Jews by making them slave laborers in his factory. The film was unanimously lauded and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning seven. It is the most commercially successful black and white film in cinematic history and is ranked among the greatest movies of all time by AFI, IMDb viewers and critics Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert. Spielberg won his first two Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

Factoid: In 1998, Steven Spielberg received the highest civil distinction the Federal Republic of Germany has for his sensible representation of Germany’s history in this film.

May 22nd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: May 18

Director Frank Capra was born in Italy on this day in 1897. By the age of six he was on a boat across the ocean to America, where he would soon find himself selling newspapers and waiting tables to put himself (one of seven Capra children) through college at CalTech. After graduating, Capra enlisted in the U.S. Army--to which he would later return as director of World War II propaganda films. Unsure of his aspirations, an advertisement for a new film studio caught his eye and he pitched and filmed his first short movie, Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House. For years Capra toiled away as an apprentice prop man and film editor before finally making his own deals. In 1928 Capra signed with the struggling Columbia Pictures, for which he directed 25 features in a 10-year period. His contribution alone helped to lift the company from ruin. Capra’s last movie for Columbia was 1939’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, after which he directed his first independent feature, Meet John Doe in 1941. But everyone knows the Hollywood optomist best for the holiday classic, It’s A Wonderful Life, which earned him his seventh Academy Award nomination. The director took home four trophies over the course of his career.

Quotable: “Just get up off the ground, that’s all I ask. Get up there with that lady that’s up on top of this capital dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you wont just see scenery; you’ll see the whole parade of what Man’s carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so’s he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color or creed. That’s what you’d see.” --James Stewart as Jefferson Smith in Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).

May 17th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: May 17

By the age of 13 actress Nikki Reed, born on this day in 1988, had begun chronicling her life for the screen. With the help of then-production designer Catherine Hardwicke, Reed set out to channel that cliched teenage angst and anger into the screenplay for what would become the movie thirteen. Besides functioning as a form of therapy for the troubled young woman, the legend of the movie’s inception made her a star. Since winning a Spirit Award for her debut performance in the self-penned film, Reed has appeared in American Gun, Mini’s First Time and the upcoming Kevin Smith television pilot, “Reaper.”

Connections: Daughter of art director Seth Reed, Nikki became friendly with her writing partner and thirteen director, Catherine Hardwicke when the older pair dated. After the women found success with their dark teen drama, the trio reunited on Hardwicke’s 2005 feature, Lords of Dogtown.

May 16th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: May 16

Henry Fonda was born on this day in 1905. The now-legendary actor was pulled into the profession as a young boy by Dodie Brando--Marlon’s mother--who needed to cast a young male lead in a production at the Omaha Community Playhouse. By 1929 the actor had reached Broadway and in 1935 took to the screen, reprising the role he played on stage in The Farmer Takes a Wife. Shortly thereafter Fonda began working with director John Ford, with whom he made nine films, including his most famous, The Grapes of Wrath. Other mutual credits include some of cinema’s most widely regarded movies--Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine and Fort Apache among them. In the midst of his career, Fonda found purpose serving in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and returned to film without ever having lost a beat. Notable post-war titles include War and Peace, How the West Was Won, Yours, Mine and Ours and the television miniseries “Roots.”

Factoid: Although a respected actor among the industry and American audiences, Henry Fonda had only received one Academy Award nomination--for The Grapes of Wrath--by the year 1981. As a result, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed upon him an honorary Oscar that symbolized his overall impact on cinema. Funnily enough, Fonda took home the Best Actor trophy the following year for his turn in On Golden Pond. His daughter, Jane, was also nominated that year for her supporting role in that same movie.

May 15th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: May 15

It was on this day in 1978 that prolific young actor David Krumholtz was born in Queens, NY. Since the age of 13 Krumholtz has appeared in more 20 features, both studio-backed and independent. Much like his first screen appearance opposite Michael J. Fox and Cyndi Lauper in Life with Mikey, Krumholtz has often been cast as the nerdy (sometimes even slimy) alternative to a movie’s Adonis--think Addams Family Values and According to Spencer. But he soon found a way out of the typecast as the charming and dedicated North Pole elf, Bernard, in The Santa Clause (1994) and its 2002 sequel. Though he had little success in television early on (there are seven failed series with his name attached), Krumholtz is now earning notice for his role as Charlie Epps, an FBI mathematics consultant, in the CBS crime drama “NUMB3RS.” Never breaking, Krumholtz can also be seen in this year’s Live! opposite Eva Mendes and will be writing the comedy Attorneys at Raw for Apatow Productions.

Connections: On “NUMB3RS” David Krumholtz holds his own opposite experienced thespians Judd Hirsch and Peter MacNicol. But this isn’t the first time the actor has played alongside them. In his first acting role, Krumholtz played son to Hirsch’s character in Broadway’s “Conversations with My Father.” And in 1993’s Addams Family Values MacNicol played a happy-go-lucky camp counselor shocked by Krumholtz’s on-screen love, Christina Ricci.

May 14th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: May 14

Rebecca Miller started rolling film on Personal Velocity: Three Portraits on this day in 2001. As the educated woman’s answer to girl-power cinema, the movie showcased the acting talents of Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey and Fairuza Balk in telling three separate tales of women grasping for their own empowerment. Sedgwick plays Delia, a woman on the path to freedom from her abusive husband; Posey is Greta, wavering in fidelity to her husband; Balk takes to the highway as Paula, desperate to prevent further meltdown. Personal Velocity premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2002 and earned both the Grand Jury Prize and Cinematography Award for now-frequent Miller collaborator Ellen Kuras.

Quotable: “How could he still love me? If he does, it’s because he doesn’t know me. I’m rotten with ambition, a lusty little troll, the kind of demon you’d find at the bottom floor of hell pulling fingernails off the loansharks.” --Parker Posey as Greta, often cited as the movie’s stand-out star.

May 14th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Dawn of the Dead

Director George Romero’s second, and arguably most influential zombie flick, Dawn of the Dead, premiered in Los Angeles on this day in 1979. Romero, who also wrote and edited the movie, had unexpected success with the horror classic Night of the Living Dead in 1968 and decided to move the action to a shopping mall for its sequel. As a comment on consumer culture, the movie’s four main characters seek refuge in a local mall, stocked with all manner of desirable possessions. But soon enough materialism is not enough to stave off the reanimated creatures converging on their haven. Eventually released with an R rating, the MPAA had found the first cut so violent they assigned it an X. It was the second, less gore-filled cut that has become one of the defining horror movies of all time. Filmed on a now-preposterous $500,000 budget—money from acquaintances and even the director himself—Dawn of the Dead went on to earn more than $50 million at the box office.

Connections: So respected remains George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead that it has made a popular resurgence among young audiences nearly 30 years later. In 2004 alone, Zack Snyder (300) released a remake while Brits Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz) lovingly spoofed Romero’s work in their tribute, Shaun of the Dead.

May 10th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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