At the start of this heartwarming drama set in the French Riviera, Dirk Bogarde's character has just had a serious heart operation. His wife is worried about how he will fair after the surgery, and asks daughter Caroline (Jane Birkin) to come from Paris to help for awhile. In a private spat with her mother, Caroline asks why she is always called upon instead of her sister whenever there is a family emergency. Her mother replies: "because she's in Quebec".
When Daddy comes home to recuperate, Caroline - a writer - ultimately grows closer to her father. And as the title suggests, this movie is very nostalgic, filled with flashbacks and memories of Caroline's childhood years and how she remembers her father.
It's an often-emotional film about an adult daughter and her ailing father, touching on issues dealing with life and death. It is a pleasure to watch Mr Bogarde perform in this, his final film. The film is dedicated to director Michael Powell, who passed away when the film was released.
This French-produced film is half in English and half in French; the actors - fluent in both - often switch from one language to the next. Available on DVD.
Well last weekend was the annual Chiller expo in New Jersey, my first time there. Overall it was fun and I managed to get a few new autographs. Also in this post are a few other autographs from other recent shows I've been to.
Chiller Expo, Parsipanny New Jersey (Oct 29)
Dolores Hart
Mother Dolores Hart made a live appearance last weekend in New Jersey to help raise money for her monastery which is in need of renovation. She is a warm and gentle woman and was so happy to meet and greet anyone who came up to her. I told her it was an honor to meet her and shook her hand.
Mr. Landau looked very tired when it was my turn in line to meet him. He had just come back from a break and he had been taking very long breaks that day (as I was told) I really wanted to get my North by Northwest poster signed by him and he was very happy to do so, even though the experience felt a bit rushed. There really wasn't much time to talk. There were many people and the atmosphere was less than intimate.
I was able to take some photos of the table with all of the photos for sale
Below: Landau and a fan. At the next table to their left is a B actress named "Lisa Marie", and at the next table is Bruce Dern
Below, Chiller Expo 2011: This was the main "Pit" area in the hotel where all the big-name stars were situated. In the lower right you can see the actor from Goodfellas (in the film, he's the one who says to Joe Pesci to go back to his shinebox). Valerie Perrine was also there (at left) but I didn't get a chance to meet her. Hopefully next time!
Richard Kiel
Got Jaws' autograph! Nice fellow.
Carroll Spinney, Muppeteer ("Big Bird", "Oscar")
Got "Big Bird" Carrol Spinney to sign my Muppet Movie poster.
Hollywood Collector's Show, Rosemont IL (October 2011)
Michael J. Pollard
He was a very nice man, but hard of hearing. A local movie theater was planning a special tribute to Bonnie And Clyde and he was going to attend and do a Q&A. Later I found out the event was cancelled due to lack of interest.
Millie Perkins and Diane Baker from 1959's The Diary of Anne Frank
Millie Perkins was a very sweet woman. We talked for about 10 minutes about the Anne Frank movie, and some of her other films which I have not seen. She was so kind. She told me that she travels all over the world to screen the film and talk about it as well. She also played Elvis' mother in a TV movie and we talked about Graceland (we had both been there). I could tell that she really enjoyed talking to me. It's very rare for a celebrity to be so friendly.
Diane Baker was sitting at a table next to Millie Perkins and I got her autograph too.
James Darren
I had James Darren sign this photo for me from Gidget; it's my favorite film or TV with him in it.
Henry Winkler, Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams
All three made a rare autograph appearance together last month. The Fonz was super nice and friendly, greeting everyone, standing up and walking around to meet fans in line, even. This is rare for a celebrity to do! But he did it! I was a bit nervous. Penny Marshall rarely makes appearances I'm told, so it was neat to get her autograph. She was signing and talking on her iPhone at the same time! Some people are just super busy, I guess.
Chicago Comic Con (August 2011)
Christopher Lloyd
The line to meet Christopher Lloyd was huge. I think I was in line at least 2 hours. But it was fun and worth it. When you are with other fans it's fun.
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Very nice man. It was great meeting him. I had read he had been going through some serious health complications in the last couple of years. Also I just picked up his new autobiography but haven't had a chance to read it yet.
Pam Grier
She had a book she was promoting but I opted to have my Jackie Brown poster signed. She said to me, Thank you for supporting our industry.
Like the character "Walter" in the new Muppets movie, I grew up loving the Muppets, Kermit and the gang. Also Sesame Street.
Here are some photos with various Muppets toys from the late 1970s and early 1980s. (Sorry, this was "B.E.": before Elmo) Those of you who are my age will probably remember some of these toys.
Sesame Street blankets
Big Bird hat. Me with Bert.
Bert & Ernie shirt. With Grover.
Me with Kermit
Sesame Street playset
More Muppets
Bert & Ernie record album. With Scooter and "Miss Piggy"
Muppet Show Colorforms and action figures
Muppet Shrinky Dinks! These were the weirdest, coolest things ever.
I took one photo of my set, but it didn't come out too good....
After a lonnnnnnnnnnnggggg wait, The Artist is finally opening near me, in several Chicago theaters tomorrow. Roger Ebert has given it 4 out of 4 stars (read the review here) and I am once again excited again about seeing it.Stay tuned for a review right here from Motion Picture Gems in the coming week or so.
Very good film, but sad. Set in Hawaii. George Clooney's wife is comatose after a boating accident.
Clooney must explain to his two estranged daughters, one age 17 and the other age 10. They are mean and bratty at first, but they mature as their mom's condition deteriorates and they grow closer to their dad.
Clooney is good. The scene when he discovers that his wife was having an affair with another is heartbreaking.
Clooney knows how to make this character sympathetic and real.
Later in the film, Clooney and his cousins must settle a real estate deal with land given to them by their ancestors; they are the titular descendants. This is a serious movie, and explores how these characters deal with their greif and pain. The director Alexander Paine knows just when add a dose of humor. A very moving film filled with great regional music and great scenery throughout. Co starring Robert Forster and Beau Bridges.
The Muppets was much better than I expected. Very nostalgic, with references to 80s pop culture and songs, past Muppet movies, and the original Muppet Show TV series, which was filmed in London. I liked how they even got one of the original hosts of the show to have a cameo, Alan Arkin. I give the writers (including Jason Segal) credit for bringing back the Muppets.
The movie's story centers around "the world's biggest Muppet fan" Walter, and his desire to see the Muppets back together again. (My interpretation of this odd character is that Walter is supposed to represent any Muppet fan) According the story, the Muppets have all gone their separate ways---Scooter works for Google, Inc,....Sam The Eagle works for a network news show...etc. Kermit and Miss Piggy still have their "on-again/off-again" relationship and it's amusing to see them together again. There are some very funny moments and the jokes are witty and fast paced, continually breaking the fourth wall. According to some reports, the film was edited down considerably --- and it shows; some celebrity cameos go by too quick and are less-than inspired. For example, rather than seeing just a 2-second glimpse of Mickey Rooney, it would have been neat to see him encourage Kermit to go "put on a show" or have some related dialogue.
Young Adult
Directed by Jason Reitman (Up In the Air, Juno, two movies that I liked). And written by Diablo Cody. With this writer-director team I felt this would be a very interesting movie, and it is. In a nutshell, Young Adult is a character study of an alcoholic, single thirtysomething writer (Charlize Theron) who finds inspiration for her young adult/teen novels from her own experiences. She lives alone with her cat in her big-city high rise apartment and watches reality television when she has writer's block. One day, an email from an old flame inspires her to return to her hometown and rekindle the relationship. Well, perhaps rekindle isn't the accurate term...she actually wants to steal him away from his wife and kid! She also manages to bump into several other people from her past and we learn more about her through these characters. For example, we learn midway through the film that she was the prom queen of the high school, and was once the most popular girl in school. Now, she's an outcast with unrealistic expectations about life and relationships. By the end of the film, she's ready to head back to the big city of Minneapolis to start all over again. There is no epilogue; we can only imagine what her life would be like, a good way to end this film, I think.
After reading these reviews, I think I'd probably feel the same (!!!). Has the hype worn off?? The thrill of "discovery" gone??! Don't think I could say I'm as excited as I once was about this film. Not sure if it's because of the LOOOOOONNGGGG WAIT to see it (not even sure when it will open near me). Or perhaps I've seen the trailer so many times....or maybe it's because I already feel like I've seen the Best Film of the Year (in my opinion).
The singing superstar of the 30s and 40s was born Dec 4 1921.
There is a wonderful birthday series going on at the blog West End Dumplings: Go to Part 1: From Winnipeg to Hollywood (1921 - 1936) Go to Part 2: A smashing career (1936 - 1949) Go to Part 3: Whatever happened to Winnepeg's Sweetheart?
Deanna's 26th Birthday in 1947 took place on the set of Up in Central Park.Co-star Albert Sharpe (right) looks on as Deanna blows out the candles on her carousel-shaped cake.
Was reviewed on the television program Ebert Presents Both critics liked the The Artist, but it sounded like they enjoyed Hugo better. Watch the video from the program here
The other day I mentioned in a post that I thought the new Martin Scorcese-directed film Hugo was one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen. It tells the story of an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station circa 1930, and the relationship he forms with an old man in the train station, who turns out to be pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley). This film tells the story of Méliès in a creative, imaginative way and will remind you of why you love the movies.
Top 10 reasons why I love Hugo
10. Wanted to see it twice in the theater.
9. The Paris setting, and the train station. I just loved every minute inside those walls. The set designers should get an Oscar nomination.
8. The scenes in the bookstore, library and movie theater. I loved these parts. It's so refreshing to see Hugo and Isabelle inspired by books and silent films.
7. The beautiful musical score by Howard Shore. (I've included a snippet at the end of this post)
6. Though actual footage of real movies are shown in the film (including clips of Méliès's own films) , there are other moments in the movie that reminded me of other films; subtle nods, perhaps. I can't tell you them all without giving away too much, but there were some parts that reminded me of Vertigo, and even Scorcese's Shutter Island. A writer for the Huffington Post expressed my thoughts when she wrote: "you've got...the exquisite little human dramas in the train station a la Rear Window, and Hugo looking occasionally like Truffaut's Antoine Doinel of the 400 Blows to name a few."
5. The 3-D effects. The 3D works very well in this film; I felt like I was actually in the train station among the crowd.
4. It has some comedic moments without going over the top. The humor mostly comes from the station inspector played by Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat" "Bruno") who has created another memorable cinematic character. And his doberman Maximillian provides some very funny moments.
3. The cast. Brilliant cast. Ben Kingley is perfect in this role, and so are the actors who play Hugo and Isabelle. I don't know their names but they are simply wonderful. There are a few small roles in the station such as the flower girl played by Emily Mortimer, and the bookstore owner played by Christopher Lee.Jude Law plays Hugo's father and he's terrific. They are small roles, but give the film a richness and atmospheric quality.
1. This is a movie-lover's movie; it touches on the history of cinema and film preservation. How often do we see that in a modern day film? And this is an artist's movie, with many themes an artist can relate to such as finding inspiration and purpose in your talent and gifts.
Karl Freund, the legendary cinematographer (Metropolis), tried his hand at a musical with this 1933 feature, which is Busby Berkeley-esque. The story begins in a small town with an aspiring songwriter (Roger Pryor) who writes a love song for his crush, a record store clerk (Mary Brian). He sells the song, and it becomes a huge hit. Roger then moves away from his small town and heads to Broadway, seemingly forgetting his roots - and his crush back home. I liked the scenes where she comes to audition for his new show (titled "Moonlight and Pretzels") and tries to rekindle his memory of her. Much of the rest of the film deals with the production and financial aspect of the show, which I didn't find that interesting, and the humor is lost in the second half. The movie ends with a big finale from Roger's show dealing with the Great Depression. You can watch it here:
The other day I mentioned in a post that I thought the new Martin Scorcese-directed film Hugo was a masterpiece of film making. After seeing it a 2nd time I can confirm without exaggeration that Hugo is one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen. Hugo tells the story of an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station circa 1930, and the relationship he forms with an old man in the train station, who turns out to be pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley). This film tells the story of Méliès in a creative, imaginative way and will remind you of why you love the movies.
Top 10 reasons why I love Hugo
10. Made me want to pay to see it again. Rarely do I want to see a first-run movie again in a theater. In the past 10 years I've seen three movies in the theater more than once (not counting classics from pre-1960): Indiana Jones 4 (two times; I'm a sucker for Indy adventures), Toy Story 3 (two times), and True Grit (three times). I liked Hugo better than any of them, and will probably see it a third time.
9. The setting in the Paris train station. I just loved every minute inside those walls. The set designers should get an Oscar nomination. An then there's the automaton but the less I tell you about him the better.
8. The scenes in the bookstore, library and movie theater. I loved these parts. It's so refreshing to see Hugo and Isabelle inspired by books and old films, especially silent films! And going to the library to do research.... On the subject of films!!!
7. The beautiful musical score by Howard Shore. (I've included a snippet at the end of this post)
6. Though actual footage of real movies are shown in the film (including clips of Méliès's own films) , there are other moments in the movie that reminded me of other films; subtle nods, perhaps. I can't tell you them all without giving away too much, but there were some parts that reminded me of Vertigo, and even Scorcese's Shutter Island. A writer for the Huffington Post expressed my thoughts when she wrote: "you've got...the exquisite little human dramas in the train station a la Rear Window, and Hugo looking occasionally like Truffaut's Antoine Doinel of the 400 Blows to name a few."
5. The 3-D effects. I have only seen a handful of films in 3-D: Bolt (a forgettable kiddie film), Clash of the Titans, Coraline, and Robert Zemekis' A Christmas Carol. IMO, Hugo is a better movie than all of these combined. The 3D works very well in this film; I felt like I was actually in the train station among the crowd.
4. It has some comedic moments without going over the top. The humor mostly comes from the station inspector played by Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat" "Bruno") who has created another memorable cinematic character. And his doberman Maximillian provides some very funny moments. And the humor from the inspector isn't all slapstick buffoonery; instead of being completely on the dark side, he is shown to have some depth of character and has some moments of humanity.
3. The cast. Brilliant cast. Ben Kingley is perfect in this role, and so are the actors who play Hugo and Isabelle. I don't know their names but they are simply wonderful. There are a few small roles in the station such as the flower girl played by Emily Mortimer, and the bookstore owner played by Christopher Lee.Jude Law plays Hugo's father and he's terrific. They are small roles, but give the film a richness and atmospheric quality.
2. Made me want to seek out more about the origin of this story, the book by Brian Selznick. There's a website about the book, but I haven't had time to go through it all yet. Yesterday at Thanksgiving I saw my cousin who's a grade school teacher; she said she knew all about the book and was interested in seeing how it is adapted on film. Me on the other hand, didn't know much about the story at all (perhaps that's another reason why I love this film). But I did find an old interview Selznick did for NPR : you can listen to it here.
1. This is a movie-lover's movie; it touches on the history of cinema and film preservation. (How often do we see that in a modern day film?) . And this is an artist's movie, and there are so many themes an artist can relate to such as finding inspiration and purpose in your talent and gifts.
Seeing a movie on the day before Thanksgiving has become a tradition for me; tonight I went to see Hugo and let me tell you, I'm pretty sure I've just seen a modern day masterpiece. Hugo - based on a novel I wasn't familiar with -is by far the best "new" movie I've seen all year, and one of the best films in 3D I've ever seen. From beginning to end I was captivated. Stunning visuals (Oscar worthy for sure). An enchanting story (part fantasy, part adventure, part mystery and pure magic). It's one of those films where the less you know about it, the better it is, so I won't tell you much. Trust me. I didn't know anything about it other than it was was a 3D film directed by Martin Scorcese (that alone intrigued me and got me in the door), takes place in a train station in Paris, and that one of the characters in the story is Georges Méliès, the pioneering silent film director.
This is absolutely without a doubt a tribute to Melies, movies, and movie making. Bravo Martin Scorcese! I loved this film so much and can't wait to see it again.
See this movie, and if you don't like it I will give you your money back.
In Loving You,noir legend Lizabeth Scott plays a promoter who discovers a hot new talent "Deke Rivers" (Elvis!) and offers him a job in her band of rockabillies - "The Rough Ramblers" - which inclues a pretty young vocalist played by Dolores Hart in her film debut.
Lizabeth, as Elvis' manager, delivers a strong performance in the film. Her character reminded me a little of Patricia Neal's in A Face in the Crowd, also from 1957 and also about show business. Lizabeth schemes in any way she can to keep Deke in the band, and her moments with him are cute and flirtsy, peppered with witty one-liners. Wendell Corey (Lizabeth's costar in Desert Fury) plays the band leader who is a little jealous of his new band mate. He suggests that Deke change his name to "Tab" or "Rock" or something catchy that the young kids are going for.
The band travels from small town to small town, carnival to carnival, and Elvis has all the young kids "rockin and rollin'". Just like in real life, some of the older folks aren't receptive to his style of music, and they're called "squares" by some young kids. The film in many ways mirrors Elvis' real life experiences: being discovered and promoted, making headlines, etc.
In addition to all the great musical numbers, I thought some of the best parts of the film are the scenes with Elvis and Dolores Hart. In one sequence, she takes him to meet her family on their farm.
I think this is one of the best Elvis films, and one of the best Elvis soundtracks ever, including the title track by Lieber and Stoller, Party, Got A Lot O' Living To Do, Teddy Bear, and Lonesome Cowboy, which is a great song and was the original title of the film. It is a high quality production: great costumes, sets, and cinematography. Directed by Hal Kanter.
This weekend is the annual Chiller Expo (Toy, Model, and Film Expo) in Parsippany, New Jersey. I've never been to it, but this year there is a very exciting lineup of celebrity guests - a great opportunity for autographs. Scheduled to appear are Martin Landau and Mother Dolores Hart, who is now a nun but fifty years ago was a huge star with appearances in Elvis films, Where the Boys Are, Lonelyhearts, Come Fly With Me, and more. This is her first autograph session in almost 50 years, so this is a very, very rare treat indeed.
Here is just a partial list of celebrities:
Martin Landau, legendary actor
Dolores Hart, Where the Boys Are
Burt Young,Rocky series
Louise Fletcher, "Nurse Ratched" in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Pam Grier,Jackie Brown, Foxy Brown
Louis Gossett Jr.,An Office and a Gentlemen
Valerie Perrine, Lenny, Superman
Bruce Dern,Coming Home, Family Plot
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Sara Karloff, daughter of Boris Karloff
Lana Wood, sister of Natalie Wood
All of the child actors from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
There were many stories in the local papers today about the capture and killing of Gadhafi. College student Sarah Burshan was quoted today in the Chicago Tribune as saying that the dictator's death was "something our family always talked about". According to the report, her father was exiled from Libya at age 17 for his political activities and continued to oppose Gadhafi after moving to America.
The diary entries of President Ronald Reagan reveal many entries on Gadhafi, and I found them to be interesting enough to share here on this blog as part of the Reagan Centennial series.
In 1973 Gaddafi claimed much of the Gulf of Sidra (northern Libya) defying international territory; he called the invisible border the "Line of Death" and threatened to attack any planes or ships crossing the line.
In 1979 US President Jimmy Carter designated Libya a state sponsor of terrorism.
Here are President Reagan's diary entries (related to Gaddafi, whom Reagan called "a madman.")(My notes in blue)
June 1, 1981
I approved naval maneuvers in Mediterranean waters that Khadafi of Lybia has declared are his territorial waters....He has been harassing our planes out over international waters...
July 31, 1981
A lengthy working lunch. NSC briefing on Naval games in the gulf of Sidra. We'll find out how serious Khadaffi is about claiming half the Mediterranean for himself.
August 1981
We have an intelligence report that Guadaffi has told others he intends to have me assassinated. It's a strange feeling to find there is a "contract" out on yourself.
October 6, 1981 (the day that Egypt's Anwar Sadat was assassinated)
I'm trying not to feel hatred for those who did this foul deed (the assassination) but I can't make it. Gadhafi gloating on TV, his people jubilantly celebrating in the streets. He is beneath contempt. He goes on radio (clandestine) and began broadcasting propaganda, calling for a holy war, etc. before Sadat's death was confirmed. This material had to have been already prepared. In other words, he knew it was going to happen.
February 12 1983
National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane brought report that Gaddafi was allegedly planning attack on Sudan...
February 14 1983
NSC meeting about Khadafy and a report that he's going to send bombers to help a coup in Sudan. Some question as to weather the report is valid. We are providing AWAC's to aid Egypt fighters (planes) who will intercept Lybian planes.
August 10 1983
Well Faza Largeau in Chad has fallen to the rebels and Guadafi's forces.
August 11 1983
The situation in Chad worsens. Faza Largeau has definately been taken by the rebels and the Libyans. The French have sent 500 paratroopers to the capitol of Chad. Still no French air power leaving the air to the Libyans. They may be talking a "deal" with Quadafi - Libya is a big customer of France.
April 18 1984
Kadafi must be insane - a demonstration by Libyan exiles in front of the Libyan Embassy in London was fired on by someone in the Embass, 11 wounded and 1 Eng. Police Woman killed. The Eng. police have the embassy surrounded now but can't storm it under international law. Kadaffi has surrounded the British Embassy in Libya with mil. forces and that is a state of siege. Our intellegence has learned that Kadafi ordered the embassy in London to attack the demonstrators and start a wave of fire throughout Eng. He charges Eng. is in cahoots with the demonstrators.
July 28 1984
...lunch with F. Minister Andreotti of Italy. He brought me a book by Quadaffi and said that gentleman expressed a desire to have better relations with us.
April 1, 1985
Met with Pres. Niemeri of Sudan - he's OK. I think we're going to be able to help him. Quadaffi's giving him a bad time...
June 18, 1985
...sessions with Pres. Borguiba of Tunisia. They were good sessions and he is really a friend of America. Tunisia is the only Muslim or Arab country that practices monogamy and gives women equal rights. The Pres. is also a declared enemy of Guadaffi. He is 85 years old. in bad health....
September 3, 1985
Had a frustrating meeting with NSPG on our relationship with Egypt. Pres. Mubarak believes Quadhavi of Libya is a threat to all the N. African countries and mainly Egypt. We've been meeting with the Pres. on how we can assist him if Egypt is attacked. Do we all go out and join in a war and would our people support such a move? There is no doubt Egypt and the Suez canal are very important to our security. Still it's a complex problem. For now we'll keep on studying contingency plans with Pres Mubarak.
November 29 1985
Awakened by phone call from Bud McFar. It seems Moubarak wants to fly some of the Eygptian wounded and his commandos home from Malta and is concerned that Quadaffi might attack the plane. He has asked us for fighter cover. I said hell yes. We arae flying F-15's plus a tanker and a communications plane down from Europe. Operation should take place some time tonight....
Jan 1 1986
...Khadafy and his connection with the massacres at Rome and Vienna airports. We all feel we must do something yet there are problems including thousands of Americans living and working in the mad clown's country...
Jan 7 1986
...this was a day spent on 2 issues - one was Guadafi (Libya) and the other our 5 hostages in Lebanon.
First on Libya's top clown, after quite a session I finally came down on the side of an exec. order bringing Ams & Am business home from Libya and canceling relations - trade, etc. with them. At the same time we beef up the 6th fleet in the Med Sea. If Mr. Q. decides not to push another terrorist act - OK we've been successful with our implied threat. IF ont he other hand he takes this for weakness and does loose another one, we will have targets in mind and instantly respond with a hell of a punch. At tonight's press conf. I announce the ex. order.
March 14 1986
..an NSPG meeting about next week's Naval operation off Libya. Our ships and planes will now and then cross over the line Quadaffy says marks his territorial waters. It doesn't - the area is still international water open to navigation. He has threatened to take action. I have approved - indeed ordered that we respond to any hostile move on his part with appropriate action.
March 24 1986
...Quadafy fired SAM missiles at our planes in the Mediterranean war games and sent a couple of missile ships our toward our naval vessels. Score - no hits on any of our craft but 2 Libyan ships sunk and our air missiles took out the radar without which the SAMS can't be fired. Quadafi claims he shot down 3 of our planes - he lies.
...got a night time call re: the bombing of the Disco in W. Berlin where 50 or so of our servicemen were wounded and killed. Evidence is adding up that the villain was Kadaffy although the hypocrite went on TV to say "it was a terrorist act against innocent civilians and he wouldn't do such a thing".
April 7 1986
Our intelligence is pretty final that this bombing was the work of Kafaffy. We have definite info on other plans - some of which we've been able to abort. We discussed targets for retaliation. I'm holding our for mil. targets to avoid civilian casualties because we believe a large part of Libya would like to get rid of the Col.
April 9 1986
...2 full NSC meetings planning targets for retaliation against Kadaffy. Our evidence is complete that he was behind the disco bombing in W Berlin that killed an Am. Sgt and wounded 50 GIs. We have 5 specified military targets in mind.
Press conference at 8 PM. went well. Almost all Q's were on Kadaffy...
April 10 1986
Another session with Ad. Crowe on potential Libyan targets. I think it will be Mon. night. I've sent a long message to PM Thatcher explaining in generalities what we're up to. She has replied with a long message pledging support but expressing concern about possible civilian casualties. That's our concern also.
The morning was taken up with study and analysis of the attack. We fear one bomb was off target and caused civilian casulties. At the same time its possible it wasn't our bomb but one of their anti aircraft missiles that came down and exploded. One of our aircraft is missing, an F-111 with crew of 2.
April 16 1986
...in the last 2 24 hour periods the WH has taken 126,000 phone calls - 15,000 couldn't get through - then 160,000 and 16,000 couldn't get through. They were more than 70% favorable. The sad note is we have to assume the 2 missing airmen are dead. Evidence indicates their plane was shot down just off the shore after dropping its bombs.....
...we're getting reports that there may be a revolution - which we would welcome - kicking up in the streets of Tripoli. No one has seen or heard from Quadhafy - rumors are flying like crazy. The Libyan AF strafed the barracks of Quadafys special guard.
...Whoa! Evening news -- reports that Quadhafy has made an appearance and is in charge. Tripoli radio is calling on Arabs to kill Americans.
An interview with 4 wire service operators. Most questions were on Libya plus how it tied in to the coming Summit. I managed to get some things said that I've wanted to say - ie, where does Khadafy get over moaning about our bombs killing a little girl? What about the baby blown through the side of a TWA plane at 15,000 feet. What about the 11-year old girl mowed down in cold blood at the Rome airport. Mr. K called that one a "noble deed".
June 16 1988
Zia has declared Islamic Law is law of Pakistan. That puts them into the Fundamentalist Revolution with the Ayatolah and Quadaffi.
December 21, 1988 270 people are killed as a result of a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie Scotland.
December 28 1988
The British have completed their examination of the Pan Am 103 crash and are announcing today that it was a bomb explosion.
January 4 1989
..2 of our F14s from the USS Kennedy shot down 2 Mig 23s from Libya. There have been signs that Quadafy is antsy about a possible attack on his chemical factory.
January 11 1989
...Libyans have agreed to return the body of American flyer they've been holding since 1986.
....spoke about easing some sanctions on Libya because they are hurting some Americans worse than they are hurting Quadafi.
Source: The Reagan Diaries, editor: Douglas Brinkley. 2007. Harper Collins.
POSTSCRIPT
Ronald Reagan's last day in office was January 20, 1989.
In 2003, Libya reached a political agreement with the United States and Britain to accept responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and agreed to pay about $2.7 billion in victims' compensation.
The United States and Libya resumed diplomatic ties in 2004. Libya was dropped as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States.
On July 9 2009, US President Obama meets Gaddafi at the G8 summit in Italy.
In early 2011, uprisings began to take place in Egypt then Lybia. Gaddafi reacted by ordering mass murder of anti-government protesters. US President Obama initially stayed out of the situation. On March 19 a Western-led NATO intervention took place to halt Gaddafi's military forces.
