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Forum: Chat Room
Thread: Anecdote of the day |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 545
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
One day during the production of Marked Woman (1937), producer Hal B. Wallis complained to director Lloyd Bacon about a certain incompetent actor playing one of gangster Eduardo Ciannelli's henchmen: "Who is that monkey?" he asked. "Why the hell didn't you get a menacing-looking character? He looks like some five-dollar extra. Couldn't you see he wasn't right for the part of a gangster?" Bacon's reply was met with a chorus of laughter from Bette Davis and the rest of the cast. "I'm sorry to tell you," he explained, "that he is one of Lucky Luciano's favorite gang members. We put him in the picture for realism!"
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
For many Americans, the identity of the captain on the Starship Enterprise is of more concern than that of the captain in the Oval Office. When Patrick Stewart followed William Shatner as chief of the Starship Enterprise (assuming the role of Jean-Luc Picard on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), he was not universally well-received by obsessive fans.
One day, Stewart was dismayed to find, pinned to his dressing room door, a notice which read: "Beware! Unknown British Shakespearean actor!" |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Britain's Greatest Queen
When Cunard were building their ship No. 534 it was their custom to give ships names ending with "ia", like Mauritania and Lusitania. It occurred to someone that no ship had ever been named after Britain's greatest queen, Victoria. This would, they thought, require royal assent, so a representative approached King George and asked, "May we name our new ship after Britain's greatest queen?" His Majesty replied, "I am sure Her Majesty would be delighted." Accordingly the ship was named "Queen Mary." |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Though Herb Carnegie was a standout at the New York Rangers' training camp, he was told that he could only play for its lowest farm team (in New Haven) and was denied entry into the NHL because he was black. One day, Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe saw Carnegie practicing at Maple Leaf Gardens and was astonished by his ability. "I'll give $10,000," he famously remarked, "to anyone who can turn Herb Carnegie white!"
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Brown and Associates
Fresh out of their respective schools, future Hollywood producers David Brown and Ernest Lehman hatched a plan to break into the literary scene: They would set up two typewriters in Brown's apartment and use these machines to produce dozens of articles for such then-popular magazines as Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post. As a first step, Brown went out and had some business cards made up: "David Brown and Associates..." "Who are the associates?" Lehman wondered. Brown's reply? "You are." |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
George Raft acquired and disposed of about ten million dollars in the course of his career. "Part of the loot went for gambling," he later explained, "part for horses, and part for women. The rest I spent foolishly."
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tom Arnold: Sweet Charity
Tom Arnold and Miami Dolphins linebacker Brian Cox once made a bet for charity: "$100 a pound," Arnold recalled. "Who can lose the most." The result? "We each gained ten pounds." |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
José Antonio, son of a former mayor of Toledo, took refuge with other Nationalists in the Alcázar in the summer of 1936 at the start of the famous seige during the Spanish Civil War. As a pacifist, the youth refused at first to help defend the ancient stronghold, and was put on latrine duty. When the situation of the besieged became more desperate, he decided that it would not be inconsistent with his prinicples to aid in the defense, provided that he did not kill in hatred. He was assigned the position of loader to a heavy machine gun. It was said that he would give the signal to fire with the words: "Tirad—pero sin odio" (Fire—but without hatred).
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Charles Steinmetz was once called out of retirement by General Electric to help them locate a problem in an intricate system of complex machines. Having spent some time tinkering with and testing various parts of the system, he finally placed a chalk-marked 'X' on a small component in one machine. GE's engineers promptly examined the component, and were amazed to find the defect in the precise location of Steinmetz's mark.
Some time later, GE received an invoice from the wily engineer - for $10,000. Incredulous, they protested the bill and challenged him to itemize it. Steinmetz did so: "Making one chalk mark: $1," he wrote. "Knowing where to place it: $9,999." |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Seattle, Washington?
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Al Gore's daughter Kristin praised his role as a mentor. "He was... the guy who helped me study for my third-grade state-capital quiz," she explained. "Seattle - I got it down." Sadly, the record does not indicate who broke the embarrassing news to the Gores: the capital of Washington state is in fact... Olympia. |
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