1951: "The House on Telegraph Hill" is a good movie

Want a good movie?  Check out a retro movie channel?    

This morning, I caught just about all of "The House on Telegraph Hill", a 1951 movie with a rather interesting plot:  

Concentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder when she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.....

Well, let me give the movie a pretty good grade.   

The cast includes  Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese and William Lundigan.    I don't know much about their backgrounds but did enjoy their performance. 

I may have to watch it again to understand a couple of things about the story.   It is very intense and the dialogue is great.

The movie is based on a book:  "The frightened child" by Dana Lyon.

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April, my brother and The Bee Gees many years ago!

In the spring of 1967, my brother rushed home with a new 45. (We were a couple of kids collecting 45s!)

It was Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb singing their first international hit: "New York Mining Disaster 1941"

Initially, many people thought that it was The Beatles.

Many thought that Bee Gees was "Beatles Group".

Eventually, the world realized that it was the Brothers Gibb, specially when they listened to the B-side, the wonderful "I can't see nobody".

Barry was 20 and Robin & Maurice were only 17. It was the beginning of the amazing worldwide career of the brothers!

 

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We remember Carlos Manuel de Cespedes (1819-74)

Let’s take a moment and remember Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a Cuban patriot from the 19th century.  

This is from a summary of his life written by Juan Perez: 

Born on April 18, 1819, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes is considered by many Cubans to be the “Father of the Nation”.
Céspedes, who owned a plantation in eastern Cuba, began the 10 Years’ War when he freed his slaves and asked others to join his armed resistance against Spain. He wanted independence for Cuba, which he announced through the Grito de Yara (Cry of Yara).
Guerilla warfare was practiced by the Cuban troops, whose numbers soon grew. Céspedes became the general in chief. His forces captured the city of Bayamo and made it their capital.
When Spanish troops were sent to take the city, the outnumbered Cuban troops left and burnt it to the ground. Céspedes’ birthplace was one of a few buildings that did not burn.
As the war went on, Céspedes’ major goal was to attain American recognition of the new Cuban government, though it was to be an unrealized goal. Céspedes ran a constitutional convention, which decided upon a representative government for Cuba and proposed the abolition of slavery.
Céspedes was deposed by other revolutionaries in 1873. A year later, he was apprehended by the Spanish and executed.
Eventually Spain reached a settlement with the revolutionaries, but broke many of its promises.
Céspedes also published Cuba’s first independent newspaper, the Cubano Libre (The Free Cuban).

It's important for young Cuban-Americans to hear about men like Cespedes.  They are an important part of 19th century Cuban history.

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We remember Ernie Pyle and "The story of G.I. Joe"

A year ago, I wrote a post about Ernie Pyle.    You can read it here.

Not long ago, I watched a great movie:   “The story of G.I. Joe”, a tribute to Mr Pyle.  

This is from a review published in 1945:

Director William A. Wellman’s approach is starkly realistic. The documentary quality of the picture is enhanced by the frequent use of authentic Signal Corps footage of the North African and Italian campaigns, and the sparse, idiomatic dialogue.

The opening scene shows a truckload of Eighteenth Infantry greenhorns, waiting to shove off toward Faid Pass and fondling a newly acquired mascot. “Get that pooch out of here,” barks the lieutenant, “want to get him killed?” And much later, on a bleak, cold, and sodden Christmas night in the shell-pocked valley below Cassino, the captain sums up his men’s aspirations with simple eloquence: “If only we could create something good out of all this energy, all these men.”

Ernie Pyle was an unobtrusive sidelines observer, more interested in the individual doughfoot than the strategic deployment of regimental power, and his Story of G.I. Joe depicts infantry action in the terms of rain-soaked, mud-caked, and desperately tired men. They are of all types. The tough sergeant who carries a carefully wrapped record of his baby’s voice, the Brooklyn lothario who makes romantic capital out of his Italian heritage, the long-legged G.I. who was washed out as an air cadet because of his height and talks about cutting off his legs, and the taciturn captain, who understands his men better than he did his wife.

As the wandering correspondent who brings all the threads into sharp focus, Burgess Meredith plays Ernie Pyle with the same humility and spirit of camaraderie which endeared the correspondent to so many G.I.’s.

The movie is above all a tribute to the soldiers.   

Pyle was killed before the movie was released.

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1960: Camilo Pascual and 15 K's on opening day

Like many of you, I grew up trying to throw a curve ball like my idol Camilo Pascual. 

On this day in 1960, Camilo Pascual of the Washington Senators (now The Minnesota Twins) set an opening day record of 15 strike-outs.   In other words, 15 of the 27 outs were either a called strike three or swing and miss.

The opening day record still stands. Randy Johnson came close twice with 14.

From 1959 to 1965, Pascual won 100 games and led the AL in complete games and strike outs 3 times.   He retired with 176 wins and a 3.63 ERA.  

Pascual pitched for the 1965 AL champs Twins. Unfortunately, injuries limited him that season. He did start game 3 of the World Series against the Dodgers. 

On this day in 1960, Camilo’s curve ball was the talk of baseball.

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