Across The Pond

Eagle-Lion Films was the American name for a subsidiary distribution of the UK's entertainment conglomerate, The Rank Organization. In 1944, UK film magnate J. Arthur Rank established an Eagle-Lion Films production under a reciprocal distribution arrangement with the US company, Pathé Industries. 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, partly 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.

The Constellation of Orville

On this date in 1944, Orville Wright took the controls of a United States Army Air Force Lockheed C-69 Constellation during a short demonstration flight over Dayton, Ohio. It was his first piloting experience in 25 years. Below is an excerpt from This Day in History site:

After the flight, Wright said, “It was absolutely marvelous. . . You can say that I ran the whole thing. Put exclamation points and question marks around that—because all I had to do was just let it take care of itself. . . I enjoyed every minute. I guess a ran the whole plane for a minute. But I let the machine take care of itself. I always said airplanes would fly themselves if you left them alone.”

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.

Red Ball Express (1952)

 

On this day in 1952, the World War II war film, Red Ball Express, premiered in Los Angeles, California. Directed by Budd Boetticher, it starred Jeff Chandler and Alex Nicol, with early screen appearances by Sidney Poitier Jack Kelly, and Hugh O'Brian. The film, typically not entirely an accurate depiction, is based on the real Red Ball Express convoys that took place after the D-Day landings in Normandy, June 1944. The film picks up in August of that year when Patton's Third Army advanced so far toward Paris that it could not be supplied. Allied Headquarters established an elite military truck route to keep the momentum rolling.

The Quintessential City Bus

 

General Motors' dominating transit bus began life in 1944. Yellow Coach was an early bus builder that was partially owned by General Motors before being purchased in 1943 to form the GM Truck & Coach Division. The GM "old-look" moniker was an unofficial retronym for GM buses after the release of the GM New-Look "Fishbowl" series in 1959. Their most distinctive feature was its inward slanted front windshield to cut glare from on-coming headlights or lighted signs in general. The hooded brow also gave it a determined attitude of strength. Dropping coins into the "token tower" by the driver and hearing the clickity-clunk of the coins being processed might also bring back memories. 

The GM "old-look" bus was somewhat streamlined in appearance that resembled the older PCC streetcar styling. Its friendly shape equated to some as a loaf of sandwich bread on wheels. The specifically designated THD models (T=transit; D=diesel or G for gasoline; H=hydraulic automatic transmission) were available in several lengths ranging from the adorable 25 footers to the more common 35 and 40-foot models. Some smaller models continued to be built until 1969. Approximately 38,000 "old-look" series were built in Pontiac, Michigan's assembly line.