Showbiz History: Network, Chicago, and Murphy Brown
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 9:53AM 7 random things that happened on this day (Nov 14th) in showbiz history
1941 Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion premieres. It reaps three Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) winning Best Actress for Joan Fontaine.
1976 Network, one of the most electric and prescient movies of all time, premieres in both LA and NY before a nationwide bow two weeks later...
It will go on to 10 Oscar nominations and 4 wins, and is one of only 2 movies that have won 3 acting Oscars (the other being A Streetcar Named Desire). Interestingly neither of those movies won Best Picture. We wrote about Network at length here.
1988 Murphy Brown premiered on CBS. The show would run for 10 seasons and win Candice Bergen five Emmys for Best Actress in a Comedy Series which tied her with Mary Tyler Moore for most wins in this category (for the same show) of all time... that is until Julia Louis-Dreyfus beat the record winning 6 of them consecutively for Veep. Murphy Brown was revived two months ago for an 11th season. I have to admit I was never a fan of the show. Were you?
1996 The Broadway revival of Chicago opens at the Richard Rodgers Theater. The show is still running in NYC twenty-two years later. (I've been thinking maybe we should all revisit the movie version and discuss... what'cha think?)
2003 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World opens in movie theaters. The movie will receive 10 Oscar nominations and a surprise win in Cinematography (as well as Sound Editing).
2008 Quantum of Solace arrives in movie theaters, Daniel Craig's second outing as Bond. We're still waiting on his fifth outing.
2015 Adele's "Hello" hits #1. It'll stay there for an incredible 10 weeks. Did you know that the video was directed by Xavier Dolan?
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 68th birthday to actress Sandahl Bergman, the early 80s sex symbol from Conan the Barbarian. She was also an incredible dancer, the showcased lead of Bob Fosse's "Air Erotica" from All That Jazz (1979) which is a good number to watch every so often on the rare chance that you forget that Fosse was an absolute genius.
Today's Other Birthdays
Oscar Winners: Composer Aaron Copland (The Heiress), Editor Paul Hirsch (Star Wars), Production Designer Terence Marsh (Doctor Zhivago)
Oscar Nominees: Screenwriter Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show), Songwriter Stephen Bishop (White Nights), Director Chris Noonan (Babe), Director Zhang Yimou* (Raise the Red Lantern), Producer Kevin J Walsh (Manchester by the Sea)
Actors: Louise Brooks, Josh Duhamel, Brian Gleeson, Brian Keith, Olga Kurlyenko, Veronica Lake, Marco Leonardi, Stella Maeve, Paul McGann, David Moscow, Dick Powell, Laura San Giacomo, D.B. Sweeney, Russell Tovey, Jiang Wu
* Yes we're aware the directors of foreign film nominees aren't technically Oscar nominees but they are to us because they obviously should be. Countries don't make movies!
Reader Comments (14)
A Chicago retrospective is a great idea.
Louise Brooks is a double, back-to-back Oscar winner. ;-)
I've never cared for Adele's 25, but 21 and especially 19 are incredible.
Is anyone planning to see—or already has seen—Network on Broadway? Super curious about Bryan Cranston and particularly Tatiana Maslany in Faye Dunaway's role.
Mareko -- you're thinking of Luise Rainer ;)
So crazy that Fontaine was the only actor to ever win in an Alfred Hitchcock film.
I have only once seen CHICAGO on Broadway - when Michael C. Hall took on Billy Flynn.
I had no idea that CHICAGO opened at the Richard Rogers first! Thank you for that bit of trivia.
And yes PLEASE revisit the movie! I always thought people were a bit too hard on Renee Zellweger, who really wowed me in that role. My vote would have gone to Diane Lane, but Renee would have made a fine Oscar winner that year -- and would have saved us from the COLD MOUNTAIN debacle lol.
Mareko: I saw Network with Bryan Cranston in London. The production was enjoyable, and he was outstanding. While the film is very much an ensemble piece with three leading roles (all Oscar-nominated, of course) and Duvall a big supporting role, the stage version puts Howard Beale front and centre - but the rest of the cast was perfectly good too.
Yes to more Chicago/Fosse content!
And I'm seeing Network next week--can hardly contain my excitement over Maslany, one of the best and most underrated actors working today, taking on one of my all-time favorite film roles. Her performance in Mary Page Marlowe was one of the very best on Broadway this year in my opinion, so I'm thrilled to see her back on the stage so soon. She's got so, so much to give.
Eek! My bad.
So jealous of you New Yorkers who get to take in the magic of Network on Broadway. What a great role (on paper) for Maslany.
I rewatched Network recently for about the 20th time. What a movie.
"Yes we're aware the directors of foreign film nominees aren't technically Oscar nominees but they are to us because they obviously should be. Countries don't make movies!"
Oh, God, YES! Thank you writing that. I hate when imdb only lists one Oscar win in Pedro's profile.
I watched Murphy Brown religiously altought I was too young for it.
Peggy Sue: IMDb's right on that, though. The director doesn't get the nomination, and so shouldn't be counted.
Nathaniel: Countries don't make movies - but they do win Oscars!
Which leads me to wonder...could a country describe itself as an Oscar winner? Could, say, Italy put out a tourist board advert saying "From the Oscar-winning country that brought you The Great Beauty and Life is Beautiful...Come and visit Milan!"
Or, in the news: "Emmanuel Macron - president of the Academy Award-winning country France - gave a speech today..."
"Chicago" is great movie musical and worth watching anytime... "Air Erotica" is one the sexiest sequences in cinema
I loved "Chicago" and really don't understand the disdain for Marshall's direction. And i agree that Lane or Zellweger would have been worthy winners that year.
"Murphy Brown" was a bit inside politics for college age me, but the firestorm from that (now Hawt) wedlock baby was insane back then. Such innocent times.