This Month (October) 1954

World Champions! The New York Giants defeated the Cleveland Indians on October 2nd to win the World Series! They swept the Indians, winning the last game by a score of 7-4.

Also on the second, two new shows debuted on NBC:
- The Imogene Coca Show, a half-hour situation comedy/variety show. It stars Imogene Coca, and precedes…
- The Jummy Durante Show, also a comedy/variety program, starring none other than Jimmy Durante.

Sitting Bull debuted on October 6th, starring DAle Robertson and J Carrol Naish (as sitting Bull). This Sidney Salkow and Rene Cardona Western depicts the war between Chief Sitting Bull and the Americans leading up to Custer’s Last Stand.

Five days later, in Vietnam the Viet Minh took control of North Vietnam, and Hurricane Hazel crossed over Haiti killing at least a thousand people.

Hazel continued her path of destruction by making landfall in North Carolina as a Category 4. The damage is still being assessed.

Also on that same day, the Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, a children’s program, debuted on ABC. Set at the US Cavalry post Fort Apache, this show stars Lee Aaker as Rusty, along side his German shepherd, Rin Tin Tin.

Texas Instruments announced a commercially viable transistor radio on October 18th. It is expected to go on sale in the coming weeks.

Also on the 18th, the Flagstons from Beetle Bailey got their own spin-off strip: Hi and Louis.

October 28th saw a pair of films hit the theaters:

The Black Knight, starring Alan Ladd as the blacksmith John. He is tutored at Camelot, where he falls for Lady Linet. Due to his common birth he is unable to marry her — so he creates an alternate identity as the titular Black Knight to help King Arthur.

Carmen Jones, starring Dorothy Dandridge as Carmen and Harry Belafonte as Joe, is a musical producted and directed by none other than Otto Preminger, based on a 1943 stage production. Carmen Jones is a vixen who works in a parachute factory during World War 2. She gets in a fight with a coworker and it all goes crazy from there!

This Week (August 26th-31st*) in 1954.

Fright to the Finish, a Popeye short, was released on August 27th. Don’t miss it!

Also on the 27th, Shield for Murder, a film noir starring Edmond O’Brien. O’Brien plays Barney Nolan, a police Lieutenant who decides he’s had enough. Nolan decides to take the law into his own hands, and takes himself on a destructive path…

On the follwing day, the newest Bugs Bunny short was released: Yankee Doodle Bugs. This one is a must-see, too!

(* September 1st will be a part of the first “This Month in 1954…” on September 25th.)

This Week (August 19-25th) in 1954…

A short week this week: Just two films!

Duel in the Jungle was released on August 21st. This adventure was directed by George Marshall and stars Dana Andrews as Scott Walkers, Jeanne Crain as Marian Taylor, and David Farrar as twins Perry and Arthur Henderson. The movie starts with an American insurance investigator going to Rhodesia to investigate a suspicious death: That of a major diamond dealer!

And on the 24th, The Egyptian was released by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Michael Curtiz, this epic stars Jean Simmons, Victore Mature, and Gene Tierney. It tells the story of a physician named Sinuhe, who happens to encounter the pharaoh Akhnaton, and his story…

(Also a note: In September this is going to switch from a weekly thing to a monthly due to the sheer amount of weeks with little to nothing happening in them…)

This Week (August 5th-11th) in 1954…

On Thursday, August the 5th, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe debuted. This exciting adventure was directed by Luis Bunuel, and stars Daniel O’Herlihy. In it, the titular Robinson Crusoe finds himself stranded on an island and must fend for himself…

King Richard and the Crusaders was released on Saturday. This film stars Rex Harrison, Virginia Mayo, George SAnders, and Laurence Harvey. It was directed by David Butler, and as a historical drama, covers the infighting and other drama as King Richard and other European monarchs attempt to take Jerusalem back…

On the 11th, Her Twelve Men premiered. Starring Greer Garson, Robert Ryan, and Barry Sullivan, this Robert Z. Leonard film covers Jan Stewart’s (Garson) struggles as a new teacher at The Oaks, a boy’s boarding school. She must deal with her students and the disapproving Joe Hargrave (Ryan), the head of the school.

This Week (July 22-28) in 1954…

This week was quite a week for U.S. filmgoers. A new Brando, a musical, a comedy with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and even a Mickey Spillane film!

First up, on Thursday, the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers debuted in theatres. This film starts by showing a man named Adam Pontipee agreeing to marry his soon-to-be-bride Milly despite having just met. Milly then finds that Adam has six brothers, all under the same roof… and she has to help civilize them!

On Friday, Living It Up, a comedy, was released. This Martin-Lewis flick is about a railroad worker (Lewis) dreaming of visiting New York City. When he finds an old car at an atomic test site, his friend and doctor Steve Harris (Martin) tells him he has radiation poisoning — and three weeks to live! This garners media attention as Steve realizes he was wrong — and hijinks ensue!

Then on Saturday (three days in a row now!) Ring of Fear was released. This mystery stars Mickey Spillane as himself, investigating a serial killer in a circus… and we’ll leave the rest of the plot to Mr. Spillane!

Finally, on Wednesday, July 28th, the film On the Waterfront came out. This crime drama stars Marlon Brando, and is based on a number of true stories. It’s filmed on location in New Jersey and tells the tale of union violence and corruption surrounding dockworkers and the mafia, and the police trying to break through it all…

This Week (July 15-21) in 1954…

Valley of the Kings premiered on Wednesday, starring Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker. This film is about archeologist Mark Brandon (Taylor), convinced by Ann Mercedes (Parker) to search out solid proof of the Bibilical Joseph’s travles in ancient Egypt.

On Monday, the French film The Earrings of Madame de… was released in the United States. Set in Paris in the late 19th century, this drama shows the journey taken by a pair of earrings and the effect they have on the people who own, buy, and sell them…

This Week (July 8-14) in 1954…

Garden of Evil was released on July 9th. This western stars Gary Cooper and Susan Hayward. Cooper plays Hooker, part of a group heading to California to prospect for gold. They stop in Mexico and are hired to rescue Leah Fuller’s (Hayward) husband. Twists and turns see them facingmuch adversity during their journey!

On July 13th, Twist of Fate was released, featuring Ginger Rogers, Stanley Rogers, and Herbert Lom. In this mystery film directed by David Miller, Johnny (Rogers) lives with Louis Galt (Baker), a rich Englishman and her lover, and more importantly, a married man. Galt has promised to marry her once he can divorce his wife. Johnny eventually becomes interested in a poor French artist — and then it gets complicated when Galt is murdered and Johnny and her new interest are accused of being behind it…

This Week (July 1-7) in 1954…

This week saw the release of two major films, the re-release of one, and the release of an animated short.

On July 1st, the British film Background, staring Valeria Hobson, Philip Friend, and Norman Wooland, was released in the United States as Edge of Divorce. IT’s a film about a couple (Friend and Hobson) who have been married for almost twenty years but are facing a breaking pooint. When they announce their decision to get a divorce, their children react and everything goes tango uniform…

July 3rd brought about he release of The High and The Mighty, and the re-release of the Egg and I.
- The High and the Mighty is about the passnegers and crew on a flight from Hawaii to California. it stars John Wayne as the First Officer, Dan Roman. The plane develops engine problems midway through its flight, over the ocean, and this is the central focus of the movie.
- The Egg and I, a 1947 film, was re-released. It’s the story of a young, married couple who become chicken farmers.

Hot Rod Huckster, a Woody Woodpecker film, was released on July 5th.

Miscellanea:
- On July 1st, the United States officially adopted the International Nautical Mile.
- On July 3rd, US Artist Reginald Marsh died at the age of 56.
- On July 4th, West Germany beat Hungary 3-2 to win the FIFA World Cup.

This Week (June 17-23rd) in 1954…

The summer movie season is starting to get well under way. This week movie goers were treated to two films (Them! and Demetrius and the Gladiators) and a short out of Warner Brothers Studios (Devil May Hare).

Them! is a science fiction film directed by Gordon Douglas. The film covers the interaction of an ensemble cast with radiation affected giant ants, starting in the New Mexico desert. The police begin dealing with a series of disappearances and other strange happenings before the ants are discovered.

The adventure film Demetrius and the Gladiators also debuted, directed by Delmer Daves. This is a sequel to the 1953 film The Robe. This film picks up after The Robe and covers Demetrius in his quest to protect the robe of Christ, whatever the personal cost to himself.

Devil May Hare is an entertaining Looney Tunes short about Bugs Bunny and features a new character: The wild Tasmanian Devil.