Movies from 50 Years Ago - 1963

I was curious to look up what movies were popular in American theaters 50 years ago this weekend - the weekend when American found out that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. 

My research led me to a Wikipedia page that listed each of the top weekend box-office champions and this entry from Mr. Pop Culture.

I was surprised to learn that the Top Box Office movie the weekend of November 22-24 1963 was a live-action Disney picture, The Incredible Journey about the adventures of two dogs and a cat. It's interesting that a family movie did rather well that weekend, when the news of JFK's assassination was on everyone's mind.

Also in theaters 50 years ago this weekend: 
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World  provided  comic relief.  Paul Newman was in a rom-com called A New Kind of Love and The VIPs featured Elizabeth Taylor. 

#	Weekend end date	Film	Box office
1	01963-01-06January 6, 1963	Lawrence of Arabia	$2,573,392
2	01963-01-13January 13, 1963	Lawrence of Arabia	$2,385,298
3	01963-01-20January 20, 1963	Lawrence of Arabia	$2,185,395
4	01963-01-27January 27, 1963	Lawrence of Arabia	$1,937,583
5	01963-02-03February 3, 1963	Lawrence of Arabia	$1,836,384
6	01963-02-10February 10, 1963	Lawrence of Arabia	$1,273,256
7	01963-02-17February 17, 1963	A Child Is Waiting	$2,261,732
8	01963-02-24February 24, 1963	How the West Was Won	$2,757,635
9	01963-03-03March 3, 1963	How the West Was Won	$2,385,924
10	01963-03-10March 10, 1963	How the West Was Won	$2,185,372
11	01963-03-17March 17, 1963	How the West Was Won	$1,683,845
12	01963-03-24March 24, 1963	How the West Was Won	$1,539,932
13	01963-03-31March 31, 1963	The Birds	$2,900,043
14	01963-04-07April 7, 1963	It Happened at the World's Fair	$2,472,533
15	01963-04-14April 14, 1963	Bye Bye Birdie	$2,385,822
16	01963-04-21April 21, 1963	Bye Bye Birdie	$2,175,483
17	01963-04-28April 28, 1963	Bye Bye Birdie	$1,382,578
18	01963-05-05May 5, 1963	Bye Bye Birdie	$945,382
19	01963-05-12May 12, 1963	Dr. No	$2,673,277
20	01963-05-19May 19, 1963	Dr. No	$2,374,294
21	01963-05-26May 26, 1963	Dr. No	$2,187,824
22	01963-06-02June 2, 1963	Hud	$2,562,844
23	01963-06-09June 9, 1963	The Nutty Professor	$2,472,573
24	01963-06-16June 16, 1963	Donovan's Reef	$2,583,578
25	01963-06-23June 23, 1963	Cleopatra	$2,735,387
26	01963-06-30June 30, 1963	Cleopatra	$2,572,922
27	01963-07-07July 7, 1963	The Great Escape	$2,743,673
28	01963-07-14July 14, 1963	Beach Party	$1,953,593
29	01963-07-21July 21, 1963	Cleopatra	$2,583,244
30	01963-07-28July 28, 1963	Cleopatra	$2,395,422
31	01963-08-04August 4, 1963	Cleopatra	$2,175,274
32	01963-08-11August 11, 1963	Gidget Goes to Rome	$2,382,891
33	01963-08-18August 18, 1963	Promises! Promises!	$2,371,522
34	01963-08-25August 25, 1963	Flipper	$2,175,355
35	01963-09-01September 1, 1963	Promises! Promises!	$1,947,372
36	01963-09-08September 8, 1963	Promises! Promises!	$932,683
37	01963-09-15September 15, 1963	Shock Corridor	$935,385
38	01963-09-22September 22, 1963	X	$1,736,924
39	01963-09-29September 29, 1963	The V.I.P.s	$2,735,385
40	01963-10-06October 6, 1963	Dementia 13	$2,382,582
41	01963-10-13October 13, 1963	The V.I.P.s	$2,391,381
42	01963-10-20October 20, 1963	Johnny Cool	$1,972,577
43	01963-10-27October 27, 1963	The V.I.Ps	$1,824,428
44	01963-11-03November 3, 1963	A New Kind of Love	$1,824,385
45	01963-11-10November 10, 1963	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	$2,826,573
46	01963-11-17November 17, 1963	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	$2,783,482
47	01963-11-24November 24, 1963	The Incredible Journey	$2,673,285
48	01963-12-01December 1, 1963	Fun in Acapulco	$2,427,572
49	01963-12-08December 8, 1963	Charade	$2,382,278
50	01963-12-15December 15, 1963	Charade	$2,184,293
51	01963-12-22December 22, 1963	Charade	$1,573,284
52	01963-12-29December 29, 1963	The Sword in the Stone	$2,742,466

Angela Lansbury receives a special honorary Oscar

The special Honorary Award ceremony was last night, and veteran screen star (and 3-time nominee) Angela Lansbury received a special Oscar.

Robert Osborne of Turner Classics presented her with the award.

A report of the evening's ceremony can be found here:(Deadline Hollywood)

More pictures of Ms Lansbury at the ceremony here: (UK Mix)

A salute from the UK Telegraph

Gravity (2013)

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Gravity, the much talked about adventure/thriller set in space that many have said makes you feel like you are up there. I must say, the film succeeded at that, and exceeded my expectations; I never thought it would be so life-affirming. Modern-day box-office stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play American astronauts adrift in space trying to make their way back home. At first I was skeptical of the casting, but Sandra turns out an impressive, award-worthy performance, and Clooney (who previously went up "in the air" in 2002's Solaris and 2009's Up in The Air) brings an honest sincerity to the role and the right amount of humor.  The film also gave me a glimpse of what astronauts do when they're up there, as well as the dangers they face (some experts have questioned some of the details). And needless to say it's visually stunning.  If you have not yet had the experience of seeing this movie in theaters, I would highly recommend it.  I think it's a modern-day classic.  Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. 

Leonard Maltin's new Youtube Channel

I've been enjoying Leonard Maltin's videos that he's been doing on his new channel. The first few videos are Q&As - like the one below. Subscribe to the channel here: http://www.youtube.com/leonardmaltin