Weekend Open Thread

And you probably will be, too.

Youse guys crack me up!

… one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history lasted less about 45 seconds on screen, but took seven days to shoot? Warning: spoilers ahead. In the 1960 thriller Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), the infamous “shower scene” featuring the murder of Marion Crane by Norman Bates lasts about 45 seconds. But shooting the scene took an entire week. In the scene, Crane, played by Janet Leigh (1927-2004), is stabbed to death by Bates, portrayed by Anthony Perkins (1932-1992), while she takes a shower in her room at the Bates Motel. Hitchcock used 78 rapid cuts and special rigs for water and the chocolate syrup that simulated blood in the scene, as well as a specially constructed shower set with removable walls. Leigh, who had to spend an inordinate amount of time in the shower as the water poured down, said it was kept warm so she was comfortable. The scene was shot using extreme close-up shots with swift edits, and Hitchcock filmed several takes of each short scene portion to get the exact look he wanted. Additional trivia note: Leigh, though on set for the entire week’s filming, was not filmed in the close-ups with the knife. That honor went to her body double, actress Marli Renfro (born 1938) Neither woman was nude in the shower during the scene, though the camera shots suggested otherwise. And Perkins was not on the set at all; he was in New York starring in a play on Broadway.

… the first self-service restaurant was in New York? Opened in 1885, the Exchange Buffet was rather Spartan by today’s standards. Only men were allowed to eat there. The restaurant opened directly across the street from the New York Stock Exchange and catered to the stockbrokers. Customers could either get their food and eat it at the counter standing up, or take it to a table – there were no servers on staff. The restaurant closed in 1963. (Tipping was easy.)

… there are no direct descendants of William Shakespeare living today? The great British playwright (1564-1616) had three children – son Hamnet (1585-1596) and daughters Susanna (1583-1659) and Judith (1585-1662). Hamnet died at the age of 11. Judith had three children, but all died before she did and none had any children of their own. Susanna had one daughter, Elizabeth (1608-1670), but she died childless. (To be or not to be?)

… a Soviet agronomist created the world’s largest collection of plant seeds? Nikolai Vavilov (1887-1943) devoted his life to studying cereal crops that could sustain the entire world’s population. His work led to the largest collection of plant seeds ever made, but he ran afoul of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (1874-1953), who had him arrested and imprisoned. Apparently Vavilov’s work was the opposite of that done by a scientist whom Stalin liked, Trofim Lysenko (1898-1976), and Stalin – who was not the kind of guy to admire opposite sides of an issue – removed Vavilov from his post. (I guess under Communism, science is what the leaders say it is.)

… the first projection of an image on a screen was made two hundred years before cameras were invented? In 1646, German priest Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) used a candle or oil lamp to project hand-painted images on a white screen. The first actual photographic camera was created in 1827 by Joseph Niépce (1765-1833) in France. (And an industry was born.)

I remember reading about that particular Pokemon episode. It changed all TV (and especially children’s cartoons) forever after. Have to be careful with those flashy-flashy lights.