1960s Timeline

Jan. 24, 1962 - Robert Ryan has been signed to portray General James M. Gavin (pictured in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge) in “The Longest Day,” a film about the D-Day landings at Normandy. General Gavin was part of “Mission Boston” on D-Day. Mission Boston was a parachute combat assault conducted at night by the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division on June 6, 1944, as part of the American airborne landings in Normandy. Mr. Ryan served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a drill

Jan. 22, 1962 - “Only Two Can Play,” a British comedy with Peter Sellers and Mai Zetterling, will be the next attraction at New York’s Fine Arts Theatre, following the current “One, Two, Three.” The Kingsley International release, based on the Kingsley Amis novel, “That Uncertain Feeling,” was directed by Sidney Gilliat. John Lewis (Sellers) is bored by his librarian's job and henpecked at home. Then Liz (Zetterling), wife of a local counciller, sets her sights on him. But wi

Jan. 21, 1962 - A television documentary about the making of “Road to Hong Kong,” a forthcoming motion picture starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Joan Collins, and featuring an extended cameo by Dorothy Lamour will be presented by NBC’s “Du Pont Show of the Week” on May 6 from 10 to 11 p.m. The program, “Biography of a Movie,” will trace the development of the film from the inception of the idea to the world première, according to David L. Wolper, executive producer. The movie w

Jan. 21, 1962 - Scheduled to arrive in local theatres this week is a double feature from Columbia. The first film is “The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.” It is the third feature film to star the trio since their 1959 resurgence in popularity. The second film is “Twist Around the Clock” with Chubby Checker. It is a remake of the 1956 musical “Rock Around the Clock.” Other musicians who appear along with Mr. Checker are Dion, Vicki Spencer, and The Marcels. #classicmovies #classi

Jan. 20, 1962 - The 27th annual award-presentation ceremony of the New York Film Critics will take place tonight at a reception at Sardi’s Restaurant. Receiving plaques for screen achievement during the past year will be Sophia Loren (pictured), named the best actress for “Two Women”; Maximilian Schell, cited for his role in “Judgment at Nuremberg”; Robert Wise, producer of “West Side Story,” the best picture; Robert Rossen, as director of “The Hustler”; and Abby Mann, whose

Jan. 20, 1962 - Universal-International is having trouble getting started on “The Ugly American.” The difficulty is that the star, Marlon Brando, has been unavailable because “Mutiny on the Bounty,” an MGM remake, has tied him up more than a year longer than was planned. In addition, Mr. Brando hopes to take a month’s vacation before starting work on “The Ugly American.” Universal has two other irons in the fire. By the middle of February, shooting will have begun on “To Kill

Jan. 20, 1962 - Twentieth Century-Fox would like to be able to say with certainty that its new Marilyn Monroe movie, “Something’s Got to Give,” will start shooting in February. But this is unlikely. Shooting of the film already has been scheduled a couple of times and has encountered serious trouble. The original producer, David Brown, has withdrawn and been replaced by Henry T. Weinstein, and the script is in the process of overhaul — in short, the usual storms that accompan

Jan. 19, 1962 - The invitational benefit opening last night of “Tender Is the Night” at New York’s Paramount Theatre was attended by an audience that included prominent persons in entertainment and other fields. The film begins regular performances for the public today at both the Paramount and Plaza Theatres. Among those present, representing the cast, were Jennifer Jones (left), Joan Fontaine, and Jason Robards Jr. (center), who escorted his wife, Lauren Bacall (right). #cl

Jan. 18, 1962 - Zero Mostel (pictured) has signed contracts to star in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” the Harold S. Prince musical production opening in New York May 3 at the Alvin Theatre. The actor, who won a Tony award last season for his performances in “Rhinoceros,” will depict “a wily slave in pre-Christian era Rome intent on obtaining his freedom.” #classicmovies #classicmoviestars #1960s #Movies #moviestar #movieset #MovieStars #moviescene #moviesce

Jan. 18, 1962 - Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle will appear in starring roles in “Safe at Home,” an independent feature, to be filmed by Naud-Hamilburg Productions starting next month at the New York Yankees’ training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Columbia release has an original screenplay by Tom Naud and Steve Rich. The film is about a Florida boy who lies to his Little League teammates, telling them he knows Mantle and Maris and will bring them to their team banquet. His

Jan. 17, 1962 - Columbia’s “Sail a Crooked Ship,” starring Robert Wagner, Dolores Hart, and the late Ernie Kovacs, will open on Feb. 2 at New York’s Criterion Theatre. Irving Brecher directed the Philip Barry production, from a screenplay by Ruth Brooks Flippen and Bruce Geller. An odd assortment of criminals steals a mothballed Liberty vessel to use it as a getaway after a planned bank robbery in Boston. #classicmovies #classicmoviestars #1960s #Movies #moviestar #movieset #

Jan. 16, 1962 - Sal Mineo (pictured left with Elvis Presley), the actor and singer, was convicted today of speeding in the Bronx last June 1. As a result, his New York State operator’s license was revoked; it was the third time within 18 months that he had been found guilty of speeding. The 23-year-old resident of Mamaroneck appeared at Bronx Traffic Court wearing an eye patch over his right eye, which is inflamed. He said that he pleaded not guilty because he did not want to

Jan. 15, 1962 - Michelangelo Antonioni’s “The Night” (“La Notte”) has been selected as the official Italian entry for this year’s foreign-language Academy Award. The Lopert Pictures release, which has Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni (left), and Monica Vitti (right) in leading roles, is scheduled to have its American premiere in March. #classicmovies #classicmoviestars #1960s #Movies #moviestar #movieset #MovieStars #moviescene #moviescenes #moviestagram #MovieStill #cele

Jan. 15, 1962 - Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, Eddie Fisher, announced today they had adopted a baby girl. They said they had been looking for a child for nearly two years. The girl, Maria, is a 1-year-old orphan. The actress has three other children by previous marriages. Her husband, the singer, has two by his former marriage. #classicmovies #classicmoviestars #1960s #Movies #moviestar #movieset #MovieStars #moviescene #moviescenes #moviestagram #MovieStill #celebrities

Jan. 14, 1962 - John Wayne has been signed to portray Lieut. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort in “The Longest Day,” which is being produced in France by Darryl F. Zanuck. In the drama, adapted from the book about D-Day by Cornelius Ryan, Mr. Wayne will play the courageous officer who broke his ankle parachuting into enemy territory with his men but continued to command while being pulled about in a munitions cart. #classicmovies #classicmoviestars #1960s #Movies #moviestar #movieset

Jan. 14, 1962 - “The Hustler,” the film drama dealing with the career of a pool shark, captured a majority of the top awards in the annual poll conducted by the trade journal The Film Daily. In the balloting, representing about 2,000 of the country’s film writers, Paul Newman was named the year’s best actor for his portrayal of the title role of “The Hustler.” Robert Rossen (pictured right) captured two honors for the same film — as the year’s top director and as the outstand

Jan. 13, 1962 - Astor Pictures has acquired the American distribution rights to the second film by Francois Truffaut, the award-winning young French director of “The 400 Blows.” “Shoot the Pianist” (“Tirez sur le Pianiste”) is the title, and viewers who saw it in its engagements in Paris and London describe it as a highly original comedy-drama that blends elements from gangster melodrama, slapstick farce, and other old American movie genres which the director, formerly a succ

Jan. 12, 1962 - Televised motion pictures starring James Dean, who had only three major movie roles before his death, seem to have a great influence among dial twisters. Last Sunday evening, New York’s WOR-TV presented “Rebel Without a Cause” and obtained the highest Nielsen rating of all New York stations during the two-and-a-quarter hours the movie was on. The picture about juvenile violence out-rated such network programs as “Bonanza,” “The Jack Benny Show,” “G.E. Theatre,

Jan. 11, 1962 - “L’Avventura,” the Italian film that opened in New York last April 4, has been given a Class C (“Condemned”) rating by the Roman Catholic Legion of Decency. The specification stated that “the theme of this film is developed in an atmosphere of complete moral ambiguity. The treatment is grossly suggestive and pornographic in intent. It is totally unacceptable in a mass medium of entertainment.” The film is about the disappearance of a young woman (Lea Massari)

Jan. 11, 1962 - Today’s new film is “Bachelor Flat,” a 20th Century-Fox comedy with Terry-Thomas, Celeste Holm, Richard Beymer, and Tuesday Weld. Frank Tashlin directed the Jack Cummings production. A British college professor seeks peace in a California beach house but has nothing but trouble from an uninvited female juvenile delinquent, a neighbor with a mischievous dog, and a bevy of amorous American women. #classicmovies #classicmoviestars #1960s #Movies #moviestar #movie