On this day in movie history - Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018 documentary & book):

Be Natural:
The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

a documentary directed by Pamela B. Green,

written by Pamela B. Green and Joan Simon,

based on the book by Alison McMahan,

was released in the United States on December 7, 2018.
Music by Peter G. Adams.
Narrated by Jodie Foster.

Recommended reading:

Alice Guy Blache:

Lost Visionary of the Cinema

by Alison McMahan.

Filmed as Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018), documentary directed by Pamela B. Green.

Published by Continuum Intl Pub Group.

Published 2002.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0826451586

ISBN-13: 978-0826451583

Description:

The time has arrived, so it would seem, when woman must take her place beside man in the majority of arts and professions in the business world. In women of the caliber of Madame Alice Blaché it has also been demonstrated that there is a possibility of their doing so without being shorn of that most desirable of womanly qualities, femininity. – The Moving Picture News, 1912.

It has long been a source of wonder to me that many women have not seized upon the wonderful opportunities offered to them by the motion-picture art to make their way to fame and fortune as producers of photodramas. Of all the arts there is probably none in which they can make such a splendid use of talents so much more natural to a woman than to a man and so necessary to its perfection. – Alice Guy Blaché, 1914.

Over a hundred years after she started making films (which was considerably earlier than D.W. Griffith, Mabel Normand, and Lillian Gish began their careers), the life and work of Alice Guy Blaché is still shrouded in myth and controversy.

Only a fraction (111) of the approximately one thousand films that she directed still exist, and almost half of these have been found very recently. The films are spread out in archives all over the world. Not all of them are available for viewing, even to scholars, and many of them are in desperate need of conservation and preservation.

It is widely agreed that she was the first woman filmmaker but there is considerable debate as to whether she made the first ever fiction film. She played a key role in early sound film production, and yet this part of her career is almost always ignored. She is, to this day, the only woman ever to have owned and run her own film studio. And yet she made her final film in 1920, at the age of 47, and died in New Jersey in 1968, unacknowledged, unheralded, almost totally forgotten.

Ten years of painstaking research has enabled Alison McMahan to piece together the career of this extraordinary woman. What results is the first full-length treatment of Alice Guy Blaché’s work, the debunking of several long-standing myths about her and, ultimately, the emergence of a feminist figurehead of the filmmaking industry.

"McMahan s book is an obsessively detailed history of a true motion-picture pioneer." – American Cinematographer, July 2002.

"The author provides intriguing information about Guy s life, the early days of film production, and Guy s independent film company (Solax)." – Choice, November 2002.

"A fascinating book that will interest scholars and general readers alike." – Richard Abel, Drake University.

"Monumental...a daunting achievement." – Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2002.

On this day in movie history - Cast Away (2000):

Cast Away

directed by Robert Zemeckis,

written by William Broyles Jr.,

was released in the United States on December 7, 2000.
Music by Alan Silvestri.

Cast:

Tom Hanks, Wilson the Volleyball, Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez, Lari White, Nick Searcy, Jenifer Lewis, Geoffrey Blake, Chris Noth, Garret Davis, Vince Martin, Nan Martin, Joe Conley, Timothy Stack, Elden Henson, Steve Monroe, Valerie Wildman, Jay Acovone, Dennis Letts, Michael Forest, Viveka Davis, Jennifer Choe.

On this day in music history - Oceanborn, by Nightwish (1998):

Oceanborn

Album by Nightwish,

released December 7, 1998.

Track list:

Stargazers; Gethsemane; Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean; Sacrament of Wilderness; Passion and the Opera; Swanheart; Moondance (instrumental); The Riddler; The Pharaoh Sails to Orion; Walking in the Air" (Howard Blake cover); Sleeping Sun; Nightquest; A Return to the Sea; Sleeping Sun (live at Summer Breeze Open Air); Swanheart (live at Pakkahuone); The Pharaoh Sails to Orion (live at Pakkahuone).

On this day in movie history - The Rookie (1990):

The Rookie

directed by Clint Eastwood,

written by Scott Spiegel and Boaz Yakin,

was released in the United States on December 7, 1990.
Music by Lennie Niehaus.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Charlie Sheen, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, Tom Skerritt, Lara Flynn Boyle, Pepe Serna, Marco Rodríguez, Pete Randall, Donna Mitchell, Xander Berkeley, Tony Plana, David Sherrill, Hal Williams, Lloyd Nelson, Pat DuVal, Mara Corday, Jerry Schumacher, Matt McKenzie, Joel Polis, Rodger LaRue, Robert Dubac, Anthony Charnota, Jordan Lund, Paul Ben-Victor, Jeanne Mori, Anthony Alexander, Paul Butler, Seth Allen, Coleby Lombardo, Roberta Vasquez, Joe Farago, Robert Harvey, Nick Ballo, Jay Boryea, Marylou Kenworthy, George Orrison, James W. Gavin, Thomas H. Friedkin, Craig Hosking, Joe Casino, Kyle Eastwood, Nick Fenske, Caron Strong.

Born on this day – Kimberly Ann Hébert Gregory:

Kimberly Ann Hébert Gregory

Actress

December 7, 1972 – October 3, 2025

Credits:

All Rise (2019); Arizona (2018); Baby Daddy (2016); Barry (2023); Better Call Saul (2017); Blood Weed (2023); Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2017); Carol & The End of the World (2023); Cartoon Network: Every Time Our Shows Reference Each Other (2021); Celebrity Page (2017); Continuing Fred (2013); Craig Before the Creek (2023); Craig of the Creek (2018–2025); Creek Shorts (2019); Darksiders Genesis (2019); Devious Maids (2014); Do It Yourself (2014); Dollface (2019); Every Other Weekend (2018); Five Feet Apart (2019); Future Man (2020); Genius (2021); Gossip Girl (2007); Grey's Anatomy (2014); Hollywood Today Live (2016); I Didn't Do It (2014); I Think I Love My Wife (2007); Independent Lens (2013); Jessica's Big Little World (2023); John Henry (2020); Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (2017–2018); Law & Order (2010); Medical Police (2020); Miss Virginia (2019); Modern Love (2017); Mother's Milk (2021); New Amsterdam (2008); No Activity (2021); Private Practice (2013); Red Hook Summer (2012); Shameless (2014); Splitting Up Together (2019); Stanistan (2015); Stumptown (2019); The Act (2019); The Big Bang Theory (2014); The Black Donnellys (2007); The Chi (2019); The Guest Book (2017); The Soul Man (2015); Two and a Half Men (2013); Unit Zero (2017); Vice Principals (2016–2017); White Alligator (2012); Winnie Taylor's 4th & Inches (2024).

Born on this day – Tracy Wright:

Tracy Wright

Actress

December 7, 1959 – June 22, 2010

Credits:

All Hat (2007); Apartment Hunting (2000); Blind Spot (1997); Blindness (2008); Blue (1992); Book of Knives (1995); Bubbles Galore (1996); Childstar (2004); Dangerous Offender: The Marlene Moore Story (1996); Dice (2001); Dog Park (1998); Eclipse (1994); Elimination Dance (1998); Good Stuff (2001); Green Door (2008); Highway 61 (1991); It's Me Gerald (2005); Joe's So Mean to Josephine (1996); Last Night (1998); Liberty Street (1995); Manson, My Name Is Evil (2009); Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005); Midwest of Eden (2005); Monkey Warfare (2006); My Addiction (1994); My Summer Vacation (1996); Northern Town (2006); Permission (1997); Picture Claire (2001); Slings and Arrows (2005); Superstar (1999); The 2000 Canadian Comedy Awards (2000); The fires of Joanna (1998); The Five Senses (1999); The Kids in the Hall (1991); This Movie Is Broken (2010); Trigger (2010); Twitch City (1998–2000); Wake Up, Jerk Off (1993); Wasaga (1995); When Night Is Falling (1995); You Are Here (2010); Yo-Yo Ma Inspired by Bach (1997).

Born on this day – Kenneth Colley:

Kenneth Colley

Actor

Director

Writer

December 7, 1937 – June 30, 2025

Credits:

A Family at War (1972); A for Andromeda (1961); A Nearly Silent Film (2006); A Summer Story (1988); All the World's a Stage (1984); Alligator (2007); Always and Everyone (1999); Armchair Theatre (1966); Arthur of the Britons (1973); BBC Play of the Month (1966–1976); Between the Lines (1993); Black and Blue (1973); Brassed Off (1996); Capital Lives (1994); Casanova (1987); Casualty (1991–2011); Casualty 1909 (2009); Churchill's People (1975); City '68 (1968); Comedy Connections (2008); Coronation Street (1964); Crown Court (1972–1976); Dan Hawk Psychic Detective (2024); Dangerfield (1998); Dear Mother... ...Love Albert (1972); Dickens of London (1976); Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures (2008); Doctors (2002); EastEnders (2003); El último viaje de Robert Rylands (1996); Emergency-Ward 10 (1964–1966); Fall of Eagles (1974); Firefox (1982); For Schools and Colleges: Drama (1967); Foyle's War (2006); Freedom Day (2010); Function Room (1985); Ghost Squad (1963); Giro City (1982); Greetings (2007); Hazell (1978); Heartbeat (1998); Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973); Hobson's Choice (1967); Holby Blue (2008); Holby City (2005–2016); Hold Back the Night (1999); Holding On (1999); Horizon (1977); House of Donn (2006); How I Won the War (1967); I am Tree (2023); I Hired a Contract Killer (1990); I Remember Nelson (1982); Infernal Creations (2025); Inspector Morse (1991); It's Dark Outside (1964); ITV Play of the Week (1963–1964); Jabberwocky (1977); Jack the Ripper (1973); Judge Dee (1969); Juggernaut (1974); Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out (2012); Les Miserables (1978); Like Father Like Son (2005); Lisztomania (1975); Look and Read (1968); Macbeth (1966); MacHeath (1987); Mahler (1974); Maupassant (1963); Midsomer Murders (2001); Minder (1991); Misfits (2013); Monty Python: Almost the Truth - The Lawyer's Cut (2009); Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979); Moving Story (1994–1995); Mum (2017); Mussolini: The Untold Story (1985); Napoleon's Last Battle: Timewatch (1990); New Scotland Yard (1972); New Tricks (2006); No Hiding Place (1965); Oh! What a Lovely War (1969); Omnibus (1970); Peak Practice (1997); Peaky Blinders (2016); Pennies from Heaven (1978); Performance (1970); Peter and Paul (1981); Play for Today (1977–1978); Poirot (1990); Prisoner of Honor (1991); R3 (1965); Redcap (1964); Relic Hunter (2002); Return to Treasure Island (1986); Return to Waterloo (1984); Ripping Yarns (1977); Scar Tissue (2013); Screen Two (1990); Seventy Deadly Pills (1964); Shadow Run (1998); Slade in Flame (1975); Softly Softly (1966); Solomon & Sheba (1995); Special Branch (1974); Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980); Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983); Star Wars: Force of Evil (2015); Target (1977); Ten Great Writers of the Modern World (1988); The Avengers (1963); The Avenging Spirit (2011); The Baron (1966); The BBC Television Shakespeare (1979); The Bill (1995–1999); The Blood Beast Terror (1968); The Bohemian Life (1992); The Boy Friend (1971); The Danedyke Mystery (1979); The Devils (1971); The Expert (1968–1969); The Good Soldier Schweik (1965); The Government Inspector (1966); The Great Escape (2017); The Informer (1967); The Jokers (1967); The Kenny Everett Television Show (1986); The Last Island (1990); The Last Train (1999); The Love School (1975); The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (2000); The Music Lovers (1971); The Nine Tailors (1974); The Plane Makers (1963); The Play on One (1989); The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990); The Protectors (1973); The Queen (2009); The Rainbow (1989); The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971); The Royal (2003); The Scarlet and the Black (1983); The Secret Life of Arnold Bax (1992); The Secret Life of Brian (2007); The Sweeney (1975); The Triple Echo (1972); The Visitors (1972); The Wednesday Play (1965–1969); The Whistle Blower (1986); The White Rabbit (1967); Thirty-Minute Theatre (1967–1970); Thorndyke (1964); Three Days in Szczecin (1976); Timewatch (1990); Unnatural Causes (1993); Vera (2013); Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1985); War and Remembrance (1988); When Reason Sleeps (1987); Wycliffe (1996); Z Cars (1964–1974).

Born on this day – Jack Couffer:

Jack Couffer

Cinematographer

Director

Writer

December 7, 1924 – July 30, 2021

Born on this day – Frances Gifford:

Frances Gifford

Actress

December 7, 1920 – January 22, 1994

Credits:

American Empire (1942); Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942); Border Vigilantes (1941); Bringing Up Baby (1938); Cry 'Havoc' (1943); Fireside Theatre (1953); Forty Little Mothers (1940); General Electric Theater (1953); Gruen Guild Theater (1952); Having Wonderful Time (1938); Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour (1943); Hold That Woman! (1940); Jungle Girl (1941); Little Mister Jim (1946); Living on Love (1937); Louisiana Purchase (1941); Luxury Liner (1948); Maid's Night Out (1938); Marriage Is a Private Affair (1944); Mercy Plane (1939); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); My Heart Belongs to Daddy (1942); New Faces of 1937 (1937); Night Spot (1938); Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945); Riding High (1950); She Went to the Races (1945); Sky Commando (1953); Sky Giant (1938); Stage Door (1937); Star Spangled Rhythm (1942); Tarzan Triumphs (1943); The Arnelo Affair (1947); The Big Shot (1937); The Glass Key (1942); The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (1954); The Reluctant Dragon (1941); The Remarkable Andrew (1942); There Goes the Groom (1937); Thrill of a Romance (1945); Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die (1942); Twenty Years After (1944); West Point Widow (1941).

Born on this day – Eli Wallach:

Eli Wallach

Actor

December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014

Born on this day – Arch Oboler:

Arch Oboler

Writer

Producer

Director

December 7, 1909 – March 19, 1987

Credits:

Retro Static Radio (2023); Twelve Chimes It's Midnight Podcast (2018); Christmas Eve (1986); Domo Arigato (1990); Lights Out (1972); The Bubble (1966); One Plus One (1961); The Bell Telephone Hour (1960); Play of the Week (1959); Hi, Grandma! (1958); Eye on New York (1956); The Twonky (1953); Bwana Devil (1952); Chevron Theatre (1952); Lights Out (1951); Five (1951); Fireside Theatre (1950); Oboler Comedy Theatre (1949); On Our Merry Way (1948); Christmas Eve (1947); The Arnelo Affair (1947); Bewitched (1945); Strange Holiday (1945); Gangway for Tomorrow (1943); Rise and Shine (1941); Escape (1940).

Born on this day – Claire Rommer:

Claire Rommer

Actress

December 7, 1904 – August 19, 1996

Born on this day – Marcella Albani:

Marcella Albani

Actress

Writer

December 7, 1899 – May 11, 1959

Born on this day – Fay Bainter:

Fay Bainter

Actress

December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968

Credits:

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1965); Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1964); Dr. Kildare (1963); The Donna Reed Show (1962); The Children's Hour (1961); Thriller (1960); Adventures in Paradise (1960); Studio One (1953–1957); Matinee Theatre (1956); Kraft Theatre (1956); Damon Runyon Theater (1955); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1953–1955); Robert Montgomery Presents (1952–1955); Lux Video Theatre (1950–1955); The Elgin Hour (1954); Goodyear Playhouse (1954); The Web (1954); The Ford Television Theatre (1954); The Story of Ruth (1954); The President's Lady (1953); Eye Witness (1953); Suspense (1953); Schlitz Playhouse (1951–1953); Close to My Heart (1951); Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1951); Danger (1950); The Ford Theatre Hour (1948–1949); The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1949); June Bride (1948); Give My Regards to Broadway (1948); The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947); Deep Valley (1947); The Virginian (1946); The Kid from Brooklyn (1946); State Fair (1945); Three Is a Family (1944); Dark Waters (1944); The Heavenly Body (1944); Cry 'Havoc' (1943); Salute to the Marines (1943); Presenting Lily Mars (1943); The Human Comedy (1943); Journey for Margaret (1942); Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942); The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942); Mister Gardenia Jones (1942); Woman of the Year (1942); Babes on Broadway (1941); Maryland (1940); A Bill of Divorcement (1940); Our Town (1940); Young Tom Edison (1940); Our Neighbors - The Carters (1939); Daughters Courageous (1939); The Lady and the Mob (1939); Yes, My Darling Daughter (1939); The Shining Hour (1938); The Arkansas Traveler (1938); Mother Carey's Chickens (1938); Jezebel (1938); White Banners (1938); Make Way for Tomorrow (1937); The Soldier and the Lady (1937); Quality Street (1937); This Side of Heaven (1934).

Born on this day – Willa Cather:

Willa Cather

Writer

December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947

Credits:

Books:

40 Short Stories (2004); A Lost Lady (1923); Alexander's Bridge (1912); American Fantastic Tales (2009); April Twilights / poems (1903); Bodies of the Dead (1995); Child's Ploy (1984); Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927); Great American Ghost Stories (2008); Great Short Stories of the World (1986); Life (2013); Love Duet (2013); Lucy Gayheart (1935); Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown (1992); Medusa's Daughters (2020); My Antonia (1918); My Mortal Enemy (1926); Not Under Forty (1936); O Pioneers! (1913); On Writing (1949); One of Ours (1922); Prose and Poetry of the American West (1991); Sapphira and the Slave Girl (1940); Shadows on the Rock (1931); She Won the West (1985); The Autobiography of S.S. McClure (1914); The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (2000); The Best American Short Stories of the Century (2008); The Big Book of Classic Fantasy (2019); The Burglar's Christmas (1896); The Dover Anthology of Classic Christmas Stories (2023); The Old Beauty and Others (1948); The Oxford Book of American Short Stories (1992); The Professor's House (1925); The Screaming Skull (1995); The Serpent's Tongue (1997); The Song of the Lark (1915); The Troll Garden (1905); Uncle Valentine and Other Stories (1973); Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, 1892-1912 (1970); Women and Fiction (1975); Women Who Wrote (2020); Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920).

Movies and television:

A Lost Lady (1924 / 1934); American Masters (2005); American Playhouse (1991); Into the Morning: Willa Cather's America (1975); Jack-a-boy (1980); My Antonia (1995); Nanette: An Aside (1977); O Pioneers! (1992); Paul's Case (1980); Selected Shorts / Segment: The Burglar's Christmas (2024); Spring Awakening (1994); The Song of the Lark (1997 / 2001); Willa Cather's the Bookkeeper (2014).

Born on this day – Clementine Plessner:

Clementine Plessner

Actress

Singer

December 7, 1855 – February 27, 1943

Credits:

Bar el Manach (1920); Bara en danserska (1926); Bigamie (1922); Das Geheimnis der vier Tage (1921); Das Hexenlied (1919); Das Medaillon der Lady Sington (1920); Das Recht zu leben (1927); Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1918); Das weisse Paradies (1929); Der Bankkrach unter den Linden (1926); Der Fleck auf der Ehr' (1930); Der Glücksschmid (1919); Der hauptmann von Köpenick (1926); Der krasse Fuchs (1926); Der Monte Christo von Prag (1929); Der Schatten der Gaby Leed (1921); Der Todesreigen (1922); Der verliebte Blasekopp (1932); Der Weg, der zur Verdammnis führt, 1.Teil - Das Schicksal der Aenne Wolter (1918); Der Weg, der zur Verdammnis führt, 2.Teil - Hyänen der Lust (1919); Der Wilddieb (1930); Die Benefiz-Vorstellung der vier Teufel (1920); Die eiserne Braut (1925); Die entfesselte Menschheit (1920); Die Frau mit den zehn Masken, 2. Begebenheit - Der Schatten des Gehenkten (1922); Die graue Macht (1923); Die schwarze Paula (1922); Die Stimme des Herzens (1924); Die Tragödie der Entehrten (1924); Die Tragödie eines Großen (1920); Die verschwundene Frau (1929); Die weiße Sonate (1928); Die Zirkusprinzessin (1925); Different from the Others (1919); Eine weisse unter Kannibalen (1921); Eleven Who Were Loyal (1926); Fräulein Josette - Meine Frau (1926); Giovannis Rache (1917); Gobseck (1924); Großstadtmädels, 2. Teil - Erlebnisse aus Berlin (1921); Hallig Hooge (1923); Henriette Jacoby (1918); Hingabe (1929); Im Zeichen der Schuld (1918); Jettchen Gebert's Story (1918); Journey into the Night (1921); Kaiserjäger (1928); Kaliber fünf Komma zwei (1920); Klatsch (1921); Kord Kamphues, der Richter von Coesfeld (1919); Lady Hamilton (1921); Lo, die Kokette (1920); Lucrezia Borgia (1922); Mädchen, die man nicht heiratet (1923); Manolescus Memoiren (1920); Nocturno der Liebe (1919); O alte Burschenherrlichkeit (1925); Povara (1928); Ratten der Großstadt. 1. Die geheimnisvolle Nacht (1921); Seelenverkäufer (1919); Sklaven der Liebe (1924); Spitzenhöschen und Schusterpech (1928); Steuerlos (1924); Störtebeker (1919); Stürmisch die Nacht (1931); Superfluous People (1926); Taras Bulba (1924); The Story of Dida Ibsen (1918); Theodor Körner (1932); Vagabund (1930); Wie bleibe ich jung und schön – Ehegeheimnisse (1926); Zwei Kinder (1924).

Elizabeth Hardwick, on reading:

The greatest gift is a passion for reading.

It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites,

it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.

It is a moral illumination.

- Elizabeth Hardwick.

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - December 7:

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

December 7

Honoring all who served and died for our freedom.

We will never forget.