The Reynolds Rocket

On this date in 1945, American commercial traveler and enterprising businessman, Milton Reynolds, the initial batch of the successful ballpoint pens. He realized reliable ballpoint pens would succeed if he mastered their mass production. Hungarian, László Bíró, made a ballpoint pen in the many years earlier that would not dirty hands and clothes of writers, and not leave blots or smudge. Reynolds was quick to patent Bíró’s invention in the USA before the inventor and his partner, Eversharp, did. Sold under the brand Reynolds Rocket in Gimbels department store in New York City at the cost of $12.50, fifty police officers had to maintain order. With eight million made by Reynolds international pen company, over ten thousand sold out in days.

Note: An outraged Bíró sued Reynolds but did not defend the October 30, 1888 patent rights by John J. Loud, inventor of the first "ball tip" pen. In court, Reynolds referred to the earlier patent and his modification of the 1888 pen. He said his pen was a reduced copy and Bíró’s construction has nothing to do with it.

Boeing The First

 

On this date in 1957, the first production Boeing 707 jet-powered commercial airliner was rolled out at the Boeing aircraft assembly plant at Renton, Washington. The Model 707 was developed from the earlier Model 367–80, the “Dash Eighty,” prototype for an air-refueling tanker that would become the KC-135 Stratotanker. The new airliner had been sold to Pan American World Airways, the launch customer, as part of an order for twenty in 1955. The Boeing 707 was in production from 1958 to 1979 with military variants continuing until 1994. Over 1,000 were built.

Note: shown above during the airliner's second flight.

A Noted Television Composer

 

Richard Markowitz (1926-1994) was an American film and television composer. After composing for numerous low-budget films in the late Fifties and a hand full in the Sixties and Seventies, it was television that provided him steady work, composing for popular series between the Sixties to the Eighties, everything from Ben Casey, Mission: Impossible to Murder, She Wrote in which he received the ASCAP Film and Television Music Award for 1988, 1989, and 1990. But it was his unusual western theme for an unusual series, The Wild Wild West, for which he is best remembered. Prior, he wrote the theme for, The Rebel, most notable for it being sung by Johnny Cash.

A Television Transition

Wisely changing his name from Gustav William Tweer Jr. to Walter Brooke, he became a staple of television audiences for his supporting roles. He always was in command of those characters, whether playing the straight man in comedies, an unscrupulous businessman, a doctor, or any number of authority characters. After a string of uncredited film roles as a reporter or clerk in the Forties—opposite Flynn and Bogart and the like—Brooke quickly got on board the television express. He spent almost his entire career on the small screen. There were a few exceptions: the low-budget science fiction, Conquest of Space (1955), two infamous roles in, The Party Crashers (1958), and Bloodlust! (1961), then his small role with a big impact in the major hit, The Graduate (1967).

Born in New York City in 1914, Brooke landed roles in many popular series of the Fifties including five appearances on The Big Story (1952-59). But I will start with his two episodes of The Twilight Zone, four episodes of McHale's Navy, and three episodes of The Fugitive. He landed a regular role on The Green Hornet series as D. A. Frank Scanlon followed by several appearances in Judd For The Defense and Death Valley Days. He made the rounds on many popular series of the Seventies, including Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971-74), and then hit the cop shows from Mannix to Barnaby Jones, The Rookies, and notable roles on The Rockford Files before landing another recurring role on The Waltons as Clarence Johnson. He finished out his prolific television career through the end of the Eighties until his death in 1986.

Note: above is a capture from his first appearance on The Rockford Files, 1974.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

While working at a gas station in the southwest, Kimble and a customer are taken hostage. The doctor sucks the two violent thieves in on his own fabricated big robbery. The girl gets help from Kimble but she freaks out after seeing his photo on the newspaper's front page. And the criminals have their own plan for her future.

See Hollywood and Die, 1963
Guest stars Brenda Vaccaro, Lou Antonio, Chris Robinson

Not Your Average Flight

 

On this date in 1923, First Lieutenant Lowell Herbert Smith and First Lieutenant John P. Richter, Air Service, United States Army, flew a DH-4B from Sumas, Washington, to Tijuana, Mexico, non-stop. The 1,280-mile flight was made possible by two air-to-air refuelings from tanker airplanes pre-positioned over Eugene, Oregon, and Sacramento, California with the flight taking approximately 12 hours to complete. The DH-4B tanker over Eugene was flown by First Lieutenants Virgil Hine and Frank W. Siefert. The Sacramento tanker was flown by Captain Robert J. Erwin and First Lieutenant Oliver R. McNeel. At both locations, Smith and Richter made two refueling contacts before proceeding on their route. 

Note: Technically, the first American aerial refueling took place two years earlier with a wing-walker stuntman physically transferring to the other plane with a 5-gallon tank of gas on his back.

A International Pictures First

 

On this date in 1944, the American film noir, The Woman in the Window, premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was directed by Fritz Lang with a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson. Arthur Lange's film score won the year's Oscar. Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, the ninety-nine-minute film, nationally released November 3, is the story of a deceptive femme fatale who murders her lover then entangles an unsuspecting psychology professor in the whole affair. The top-flight cast includes Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, and Dan Duryea. The film was chosen as the premier project for International Pictures. According to sources, the genre term "film noir" originated in part because of this film.

A Noted Television Theme

 

Beside the intelligent scripts and David Janssen's iconic portrayal of Dr. Richard Kimball, The Fugitive is memorable for its distinctive theme and music cues written by Pete Rugolo. The fast-paced "running" music of the theme perfectly matched the title character. He wrote cues for Barry Morse's character, a contemplative cue for Kimball, as well as numerous cues ranging from sad to exciting chase moments. Being good friends and a Rugolo fan, it was Janssen's hope to have Rugolo work for his first series, Richard Diamond. The series put him at the forefront of television composers. Combined with Maurice Binder's opening graphic sequence, it set the jazzy tone of the series in the beginning. His theme and music cues for Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, was his next milepost. Roy Huggins, creator of The Fugitive concept, would twist the idea around for his next series, Run For Your Life. Having a second title character "running for his life" simultaneously was not as successful, however.

Note: Pietro "Pete" Rugolo (1915-2011) was a Sicilian-born jazz composer who settled in the US in 1921. He wrote music for many series in television's early days which were as diverse as Leave It To Beaver or Felony Squad. Maurice Binder would gain international fame for his creative opening titles for the early James Bond films.

Reel Character Series

 

Adele Jergens (Adele Louisa Jurgens 1917-2002) was an American B-movie supporting actress. Her celebrity status as "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair gained her a great deal of recognition before landing a movie contract in 1944 with Columbia Pictures in mostly forgettable films. The 5' 9” brunette was soon better known as a blonde and typically cast as a tough-talking second female lead as a girlfriend of a gangster or burlesque dancer. She was cast in the Franchot Tone film, I Love Trouble (1948) followed by similar roles that became her mainstay throughout the Fifties such as Armored Car Robbery, 1950 (above) and The Miami Story, 1954. The latter revealing a plump-cheeked puffiness. She failed to become a major star but made an impression with a host of conniving female roles. She was married to film and television actor Glenn Langan from 1949 until his death in 1991. Perhaps tiring of typecast roles, Jergens retired from acting in 1956.

This is Jim Rockford

 

Jim, it's Harry. We've been waiting on you for two hours. The forks---where's the forks?!? Lasagna ain't no finger food.

Jim's answering machine: A Portrait of Elizabeth, 1976
Guest star: John Saxon

The Envy of Your Neighbor

 

On this day in 1954, Texas Instruments announced plans for the Regency TR-1, the first transistor radio to be commercially sold and at a rather hefty price of $50. Texas Instruments of Dallas, and Industrial Development Engineering Associates (I.D.E.A.) of Indianapolis, Indiana, were behind the unveiling of the TR-1. The look and size of the radio were well received, but the reviews of its performance were less glowing. Still, it was a major technology breakthrough that would help propel transistors into the mainstream with competitors getting on board quickly. The mass-market success of the smaller and cheaper Sony TR-63, released in 1957, led to the transistor radio becoming the most popular electronic communication device of the 1960s and 1970s.

A Singular Flight

 

On this date in 1957, Pan American World Airways Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser, Clipper America, flies from Christchurch, New Zealand, to the United States Navy’s Antarctic research station on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound. The flight was to test the feasibility of commercial flights to support the U.S. Navy’s operations in the Antarctic. Following this flight, Captain Ralph Savory, an expert in Arctic flying, said the lack of an alternate airport amid unpredictable weather deemed further flights too dangerous for commercial operations. No future flights were made.

Boeing built fifty-six 377s, a four-engine civil transport developed along with the military C-97 version from the B-29 Superfortress. It utilized the wings and engines of the improved B-50 Superfortress. The airliner was delivered to Pan American in 1949 and named Clipper Southern Cross. Later the name was changed to Clipper Reindeer, and finally, Clipper America, the name given to almost every Pan Am Stratocruisers during their service with the airline.

Low Profile. High Output.

George Duning (1908-2000) was an American musician and highly respected film composer, working on over 300 film and television scores. Nominated five times for an Academy Award, Duning never won. Born in Richmond, Indiana, Duning played trumpet and piano for the Kay Kyser band in the 1940s, later arranging most of the music for Kyser's radio program, Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge. His name may not come to mind as readily as a few other film composers, due to his early uncredited stock music supplied for countless low-budget films of the Forties and Fifties. 

Duning signed on with Columbia Pictures in 1946, where he worked almost exclusively through the early Sixties, collaborating often with director Richard Quine and actor, Glenn Ford. His scores for the original 3:10 to Yuma, and Cowboy are two of the best examples of the western genre. His diversity is displayed in such notable films as Picnic, From Here To Eternity, The World of Suzie Wong, The Devil at Four O'Clock, and Bell, Book, and Candle. Though too numerous to mention, other notable films include his first film score for Johnny O'Clock, followed by Lust for Gold, The Mob, The Brothers Rico, That Touch of Mink, and The Man with Bogart's Face. His work for television, notably The Big Valley, is nearly as prolific, spanning the Fifties through the Eighties. 

Transition to Television

Karen Kay Sharpe (1934-) is a former actress of film and television, appearing on screen consistently from 1952 through 1966. The attractive Texas-born actress studied ballet and dancing as a child and was a model for magazine covers in her teens. By eighteen, she was cast in a small role for The Sniper, produced by her future husband, Stanley Kramer. Director William Wellman then cast Sharpe in the airline disaster classic, The High and the Mighty, for which she garnered a Golden Globe Award as "New Star of the Year—Actress." She appeared in two "man-titled" films back-to-back, The Man With a Gun (1955) with Robert Mitchum and a B-movie the following year opposite William Campbell, in The Man In The Vault. Before these films, she had already established herself on television by appearing on Racket Squad, Lux Video Theatre, Playhouse 90, General Electric Theater, and The Millionaire, and more. Her only recurring role was in the television western, Johnny Ringo, for eighteen episodes (1959-60). She got noticed on such popular shows as 77 Sunset Strip, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, and The Wild Wild West. In between, she also was cast in the Jerry Lewis comedy, The Disorderly Orderly.

She is the third wife of producer/director Stanley Kramer. The two were married in 1966 with Sharpe soon leaving acting to devote full time to her family and serve as assistant to her husband in the film industry. After his death in 2001, she took her married name, Karen Kramer, as an executive producer for a number of video shorts and documentaries from 2005-2008.

Television's Patricia Breslin

 

Patricia Breslin (1931-2011) had a prominent career in television. The New York City-born actress made the rounds in the early days of television before garnering a recurring role as Amanda Miller for 104 episodes of, The People's Choice (1955–58), starring Jackie Cooper. She guest-starred on many popular shows such as The Millionaire, Maverick, The Rifleman, The Donna Reed Show, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, to name only a few. The Twilight Zone provided her two appearances, her most famous being, Nick of Time, as the wife of William Shatner. The couple visits a diner that has a fortune-telling machine/napkin holder at their booth. Shatner's obsession with the bouncing devils' head atop it nearly controls their future. Her final recurring roles were on Peyton Place for thirty episodes before ending her acting career with twenty-five appearances on the daytime soap opera, General Hospital.

Breslin left acting in 1969 after marrying her second husband, NFL mogul Art Modell, and became a well-known philanthropist while living in both Cleveland, Ohio, and Baltimore, Maryland. In Cleveland, she helped start the Hospice of the Western Reserve at the Cleveland Clinic and supported the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She was also active in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Cleveland Musical Arts Association, the Cleveland Ballet, the Playhouse Square Foundation, and the Cerebral Palsy Association.

Besting Professor Quiz

 

On this date in 1936, broadcasting's first ever quiz show, radio's "Professor Quiz." Hosted by Arthur E. Baird, as Dr. Craig Earl, with future CBS broadcast journalist, Robert Trout, as the announcer. Limited to Washington D.C. area at first, it was broadcast weekly on CBS Radio from 1936-1941, then weekly on ABC Radio from 1946-1948. Unlike later quiz shows, the contestants asked the host questions. If the host couldn't give the correct answer, the contestant won $25. Later broadcasts selected six contestants from the studio audience, and the winner of the session received, $25, with $15 given to the runners-up. On these broadcasts, listeners would send in six questions, and if they were used, they also won $25. 

Competition soon followed in 1937 with, Uncle Jim's Question Bee, hosted by Arthur Godfrey.

A Noted Television Theme

 

MacGyver is an action-adventure sleeper television hit series created by Lee David Zlotoff, with Henry Winkler and John Rich acting as executive producers. A relative newcomer, Richard Dean Anderson, became an international star as Angus MacGyver, an undercover agent for the Phoenix Foundation armed with remarkable scientific resourcefulness to solve almost any problem in the field using mundane materials at hand. The series went through miles of duct tape. The series was so popular, "to MacGyver" something was a phrase that worked its way into the American lexicon. Prolific film composer, Randy Edelman, wrote the dynamic and memorable theme song.

Note: A five-season reboot began in 2016, with Lucas Till well-cast in the title role. But MacGyver was now part of a typical television team of experts, reducing the title character's uniqueness. In addition, the visuals of Mac doing his wizardry were so fastly edited that it challenged the gullibility of any viewer familiar with the original. A token element better left out of the series altogether.

One of The Three Kings

I can readily think of only three classic Hollywood notables using the first name of King: director King Vidor, B-movie and television actor, King Caulder, and the subject of this overview, King Donovan. After a long string of uncredited film roles, typically as a reporter, a buddy, salesman, clerk, or manager, Francis King Donovan (1918-1987) was primarily seen on television screens across America in a variety of occupational roles or as a neighbor. Even blindfolded, he was instantly recognizable by his distinctive, upper-register voice that seemed fitting for an animated character or perhaps better described by a somewhat raspy tone as if he needed to clear his throat for a more clear projection. Whether drama or comedy he each role with self-confidence. With a few years of television roles already in the can midst of the budding new medium, he had a leading role in the sleeper hit film, The Invasion of The Body Snatchers, 1956 (above). Always a slot for him in any film, he continued working on the occasional film throughout his career, usually uncredited, for such 1963 classics as The Thrill of It All, as a television executive, and for the blockbuster, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as an airport official.

Notable recurring television roles include the deadbeat relative, Jake Clampett, on two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, as Roger Baker for eight episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, and as Harvey Helm in a seventeen-episode run on The Bob Cummings Show. He then played the inquisitive neighbor on Please Don't Eat the Daisies. His singular roles are too numerous to mention but Donovan was visible on several notable series like Richard Diamond, Private Detective, as Joe Baker on the western Cheyenne, a petty thief on Shotgun Slade, a western detective series with an unusual jazz score theme. He played Mark Dawson on Maverick and as a gun dealer, Sheridan Appleby, on Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Rod Serling's, Night Gallery.

Note: Donovan married comedienne Imogene Coca in 1960 and they remained together until his death.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

Working as a migrant farmworker, Kimble gets drawn into helping fight a forest fire. The situation prevents access to a hospital, yet the doctor recognizes a fellow worker's wife must give birth by cesarean. Worksite nurse, guest star Beverly Garland, castigates Kimble's supposed lack of urgency. Only as a last resort, he provides her his medical credentials. Credentials Gerard can spot from miles away in spite of the smoke.

Smoke Screen, 1963

First Across The Pond By Jet

 

On this date in 1958, the first regularly scheduled transatlantic passenger service with jet-powered aircraft began. Two British Overseas Airways Corporation de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4 airliners left nearly simultaneously from London Heathrow Airport to Idlewild Airport New York, and from New York to London. The westbound flight took 10 hours, 20 minutes, including a 1 hour, 10-minute fuel stop at Gander Airport, Newfoundland. Benefiting from favorable winds, the eastbound flight, commanded by Captain Thomas Butler Stoney, D.F.C., took 6 hours, 12 minutes, and averaged 565 miles per hour. Both airliners were delivered to BOAC on 30 September 1958 and configured to carry forty-eight passengers.