Today in History

[LizzieMaine]

Capra lived to regret making "Wonderful Life," at least for a while, when its communitarian/anti-capitalist viewpoint got him in dutch with the Hollywood red-baiting crowd, to the point where J. Edgar himself took notice, leading the FBI to denounce the film as Communist propaganda. That may have had a bit to do with its poor box office performance.

Capra himself never carried a card -- although his occasional collaborator Sidney Buchman did -- and in fact, Capra was a pretty strident anti-FDR Republican who got only more strident about it as he got older. But nonetheless, anything but absolute and utter fealty to the National Association of Manufacturers capitalist party line was seen as treason by the HUAC crowd, and while they didn't actually call Capra to testify, they let him know he'd better keep his nose clean.

 

[MissMittens]

Capra lived to regret making "Wonderful Life," at least for a while, when its communitarian/anti-capitalist viewpoint got him in dutch with the Hollywood red-baiting crowd, to the point where J. Edgar himself took notice, leading the FBI to denounce the film as Communist propaganda. That may have had a bit to do with its poor box office performance.

Capra himself never carried a card -- although his frequent collaborator Robert Riskin did -- and in fact, Capra was a pretty strident anti-FDR Republican who got only more strident about it as he got older. But nonetheless, anything but absolute and utter fealty to the National Association of Manufacturers capitalist party line was seen as treason by the HUAC crowd, and while they didn't actually call Capra to testify, they let him know he'd better keep his nose clean.

Thank you for this, I had no idea :O

 

[Fading Fast]

Capra lived to regret making "Wonderful Life," at least for a while, when its communitarian/anti-capitalist viewpoint got him in dutch with the Hollywood red-baiting crowd, to the point where J. Edgar himself took notice, leading the FBI to denounce the film as Communist propaganda. That may have had a bit to do with its poor box office performance.

Capra himself never carried a card -- although his frequent collaborator Robert Riskin did -- and in fact, Capra was a pretty strident anti-FDR Republican who got only more strident about it as he got older. But nonetheless, anything but absolute and utter fealty to the National Association of Manufacturers capitalist party line was seen as treason by the HUAC crowd, and while they didn't actually call Capra to testify, they let him know he'd better keep his nose clean.

Based on this, "Capra was a pretty strident anti-FDR Republican who got only more strident about it as he got older," it's a bit surprising that he made "WL" as it does have a very "communitarian/anti-capitalist viewpoint."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Capra was, in his own way, an old-fashioned populist. That word has a bad odor nowadays, but in the 1930s and 40s, it was sort of a point of intersection for viewpoints that we might today consider mutually exclusive. He opposed big business and an activist government with equal zeal, and he was very much a nationalist -- but he didn't go to the extremes of the Coughlin movement or other ultra-populist movements that ended up leaning to fascism by the end of the thirties. (Although he *did* support that Fine Christian Gentleman Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Capra a Falangist? The mind boggles.)

 

[GHT]

It's really fascinating to listen to some of these broadcasts today -- every shortwave broadcaster had its own personality. The BBC was imperious and starchy, like its collar was on too tight.

John Reith, later Lord Reith was the founder of the BBC. He was its first general manager when it was set up as the British Broadcasting Company in 1922; and he was its first director general when it became a public corporation in 1927.

When the BBC first started delivering nightly radio broadcasts to the British public, the radio announcers they hired had to work under a number of stringent conditions. The most curious of which was that they had to wear a dinner jacket (tuxedo) to read the news.
Just to be clear, I don’t mean that announcers had a uniform that looked like a dinner jacket, they literally had to work while wearing formal evening wear, even though nobody would ever see them wearing it. This was Reith's demands.

Announcers were hired primarily for their oratory skills and there was a huge emphasis on proper pronunciation, diction and cadence. As the voice of the BBC, announcers were under a huge amount of pressure to not make a mistake, and a slip of the tongue or even a loud sniff could sour the whole broadcast.

While the BBC eventually softened its stance over the years, in the 1920’s a radio announcer was held to the highest standards imaginable, hence the dress code and the fact that announcers wanting to read the news had to do so while wearing a dinner jacket. If you’re wondering why the news reader had to wear a suit even though nobody would ever see him, Reith insisted upon it out of respect to performers who were also obliged to dress formally. In other words, announcers were held to the same standards as people who orated in front of crowds, even though they would never actually be seen.

The most peculiar part though, is that initially, along with forcing its announcers to wear dinner jackets, Reith insisted that their identities were kept secret and refused to release pictures of them to the public. Meaning the fact they were wearing dinner jackets was almost completely pointless. It wasn’t until the 1930’s that the BBC became less strict and the public were allowed to know the face of the men who read them the news every single night.

Despite the odd demands of Reith and the BBC, and the fact that they were unusually coy about disclosing who actually held the position, the men who took the job invariably became famous, even though 99% of people had no idea who they were. It’s noted that if an announcer so much as coughed on air, the BBC would be flooded with gifts of cough lozenges and warm clothing from concerned listeners, such was the power of the media.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

On this day in 1988, Pan Am flight 103 exploded in mid-air over Lockerbie,Scotland (due to a terroist bomb) killing all 243 passengers & 16 crew abord & 11 residents on the ground. 189 of the victims were American.

On this day in 1945, General George S. Patton, died due to injuries sustained in a vehicule collision 13 days earlier. He was 60.

On this day in 1968, Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, was launched from Cape Canaveral. Aboard were astronauts; James Lovell jr. Frank Borman & William Anders.

 

[Peacoat]

On this day in 1988, Pan Am flight 103 exploded in mid-air over Lockerbie,Scotland (due to a terroist bomb) killing all 243 passengers & 16 crew abord & 11 residents on the ground. 189 of the victims were American.

And a sad day that was.

 

[LizzieMaine]

John Reith, later Lord Reith was the founder of the BBC. He was its first general manager when it was set up as the British Broadcasting Company in 1922; and he was its first director general when it became a public corporation in 1927.

When the BBC first started delivering nightly radio broadcasts to the British public, the radio announcers they hired had to work under a number of stringent conditions. The most curious of which was that they had to wear a dinner jacket (tuxedo) to read the news.
Just to be clear, I don’t mean that announcers had a uniform that looked like a dinner jacket, they literally had to work while wearing formal evening wear, even though nobody would ever see them wearing it. This was Reith's demands.

Announcers were hired primarily for their oratory skills and there was a huge emphasis on proper pronunciation, diction and cadence. As the voice of the BBC, announcers were under a huge amount of pressure to not make a mistake, and a slip of the tongue or even a loud sniff could sour the whole broadcast.

While the BBC eventually softened its stance over the years, in the 1920’s a radio announcer was held to the highest standards imaginable, hence the dress code and the fact that announcers wanting to read the news had to do so while wearing a dinner jacket. If you’re wondering why the news reader had to wear a suit even though nobody would ever see him, Reith insisted upon it out of respect to performers who were also obliged to dress formally. In other words, announcers were held to the same standards as people who orated in front of crowds, even though they would never actually be seen.

The most peculiar part though, is that initially, along with forcing its announcers to wear dinner jackets, Reith insisted that their identities were kept secret and refused to release pictures of them to the public. Meaning the fact they were wearing dinner jackets was almost completely pointless. It wasn’t until the 1930’s that the BBC became less strict and the public were allowed to know the face of the men who read them the news every single night.

Despite the odd demands of Reith and the BBC, and the fact that they were unusually coy about disclosing who actually held the position, the men who took the job invariably became famous, even though 99% of people had no idea who they were. It’s noted that if an announcer so much as coughed on air, the BBC would be flooded with gifts of cough lozenges and warm clothing from concerned listeners, such was the power of the media.

The thing that strikes me most in listening to Empire Service broadcasts of the 1930s is that the dinner-jacket concept extends not just to the person of the announcers, but also to the manner of their delivery. The British stiff-upper-lip is never more on display than when listening to these broadcasters during the runup to the start of WWII. The most shocking news possible is delivered with a complete lack of any emotion, in precisely the same manner as they read the cricket scores, the commodity reports, and the weather forescast. Given that the Empire Service was, essentialy, the global voice and personality of said Empire, it's better than a whole library full of books in conveying exactly how Britain saw itself and its place in the world in the thirties.

The contrast with American broadcasters couldn't be more stark. Although there was no state-run American shortwave service yet, American programs were relayed abroad by shortwave stations owned by RCA, GE, Westinghouse, CBS, and Crosley -- giving Europe a chance to hear H. V. Kaltenborn, John B. Kennedy, H. R. Baukhage, and Walter Winchell reading the news with all sorts of vocal gimmicks designed to reflect both their personalities and their points of view. Even the sainted E. R. Murrow worked in a style that revealed that his academic background was in dramatics and oratory, not journalism. "This....is London" is a theatrical line worthy of Orson Welles, and you would only have heard it from an American. The idea that Americans are brash, pushy, and superficial was reinforced by the tastes of American broadcasting sent abroad in the thirties.

 

[MisterCairo]

On this day in 1945, General George S. Patton, died due to injuries sustained in a vehicule collision 13 days earlier. He was 60.

Odd tv coincidence, in an episode of Outlander my wife and I watched last night, there is a scene where the character Frank Randall is driving in a car, and the radio announcement of Patton's death can be heard.

 

[GHT]

Even the sainted E. R. Murrow worked in a style that revealed that his academic background was in dramatics and oratory, not journalism. "This....is London" is a theatrical line worthy of Orson Welles, and you would only have heard it from an American. The idea that Americans are brash, pushy, and superficial was reinforced by the tastes of American broadcasting sent abroad in the thirties.

Murrow did have a reverence I have to agree, but maybe it was at the behest of Churchill and the wartime government. Murrow's broadcasts to America also went out to British homes, and his resigned, monologue mirrored the attitude of the British public. His broadcasts were the perfect antidote to that other American who broadcast to our nation, one William Joyce.

 

[MissMittens]

Murrow did have a reverence I have to agree, but maybe it was at the behest of Churchill and the wartime government. Murrow's broadcasts to America also went out to British homes, and his resigned, monologue mirrored the attitude of the British public. His broadcasts were the perfect antidote to that other American who broadcast to our nation, one William Joyce.

Murrow’s wartime connections with allied intelligence services is well documented.

Was always of the impression Joyce was Irish, but you’re right, he was U.S. born...surprised me

 

[Lean'n'mean]

On this day in 1808, Ludvig's 5th was premiered in Vienna.
Altogether now; da da da...daaa !

 

[GHT]

Was always of the impression Joyce was Irish, but you’re right, he was U.S. born...surprised me

His US nationality should have saved him from the gallows. He also had duel Irish/British nationality and later, he became a German citizen.

At his trial, the only evidence offered that he had begun broadcasting from Germany while his British passport was valid was the testimony of a London police inspector who had questioned him before the war while he was an active member of the British Union of Fascists and claimed to have recognised his voice on a propaganda broadcast in the early weeks of the war (Joyce had previous convictions for assault and riotous assembly in the 1930s). During the processing of the charges Joyce's American nationality came to light, and it seemed that he would have to be acquitted, based upon a lack of jurisdiction; he could not be convicted of betraying a country that was not his own. He was acquitted of the first and second charges. However, the Attorney General, Sir Hartley Shawcross, successfully argued that Joyce's possession of a British passport, even though he had misstated his nationality to get it, entitled him, (until it expired) to British diplomatic protection in Germany and therefore he owed allegiance to the UK at the time he commenced working for the Germans. It was on this basis that Joyce was convicted of the third charge and sentenced to death on 19 September 1945.

The historian A.J.P. Taylor remarked, in his book English History 1914–1945, that: "Technically, Joyce was hanged for making a false statement when applying for a passport, the usual penalty for which is a small fine."

 

[3fingers]

The most shocking news possible is delivered with a complete lack of any emotion, in precisely the same manner as they read the cricket scores, the commodity reports, and the weather forescast.

It has been a while since I've heard it, but the announcement that Hitler was dead was delivered in exactly this manner. He prefaced it with "I am about to give you a news flash" delivered in the exact same tone of voice.
You might have expected some tiny amount of detectable emotion in that situation, but none could be heard.

 

[LizzieMaine]

No American was executed for broadcasting Nazi propaganda although there were a great many who broadcast for Goebbels thruout the war. Joyce's closest American counterpart was a high school teacher from Iowa named Fred W. Kaltenbach, who had been fired from his job back home for trying to recruit his students on behalf of das Herrenvolk. He found his way to Germany, and by 1940 was broadcasting from Berlin in a voice that sounded almost exactly like that of CBS newsman/future OWI chief Elmer Davis. His accent was so pronounced that listeners called him "Lord Hee Haw."

Kaltenbach was high on the American wanted list as the war wound down, but he kept one step ahead of pursuers by claiming to have seen the error of his ways and trying to ingratiate himself with the anti-Nazi underground until the Russians grabbed him a week after VE Day. He died in a Soviet prison camp, which some would argue is precisely the fate he deserved.

Another American, probably the most vicious of the US radio traitors, was a former UP correspondent named Robert Best -- who had been a stringer for CBS under Ed Murrow in the early weeks of the war. None of his fellow reporters could stand him due to his tendency to spout off for Hitler at any opportunity, and when he finally defected to the Nazis in 1940, his "Best Berlin Broadcast" was a constant barrage of gutter anti-Semitism beamed back to the US via the Berlin shortwave. The British nabbed him in early 1946, and sent him back home -- where he was completely unrepentant during his trial. He drew a life sentence instead of the rope -- and died in prison in 1952.

 

[Peacoat]

Today in 1989 the Vandenberg Gate reopened after nearly 30 years of separation of East and West Germany. Most of us thought we would not live to see the day the wall came down; however, many Germans knew that day would come. Fortunately, they were right.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

On this day in 1888, Vincent Van Gogh, sliced off part of his ear with a razor whilst staying in Arles.
PARDON ?....on this day in 1888, Vincent Van Gogh sliced off............


On this day in 1993, Philadelphia, the first major hollywood movie to deal with AIDS, opened in theatres.

 

[GHT]

On this day in 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the, Metric Conversion Act.
The Metric Conversion Act is an Act of Congress that U.S. President Gerald Ford signed into law on December 23, 1975. It declared the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce", but permitted the use of United States customary units in all activities. As Ford's statement on the signing of the act emphasizes, all conversion was to be "completely voluntary." The Act also established the United States Metric Board with representatives from scientific, technical, and educational institutions, as well as state and local governments to plan, coordinate, and educate the American people for the Metrication of the United States.

Executive Order 12770, which cites the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, directed departments and agencies within the executive branch of the United States Government to "take all appropriate measures within their authority" to use the metric system "as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce."

You're getting there, Americans, inch by inch.

On this day in 1690, John Flamsteed observes Uranus but doesn't realize it.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

On this day in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan, was officially founded by a group of confederate vets in Pulaski, Tennessee.

On this day in 1968, Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, entered lunar orbit.
The astronauts also broadcast a live christmas eve message to planet Earth which started off well but unfortunately ended in readings from Genesis 1, gawd help us !

On this day in 1814, the 'Treaty of Peace & Amity' was signed by England & America thus ending the war of 1812.

 

[Peacoat]

@Lean'n'mean, glad to see you edited the 2nd paragraph of you post above to state, " . . . entered lunar orbit." Originally, it implied Apollo 8 had actually gone to the moon itself. I am old enough to remember that event (Apollo 11) was in July, 1969.

Saw in the paper this morning that on this date in 1906, Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to transmit the human voice over radio, from Brant Rock, Massachusetts.