On August 25, 1939, The Wizard of Oz, which will become one
of the best-loved movies in history, opens in theaters around
the United States.

Based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz, by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), the film starred Judy
Garland as the young Kansas farm girl Dorothy, who, after
being knocked unconscious in a tornado, dreams about
following a yellow brick road, alongside her dog Toto, to the
Emerald City to meet the Wizard of Oz.

Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category,
The Wizard of Oz lost to the Civil War-era epic Gone With the
Wind.

On August 11, 1973, the nostalgic teenage coming-of-age
movie American Graffiti, directed and co-written by George
Lucas (above), opened in theaters across the United States.

Set in California in the summer of 1962, American Graffiti
was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best
Director and Best Picture, and helped launch the big-screen
careers of Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford, as 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).

On August 10, 1984, the action thriller Red Dawn, starring
Patrick Swayze, opened in theaters as the first movie to
be released with a PG-13 rating.

“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” a comedy
based in the fictionalized world of American stock car
racing, premiered in movie theaters around the United
States on August 4, 2006.

The comedian Will Ferrell (who also co-wrote the screenplay
with director Adam McKay and served as an executive
producer) starred as Ricky Bobby, a leading driver on the
National Association for Stock Auto Car Racing (NASCAR)
circuit.

John William Ferrell (56)

On August 3, 1977, “The Spy Who Loved Me,” starring Roger
Moore as the suave superspy James Bond, known for his
love of fast cars and dangerous women,was released in
theaters across America.