On December 26, 1973, The Exorcist, a horror film starring the
actress Linda Blair as a girl possessed by an evil spirit, made
its debut in theaters; it went on to earn a reputation as one
of the scariest movies in history. 

The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller,
and Linda Blair.

It become the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy
Award for Best Picture, as well as nine others.

On December 12, 1967, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,
a groundbreaking movie about an interracial romantic
relationship starring Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy,
Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton, opened in theaters.

The film was the final role for Spencer Tracy. He was very
ill during production but insisted on continuing. Filming
of his role was completed just 17 days before his death
from a heart attack in June 1967. He was 67.

Hepburn never saw the completed film, saying it would be
too painful for her.    
    
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was nominated for 10 Academy
Awards, including Best Picture, and collected two Oscars,
including Best Actress for Hepburn, the second of her career.  

On November 21, 1976, Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone as
the underdog prizefighter Rocky Balboa, debuted in New York
City. The movie, which opened in theaters across the United
States on December 3, 1976, was a huge box-office hit and
received 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best
Actor and Best Original Screenplay for the then-little known
Stallone. Rocky ultimately took home three Oscars, including
one for Best Picture, and made Stallone one of the biggest
stars in Hollywood.

Sylvester Stallone and Burgess Meredith

Stallone and Carl Weathers

On November 15, 1956, Love Me Tender, featuring the singer
Elvis Presley in his big-screen debut, premieres in New York
City at the Paramount Theater. Set in Texas following the
American Civil War, the film, which co-starred Richard Egan
and Debra Paget, featured Elvis as Clint Reno, the younger
brother of a Confederate soldier.

Originally titled The Reno Brothers, the movie was renamed
Love Me Tender before its release, after a song of the same
name that Reno sings during the film.

On October 24, 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as a team of bank
robbers in the Old West, opened in theaters around the United
States.

The film was a commercial and critical success, receiving seven
Oscar nominations (including Best Picture and Best Director)
and winning in the categories of Best Screenplay (William
Goldman), Best Song (Burt Bacharach’s “Raindrops Keep
Falling on My Head”), Best Score and Best Cinematography.