ON THIS DAY in 1947, Thor Heyerdahl’s balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki smashed into a reef at the Tuamotu Islands after a 101 day, 4,300 mile voyage across the Pacific Ocean. This event was documented in the 1951 film, KON-TIKI, directed by Heyerdahl and Olle Nordemar.
ON THIS DAY in 1888, Native American athlete Jim Thorpe was born in U.S. Indian Territory. Thorpe was portrayed by Burt Lancaster in the 1951 biographical film, JIM THORPE–ALL AMERICAN, directed by Michael Curtiz.
Opened in movie theaters 62 years ago today:
MY FORBIDDEN PAST (Robert Mitchum, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas; directed by Robert Stevenson)
Review: “The principals are properly picturesque in period costumes, but the lines they speak as well as their troubled romances are obvious and often dreary affairs.” —The New York Times, 1951
Opened in movie theaters 62 years ago today:
THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (James Arness; directed by Howard Hawks)
Review: “Has lost none of its class and power. The sustained tension is a result of the clever timing of shocks.” —Danny Peary, Guide for the Film Fanatic
Trivia: “Directors Ridley Scott, John Frankenheimer, Tobe Hooper, and John Carpenter, who remade “The Thing,” all cited the movie as a key, influential film in their lives.” —imdb.com
Recognition: National Film Registry (2001)
Quote: “Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!” —Scotty (Douglas Spencer), concluding the film with a warning
Opened in movie theaters 62 years ago today:
MR. IMPERIUM (Lana Turner, Ezio Pinza, Marjorie Main, Barry Sullivan; directed by Don Hartman)
Review: “Threadbare romance between Turner and Pinza, now a monarch; colorful but paper-thin.” —Leonard Maltin
Opened in movie theaters 62 years ago today:
YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW (Gary Cooper, Jane Greer, Eddie Albert; directed by Henry Hathaway)
Review: “Although this sixth Cooper-Hathaway teaming received a number of glowing reviews, it failed to find an audience, chiefly because of its nondescript original title, U.S.S. TEAKETTLE. The film was temporarily shelved until it received its new title, YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW–which brought the film greater box office results, and by which it is best known today.” —TV Guide
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