Born on this day – Wallace Worsley (1944):

Wallace Worsley

Director

Actor

December 8, 1878 – March 26, 1944

Wallace Worsley (left), with cameraman, Robert Newhard (right), filming The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).

Credits:

The Power of Silence (1928); Shadow of the Law (1926); The Man Who Fights Alone (1924); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923); Is Divorce a Failure? (1923); Nobody's Money (1923); A Blind Bargain (1922); Enter Madame (1922); Rags to Riches (1922); When Husbands Deceive (1922); Grand Larceny (1922); Voices of the City (1921); The Beautiful Liar (1921); The Ace of Hearts (1921); Don't Neglect Your Wife (1921); The Highest Bidder (1921); The Penalty (1920); The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1920); The Street Called Straight (1920); A Woman of Pleasure (1919); Playthings of Passion (1919); Diane of the Green Van (1919); Adele (1919); The Goddess of Lost Lake (1918); A Law Unto Herself (1918); Wedlock (1918); Social Ambition (1918); Honor's Cross (1918); An Alien Enemy (1918); The Turn of a Card (1918); Madam Who? (1918); Alimony (1917); A Man's Man (1917); Borrowed Plumage (1917).

Born on this day – Jean Sibelius:

Jean Sibelius

Composer

December 8, 1865 – September 20, 1957

Credits:

Albums:

Baltic Runes (2010); Cello & Piano Works (1994); Finlandia / The Swan of Tuonela / Karelia Suite / En Saga (1976); Jean Sibelius : String Quartets in A minor and B flat major (1985); Lemminkäinen Suite / Night Ride and Sunrise (2000); Piano Music, Volume 1 (1999); Piano Quintets and Melodramas (2007); Sibelius' Songs (1975); Sibelius, J.: Night Ride and Sunrise / Belshazzar's Feast Suite / Kuolema (2008); Sibelius, J.: Tempest Suites Nos. 1 and 2 / The Oceanides / Night Ride and Sunrise (1998); Sibelius: Complete Youth Production for Violin and Piano, Vol. 1 (1999); Sibelius: Lemminkainen Suite, Op. 22 (1953); Sibelius: Music From Timo Koivusalo's Film (2003); Sibelius: Scenes Historiques, Rakastava Suite & Valse Lyrique (1977); Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6: The Swan of Tuonela (1994); Sibelius: Violin Concerto & Humoresques - Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 (2009); Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 (2010); Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 / Chausson: Poeme (1993); String Quartets (2001); Symphonie no. 2 (1987); Symphonies 1 & 2 (1988); Symphonies no. 2 & no. 7 (1994); Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 (2001); Symphonies nos. 4 & 5 (1995); Symphonies nos. 4 & 6 (1988); Symphony no. 2 (1983); Symphony no. 2 / The Tempest Suite no. 1 (1999); Symphony no. 5 / Karelia Overture / Night Ride and Sunrise (1971); The Complete Original Piano Music, Volume 4 (1987); The Wood-Nymph (1996); Tone Poems & Incidental Music (1993); Tone Poems (2002); Violin Concertos (1988).

Tone poems:

En saga; Finlandia; Lemminkäinen Suite; Luonnotar; Nightride and Sunrise; Pohjola's Daughter; Spring Song; Tapiola; The Bard; The Dryad; The Oceanides; The Swan of Tuonela; The Wood Nymph.

Songs:

13 Pieces, Op. 76: No. 2 Etude; Allegretto; Be Still My Soul; Be Still, My Soul; Étude, op.76 no. 2; III. Allegro ma non tanto; Sibelius- The Swan Of Tuonela; Sibelius: 5 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: V. Kuusi "The Spruce"; Sibelius: 5 Pieces for Piano, Op. 75: V. The Spruce; Sibelius: 5 Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 81: II. Rondino; Sibelius: Andante Festivo; Sibelius: Finlandia, Op. 26; Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 39: II. Andante, ma non troppo lento; Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43: I. Allegretto; Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 in C Major, Op. 52: III. Moderato – Allegro ma non tanto; Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 82: I. Tempo molto moderato – Largamente – Allegro moderato – Presto; Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105: I. Adagio –; Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105: III. Allegro molto moderato – Allegro moderato –; Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela, Op. 22 No. 2; Sibelius: Valse triste, Op. 44 No. 1; Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 - I. Allegro moderato; Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 - II. Adagio di molto; Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 - III. Allegro, ma non tanto; Sibelius: Violin Concerto In D Minor, Op. 47: 1. Allegro moderato; Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47: I. Allegro moderato; Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47: II. Adagio di molto; Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47: III. Allegro, ma non tanto; Spring Song; Sydämeni laulu; Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43; This Is My Song; Valse triste.

Compositions:

Andante festivo; At the Castle Gate; Belshazzar's Feast; Cuarteto de cuerda; En saga; Finlandia; Five Pieces, Op. 75; For the Honour of the Creator; Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt; Impromptu; Jäger March; Karelia Suite; King Christian II; Kullervo; Kuolema; Kyllikki; Land of the Rising Sun; Lasse liten; Lemminkäinen Suite; Luonnotar; Nightride and Sunrise; Pan and Echo; Pelléas et Mélisande; Pohjola's Daughter; Rakastava; Spring Song; Suite champêtre; Suite mignonne; Surusoitto; Swanwhite; Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 2; Symphony No. 3; Symphony No. 4; Symphony No. 5; Symphony No. 6; Symphony No. 7; Symphony No. 8; Tapiola; The Maiden in the Tower; The Oceanides; The Origin of Fire; The Swan of Tuonela; The Tempest; The Wood Nymph; This is my song; Uusmaalaisten laulu; Valse triste; Violin Concerto; Violin Sonatina; Water Droplets.

Movie and television:

13. artikla (1986); 1939 (1993); 45 Years (2015); A Horse Called Nijinsky (1970); Afternoons of Solitude (2024); Aila, Pohjolan tytär (1951); Alain Altinoglu und Julia Fischer - Das hr-Sinfonieorchester spielt Debussy und Sibelius (2023); Aleksis Kiven elämä (2001); Allegro non troppo (1976); Ambiciosa (1953); Apua Ukrainaan - Suuri tukikonsertti (2022); Apua Ukrainaan - Suuri tukikonsertti 2 (2023); Arena (1980); Arvottomat (1982); Attack on Finland (2021); Axel (1990); Baggage (2015); Baku 2015 European Games Opening Ceremony (2015); Banda sonora (2012); Battle for Music (1943); BBC Proms (2012); Bill Loewen: Music in the Prairie Night (2017); Bis zum letzten Moment (2008); Blood Reunion 2: Madeline (2015); Boiling Point (2017); Bones and All (2022); Bordertown (1989–1990); Bryce Dessner et l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (2022); Capri - Musik die sich entfernt (1983); Casa di bambola (1968); Catene invisibili (1942); Cher Mallarmé (1993); Club for Five: Jouluna Live (2018); Concert extraordinar de Craciun: Tarja Turunen (2005); Dalia Stasevska dirigiert Sibelius, Tarrodi und Mozart (2024); Dark Angel (2000); Dead Season (2012); Death Takes a Holiday (1934); Debussy: La mer & Sibelius: Violinkonzert - Julia Fischer, Alain Altinoglu, hr-Sinfonieorchester (2024); Die Hard 2 (1990); D'or et de pierre (1970); Doverie (1976); DR-Derude (1998); Eesti lood (2018); Ein Ort, ein Werk (2024); El crimen de Oribe (1950); Elämäni Biisi (2021–2024); Endless Poetry (2016); Erämaan turvissa (1931); Eröffnung der Wiener Festwochen 2012 - Eurovision Young Musicians 2012 (2012); Estradilla: Kari Tapion joulutarina (2001); Estradilla: Katri Helenan Joulu (2004); Eurovision 2009: Belgrad Remix '08 (2009); Eventual Blindness (2018); Faceless Murderer (1995); Falling (2020); Fänrik Ståls sägner (1981); Fedora (1978); Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968); Finland Fights! (1939); Finland kallar (1940); Finlandia (1981); First Love (1977); Fredløs (1935); Frida (1983); Geirr Tveitt & Jean Sibelius. Warm-up music for the National Day. (2021); Goodbye to Language (2014); Gott om pojkar, ont om män? (1995); Grace Notes (2020–2021); Grace of Monaco (2014); Half of a Yellow Sun (2013); Hamina Tattoo (2004); Hélium (2005); Helmikuun manifesti (1939); Hengaillaan (2023); Herääminen (1989); Hideouser and Hideouser (2019); Huomenta Suomi (2017); Hvitträsk: A House in the Forest (1972); Hyvät herrat (1994); Il Divo (2008); In Harmony (2015); Into Eternity: A Film for the Future (2010); Isänmaa - Suomalaisen sisun sankaritarinoita (2007); Isoviha (1939); Itsenäisyyspäivän juhlakonsertti (2007 / 2018); Itsenäisyyspäivän vastaanotto (2012); Jääkärin morsian (1931); Jäniksenä Varkaudessa (2013); Jean Sibelius - sävelten mestari (1949); Jean Sibelius (1945 / 1965 / 1974); Jean Sibelius 1865 - 1957: Maturity and Silence (1984); Jean Sibelius 1865 - 1957: The Early Years (1984); Jean Sibelius kodissaan (1961); Jean Sibelius kotonaan (1927); Jean Sibelius: Sinfonia 1 (1998); Jean Sibelius: Symphonie No. 2 D-dur (1988); Joka ottaa tykönsä lapsen (1955); Joulu Savoyssa (2020); Joulukuusivarkaat (2009); Juhla meren rannalla (1929); Kahakka (2001); Kajastus (1930); Karjalan kunnailta (2005); Kaseh ibu (1965); Käsky (2008); Kauneimmat joululaulut 50 vuotta (2022); Keihäsmatkat (2020); Kiimaiset poliisit (1993); Kiljusen herrasväen uudet seikkailut (1990); Kill the Monsters (2018); Kingi (2015); Kinsey (2004); Klassinen Suomi (2016); Kohti Linnan juhlia (2023); Kolmetoista mehiläistä (1982); Konttori (2018); Kultajuhlat (1995); Lady Chatterley (2006); Lamastalgia (2010); Lapin tuho (1945); Leaves From Satan's Book (1920); Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1996–1997); Leijonien kansanjuhla (2022); Leijonien kultajuhlat (2022); Life Is No Joke (2012); Linnan jatkot (2019 / 2020 / 2023); Linnan juhlat 2020 (2020); Living (2022); Los héroes del mal (2015); Lost Chapter of Snow: Passion (1985); Loud Hard Magical - The Sound of Finland (2018); Lumberjacking (1988); Luonto on vielä meidän: Kun meri on jäässä (1988); Maata meren alla (2009); Makiba no shôjo Katori (1984); Mannerheim - Jörn Donnerin kertomana (2010); Matias Keskisen kuviteltu elämä (1992); Matka suomalaiseen elokuvaan (2006); Mi general (1987); 'Minä elän' (1946); Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970–1974); Mozart in the Jungle (2014–2016); MTV: n juhlakonsertti (1977); Murhatun miehen viimeinen tahto (2020); Music on 2 (1971); Myrsky (1987); Näin syntyi nykypäivä... 1900-1950 (1951); Neito tornissa (1982); New World Symphony Wallcast Tm Concert 10 (2013); New World Symphony Wallcast Tm Concert 6 (2012); New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (1965); Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider und Alan Gilbert - Brahms, Sibelius und Tschaikowsky (2022); No (2012); Oi, maamme Suomi (2006); Omnibus / Segment: Jean Sibelius (1952); On the Quiet (2019); On the Road (1981); On the Sunny Side (1936); One Night (1931); Oneira se alli glossa (2010); Pakkorajalta Syvärille (1941); Panglima besi (1964); Paragraph 175 (2000); Parthenope (2024); Pesärikko (2000); Pessi and Illusia (1984); Piesni nad Wisla (1955); Pro arte utili (1980–1981); Puolustusvoimain katsaus 10 (1940); Puolustusvoimain katsaus 2 (1941); Puolustusvoimain katsaus 49 (1942); Puolustusvoimain katsaus 8 (1941); Queen of Hearts (1989); Radioland Murders (1994); Red Sun (1970); Road North (2012); Rumours (2024); Sad Waltz (2015); Salome (1972); Sano se suomeksi (1931); Sans Soleil (1983); Schwarze Rosen (1935); Seattle Symphony from Benaroya Hall (2006); Secreto entre mujeres (1949); Seinäjoen arabikevät (2019); Seitsemän (2001); Sibelius - Finlandia (2006); Sibelius & Ravel (2018); Sibelius (2003); Sibelius Continuum (2020); Sibelius i Korpo (2015); Sibelius, Skriabin & Berlioz - Iveta Apkalna und Esa-Pekka Salonen in der Elbphilharmonie (2023); Simon och ekarna (2011); Sininen laulu - Suomen taiteiden tarina (2004); Slacker Uprising (2007); Slatersville: America's First Mill Village (2022–2024); Smurfily Ever After (1985); Soldier's Bride (1938); Solo Flight (1975); Sota ja raha (2011); Sources of Finnish Music (1978); Staffan Snellin suojelusenkeli (2000); Sunnuntaikävely (1948); Suuri Journalistipalkinto -gaala (2021); Svarta rosor (1932); Täältä tullaan, elämä! (1980); Tanssi perhoseni tanssi (1999); Tarja Turunen & Harus: In Concert - Live at Sibelius Hall (2011); Tasavallan presidentti puhuu 26.6.1941 (1941); Täydellinen euroviisu (2007); Temporária (2010); Teresa (1961); The Ascent of F6 (1938); The Awakening (2011); The Christmas Bow (2020); The Demons (2015); The First Days (1939); The Fourth Protocol (1987); The Girl from Moon Bridge (1953); The Gold and the Glory (1984); The Intimate Rebels (1974); The Jazz Singer (1927); The Joneses and the President (1993); The Last Revenants (2017); The Last Sentence (2012); The Love Part of This (2013); The Lulu Waltz (1999); The Maestro and Nature (1976); The Making of 'True Lies' (1994); The Marshal of Finland (2012); The Meeting (1964); The Mentalist (2011); The Outlaw and His Wife (1918); The Puppet (2013); The Simpsons (2009); The Sky at Night (1957 / 2007); The Smurfs (1981–1985); The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2010); The Tempest (1939); The Tempest (1939); The Tempest / II (1939); The Two Ronnies (1975); The Unknown Soldier (1955 / 1985 / 2019); The Unquiet Spirit (1939); The Village Shoemakers (1923); The Voice of Firestone (1956); The Walking Dead (2016); The White Chateau (1938); The Winter War (1989); Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993); This Week (1956–1992); This Week (1992); Time of Desire (1954); Tiny Galaxy Concert @ Haw Par (2023); Tomorrow and Thereafter (2017); Tonttu Toljanterin joulupulma (1998); Torilla tavataan - MM-kultajuhlat (2011); Toscanini: The Television Concerts, Vol. 8 - Music of Franck, Sibelius, Debussy and Rossini (1952); Total Balalaika Show (1994); Tragedy in the Valley of River Tornio (1944); Tukkijoella tapahtuu (1950); Tunnetko Tuusulaa? (1949); Turn Left, Turn Right (2003); Umirat ne strashno (1991); Unelma karjamajalla (1940); Unknown White Male (2005); Urheilugaala 2022 (2022); Urheiluvuosi 2001 (2001); Uuno Turhapuro kaksoisagentti (1987); Vääpeli Körmy ja vetenalaiset vehkeet (1991); Vain elämää (2019); Vanha Viipurimme (1940); Värikäs kisakaupunki (1952); Vastaus (1952); Viimeinen kesä (1992); Viki ja Köpi Show (2022–2023); Village People (2013); Violin Masters: Two Gentlemen of Cremona (2010); Welcome to Canada (1989); Wings to Finland (1955).

Stephen King, on books:

Books are the perfect entertainment:

no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent.

What I wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life.

- Stephen King.

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.