Across The Pond

Eagle-Lion Films was the name of two distinct, though related, companies. In 1944, UK film magnate J. Arthur Rank, under a reciprocal distribution arrangement with the US company, Pathé Industries, established an Eagle-Lion Films production subsidiary for American distribution. As a note, the Arthur Rank films can be recognized by a sweaty, shirtless man banging an enormous gong before the credits roll. From 1946 to 1949, led by Arthur Krim, Eagle-Lion produced its own B-movies yet most were not profitable, in part due to the large salaries for its actors and producers. 

Eagle-Lion changed its mode of production, using independent producers as a source for new films. Bryan Foy, the former head of the B-picture unit at Warner Bros., was one along with Edward Small, Walter Wanger and George Pal, best known as a special effects wizard. They began making lower-budgeted films, enjoying particular success with film noir. Of ten pictures released during Krim's three years, five earned a substantial profit: T-Men, Raw Deal, Canon City, He Walked By Night, along with an Abbott & Costello comedy, The Noose Hangs High. By 1951, with financial difficulties still looming, Krim was offered the leadership of United Artists which took over distribution of Eagle-Lion's current projects. In 1954, the film lot was purchased by the Ziv Company for production of its syndicated television programs, the more popular being Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, and The Cisco Kid.

Wagon Master (1950)

On this date, Wagon Master, the American Western masterpiece produced and directed by John Ford, premiered in 1950. Starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond, the story follows a Mormon pioneer wagon train across treacherous terrain to Utah. The film inspired the US television series Wagon Train (1957–1965), which starred Bond until 1960.

First Date Jitters

On this day in 1935, the horror film classic starring Boris Karloff and Elsa Lancaster, Bride of Frankenstein, the sequel to Frankenstein, premiered in Chicago, Portland, and San Francisco. Arguably the best of the two films. Though a classic in its own right, Mel Brooks essentially destroyed the impact of this film forever after the release of Young Frankenstein.

The Flour Child Grows Up

General Mills, Inc. is an American manufacturer and marketer of well-known brands of processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Although General Mills's single flour factory can be traced back to the Minneapolis Milling Company of 1866, with the merger of four additional mills, the company was officially established in 1928. In the 1930s, engineer, Thomas R. James, created the puffing gun, which inflated or distorted cereal pieces into puffed-up shapes. This new technology was used in 1937 to create Kix cereal and in 1941 to create Cheerioats—renamed Cheerios in 1945. In 1939, another GM engineer, Helmer Anderson, created a new device that sealed bags of flour with glue instead of being tied with a string. In 1947, the first Betty Crocker cake mix was introduced. Well before its buyout of Pillsbury in 2001, the pudgy Doughboy made his first commercial debut in 1965. And it was only the beginning of this widely diversified company. Their drive for innovation propelled General Mills into many new territories over the years, highlighted below.

Perhaps the most surprising is that General Mills established their Aeronautical Research Division with chief engineer Otto C. Winzen in 1946. This division developed high-altitude balloons in conjunction with the United States Navy Office of Naval Research, such as the project Skyhook balloons for atmospheric research. In 1956, hundreds of General Mills balloons carried reconnaissance equipment by the United States under Project Genetrix to survey the Eastern bloc country's nuclear capabilities. The now famous Black Box for airplanes was developed in 1953 in partnership with the University of Minnesota.

Also unknown to the average citizen, General Mills acquired many famous businesses starting in 1968 with the acquisition of Gorton's frozen seafood, though spun off to other companies by 1995. Also in 1968, the toy and game manufacturers Rainbow Crafts—the makers of Play-Doh, Kenner, and Parker Bros. were acquired. The following year, they moved into specialty retailing with purchases of Lacoste clothing, Monet Jewelry, and the Red Lobster restaurant chain. By 1970 Hamburger Helper made its way onto grocery shelves. The apparel company, Eddie Bauer, was purchased in 1971—later acquired by Spiegel in 1988—as well as the U.S. rights to the Yoplait yogurt brand. By 1983, The Olive Garden Italian restaurant chain was launched, later to be spun off to shareholders in 1995 as Darden Restaurants. More recent history was the joint venture with Nestlé S.A. called Cereal Partners in 1990, which markets many existing General Mills cereal brands outside the US and Canada under the Nestlé name. As per other lucrative multinational manufacturers, further acquisitions continued through 2023.

Synopsis: Thrust Into Television

Many movie character actresses found steady work and arguably more exposure with the advent of television. 

RANDY STUART (1924-1996)

Ask any of your like-minded friends and they will readily confess they never heard of Randy Stuart (Elizabeth Shaubell). Blessed with a commanding alto voice and spunky, girl-next-door attractiveness, Stuart got her acting career started with a Twentieth Century Fox contract. Typically buried in the credits, her small roles in, Sitting Pretty (1948), I Was a Male War Bride (1949) and "the girl" in All About Eve (1950) gave her some exposure and provided significant training. In what may have been her breakout role, she played the on-screen sister to Susan Hayward in the forgettable drama, I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951). No stranger to television, she made the rounds in such anthology series as Chevron Theatre and two long-running series, The Ford Television Theatre and the Schiltz Playhouse during the early Fifties. She played the wife opposite Alan Hale, Jr. in, Biff Baker, U.S.A. (1952-54). The likable, energetic couple got caught up in trouble on their international business travels during the Cold War. It was back to the big screen for her “larger” and most famous role as the wife of Grant Williams in the 1957 Universal International’s science-fiction classic, The Incredible Shrinking Man her next to last film.

Stuart appeared for several years in television westerns, most produced by Warner Bros. for the ABC network. She had a recurring role in eighteen episodes of, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brien, as his romantic interest. She guest-starred four times on Clint Walker's groundbreaking western, Cheyenne, in strong-willed characters during the show’s late years. Stuart was back into the spy business for a Cold War-themed episode of 77 Sunset Strip, followed by roles on Lawman, Bourbon Street Beat, The Roaring 20s, and two appearances on Hawaiian Eye before taking a five-year hiatus. Just as Stuart’s career was winding down, she returned in 1967-68 to play the wife of Harry Morgan's character, Officer Bill Gannon, on NBC's Dragnet. 1975 marked her final role in ABC's, Marcus Welby, M.D., starring a classic example of an actor transitioning from film to television, Robert Young.

Find out more about Stuart's career at IMBD.

I Don't Remember Any Chocolates

Whitman's is one of the largest and oldest brands of boxed chocolates in the United States, currently produced by Kansas City, Missouri by Russell Stover Candies. The iconic box of chocolates was the brainchild of 19-year-old Stephen Whitman, who opened a confectionary store on Philadelphia's waterfront in 1842. Initially, Whitman's became popular with traveling sailors and their wives. They would often bring imported fruits, nuts, and cocoa obtained during their voyages to Mr. Whitman so that he could make the popular European confections that people craved in that era.

The Whitman's Sampler made its official debut in 1912. The box included a collection of the most popular pieces of candy sold in the confectionary shop. Three years later the Sampler emerged as the most popular assortment in the Whitman's line and the best-selling box of chocolates in America. In 1924, it became the first in its industry to use cellophane to wrap its packaged products. The Sampler's most popular advertising campaign, "A Woman Never Forgets the Man Who Remembers," was launched in 1939 and continued through the 1950s with film stars of the era endorsing the candy in ads for The Saturday Evening Post.

The Marauders From Planet Mercury

The redesigned 1963 Mercurys were simply upscale Fords, yet I have a special fondness for the one-year-only 1964 Montclair Marauder 4-door hardtop model pictured above. Purchased in 1966 by my dad, it was his first car with air conditioning. 

An acknowledged tweak to the 1963 model, the 1964 outward styling added a convex grille and pointed front fenders which better facilitated the accent "fin" at the rear, providing an accelerating, forward look. Out back the round taillights got flattened into ovals. Aside from my dad's "pink champaign" car color (officially Pink Frost), the image above is the same. The most distinctive feature for me is the stylish C-chrome piece to facilitate the extra two doors, something the 1963 fastback models did not offer. It softens the overall roof line and is not as jolting as the more common "welded-in-place" 2-door fastbacks. I cannot attest to the exact engine specs on the car pictured, but my dad's car came with the 4-barrel/390ci/300hp version. 

Note: The 1964 Mercury possessed a more aggressive appearance than the soft, bloated Fords of the same year. The Marauder's two checkboard racing flags emblem, forward the front wheels, added a faux excitement to me as a youth.