Thursday, September 17, 1964: 'Goldfinger'

The third and most memorable of the James Bond movies premieres in London. It marked any number of firsts in the Bond canon:

     * First Bond movie to win an Academy Award (Best Sound Effects Editing).

     * First movie in which Bond himself orders a martini, "shaken, not stirred."

     * First Bond movie to include a pre-mission briefing from gadget master Q (who says, "Now pay attention, please.")

     * First in which Bond drives a heavily modified Aston Martin DB5 (including a passenger ejector seat).

     * First movie to feature the Ford Mustang, which had just debuted in April.

* Entry from www.mi6-hq.com: @

* Entry from BFI Screenonline: @

* Entry from Turner Classic Movies: @

* www.007.com: @
* Film locations, movie stills and production notes (from mitteleuropa): @

* Trailer: @

* "The Making of 'Goldfinger'" (2000 documentary): @
* The Telegraph (UK) review: @

* The Guardian (UK) review: @
* New York Times review: @

* Roger Ebert review (1999): @
* Life magazine cover story (November 6, 1964): @ 

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September 1964: Television debuts

All summaries taken verbatim from listings in various newspapers. 

'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'

Debut: Monday, September 14, ABC

Summary: An underwater adventure series filled with visual gimmicks which should appeal to the youngsters. Scientist Richard Basehart and Commander David Hedison run things on an atomic-powered sub known as the Seaview.

* Fan websites: @ and @

'Peyton Place'

Debut: Tuesday, September 15, ABC

Summary: Twice-weekly, half-hour, night-time soap opera about life in a small New England town. Dorothy Malone stars. In the premiere, a doctor arrives in town to take up practice. The other half of this serial debuts Thursday.

* Fan website: @

* DVD reviews: @ and @

'Shindig!'

Debut: Wednesday, September 16, ABC

Summary: The teen set will probably flip for this "fab" musical series which is a cross between a rock 'n' roll concert and a hootenanny. The opener, taped with an eager audience of teen-age enthusiasts, features the various talents of Sam Cooke, the Everly Brothers, the Wellingtons, Jackie and Gayle, Donna Loren, Bobby Sherman and the Righteous Brothers.

* Entry from TV.com: @

'Bewitched'

Debut: Thursday, September 17, ABC

Summary: Weekly half-hour situation comedy with Elizabeth Montgomery as a beautiful witch married to a perplexed mortal (Dick York), an advertising man. Agnes Moorehead costars as Miss Montgomery's mother who disapproves of her marriage to a human. In the premiere, York gets a wedding night confession from his bridge that she is a witch.

* Entry from Museum of Broadcast Communications: @

'Jonny Quest'

Debut: Friday, September 18, ABC

Summary: Weekly half-hour animated series about an 11-year-old boy whose father is a scientist and international troubleshooter.

* Entry from The Big Cartoon Database: @

'The Addams Family'

Debut: Friday, September 18, ABC

Summary: Cartoonist Charles Addams' spooky New Yorker magazine creation fits neatly into the TV comedy groove. Carolyn Jones makes a seductive "Morticia"; John Astin is deliciously droll as her weirdo husband "Gomez"; tall Ted Cassidy registers as the butler "Lurch"; Lisa Loring and Ken Weatherwax are perfect as the children "Wednesday and Pugsley"; and baldpated Jackie Coogan as "Uncle Fester" and Blossom Rock as "Granny" round out the cast of regulars. The opener introduces the offbeat household through a visit by a nervous truant office, wildly played by Allyn Joslyn.

* Fan website: @

* Tee & Charles Addams Foundation: @

'12 O'Clock High''

Debut: Friday, September 18, ABC

Summary: An absorbing drama series about a World War II bomber group, greatly enhanced by excellent usage of actual aerial combat footage and the casting of Robert Lansing as General Frank Savage, its star. Lansing is believable right down to the line as the commander of the B-17 bombers.

* Entry from epguides.com: @

'Flipper'

Debut: Saturday, September 19, NBC

Summary: Weekly half-hour adventure series about a marine preserve ranger who is a widower. His two young sons and their playmate, a tame dolphin named Flipper. Filmed in Florida.

* Entry from "The Encyclopedia of TV Pets" (2002, Ken Beck and Jim Clark): @

'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'

Debut: Tuesday, September 22, NBC

Summary: Better watch this one because people may ask you questions tomorrow. Robert Vaughn stars as Napoleon Solo, a James Bond type agent-superman, in the wildest, most contrived but in some ways, most entertaining adventure show in many moons. The opening seven minutes set the tone for the hour, and they're the best part of the show since they put you in the mood to accept ingenious plot gimmicks. By finale time, you'll either be on the edge of your seat or on the floor laughing.

* "The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book" (1987, Jon Heitland): @

* Fan website: @

'The Munsters'

Debut: Thursday, September 24, CBS

Summary: This cheery, wild affair with Frankenstein, Dracula and Vampira will win the kids and many grownups, too. A monster family called the Munsters go to a costume party and are embarrassed to find they're the real McCoy. Herman and Grandpa, with the aid of many special effects, are the most engaging. Nothing scary for the kids in the opener.

* www.munsters.com (website of Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster): @

* "The Munsters: A Trip Down Mockingbird Lane" (2006, Stephen Cox): @

'Daniel Boone'

Debut: Thursday, September 24, NBC

Summary: Another action-packed series for the kids with pre-Revolutionary frontier adventure to spare and a superhero to ape, played with vigor and vim by series star Fess Parker. In the opening episode, Daniel Boone and his sidekick Yadkin (Albert Salmi) have a bout with the Indians when Gen. George Washington orders them to build a fort.

* Entry from Archive of American Television: @

'Gomer Pyle - USMC'

Debut: Friday, September 25, CBS

Summary: An engaging and humorous opening for Marine Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), who brings a woman into camp so she can see her boyfriend. This is the same Gomer from the Andy Griffith series, trying to get along with a tough gung-ho sergeant.

* Entry from epguides.com: @

* Entry from "Encyclopedia of the Sixties" (2012): @

'Gilligan's Island'

Debut: Saturday, September 26, CBS

Summary: Another situation comedy, "Gilligan's Island," debuts -- and the landing is dubious. In this one, Bob Denver (of Dobie Gillis fame) is the incredible hero -- First Mate Gilligan of a charter sightseeing boat that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island in the Hawaii area. His flustered skipper is Alan Hale and his distraught passengers are Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer (a wealthy Long Island couple); Tina Louise (a glamor puss film starlet); Russell Johnson (a befuddled professor) and Dawn Wells (a notion counter clerk). Most of the action concerns the group's amazement at their predicament and their efforts to enlist help through the ship's radio which has been swallowed by a fish.
* Gilligan's Island Fan Club: @
* "Inside Gilligan's Island" (1994, Sherwood Schwartz): @

'My Living Doll'

Debut: Sunday, September 27, CBS

Summary: Bob Cummings plays a space agency psychiatrist who suddenly finds himself custodian of Rhoda, an Air Force top secret robot, played by Julie Newmar. 

Note: Newmar's character helped popularize the phrase "That does not compute." 

* Entry from Television Obscurities: @

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September 1964: Pete Townshend smashes a guitar

During a performance by The High Numbers (later The Who) at London's Railway Hotel, Pete Townshend accidentally breaks the neck of his guitar on the club's low ceiling, then proceeds to shatter the instrument. He would repeat the act innumerable times through the years. Note: While the venue is known, the exact date is not. The band played each Tuesday at the Railway that month (September 8, 15, 22 and 29).

Photo taken at National Jazz and Blues Festival, Royal Windsor Racecourse, July 1966.

* "Smashed Guitars" (www.thewho.net): @

* "Rickenbacker Guitars" (www.thewho.net): @

* "Pete Townshend and the Auto-Destructive Art of Guitar-Smashing" (dangerousminds.net): @
* "50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll: Townshend Smashes It Up" (Rolling Stone): @
* "History: The Story of The Who" (thewho.com): @

* Footage from a Railway Hotel set (exact date unknown): @

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Monday, September 7, 1964: 'Daisy' ad

The most famous of all campaign commercials, known as the "Daisy Girl" ad, ran only once as a paid advertisement, during an NBC broadcast of "Monday Night at the Movies" on September 7, 1964. Without any explanatory words, the ad uses a simple and powerful cinematic device, juxtaposing a scene of a little girl happily picking petals off a flower (actually a black-eyed Susan), and an ominous countdown to a nuclear explosion. The ad was created by the innovative agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, known for its conceptual, minimal, and modern approach to advertising. The memorable soundtrack was created by Tony Schwartz, an advertising pioneer famous for his work with sound, including anthropological recordings of audio from cultures around the world. The frightening ad was instantly perceived as a portrayal of Barry Goldwater as an extremist. ... The ad was replayed in its entirety on ABC's and CBS's nightly news shows, amplifying its impact.

     -- From The Living Room Candidate (Museum of the Moving Image): @

     -- Also see "Ice Cream" from same site: @

* "Daisy: The Complete History of an Infamous and Iconic Ad" (conelrad.com): @

* "Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater, and the Ad That Changed American Politics" (Robert Mann, 2011): @

* "The Responsive Chord" (Tony Schwartz, 1973): @

* Entry from "Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture" (2009): @

* Entry from "Encyclopedia of Political Communication" (2008): @

* Passage from "Packaging the Presidency: A History and Criticism of Presidential Campaign Advertising" (Kathleen Hall Jamieson, 2nd edition, 1996): @

* Passage from "The Spot: The Rise of Political Advertising on Television" (Edwin Diamond, 3rd edition, 1992): @

* "Revisiting the Daisy Ad Revolution" (New York Times, 2011): @

* President Johnson's April 17 remarks (source of LBJ quote used in ad; The American Presidency Project): @

* "LBJ: Issues and Roses" (St. Petersburg Times, April 18): @

* Memo from White House aide Jack Valenti (September 7): @

* "LBJ Rips Barry's A-Arms Plan" (Associated Press, September 7): @

* "The Difficulty of 'Being Fair' to Goldwater (Life magazine, September 18): @
* "Campaign is Boosted Via TV" (UPI, October 10): @

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Thursday, September 3, 1964: Wilderness Act

President Johnson today signed into law the wilderness conservation bill -- a gift from the present generation to the future of 9 million acres of woodland recreation areas. In a White House bill-signing ceremony, Johnson termed the event "a very happy and history occasion for all who love the out of doors, and that includes me." Under the wilderness bill, 61 million acres of woodland eventually could be preserved in the same state as when Indians roamed the land. Most of the 9 million acres immediately covered is in the Western states.

     -- United Press International (story: @)

* Text: @

* "Johnson Signs Wilderness and Recreation Bills" (Associated Press): @

* Johnson's remarks (The American Presidency Project): @
* Summary (The Wilderness Society): @

* Summary (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service): @
* Summary (U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental and Natural Resources Division): @

* Locations (www.wilderness.net): @
* "America's Public Lands: From Yellowstone to Smokey Bear and Beyond" (Randall K. Wilson, 2014): @ 

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Wednesday, September 2, 1964: Abortion and television

The NBC soap opera "Another World," which had premiered in May, is the first U.S. television series to make abortion part of a sustained plotline. (Other shows had incorporated the topic, but "Another World" dealt with it through pregnancy, abortion and aftermath.)

     The story: When college student Pat Matthews becomes pregnant, her boyfriend persuades her to have an illegal abortion. Told later that she will be unable to have children, Matthews shoots and kills her boyfriend. She is acquitted on the grounds of temporary insanity, then marries her defense attorney and has twins.

    The plotline takes place over several weeks, with the abortion taking place in the September 2 episode.

     -- Photo of Pat Matthews (played by Susan Trustman) from We Love Soaps website

* Summary from We Love Soaps: @

* Episode summaries, 1964 and 1965 (Eddie Drueding's AWHP): @ and @

* "Another World" entry from Archive of American Television: @

* "Abortion Onscreen" (Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health; University of California, San Francisco): @

* "A Timeline of Abortion Stories in Popular U.S. Media" (The Abortion Diaries): @ 

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Friday, August 28, 1964: Spaghetti Westerns

Directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name, "Per un pugno di dollari" ("A Fistful of Dollars") opens in Florence, Italy. The movie, shot in Spain, was influential in the genre that came to be known as the "Spaghetti Western." From the Spaghetti Western Database:

The spaghetti western was born in the first half of the sixties and lasted until the second half of the seventies. It got its name from the fact that most of them were directed and produced by Italians, often in collaboration with other European countries, especially Spain and Germany. The name "spaghetti western" originally was a depreciative term, given by foreign critics to these films because they thought they were inferior to American westerns. Most of the films were made with low budgets, but several still managed to be innovative and artistic, although at the time they didn't get much recognition, even in Europe. In the eighties the reputation of the genre grew and today the term is no longer used disparingly, although some Italians still prefer to call the films western all'italiana (westerns Italian style). In Japan they are called macaroni westerns, in Germany Italowestern.

Notes:

* The movie's early success led to its opening in Rome on September 12, but it was not released in the United States until 1967.

* The Sergio Leone biography linked below quotes him as saying the film opened on August 27. However, he goes on to talk about the film's poor attendance on Friday (August 28) and Saturday; also, most Italian websites list the date as August 28.

* "A Fistful of Dollars" entry from Turner Classic Movies: @

* "Westerns ... All'Italiana!" (blog): @

* "Spaghetti Westerns: The Good, the Bad and the Violent" (Thomas Weisser, 1992): @

* "Once Upon A Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoers' Guide to Spaghetti Westerns" (Howard Hughes, 2004): @
* "Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death" (Christopher Frayling, 2000): @

* "The Films of Sergio Leone" (Robert C. Cumbow, 2008): @
* www.fistful-of-leone.com: @ 

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Thursday, August 27, 1964: 'Mary Poppins'

Adapted by Walt Disney Productions from the books by P.L. Travers, "Mary Poppins" premieres in Los Angeles. The movie was a financial and critical success -- No. 1 at the box office for the year and nominated for 13 Academy Awards (winning five, including best actress for Julie Andrews and best song for "Chim Chim Cher-ee").

* Movie trailer: @

* Footage from premiere: @

* Review (Life magazine, September 25, 1964): @

* "At last Hollywood 'discovers' the toast of Broadway" (Life, November 13, 1964): @

* ' 'Mary Poppins' Lifts Disney to New Heights" (Associated Press, June 1965): @

* Official film site: @

* Entry from Turner Classic Movies: @

* Entry from "Movies of the '60s" (2004): @

* "Becoming Mary Poppins" (The New Yorker magazine, December 2005): @

* "How we made Mary Poppins" (The Guardian, December 2013): @

* "Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P.L. Travers" (Valerie Lawson, 2013): @

* "Myth, Symbol and Meaning in 'Mary Poppins': The Governess as Provocateur" (Giorgia Grilli, 2007): @ 

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Saturday, August 22, 1964: Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

Fannie Lou Hamer, vice chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, testifies before the credentials committee in the days leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She tells of trying to register to vote in 1962, and of being jailed and beaten in June 1963. Her statement was the most dramatic point of the MFDP's effort to represent the state instead of the all-white regular delegation. The committee offered to seat 2 members of the MFDP as delegates-at-large, which the group rejected. (The regular delegation was also unwilling to accept the compromise, as it required them to sign a "loyalty oath" to support the party platform and the presidential ticket in November.) The MFDP then left the convention and returned to Mississippi.

Fannie Lou Hamer

* Complete text and audio of testimony (American Rhetoric): @

* Partial video (networks cut away to televise an impromptu news conference by President Johnson, who wanted to divert attention from Hamer's testimony): @
* Johnson's remarks (American Presidency Project): @
* "LBJ Tells Governors Voters Won't Gamble" (Associated Press): @
* Biography (Mississippi Historical Society): @
* Biography (PBS): @
* Oral history (1972-73, University of Southern Mississippi): @

* Transcript of Hamer interview on June 1963 events in Winona, Mississippi: @

* Audio of 1965 interview with Hamer (Pacifica Radio Archives): @
* FBI files: @
* Links (Civil Rights Digital Library): @
* Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO (Jackson State University): @
* Hamer Institute videos: @
* Fannielouhamer.info: @
* "This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer" (Kay Mills, 1993): @
* "For Freedom's Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer" (Chana Kai Lee, 1999): @

MFDP

* Summary ("Encyclopedia of the Sixties," 2012): @

* Summary and links (Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement): @

* Summary and links (civilrightsteaching.org): @

* Summary (Digital Library of Georgia): @

* Summary (Online Archive of California): @

* Links (Civil Rights Digital Library): @ 

* An extensive collection of related documents are available online at the Wisconsin Historical Society's Freedom Summer Digital Collection: @ (search for "Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party")

* "Basis for the development of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party" (MFDP): @
* "Brief Submitted by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party" (to the credentials committee): @
* Statement by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to credentials committee (The King Center): @
* "A Primer for Delegates to the Democratic National Convention Who Haven't Heard About the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party" (The King Center): @
* "The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party: Background and Recent Developments" (Steve Max, Political Education Project, 1965): @
* Freedom Vote ballot (October-November, 1964; University of Southern Mississippi): @
* Congressional resolution recognizing 40th anniversary of MFDP (July 21, 2004): @

Democratic National Convention
* Convention photos and summary (Take Stock): @
* Photos (Library of Congress): @
* Video clips (eFootage): @

* "Civil Righters Demand Seats At Convention" (United Press International, August 21): @
* "Challenges of Mississippi, Alabama Delegations Heard" (Associated Press, August 22): @
* "Shocking Mississippi Testimony" (Jet magazine, September 3): @
* "Miss. Compromise Try Fails" (UPI, August 25): @

* "Mississippi Delegates Withdraw, Rejecting a Seating Compromise; Convention Then Approves Plan" (New York Times, August 25): @
* "Mississippi in Boycott" (AP, August 26): @ 
* "Showdown at the 1964 Democratic National Convention" (John C. Skipper, 2012): @ 
* For a Voice and the Vote" (Lisa Anderson Todd, 2014): @ 

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Tuesday, August 18, 1964: South Africa banned from Summer Olympics

South Africa has been barred from taking part in the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo over its refusal to condemn apartheid. The International Olympic Committee announced the decision in Lausanne, Switzerland, after South Africa failed to met an ultimatum to comply with its demands by 16 August. The IOC originally withdrew South Africa's invitation to Japan during the winter games in Innsbruck, Austria. It said the decision could be overturned only if South Africa renounced racial discrimination in sport and opposed the ban in its own country on competition between black and white athletes.

     -- From BBC; link: @

* "South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games" (South African History Online): @

* Excerpt from "The Politics of South African Football" (Oshebeng Alpheus Koonyaditse, 2010): @ 

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