Saturday, June 6, 2009

Spotlight
The first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, NJ, on this date in 1933. Essentially an open field with a large screen, the audience would drive into the "theater," park next to a post which had a speaker attached to it, and view the movie from the car. Drive-ins were especially popular with parents who didn't want to have to pay extra money for a babysitter; it was common to see whole families in their cars, with the kids in pajamas, watching the movie together. In fact, Richard Hollingshead, who created the first drive-in, advertised it by saying, "The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are." That original drive-in theater lasted for three years, but by then, the idea was off and running, and in its heyday, some 4,000 drive-in theaters were scattered across the US.

Quote
"He's too nervous to kill himself. He wears his seat belt in a drive-in movie." — Neil Simon

Question of the Day
A commonly reused movie sound effect is called castle thunder and it was first used in what 1931 movie?
Castle thunder is a sound effect that consists of the sound of a loud thunderclap during a rainstorm. It was originally recorded for the 1931 version of the horror film Frankenstein. It has been used in many movies from the 1940s to the 1980s, in cartoons, and on TV series. It was retired from regular film use around 1985, although it is still used in 1990s and 2000s animation shows. The sound effect has appeared in TV commercials as well.

Word of the day
mot juste

n., pl. mots justes.

Exactly the right word or expression.

(© Houghton Mifflin Company)

Today's History

James Meredith

• D-Day: Allied invasion of France marked a turning point in WWII (1944)
• James Meredith: the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi was shot and wounded on a highway during his March Against Fear (1966)
• Eastern Mediterranean Event: asteroid exploded in the air over the sea between Libya and Crete (2002)

Today's Birthdays

Paul Giamatti

• Diego Velázquez (1599-1660): baroque painter
• Nathan Hale (1755-1776): patriot of the American Revolution
• Thomas Mann (1875-1955): author of Death in Venice and The Magic Mountain; other writers born on this date include R. C. Sherriff (1896-1975) and Maxine Kumin (84)
• Roy Innis (75): civil rights leader, chairman of CORE
• Björn Borg (53): five-time Wimbledon champion
• Paul Giamatti (42): played John Adams in the eponymous HBO miniseries; actors Harvey Fierstein (55), Sandra Bernhard (54), Amanda Pays and Colin Quinn (both 49) and Max Casella (42) were also born on this date