Oct 13 - 1st Black President: James Earl Jones***

Friday, October 13, 1972 - Page 287
LOCATION: Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim

FRIDAY the 13th
12:00 AM
I just removed the gold foil from the Star Trek insignia on my red shorts. It was peeling off because it wanted to be dry-cleaned. Underneath it was white leather. It looks better now, methinks.

Got on the 9:00 A.M. bus and got into the Ivanhoe at 10:45. Painted 'till 6:00 and then mom got me. Linda started today, learning her duties from Mary. She worked till 1:00. Angela came in the afternoon around 3:30. Mark came about 2:00. I got the first two rooms finished painted, and the first one was put back together. The schedule for next week will be different and the task of painting shouldn't be so time consuming.

Original 1972 Theatrical Poster
1st Black President

[Rod Serling wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Irving Wallace. Four days before Barack Obama was inaugurated, the LA Times asked James Earl Jones about his 1972 movie. He said, "It was done as a TV special. Had we known it was to be released as a motion picture, we would have asked for more time and more production money. I regret that." -- wikipedia info]

After work, Mom & I drove to the Paulo to see The Man (Excellent movie about the first Black Pres of the U.S.) and Hannie Caulder (in which Raquel Welch gets tough as a gun fighter) -- they were both worth looking at.

Original 1971 Theatrical Poster
1st Lady Gunslinger

Believe it or not, this movie was really pretty good. After 40-odd years, I still remember the deadly contest between the gunfighter (Culp) and the knife-thrower (Borgnine). You can see part of it in this trailer, which tells the whole plot with one spoiler after another.

I'm on page 18 in Ray's book. Same old stuff. It's truly amazing how that man can write so much with so little -- he has only one theme for all his stories, just one lousy theme. In copious doses I guess unoriginality can pay off.

HISTORICAL NOTES: A Troubling Year for Sexists & Racists
January 25, 1972 -- The 1st African American Congressperson, Shirley Chisholm, announces her candidacy for President of the United States.
March 22, 1972 -- The U.S. Congress votes to send the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. However, this constitutional amendment for women's equality failed to receive approval of the required 38 states by the June 30, 1982 deadline so it was not adopted.  
October 25, 1972 -- The first female agents are hired by the FBI.

>>> UPDATE FROM THE FUTURE  [ 7/19/2015 ] : Both of these movies are now available for free on YouTube. Here ya go...

TOMORROW: Drive-in double feature: Me, Zhivago