This Day in History

Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of the first work from one of the most notorious men in the history of Hollywood. He is prolific, having had a hand in the making of over one hundred film and television projects. That hand though has been the heavy hand of disassociation through loss of creative control. This man’s name is now synonymous with bad films and bad decisions. His name is Alan Smithee.

Death of a Gunfighter was released on April 25, 1969 in West Germany. The United States premiere was a few weeks later on May 9th. The New York Times gave a positive review for film, stating it was "sharply directed by Allen Smithee who has an adroit facility for scanning faces and extracting sharp background detail". Variety said “Smithee's direction keeps the action taut and he draws convincing portrayals from the supporting cast". Even Roger Ebert, though not familiar with the name, commented possitively on Smithee’s direction.

The absurdity of all this was that Allen Smithee did not exist.

Robert Totten was the original director of Death of a Gunfighter. He left well into production due to disagreements with the lead actor, Richard Widmark. Totten was replaced with Don Siegel but when the film was finished neither wanted to take credit because the final product did not represent either director’s creative vision. The Director’s Guild of America decided to use a pseudonym. Al Smith was the first choice but it was too common and there were already individuals in the film industry with that name. Allen Smithee was chosen because it was uncommon enough but not too strange to stand out. Though his name was later retroactively applied to some earlier works, Death of a Gunfighter was the first film attributed to Smithee.
The standard spelling later became Alan Smithee.

A perfect example of Smithee’s work is the extended televised version of Dune. The original feature film was directed by David Lynch. It was later edited with additional footage without Lynch’s involvement. Lynch had his name removed from this version and also replaced his screenwriting credits with the name Judas Booth, an inside joke and his way of saying the studio betrayed him and killed his film.

In the publishing world these name games are more common and done for entirely different reasons. A press release in the mid 1980’s informed the world of the death Richard Bachman from cancer of the pseudonym. Before I Wake, by Eric Bowman was really written by Mark Frost. And of course there is Lemony Snicket. Usually these pseudonymous writers have fans in the know waiting for more material, but no one is waiting for Alan Smithee films. His few fans are more of the cult classic variety, his films reserved for bad movie nights, his career a trivial footnote in Hollywood history.

82 years ago today on April 19, 1927 Mae West was convicted at The Jefferson Market Courthouse on obscenity charges for her play Sex. The play, which she also wrote, produced, and directed, was her first starring role on Broadway. The production had been open for close to a year and playing to full houses before it was raided by the police. West received a $500 fine and was sentenced to ten days in jail. She spent one night in the Woman’s House of Detention before moving to Welfare Island (now known as Roosevelt Island). She was released after eight days for good behavior and the resulting publicity only increased her fame.

The Woman’s House of Detention was demolished in 1973 and replaced with the community garden that is now on the south side of Jefferson Market. For more information on this notorious jail take a look Hellhole: The Shocking Story of the Inmates and Life in the New York City House of Detention for Women by Sara Harris, located in our reference collection and for your viewing pleasure there is the feature film House of D starring David Duchovny and Robin Williams.  read more »

Today marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of Anatol Josepho (March 31, 1894 - December 1980), Siberian immigrant and inventor of the photobooth. His patent for an automatic coin operated photographic apparatus was filed on March 27, 1925 and though similar devices existed at or around the same time it was Joespho who brought the photobooth to the masses via Times Square in New York City where people lined up for blocks to have their pictures taken.

Josepho’s is the classic immigration success story: he moved to The United States, struggled, found financial backing, sold the rights to his invention in 1927 for one million dollars (the equivalent of over $12.5 million today) and donated half the money to charity.

Over 80 years later photobooths still hold a special place in America’s culture. There is something about the intimacy and immediacy of the process, where individuals can be themselves and create an honest and telling self portrait, or where people can playfully act out and document their dreams and desires.

Photobooths today rely on digital processes rather than chemical ones but the basic idea behind the device and its enduring intrigue has remained relatively unchanged for all of these years making it a true cultural icon.

Most everyone has a photobooth story to tell. And all those untold number of photobooth photographs speak volumes. Lower Manhatten between the Jefferson Market Library and the lower east side probably has the highest concentration on photobooths in the city. Drop me a line to find out the closest one in your area.

For more information on photobooths check the Catalog. There are also some classic photobooth scenes in movies such as Amelie, Buffalo 66, and Superman III.

The photograph above is not Anatol Josepho. It is just one of the countless anonymous Photomatic photobooth photographs out there.

The Jefferson Market Branch of The New York Public Library has been meeting the informational needs of the people of Greenwich Village for over forty years. But one hundred years before the library, people in the neighborhood got their information from the Old Grapevine Tavern.

The three story clapboard roadhouse was built in the 18th century and was located on the southeast corner of 11th Street and 6th Avenue. Originally a private home, it eventually became a saloon know as The Hawthorne. The 11th Street side of the building was covered in a gnarled old grapevine and by the early 1800s the establishment was simply known as the Old Grapevine. It quickly became a favorite destination for those wanting to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city (lower Manhattan) and head north towards into the open country (11th Street).  read more »

According to Stokes Iconography of Manhattan Island, on October 8, 1908 a city ordinance was passed changing the name of Blackwell’s Island Bridge to Queensboro Bridge.

Further research into Stokes Iconography provides more history about the Queensboro Bridge.

The city began proceedings to acquire the land on April 25, 1900. On November 15 the common council passed “an ordinance to provide for the construction of a new bridge over the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens.” On February 23, 1901 the plan for the construction was approved. “The bridge is to be constructed on the cantilever principle, is to be 150 feet wide and 2,710 feet long, and is to cost $5,740,000.” Construction began in July. On March 18, 1902, the Board of Alderman passed “an ordinance naming the bridges across the East River. This provides that: 1, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge shall be designated the Brooklyn Bridge. 2, the new East River Bridge shall be designated as the Williamsburg Bridge. 3, Bridge No.3, crossing the East River, shall be designated as the Manhattan Bridge. And 4, Bridge No.4 crossing the East River shall be designated as the Blackwell’s Island Bridge.”

(FYI: the entry following the March 18, 1902 entry in Stokes has nothing to do with the bridges but it is the kind of interesting and quirky information that this reference source is full of: “April 1902 – About this time ping-pong had the vogue that Mah Jong came to have in 1920 and the cross-word puzzle in 1924. – Sullivan, Our Times (1926).”)

In January 1907 the proper approaches were planned, with the commission recommending a “diagonal approach to Blackwell’s Island Bridge from Second Avenue to 57th Street; that the street car tracks on 59th Street be depressed under Fifth Avenue, and that 60th Street be widened by 100 feet.” On October 8, 1908, as mentioned above, the name of the bridge was changed to Queensboro Bridge, which officially opened on March 30, 1909.

Coincidentally, 58 years after the name change, almost to the day, on October 10, 1966, this album was released with a catchy song that used the colloquial numerical name of the bridge in the title.

On December 13, 1931 Winston Churchill, during a lecture tour through the United States, sustained significant injury from an automobile accident which occurred as he was crossing Fifth Avenue. Apparently he was looking for traffic in the wrong direction, accustomed to British traffic rules.It took a week for Churchill to recover, after which point he was able to return to England, a fortunate thing not only for his family but also for the rest of the world a decade later in the throes of the second world war.