Day Tripping: January 3

Cinematic Master

In 1929, Sergio Leone was born in Rome, Italy. His father Vincenzo was an early trailblazer of Italian cinema, and his mother was a silent film actress. At eighteen, Sergio left law school to work full-time in movie production.

In 1948, Leone worked as an assistant on the award-winning Bicycle Thieves and began writing historical epic screenplays. His work brought Sergio to the Italian sets of Ben Hur and The Last Days of Pompeii. When the director fell ill on the latter, Leone stepped in to finish directing the film.

But as epics lost their popularity in the 1960s, Sergio Leone turned his attentions to emulating American classic cinema with the subgenre of Spaghetti Westerns.

The first of those films established a new star in films, Clint Eastwood who until that time had only been seen on television. Fistful of Dollars was followed by For A Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

“I can’t see America any other way than with a European’s eyes. It fascinates me and terrifies me at the same time.”

Establishing himself as the template of the genre, Leone went to work on his biggest production, Once Upon A Time In the West. Filmed in Spain, the project attracted Hollywood stars, Jason Robards and Charles Bronson. But Leone insisted on casting an unlikely actor as his villain.

When Henry Fonda came to screen test for the role, he had placed brown contact lenses on his eyes, believing his baby blues would not look sinister enough.

Sergio Leone would have none of it, insisting Fonda’s eyes were the reason he cast the star. The first time Henry Fonda appears in the film, his steel-blue eyes are in close up and Leone’s genius prevailed. Fonda’s villainous character, Frank, was clearly what the Italian filmmaker was looking for.

Leone declined the offer to direct The Godfather, choosing instead to complete a project that would take ten years. Tapping another aspect of American mythology, Sergio Leone released the four-hour epic Once Upon A Time In America in 1984. The film starring Robert De Niro is considered by many to be Leone’s greatest work.

Musical Ride

The actual first time America got a look at the Beatles phenomenon was one month before they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The year previous, TV host Jack Paar had been visiting the UK when he filmed the Fab Four playing She Loves You, thinking the mop-topped band was a joke. Paar aired the segment, not realizing the impact Beatlemania would have on the world.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gerry Marsden was the leader of the band Gerry and the Pacemakers, the second pop group signed by Brian Epstein after the Beatles. Marsden died last year at the age of 78.

Notable Births

1892 — J.R.R. Tolkien: “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

1945 — Stephen Stills: “Once you decide that it is the art that is important and not how popular and well received you are, you no longer have an albatross.”

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

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