Loved The Movie, Bought The House

This house in North Carolina was the setting for the romantic movie "Nights in Rodanthe" starring Richard Gere. It was originally built in the 1980s.  At that time, there was plenty of beach area between the house and the water; in fact, there was about 400 feet of beach. 

The house from the movie "Nights in Rodanthe"

Over the years, the storms, hurricanes, and erosion wreaked havoc on the beach so that the house was literally sitting in the water.  



After the movie was completed in 2008, the house was condemned by the city.  


Along came a couple who absolutely loved the movie and they wanted to buy the house because they heard it was condemned and they wanted to try to save it.  After jumping through some governmental hoops, they were successful in purchasing the house.  Then because of beach erosion, they had to move it across the beach a short distance. They took their time to do renovations and they are now using it as a romantic vacation rental.  


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The Beatles Refused To Play To Segregated Audiences

Before they were BIG, they had a lot of demands in their contracts

Many stars make demands or requests of the management of the different places they perform.  Sometimes the requests are easy to fill, sometimes they aren't and sometimes they are so far out there, the venues won't oblige.

 A Beatles contract and rider from a 1965 concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California came up for auction in September 2011.  The Beatles made several demands of the Cow Palace  - electricity and running water in the trailer, and that the dressing rooms would have four cots, mirrors, an ice cooler, a TV and clean towels.  Their salary was $40,000 for the concert.

They wanted a minimum of 150 uniformed police for protection and they also wanted a special drumming platform for Ringo.  All of this was doable.

But the Cow Palace saw one more demand that they did not fulfill and that was the Beatles refused to play to a segregated audience, meaning they didn't want their audience to be separated by color. They wanted to play to everyone.  This was 1965 at the height of the civil rights movement.

You can read about the event and the crowd of 17,000 people who broke through the security barrier and caused the Beatles to stop playing until the venue was secure again.



The contract was signed by their manager, Brian Epstein. The contract and rider were expected to auction for about $5,000 by Nate D Sanders Auction on September 20, 2011. 


 A little research shows a news article from 2008 stating that the original 1962 contract between Beatles and their new manager Brian Epstein sold for £240,000 which in US money comes to $302,697.

Another article shows the Beatles contract from 1965 concert at the Cow Palace sold for $10,780, exceeding the expected $5,000 projection.

You can read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/sep/15/beatles-refused-play-segregated-audience


 

Great Facts About Sylvester Stallone's Rocky

In the 1970s, Sylvester Stallone was relatively unknown and was getting very few acting jobs. He says he was so broke that he tried to sell (or re-home) his dog because he couldn't afford to feed or take care of him. 

Stallone with his dog, Butkus

 

1 - Desperation lead Stallone to write the movie script entitled Rocky, which he finished in just three days.

With Burgess Meredith

 

 

Trivia for above picture: Burgess Meredith got the part of Mickey,

 Rocky's trainer, because the other actors who were in consideration 

were insulted that Stallone wanted them to read for the part first.

2 - United Artists, the movie studio, wanted to buy Sylvester Stallone's script but they didn't want Stallone to star as Rocky Balboa.  Instead, they wanted an established actor to star in the movie: Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds or James Caan. 

Original Rocky Script

3 - Even though Stallone had very little acting experience, he refused to sell his script unless he was guaranteed to play the title role of Rocky Balboa.  

Sylvester Stallone, circa 1970s

4 - Stallone was offered six-figures for just the script, which in the 1970s was a really nice income. But he turned that down too.

Still photo from Rocky I

5 - Stallone held his ground and he eventually sold the script with himself to star as Rocky. And - he also got to keep his dog, Butkus, who guest starred as Rocky's dog.

Stallone and his dog Butkus

6 - The inspiration to write Rocky came to Stallone after witnessing the Chuck Wepner vs. Muhammad Ali fight on March 24, 1975, in which Wepner, a middling heavyweight, nearly went the distance with the great champion, Ali.

  Wepner vs Ali, March 24, 1975

7 - Rocky isn't Balboa's real first name; it is Robert Balboa, which was revealed in a draft copy of the second film's script.  The name Rocky was chosen in admiration of real-life boxing legend Rocky Marciano.

Rocky Marciano Poster

8 - Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker, was cast to play Apollo. While sparring during his audition, he accidentally punched Stallone in the chin. Weathers assured Director John G Avildsen that he would do better with "a real actor."  The director informed Weathers that Sylvester Stallone, the man he was sparring with, was the star of the movie. Weathers then replied, "Well, maybe he'll get better." Stallone offered him the role immediately. 

Carl Weathers, as Apollo 

9 - Most of the outdoor scenes of Rocky jogging through Philadelphia were shot with no permits, no equipment, and no extras. When the fruit guy throws Rocky an orange, that really happened. But the people watching "Rocky" run around were actually watching some weirdo running through Philly chasing a van with a camera guy inside the van.  

Running on Philadelphia's waterfront

  

  10 - The famous scene of Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum happened exactly the way it did. Many cities require permits to film outdoor scenes but in the case of the movie Rocky, the scenes were shot with permits, lots of equipment or extra actors.  Garrett Brown came up with a new way to film these kinds of scenes, called Steadicam. Brown was contacted by the movie's director who told the camera operator to chase Stallone up the steps. And that's how the now-famous shot was captured.

Rocky Balboa on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum

11 - While making the movie, Sylvester Stallone quit smoking cigarettes because he was getting out of breath. Stallone also ended up flattening his knuckles after punching many meat slabs. Even today, when he makes a fist, his knuckles lay flat.

  Stallone as Rocky Balboa

12 - The most expensive cost on the set of Rocky was doing the makeup.

Makeup artists did the movie proud 

13 - For the fight scene between Rocky and Apollo, the plan in place was for several former heavyweight champions to make an appearance at the beginning of the fight. But only Joe Frazier showed up on the day of the shoot. Stallone was the only one who wasn't disappointed. In fact, he was quite happy because of those scheduled to show up, only retired boxer Joe Frazier was from Philadelphia, lending some authenticity to the film.

Joe Frazier and Apollo

14 - Stallone and Weathers sustained some real injuries during the shooting of the final fight: Stallone had bruised his ribs and Weathers damaged his nose, which was the opposite of what their characters had suffered.


  

Rocky and Apollo

15 - Sylvester Stallone's father, Frank Sr., had a cameo playing the man who rings the opening bell of the championship fight.  Stallone's younger brother, Frank, also has a cameo as the lead singer of the street band.

Stallone's father Frank Sr. and his brother Frank Jr.

had parts in the movie

Rocky I - the first of seven Rocky movies - was shot in about 28 days.  It was a sleeper hit that earned $225 million in global box office receipts. It was the highest grossing film of 1976 and won three Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. 



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Interesting Facts About Gone With The Wind

The Novel Gone With The Wind
by Margaret Mitchell

While there were 1400 actresses who were interviewed, only 400 were actually chosen to perform readings for the part of Scarlett O'Hara. 

The movie Gone With the Wind is a historical romance adapted from Margaret Mitchell’s novel which tells the story of the American Civil War and its aftermath from the viewpoint of a Southern family. It was directed by Victor Fleming and produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures in 1939.

Producer David O Selznick knew this was going to be an epic movie for all time. Big movies were expensive, not just for the production but also for the salaries. He needed to spend his money on the best actors and actresses for each role.

DVD version of Gone With The Wind

Many actresses were screened for the role of Scarlett O'Hara because Selznick couldn’t decide who would be best to play Scarlett. With no actress signed to the role, he used a person to physically stand-in so he could start filming because the tremendous “Burning of Atlanta” scene was one of the first scenes to be filmed.

Vivien Leigh

When the very popular Britsh actress Vivien Leigh expressed interest in the part, she was called for a screen test immediately. However, her British accent almost lost her the part when she gave her first informal reading. She had to hide the accent and learn how to talk with a Southern drawl in order to get the part.

Left to right, Vivien Leigh as Scarlett, Gone With The Wind Poster,
Rhett Butler with Scarlett O'Hara, and Katherine Hepburn
who was considered for the role of Scarlett

When it was decided that Vivien Leigh was going to play Scarlett, the Ocala Florida chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was greatly offended that a British actress had been chosen to play the role.

Katherine Hepburn

However, when they found out that the role could have gone to a Yankee like Katharine Hepburn, as the only other actress given serious consideration, then they stopped their protest. They thought that it was better for Scarlett to be played by a British woman than by a Yankee!

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