The Misfits, a flawed but moving meditation on the vanishing
spirit of western independence, opened in theaters on
February 1, 1961.       

The Misfits had all the right ingredients to become a truly
great western. The director, John Huston, was one of the
most talented  in Hollywood. The screenwriter, Arthur
Miller, was a celebrated  playwright.      

       
The three stars—Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and
Montgomery Clift—were among America’s brightest,
yet when the film opened in early 1961, the reviews
were mixed, and the public largely ignored the film.         

Audiences disliked the film in part because it failed to
offer a clear-cut hero with whom they could identify.     

The Misfits was the last completed film for both Gable
(who died three months before the premiere) and
Monroe (who died a year after its release).

Stanley Kubrick’s black comic masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove or:
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb opened in
theaters to both critical and popular acclaim.

Schindler’s List, starring Liam Neeson in the true story of
a German businessman who saves the lives of more than
a thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust, opened in
theaters.

The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and took
home seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best
Director.

It was the first Best Director win for Spielberg, who had
been nominated in the category for three of his earlier
films: 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1981’s
Raiders of the Lost Ark and 1982’s E.T.: The Extra-
Terrestrial.

Director Steven Spielberg will be 79 December 18th.
 

    
    
    
    
   
On November 21, 1976, Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone
as the underdog prizefighter Rocky Balboa, debuted in
New York City.

Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone is 79.

On August 11, 1973, the nostalgic teenage coming-of-age
movie American Graffiti, directed and co-written by George
Lucas, opened in theaters across the U.S.

Set in California in the summer of 1962, American Graffiti
was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best
Director and Best Picture, and helped well as the former
child actor and future Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron
Howard.

The film’s success enabled Lucas to get his next movie
made, the mega-hit Star Wars (1977).

George Lucas during the filming of the movie.  

Richard Dreyfuss (77)

Harrison Ford (83)

Ron Howard (71)