Showbiz History: "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "The Wilhelm Scream"
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at 8:30AM 8 random things that happened on this day, December 29th, in showbiz history
1933 Ernst Lubitsch's pre-Code threesome romantic comedy Design for Living starring Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, and Gary Cooper opens for the last weekend of the year as does the musical romantic comedy Flying Down to Rio starring Dolores del Rio. The latter film is best remembered for being the first onscreen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in (gasp) supporting roles.
1939 'Hollywood's Greatest Year' concludes with opening weekend for the Jimmy Stewart/Marlene Dietrich western Destry Rides Again, the classic period romantic drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2 Oscar nominations), and the musical Swanee River (1 Oscar nomination)...
1951 One of the most famous stock sounds, "The Wilhelm Scream" makes its debut in Warner Bros Gary Cooper vehicle Distant Drums. It gets its name a couple of years later with the death of an onscreen character named Wilhelm. It apparently became an in-joke with filmmakers at some point as you can see in the video above when it moves from being a stock action death sound to a comic repetitive beat in big franchise movies.
1956 Eliza Kazan's Baby Doll, nominated for 4 Oscars, hits movie theaters nationwide on this day after NYC and LA premieres of course.
1967 One of Star Trek's most famous episodes "The Trouble with Tribbles" first airs. My older siblings were very into Star Trek later in syndication and often talked about this episode. I did not inherit the Star Trek gene (no iteration of this sprawling franchise has ever made me a fan) but I did perk up occassionally as a child if Lt Uhura or Sulu were given something to do in an episode.
1972 Werner Herzog's storied going-mad adventure classic Aguirre the Wrath of God premieres in West Germany. It's very prolongued international journey will stretch from a Cannes premiere in 1973 through a UK run in 1974, a French release in 1975 (César Nomination, Best Foreign Film) to the US arthouses in 1977 and will finally wrap up in various other countries in the early Eighties (!!!).
VHS and then DVD and now streaming have naturally made this kind of decade-long distribution journey obsolete... though weirdly some movies still remarkably take three years or so to get everywhere they're going to get.
1995 Twenty-five years ago today, Dead Man Walking but more on that later today.
2010 The searing romantic drama Blue Valentine and Mike Leigh's lovely drama Another Year are the last Oscar hopefuls to open. Both underperform (given their quality) come nomination morning but as we've seen time and again but which distributors never seems to learn, it's very difficult to rev up in time to max out your Oscar potential when you literally wait until the last minute.
Today's Birthday Suit
Happy 41st to Diego Luna.
It's been such a pleasant surprise that both he and Gael García Bernal managed such deserved, enduring and varied careers after their horny duet breakout in Alfonso Cuarón's best film (you heard me) Y Tu Mama Tambíen twenty years ago. Luna currently stars opposite Sienna Miller in Wander Darkly. Next up is a headlining gig for one of Disney+'s many Star Wars universe series, reprising his role from Rogue One.
Showbiz birthdays today: Legend Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People, The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Oscar winner Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden, Wild River) Alison Brie (GLOW, Promising Young Woman), Jude Law (Closer, Talented Mr Ripley), Ted Danson (Cheers, The Good Place), Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty, A Quiet Passion), Oscar winner Jon Voight (Coming Home, Midnight Cowboy), Dylan Minnette (Prisoners, 13 Reasons Why), Director Lilly Wachowski (The Matrix, Sense8), Patrick Fischler (Mad Men, Mulholland Dr), Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead, Southland), Ross Lynch (My Friend Dahmer, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Mekhi Phifer (8 Mile, Honey), Barbara Steele (Black Sunday), Tarita (Mutiny on the Bounty), South Korea's Kim Ok-bin (Thirst, The Villainess), Inga Swenson (Benson), and singer Marianne Faithful.
Reader Comments (11)
If I could take one movie, erase the credits and slap my name on it to convince visiting aliens I was a master filmmaker, it would be Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Among my very favorite movies, it's the one that I have the most intense personal connection.
Y Tu Mama Tambien is his best film. I completely agree. I always catch something new whenever I watch it. I love movies that do that.
Happy birthday to Uber talented and should be Emmy nominated Allison Brie.
Aguirre The Wrath of God is surely one of the greatest movies ever made. And after this year, a descent into selfishness, misguided faith, and madness sounds like a documentary!
And I also didn't inherit the Star Trek gene, but I surely inherited the MTM gene. Thanks for 20 amazing years from Laura Petrie to Beth Jarrett.
PS I don't think I could be more jealous of Miriam Hopkins. What a delicious dilemma.
I expected a Jude Law Today's Birthday Suit
“singer Marianne Faithful” occasionally good actress (see Irina Palm).
Design for Living is such a ribald charmer and my heavens those three people were at the peak of their individual attractiveness in it! When Lubitsch was on his A game no one could touch him.
I'm not much of a Trekkie either, though I do enjoy select episodes of the original and some of the big screen films. The Tribbles ep is one of those I'll stop and watch if I run across it, along with the one with Joan Collins.
That Birthday Suit decision must have been tough with Diego, Jude, Mekhi, young Voight and Ross Lynch as options.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Now that is a film. Anyone who has a meltdown these days are just children compared to the insanity that is... Klaus Kinski.
I thought DESIGN FOR LIVING was but a moderately amusing little film. Then I assigned it to a film history class for the week we discussed pre-code Hollywood. The students laughed and laughed--EIGHTY years later. It was a revelation. Just goes to show how comedies really benefit from an audience. I'm guessing it was a major New Years Eve treat way back in 1933.
working stiff & dl -- i try to keep y'all guessing which is why i didn't go with Jude Law. My love for him is well known/documented ;)
Marianne Faithful may be my favorite living female singer, but the less said about her acting career the better.