The Crack of Dawn #731

Volume #731

2/28/25

Newsletter #731

The Crack of Dawn

The only international word that is used in most of the world is “OK.” Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States, was from Kinderhook, NY, and his nickname was, “Old Kinderhook.” When he ran for president in 1837 his campaign slogan was, “Van Buren is O.K.” It was meant to mean “Old Kinderhook,” but everyone took it to mean that he was good.

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Warren Beatty began his acting career in the early 1960s as a contract player for Warner Brothers. In his youth, Beatty was a troublemaker and was finally called before the venerable Jack Warner. Warner yelled at Beatty, “This this is my studio, just look out the window at the water tower. Whose initials are on it?” Beatty looked out the window to the water tower and saw “WB” painted on it. He turned to Jack Warner and said, “Those are my initials.”

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When the great writer-director, Billy Wilder, was making his film, Love in the Afternoon (1957), the studio executives decided they hated the title. Billy Wilder said, “I like the title, but give me an example of a better title.” An executive thought and thought, then said, Tulsa (1949). Love in the Afternoon retained its title.

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This is an old Hollywood chestnut. Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures, was infamous for his bad temper and foul mouth. When he died and was buried at the Hollywood Cemetery (now Memories), there was an enormous crowd. Looking around at all the people, Danny Kaye turned to Red Skelton and quipped, “You see, you give the people what they want, and they show up.”

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Robert Wise won two Best Director Oscars: he shared his first Oscar with Jerome Robbins for West Side Story, and his second Oscar was four years later for The Sound of Music. Wise began his career as a film editor and cut Citizen Kane. One of his earliest directorial efforts was the classic horror film, The Body Snatcher (1945) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. I heard Mr. Wise speak and do Q&As several times, and I actually had a conversation with him once. At a Q&A I asked, “What do you think of the Night Gallery remake of The Body Snatcher? Robert Wise looked horrified and said, “They remade my movie and didn’t tell me?” Now I felt bad and tried to assuage his feelings. “It was pretty good, with Cornel Wilde, but not nearly as good as yours.” I had managed to completely bum him out. Robert Wise left the theater with a grim look on his face and his head hanging down.

I’m back in snowy Detroit.