Oswego Theater

 As you know, I grew up in Oswego, New York.  As you also know, I love movies.  Part of the reason came from going to the movies in my youth.

The first movie theater in Oswego was the Capitol Theater built in 1921 at 100 East Second Street, a stone's throw from my original home at 30 East Oneida street (at the corner with East Third Street).  I don't remember seeing a movie there.  It had 844 seats.  It was torn down in the 1950s.

Next came the Strand Theater in 1939 located at 149 West Second Street.  I remember one time I went there in the 1950s with my brothers Paul and Ted to watch the 1939 adventure film Beau Geste.  It had over 1,000 seats.  The Strand was torn down during the 1950s, but after the Capitol.  

Oswego Theater, now known as Oswego 7 Cinemas, is a historic movie theater located at 138 West Second Street (across the street from the Strand). It was designed in 1940 in the Art Deco style and opened in 1941. 

The front of the Oswego Theater features bands of yellow, red, and dark red brick that create broad horizontal and perpendicular belts. A pair of cast stone, accordion pleated vertical stripes are included on the facade. It was designed by architect John Eberson (1875–1964).

So, why did Oswego lose two of its three movie theaters during the 1950s?  Television.  Why pay for entertainment at the movie theater when you can get something free at home?

My earliest memory of going to the Oswego Theater was the Saturday morning shows for children.  It usually consisted of a Tarzan film or a western plus a lot of cartoons.

It seems strange now but my family would arrive at the Oswego Theater without regard to the schedule as to when a film would begin.  We would enter in the middle of a movie and see it to the end.  Then we would see the beginning until one of us would say, "This is where we came in."  I believe this was a common practice for families during my youth.

As my father did business (milk) with the theater manager, my family could get into the movies free.  However, instead of having a physical pass card, we would simply say, "Lasky," to the ticket taker.  It was embarrassing.  

Some of the movies I remember seeing at the Oswego Theater are From Here to Eternity (1953), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Vera Cruz (1954), Them! (1954), Blackboard Jungle (1955), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), Marty (1955), The Searchers (1956), Giant (1956), Gunfight at the O. K. Corral (1957), Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960) and The Parent Trap (1961).   

Date in Infamy

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong: Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.

As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

But always will our whole Nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces with the unbounding determination of our people we will gain the inevitable triumph so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire."

Gangs of New York

Gangs of New York is a 2002 American epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book The Gangs of New York.  The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Gangs of New York was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture (won by Chicago).  It didn't win any.

The film is set in 1863 (during the American Civil War), when a long-running Catholic–Protestant, nativist-immigrant feud erupts into violence, just as an Irish immigrant group is protesting the threat of conscription during the Civil War. Scorsese spent twenty years developing the project. Principal photography took place in Cinecittà, Rome and Long Island City, New York City.

Amsterdam (DiCaprio) and Bill (Day-Lewis) are leaders of rival criminal gangs in New York City.  Unknown to Bill, Amsterdam is the son of a rival gang leader he killed years before.

The Civil War draft riots break out just as the two rival gangs are preparing to fight, and Union Army soldiers are deployed to control the rioters. As the rival gangs fight, cannon fire from ships is directed into Paradise Square, interrupting their battle shortly before it begins.

Many of the gang members are killed by the naval gunfire, soldiers, and rioters. Bill and Amsterdam face off against one another until Bill is wounded by shrapnel. 

Historically, on July 11, 1863, (8 days after Gettysburg) mobs, mostly of foreign-born, especially Irish, workers surged onto the streets, assaulting residents, defying police, attacking draft headquarters, and burning buildings to protest their conscription into the Union Army.  Immigrants mostly arrived in northern cities and their numbers gave the north an advantage over the south in the war.

One thing that struck me about this movie was that Bill's gang was made up of the grandchildren of immigrants (now nativists), while Amsterdam's gang was of current immigrants.  I have never forgotten that I, a native born American, am a grandchild of immigrants to the USA.

Paladin, Chapter 1

 INT. GENERIC LOCATION - DAY

Same opening as 1957-1963 TV show, Have Gun - Will Travel.  Close up of black holster with iconic golden chess knight.  Classic theme music plays.  Camera pulls back as PALADIN pulls revolver from holster, cocks it and points it at camera.  

PALADIN (V.O.): I'd like you to take a look at this gun.  The balance is excellent.  This trigger responds to a pressure of one ounce.  This gun was handcrafted to my specifications and I rarely draw it unless I mean to use it.  

PALADIN uncocks revolver and returns it to holster.  Theme music continues.  Camera returns to closeup of chess knight.  Roll credits.

INT. OPERA HOUSE - NIGHT

SUPERIMPOSE: SAN FRANCISCO OPERA HOUSE - 1885

PALADIN, sitting between two beautiful sisters, is enjoying performance of opera.  

EXT. IN FRONT OF OPERA HOUSE - NIGHT

At end of opera, crowd exits theater, including PALADIN who escorts the two beautiful young (early twenties) sisters, each one holding one of his arms as they all gaily chat, enjoying the evening.

INT. HOTEL CARLTON - NIGHT

PALADIN and two sisters arrive at Hotel Carlton.  As women mount staircase to their room, Paladin gives each a soft kiss on their cheeks.  He remains in the lobby.

PALADIN: KIM CHAN, my newspapers, please.

KIM CHAN, the hotel receptionist, brings PALADIN a stack of out of town newspapers.  PALADIN starts to read first one.   

KIM CHAN: Excuse me, Mr. PALADIN, but a beautiful woman was here earlier asking about you.  Would not be surprised if she be waiting for you in your room.

PALADIN: Really?  Thank you, KIM CHAN.

PALADIN leaves his papers with KIM CHAN and mounts the staircase.

INT. OUTSIDE PALADIN'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

PALADIN arrives in front of his hotel room, 314.  He checks door knob and confirms it is unlocked.  He carefully opens door.

INT. PALADIN'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

PALADIN enters his hotel room, slowly looking around.  He quickly notices a beautiful blonde woman sleeping in his bed, covered by sheets and blankets.  PALADIN pulls sheets and blankets from her body, awakening her and revealing her nakedness. 

WOMAN IN BED: What the...how dare you.

She quickly covers herself up.

PALADIN: Madam, please get out of my bed and out of my room.

WOMAN IN BED: There were no vacancies, so...

Woman pulls a card from her bag and shows it to PALADIN.  It reads, "Have Gun Will Travel...Wire PALADIN...San Francisco."

WOMAN IN BED: Is this you?

PALADIN: Yes.  

WOMAN IN BED: Well, my name's POLLYANNA.  I'm in desperate need of your services, Mr. PALADIN.  

PALADIN: PALADIN will do.

POLLYANNA: Okay, PALADIN.  My boyfriend back in Windfall, Nevada is being threatened by a bully, a very bad man.  My boyfriend is a cripple and cannot defend himself.  I want you to kill the bully.

PALADIN: Sorry, but I'm not an assassin.

POLLYANNA: So, what does your card mean?

PALADIN: I'm available for hire under the right circumstances and, if need be, I am proficient with a gun.

POLLYANNA: Then, what about threatening the bully?  He would draw his gun on you and then you could kill him.

PALADIN: No, I won't do that either.  What do you mean "cripple?"

POLLYANNA: His right hand is maimed...can't use it.  Therefore, he can't defend himself against the bully.

PALADIN: I could teach him to defend himself using his left hand.

POLLYANNA: That'd be good.  How much would you charge me?

PALADIN: $1,000.  What's your boyfriend's name?

POLLYANNA: CHARLES.  

PALADIN: What does CHARLES do back in Windfall?

POLLYANNA: He owns and operates a very successful general store.  He's a wonderful man.

PALADIN: And the bully?  What's his story?

POLLYANNA: Owns a big ranch outside of town.  Thinks he can get anything and everything he wants.  Name's BIG DAN.

PALADIN: I'm sure CHARLES is a wonderful man as he has such a devoted woman to do his bidding.  

POLLYANNA: No, he doesn't know I'm here.  He'd be mad as hell if he did.  It's my idea.

PALADIN: I understand.  Now why don't you get dressed and I'll help you find some lodging of your own.

POLLYANNA: Okay, PALADIN.  I told you there're no vacancies at this hotel.  I asked at the front desk.  As far as other hotels, it's late, so why bother?  We're both adults.  I'm not married.  Are you?

PALADIN: No.

POLLYANNA: Thought not.  Why not share a bed with me for one night before we head out in the morning for Windfall.

PALADIN: You are a strange woman, POLLYANNA.  What would your boyfriend think of such an arrangement?

POLLYANNA: I don't rightly care what he'd think.  I'm not going to tell him.  Are you?

PALADIN: It depends.  Is he my client?

POLLYANNA: No, I am.  

PALADIN: All right.  I won't discuss the arrangement with him either.  

PALADIN undresses, changes from his fancy going-to-opera clothes to his going-to-bed clothes.

POLLYANNA: Is that what you wear when you're going to sleep with a woman?

PALADIN: Madam, it is my intention that we'll sleep side by side in the same bed.  That is all.

POLLYANNA: Well, PALADIN, it is my intention that I'll seduce you into making violent love to me.  I haven't had such a pleasure in many days and I'm a desperate woman.  Are you a red-blooded man or not?

PALADIN dims the lights and gets into bed with POLLYANNA. 

Arnold

 On November 17, 2003 (21 years ago), Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of the State of California.  He served until January 3, 2011.  How did the former body builder and actor (True Lies [1994] and Kindergarten Cop [1990]) turn into a politician?

Schwarzenegger was elected Governor when the previous governor was recalled and he placed first among replacement candidates. Schwarzenegger served the remainder of the prior governor's incomplete term between 2003 and 2007. Schwarzenegger was then reelected to a second term in 2006. 

At the start of his first term as governor, Schwarzenegger proposed deep cuts in the state budget and was met with opposition in the California State Legislature. Because of their opposition to his budget cuts, Schwarzenegger controversially called his opponents in the legislature "girlie men".  

In June of 2005, the governor called for a special election in an effort to pass several of his proposed reforms. However, the voters ultimately rejected all of Schwarzenegger's propositions. 

Schwarzenegger opposed the federal government's effort to build fencing on the Mexico–United States border.  He likened it to the Berlin Wall. 

In 2006, Schwarzenegger made several efforts to address global warming by signing the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and negotiating the creation of a carbon emissions trading market with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

On November 7, 2006, Schwarzenegger defeated Democratic state treasurer Phil Angelides in the 2006 California gubernatorial election, winning a second term as governor. In his second term, Schwarzenegger pledged to be a centrist politician and cooperate with the Democrats to resolve statewide political issues. Only days into the term, the governor proposed universal health insurance in the state and called for new bonds for schools, prisons, and other infrastructure. 

Also in his second term, Schwarzenegger proposed an austere fiscal policy in response to the Great Recession. Continuing his efforts to address environmental issues, the governor signed a memorandum of understanding with Mexican President Felipe Calderón and signed legislation pertaining to global warming. 

However, by October, Schwarzenegger vetoed 35 percent of the bills that the California State Legislature passed, which was the highest rate since the statistic was first tracked when Ronald Reagan was governor of the state. 

In the midst of the Great Recession in 2009, Schwarzenegger called upon the legislature to pass deep budget cuts and warned that the state was facing insolvency.  In May, the governor voiced his openness to marijuana legalization.

After finishing his time as governor, Schwarzenegger returned to his acting career.   He starred in The Expendables 2 (2012), The Last Stand (2013) and Escape Plan (2013).

Regrets 4

Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia, on the block bounded by Lehigh Avenue, 20th Street, Somerset Street and 21st Street.  It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics (until 1954) of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies (until 1970) of the National League (NL).

The stadium was named after the Philadelphia icon Connie Mack who was the manager and part owner of the Athletics from 1901 to 1950.  Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and games managed (7,755) in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.

As a baseball fan, I took advantage of my opportunity to watch live major league games when I became a student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1963.  I remember taking the Broad Street subway north to the Lehigh Avenue station and then walking many blocks through a residential neighborhood to Connie Mack Stadium.

In the summer of 1964, one morning I went to Connie Mack Stadium, not to watch a baseball game, but to look for a job.  I had an idea to be a vendor at baseball games.

I made contact with the man in charge and he hired me to, at first, sell programs (for a commission) before and during the early part of the baseball games.  Selling hot dogs (the most remunerative job) went to those with the most seniority.  

After the market for programs was exhausted, he said I could find an empty seat and watch the remainder of the contest.  I could work any games I wanted.  I was not obliged to work all of the games.

I received an ID card that would allow me to enter Connie Mack Stadium before games I wanted to work.  I never used it.

For a reason I am not sure of even sixty years later, I decided not to take advantage of this opportunity.  I think it had something to do with my perception of how my parents would react (negatively) to what I was doing at Connie Mack Stadium.  Who cares what they thought?  It was a good idea.  I should have taken advantage of the opportunity.

This is another of my regrets.  My life could have changed had I followed through with being a vendor at Connie Mack Stadium.  Maybe it could have given me more self-confidence.  Maybe it could have led to a connection to a career in sports.  Who knows?

  

Roman Holiday

 Roman Holiday is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by William Wyler. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a princess out to see Rome on her own and Gregory Peck as a reporter. 

Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Story (Dalton Trumbo) and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Edith Head).  The film was shot on location in Rome in black and white.

Crown Princess Ann (Hepburn) is on a tightly-scheduled tour of European capital cities for her unnamed nation. After an especially hard day in Rome, her doctor gives her an injection and advises: "Best thing I know is to do exactly what you wish for a while."

The princess secretly leaves the embassy to explore the city on her own and, as the drug takes effect, falls asleep atop a low wall, where Joe Bradley (Peck), an American reporter, finds her. Not recognizing the princess (hard to believe), he thinks she is an intoxicated young nobody and takes her to his apartment to sleep it off.

When Ann wakes up, she wants to take advantage of her temporary freedom to be an ordinary tourist in the famous eternal city.  Joe finally recognizes the princess, but plays along with her in order to obtain an exclusive story he can sell for a lot of money.

Thus, Ann and Joe experience many adventures together visiting the many tourist sites in Rome.  Being together for many hours, the two young people develop a romantic relationship.

Finally, late at night, Ann realizes her Roman Holiday has to end.  Joe drives her to near her embassy's gate and they reluctantly say goodbye.  Joe gives up the financial benefit of spending a day alone with the princess.  They say goodbye again the following day at her press conference when she greets the many members of the press in attendance.  

Princess Ann and Joe depart the press conference in opposite directions.  As is typical in many Hollywood love stories, it is not a happy ending.