Biographic - Sunday January 5, 2014 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Biographic Steve McGarry 2014: Milestones in Movies A look at some of the most noteworthy movie anniversaries occurring this year... 70 years 2014 sees the anniversary of some major milestones in movie history. This week, we reflect on just a few... 70 years ago, Bing Crosby was the biggest star in movies. He was named 1944's biggest box-office draw - a record he would continue to hold for the remainder of the decade. His success was thanks in large part to the beloved movie "Going My Way," in which he portrayed a young parish priest. The highest-grossing film of the year, it earned 10 Academy Award nominations, winning seven, including best picture, best director, best supporting actor...and a best actor Oscar for Crosby. 60 Years 60 years ago, Marlon Brando was staking a claim to be considered the greatest actor of the 20th century. His brilliant work in 1954's "On The Waterfront" would earn him his fourth consecutive Academy Award nomination and bring him his first Oscar - at the expense of Humphrey Bogart's tour de force performance in "The Caine Mutiny." Within three years, movie legend Bogart was dead at the age of 57. 40 Years Robert de Niro auditioned for a number of roles in 1972's "The Godfather," including Michael Cornleone, the role that made Al Pacino a star. When casting the 1974 sequel, "The Godfather II," director Francis Ford Coppola remembered De Niro and cast him in the pivotal role of young Vito Corleone. The role earned De Niro the best supporting actor Oscar and accelerated his rise to stardom. 50 Years A half-century ago, TV actor Clint Eastwood made a low-budget Italian movie in Spain. Released in 1964, "A Fistful of Dollars" sparked the "spaghetti western" craze and set Clint on the path to movie megastardom. The world went 007 crazy in 1964, thanks to "Goldfinger," Sean Connery's third outing as a secret agent James Bond. Sadly, the man who created Bond, author Ian Fleming, died a month before the movie's release. 30 Years The tow biggest movies of 1984 were the sci-fi comedy "Ghostbusters" and the film that made comedian Eddie Murphy a worldwide superstar - "Beverly Hills Cop." 20 years At the start of 1994, comic actor Jim Carrey was a virtual unknown. By the end of the year, thanks to "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Mask" and "Dumb and Dumber," the 32-year-old Canadian was the hottest property in Hollywood! 10 years In 2004, the Academy Awards ceremony was dominated by "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the final movie in the trilogy. The movie won eleven of the categories in which it was nominated. It is now tied with "Ben Hur" and "Titanic" for most Academy Awards won.

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