Transcript

12.12.25 · History Hour

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Speaker 1: This is half our history and I'm your host, Joseph
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Bolt here at Radio Eye. We want this show to
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be listener driven, so if you have any comments or suggestions,
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please give our studios a call at eight five nine
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four two two six three nine zero let us know
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what you think. Sources for today's stories will be cited
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later on in the show, and as a reminder, Radio
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I is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. On September tenth, nineteen hundred, the Chicago
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White Stockings beat the Detroit Lion or Detroit Tigers six
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to two. Teddy Roosevelt made a stump speech, and in
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the tiny Susquehanna River town of walle Lusing, a baby
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boy was born. His parents named him Philip Baby. Phillip's
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mother and Van doren Stern, was a New Jersey native,
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and the family eventually returned there, where Philip was raised.
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Following his nineteen twenty four graduation from Rutgers University, Philip
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worked in advertising and then in publishing and editing. As
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an editor. During the nineteen forties, he worked for Simon
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and Schuster's Pocket Books which published large print runs of
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popular book titles for distribution to soldiers during World War II. Librarians,
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booksellers and publishers found a non profit Council on Books
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in Wartime, and this wartime distribution is credited with the
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spread of paperback books. Curiously, it was two war weary men,
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movie director Frank Capra, who made war documentaries, and actor
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Jimmy Stewart, an Air Force pilot, who were both pivotal
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in bringing It's a Wonderful Life to the screen. Before
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this now legendary story appeared on any screen, it spent
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eight years navigating the bumps from inspiration to publication. Philip
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Stern's daughter, Marguerite Stern Robinson, described the journey. My father
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was shaving on Saturday morning, February twelfth, nineteen thirty eight
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when he had the idea for the story. She remembers
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that he said, the idea came to me complete from
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start to finish, a most unusual occurrence, as any writer
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will tell you. Stern's idea centered on George Pratt, a
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small town man who feels his life is without purpose.
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One night before Christmas, George leans over the railing of
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an iron bridge thoughts of suicide swirled around him like
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the icy black water. Before he could do anything, foolish
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and unremarkable Little Man intervenes and ultimately grants George's wish
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that he had never been born. Although Stern had the story,
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he did not have the skills. Writing fiction was new
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to him. His previous work centered around historical and literary subjects.
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In nineteen thirty nine, Philip van Dorin Stern started writing
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his four thousand words story that was originally entitled The
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Greatest Gift, but had no luck in publishing it. Following
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the first draft of the Greatest Gift, he wrote in
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his notes, I was just learning to write fiction, so
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the first version was pretty terrible. Fortunately I knew it
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was bad, so I had the sense to put it away.
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After years of reworking the story, Stern tried un successfully
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to sell it. In the Christmas season of nineteen forty three,
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he opted to turn his story into a twenty one
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page Christmas card that was sent to two hundred family
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members and friends. The Greatest Gift was eventually published as
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a book in nineteen forty four. Stern also sold the
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story to Housekeeping, or rather Good Housekeeping magazine, which published
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it in its January nineteen forty five issue under the
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title The Man Who Was Never Born one of the
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Christmas cards. In nineteen forty three had reached producer David
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Hempstead of RKO Pictures, who then paid Stern ten thousand
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dollars around one hundred and twenty four thousand in today's
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money for the motion picture rights to the story. RKO
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hoped that their star Carry Grant would take the leading
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role of George Bailey. After several story revisions, the screenplay
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was sold to director Frank Capra's production company. Capra remembered
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in an interview, it was my first film in five years.
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I was scared to death, but there it was the
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story I had been looking for all of my life.
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Small town, A good man, ambitious but so busy helping others.
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Life seemed to be passing him by. Despondent, he wishes
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he'd never been born. Wow, what an idea. Capra wanted
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Jimmy Stewart for the role. Stewart had joined the Air
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Force in nineteen forty one and worked his way up
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to colonel. During his military service, he flew dozens of
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combat missions in Nazi occupied Europe, and was awarded the
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Distinguished Flying Cross, seven Battle Stars, and other US commodations.
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Was exhausted after returning from World War II, was struggling
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with memories of the war, possibly suffering from what we
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now know as post traumatic stress. He thought movie making
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was frivolous and considered giving up acting. Capra convinced him
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to hear the story, after which Stuart said the two
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main ideas were one, no one was born to be
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a failure, and two, no one is poor who had friends.
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Ronald Barrymore, who played mister Potter in the movie, convinced
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Stuart to be in it since Jimmy had not been
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in a film in five years. He was also particularly
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nervous about filming a scene in which he kisses his
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screen wife Mary as they share a telephone handset. In
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the end, he and actress Donna Reid created the scene
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with any rehearsals and in a single take. Indeed, the
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kiss was so convincing that part of it had to
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be cut to get the film past puritanical US censors.
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The role of Mary Hatch Bailey, the wife of George,
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was reportedly offered to Gene author Olivia de Hablit and
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Ginger Rogers, who called the character to bland. Ultimately, the
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part went to Donna Reed for what was to be
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her first starring role. Donna in real life was from Rule, Iowa.
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She proved her countryside credentials by milking one of the
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cows on the set, and this won her a bet
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with Lionel Barrymore, who had bet that she did not
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know how to milk a cow. She later said it
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was the easiest fifty dollars she'd ever made. In another scene,
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Donna playing Mary breaks a window by throwing a rock
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through it. Frank Capra, the director, had employed a marksman
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to shoot the glass out, but Reid achieved the feat unaided.
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She had played baseball in high school, which is likely
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what aided her in her throwing hand. Donna, of course,
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would go on to become arguably the world's most famous
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TV housewife thanks to the Donna Reed Show. Carolyn Grimes,
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who played Zuzu, the youngest daughter in the Bailey family
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who uttered the famous line every time a bell rings
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an angel gets its wings, did not see the film
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until nineteen eighty. I never took the time to see
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the movie, she says, but she made up for lost time,
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telling Vanity Fair that she has now seen it over
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five hundred times, and another interesting casting note, that's grown up.
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Karl Alfalfa Sweitzer in a small role of Freddy Mary's
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of noxious date in the film's famous dance floor turned
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swimming pool scene. It's a Wonderful Life was one of
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Sweitzer's few post our gang adult roles, as he shifted
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his attention to hunting dog breeding. He was killed in
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nineteen fifty nine at the age of thirty one, after
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being shot in a drunken dispute over fifty dollars. It's
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a Wonderful Life took place in the fictional town of
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Bedford Falls, New York, but in reality it was actually
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filmed in Hollywood. It was one of the largest film
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sets ever built up to that point, Covering over four acres.
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It had seventy five stores and buildings, a main street
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over three hundred yards long, and twenty oak trees that
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have been dug up and re planted. As the filming
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took place in Hollywood, the temperature swored and in some
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scenes you can see Jimmy Stuart's sweating. At times, the
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temperature would reach ninety degrees throughout the course of film history,
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there have been many creative and occasionally unethical means of
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making snow, whether it involves styrofoam and Superman, potato flakes
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and home alone, or asbestos as seen in the Wizard
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of Oz. Production crews have found many creative means of
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making snowfall in their cinematic winter wonderlands in Its Wonderful Life.
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In It's a Wonderful Life, the winter scenes required that
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three thousand tons of shaved ice be shipped in. Technicians
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also created a new form of faked snow for the movie.
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Prior to Its a Wonderful Life, film snow was also
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made using corn flakes sprayed white, but acting while the
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set was covered in crunchy cornflakes was very noisy, so
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actors had to dub their dialogues on at a later time.
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Director Capra was determined to have their actors record their
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lines live, so he got Rkaos Studio to make non
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crunching snow from water soap and a firefighting chemical named foamite,
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which is found in fire extinguishers. The mixture was then
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pumped through a wind machine. In nineteen forty seven, the
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FBI flagged the film as Communist. In a memo, the
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FBI stated, quote, the film represented rather obvious attempts to
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discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a Scrooge type
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so that he would be the most hated man in
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the picture. This is a common trick used by Communist
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in quote. Receiving mixed reviews, It's a Wonderful Life only
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made by three point three of its three point seven
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million budget at first. It did, however, garner five Academy
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Award nominations, but one Nune. When the film's copyright lapsed
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in nineteen seventy four, it became available royalty free to
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any station that wanted to air it until nineteen ninety four.
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Thanks to repeated airings throughout the eighties, It's now a
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Christmas classic that is guaranteed to make an appearance on
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our television screens each holiday season. The film was added
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to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry in nineteen ninety.
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These are films that have been deemed culturally, historically, or
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esthetically significant films. Sources for this article are from Susquehannalife
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dot com an article entitled It's a Wonderful Life. Former
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Susquehanna River resident Philip van Stern's story written by Melanie
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in November of seventeen and from Countryliving dot com. Twenty
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four things you didn't know about It's a Wonderful Life
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written by Rebecca Shiners in December of twenty seventeen, cinema
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Blend dot com It's a Wonderful Life. Twelve facts behind
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the scenes about the classic Christmas movie written by Will
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Ashton in December of twenty twenty, and from Southern Living
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dot com. Twelve things you didn't know about It's a
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Wonderful Life written by Melissa Locker with no date and
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live about dot com. Six things you probably didn't know
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about It's a Wonderful Life written by Matt Hickman in
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December of twenty nineteen and Independent dot Co dot uk
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How It's a Wonderful Life went from box office failure
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to Christmas classic written by Alexandria Pollard in December of
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twenty twenty, and finally Daily Mail an article entitled the
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Glorious Stories behind the most inspirational Movies Ever written by
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Mark Mason in July of twenty nineteen. And now for
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another relevant story this Christmas season on the night before
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Christmas in eighteen twenty six, Captain Ethan Alan Hitchcock turned
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in shortly before midnight. Visions of sugar plums may not
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have been dancing in the head of the US Military
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Academy faculty member, but dreams of a silent night likely were.
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Although the academy's superintendent, Colonel Savanus Thayer, had warned Hitchcock
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that the cadets inside his dormitory might attempt to throw
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their traditional Christmas drinking part already overnight, all was quiet
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in West Point, New York as theyre drifted asleep snug
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in his bed inside the North Barracks. Unbeknownst to Hitchcock, however,
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a party had already started. Cadets had been secretly smuggling
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liquor into their barracks for days as Christmas approached, a
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risky venture that could have resulted in their expulsions because
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for an army man, there ran a tight ship. Since
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the colonel took charge of the academy in eighteen seventeen,
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his strict discipline had transformed it from a school in
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disarray into an elite institution. A West Point graduate himself
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there prohibited every from playing cards to tobacco, to even
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reading novels. In a bit of leniency, the father of
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West Point had allowed alcohol on the fourth of July
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and Christmas. That changed, however, following a rowdy celebration on
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July fourth, eighteen twenty five, when cadets engaged in a
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snake dance and hoisted the school's commandant, wam Worth, on
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their shoulders and carried him back to their barracks. Thayer's
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outright ban on the possession of any spiritus or intoxicating
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liquor meant the biggest party of eighteen twenty six, the
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celebration of the country's fiftieth birthday on the fourth of July,
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remained dry at West Point. Some of the cadets vowed, however,
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that the superintendent's rigid alcohol policy would not prevent them
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from celebrating a Christmas tradition in which they imbibed the
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holiday spirit by adding some spirits to homemade eggnog. To
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prepare for their Yule Tide drinking party, cadets snuck in
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gallons of whiskey, brandy, rum, and wine that they had
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procured from the local grog shops. Three students even secreted
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across the Hudson River in a boat to buy whiskey
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from a tavern on the opposite bank. Among the party
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animals was one teenaged cadet named Davis, who, from the
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start of his tenure at West Point in eighteen twenty four,
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had exhibited a fondness for booze and a rebellious streak.
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During his first year at the military academy, Hitchcock had
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caught Davis at the notorious tavern just off campus by
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Benny Havens, whom future cadet Edgar Allan Poe would call
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quote the sole congenial soul in the entire god forsaken place.
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A court martial found Davis guilty, but his prior good
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conduct saved him from expulsion. In August eighteen twenty six,
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Davis endured a lengthy hospitalization for falling down a sixty
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foot ravine while hurrying back to campus from Haven's tavern
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after hearing that a superior was en route. So On
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that night before Christmas in eighteen twenty six, Davis was
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among the first participants in the party, which swelled in
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size as the night grew longer. At four a m.
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The noise pouring through the floorboards was so loud that
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it stirred Hitchcock from his sleep. He left his room
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and wandered the halls to ascertain if there was any
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disorder in the barrack, and found thirteen partying cadets in
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room number five, exhibiting the poorest of timings. A drunken day,
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Davis burst through the doorway to warn his friends, put
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away the grog. Captain Hitchcock is coming. The Captain, of course,
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was already there. Hitchcock arrested Davis, ordered him to his room,
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and then read the cadets the Riot Act, which declared
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any group of twelve or more to be unlawfully assembled.
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The cadets, however, decided to take vengeance against the perceived
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party pooper. They threw sticks of wood against Hitchcock's door
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and tossed rocks through his window. Dozens of cadets ran
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through the halls with swords, muskets, and bayonets. One even
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fired a pistol as Hitchcock attempted to break down a door.
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Two superior officers were assaulted in the ensuing melee, which
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Davis missed because he was either passed out in his
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room or had the good sense not to leave it.
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The riotous behavior did not abate until Worth arrived. When
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the revelie sounded at six five a m. On Christmas morning,
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the sober cadets, who had rested well inside the South Barracks,
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arose with military discipline. The North Barracks, however, exhibited quite
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a hangover. The disheveled dormitory sported broken windows, smashed furniture,
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banisters ripped from stairways, and shattered plates, dishes and cups.
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The cadets who participated in what became known as the
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eggnog Rye didn't look much better as dawn broke. Nearly
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one third of the academy's two hundred and sixty cadets
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were involved in the free for all, since expelling all
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of them would have been a crippling blow to the
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academy still in its relative infancy, Twenty two of the
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cadets most deeply involved in the egnog riot, including Davis,
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were placed under house arrest on the day after Christmas.
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Following weeks of investigation, court martial proceedings began on January
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twenty sixth, eighteen twenty seven, against nineteen cadets and one soldier.
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Davis was spared, possibly for his immediate compliance with Hitchcock's
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orders and eventually released from house arrest after six weeks
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of confinement. For more than a month, a tribunal of
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professors and soldiers heard testimony from one hundred and sixty
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seven witnesses, including from cadet and future General Robert E. Lee,
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who didn't partake in any of the mischief but spoke
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in defense of some of his classmates. The court's martial
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lasted until mid March. All nineteen defendants were found guilty
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and sentenced to be dismissed. Eight, however, were saved by
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a recommendation of clemency, and five ended up graduating from
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West Point. Fifty three cadets received lesser punishments. Davis did
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graduate from West Point in eighteen twenty eight. It was
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just a mere twenty years before, in eighteen eight, that
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he was born in Christian County, Kentucky, his birth taking
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place just one hundred miles from and eight months earlier
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than President Abraham Lincoln's. After West Point and the infamous
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Eggnog Riot incident, Davis went on to have a distinguished
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military career, serve as a US Senator and as Secretary
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of War under President Franklin Pierce. And it was on
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February eighteenth, eighteen sixty one, that Davis, well, that is,
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Jefferson Davis, was name president of the Confederate States of America.
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Sources for this article came from the website History dot com.
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An article entitled when Eggnox sparked a riot at West
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Point was written in August of twenty eighteen by Christopher Klein,
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and from biography dot com an article entitled Jefferson Davis
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written by the Biography dot com editors in May of
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twenty twenty one. Well, that about does it for today
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for half hour History. I hope you enjoyed the show
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as much as I did researching it. I'm your host,
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Joseph Bolt. Until next time, have a great Christmas season
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and a very good day today