Byte Sized Biographies…

After searching the Valley of the Kings for decades, for a tomb that every other expert in Egyptology declared nonexistent, Howard Carter eventually discovered the most important archeological find of the 20th century.

Fletcher Christian and William Bligh are permanently linked to the Mutiny on the Bounty. Listen to the true story of this infamous incident. Fletcher Christian Initially, Fletcher Christian was not destined for a naval career.  He was Born on the 25th of September, 1764 in the Cumbrian village of Eaglesfield. His father, Charles, was a wealthy attorney originally from the Isle of Man.  Descended from several generations of Manx judiciary, it was the senior Christian’s original aim that all three of his sons get an education and pursue the law.  Ann Christian, Fletcher’s mother, had brought her ancestral home of Moorland Close into the marriage and initially the family lived a prosperous existence as landed gentry.  Unfortunately, Charles Christian died when Fletcher was four years old and his mother continued to spend and live lavishly, despite the lack of any meaningful income.  Eventually, despite being bailed out a few times by wealthy relatives, Ann Christian fled to the Isle of Man, where she subsisted on a small annuity, safe from any prosecution for the massive debt she accrued during Fletcher’s childhood. William Bligh Through family connections, Christian approached Lieutenant William Bligh, also currently relegated to commanding ships involved in the rum and sugar trade of the Caribbean.  Although Bligh was underemployed in his current position, he had a reputation as a skillful navigator who had served with Captain Cook, during Cook’s third and final voyage.  Christian casts off 18 members of the Bounty, including Captain Bligh just before dawn on April 28, 1789, four men entered Bligh’s cabin while he was sleeping and quickly subdued and tied the Lieutenant’s wrists behind his back.  Christian, along with Charles Churchill, John Mills and Thomas Burkett were armed with weapons removed from the ship’s armory and they dragged Bligh on deck.  Although told to keep quiet, Bligh began yelling, waking other officers, including John Fryer who was warned by the armed group not to leave his cabin.  On deck Bligh continued shouting at the various crew members who were either mocking their commander or anxiously hoping to accompany him, regardless of the uncertainty.  Initially, Christian now brandishing a bayonet to intimidate those who might attempt to physically subdue him, lowered a small boat that could hold only Bligh and a few other men.  Unseaworthy and unable to hold all of the men who demanded to leave, Christian then agreed to put the Bounty’s launch into the water.  This craft was 23 feet long, about seven feet wide and allowed for a sail that gave its occupants some ability to navigate.  Normally designed for at most fifteen occupants, 18 crew members squeezed into the launch, with Bligh eventually forced to join them. Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh in the MGM 1935, "Mutiny On The Bounty
Peter Heywood Within hours, two other men, Peter Heywood and George Stewart emerged from the island and boarded the Pandora.  All three men denied any responsibility for the mutiny, Coleman previously identified by Bligh himself as one of the crew members who was loyal but forced to stay behind.  Heywood asked Hayward to absolve him of any blame but Hayward was noncommittal.  The ruthlessness of Edwards was underlined by his subsequent order to immediately confine all three men in irons.  He maintained that it was not up to him to render a judgement on guilt or innocence in the matter, that was the responsibility of a subsequent court martial upon the Pandora’s return to England. John Adams Smith, a former deserter whose real name was John Adams, relaxed when Folger explained that he actually was not from England but from America.  The captain of the Topaz was correct in that Smith aka Adams had no idea what America was but he opened up about what had happened once the Bounty arrived on Pitcairn.  The nine mutineers divided up all of the land and expropriated most of the women as their wives.  The six Tahitian men were treated as slaves and eventually rebelled and killed five of the mutineers, including Fletcher Christian.  Because many of the Tahitian women were romantically involved with the dead mutineers, they were angry and subsequently murdered all of the Tahitian men.

Fletcher Christian and William Bligh are permanently linked to the Mutiny on the Bounty. Listen to the true story of this infamous incident.

Fletcher Christian And William Bligh are permanently linked to the Mutiny on the Bounty. Here is the true story of this infamous incident. Wreck of the HMS Pandora The Pandora, towing a launch constructed by the mutineers during their stint on Tahiti, reached the vicinity of the Great Barrier Reef in late August. Whether he was careless or stupidly sailing in the dark, Edwards struck a reef on the 29th, the collision so severe that the ship took on four feet of water in five minutes.  Throughout the night, desperate efforts were made to save the vessel and three of the men classified by Bligh as blameless in the mutiny, Coleman, McIntosh and Norman were let out of the enclosure.  They helped with attempts to pump water out of the ship to no avail.  The other trapped mutineers, hearing sounds of the crew abandoning ship, attempted to get out of their manacles and screamed for help.  Only the last minute personal intervention of a crew member allowed any of the remaining eleven prisoners to escape.  Fletcher Christian's son, Thursday October Christian The two ships, the HMS Briton and the HMS Tagus, were searching for the American ship USS Essex.  This American raider, not to be confused with the whaler Essex of Moby Dick fame, was in the process of terrorizing British merchant and whaling ships in the region to the extent that the Royal Navy was forced to deploy several warships to put a stop to this War of 1812 US rampage.  On September 17, 1814, as the two ships and their captains Sit Thomas Staines and Philip Pipon puzzled over the unidentified rock in front of them, they could see some natives launching their canoes into the surf.  Like Folger before them, they were stunned when the canoe pulled alongside the boat and an occupant who turned out to be Thursday October Christian, now 24 years old, hailed them in English.  He and another teenager, George Young, the son of Bounty mutineer, Edward Young came on board and were asked to join the officers for a meal. Dressed in minimal Polynesian garb, Fletcher Christian’s son further astonished and ingratiated himself by breaking into Christian prayer before dinner was served. Pitcairn Island It is believed that in Bligh’s library, Christian stumbled upon a 1773 journal written by English naval explorer Philip Carteret which gave the location of an obscure island, Pitcairn Island.  Almost four months after leaving Tahiti, the Bounty arrived at the supposed location of Pitcairn but there was nothing there.  Figuring that Carteret may have made a navigational error, Christian sailed along the same latitude, assuming that the longitude was incorrect.  Within days, the rocky, frequently inaccessible and uninhabited island was sighted, on January 15, 1790, approximately 190 miles east of Carteret’s faulty designation. The epic remake of The Mutiny Of The Bounty, a notorious box office flop
The replica of the Bounty, built for the 1962 film, it sank off of North Carolina, during Hurricane Sandy

Fletcher Christian And William Bligh are permanently linked to the Mutiny on the Bounty. Here is the true story of this infamous incident.

In his sixty year career, Alfred Hitchcock established himself as one of the most important cultural figures of the 20th century Publicity photo for The Birds, early sixties.
A photo of Hitchcock, early in his career Hitchcock broke into show business by getting a job with the newly arrived motion picture studio Famous Players-Lasky British Producers, a venture associated with Paramount Pictures.  He was to design the captions that accompanied the action in the studio’s silent films.  Initially, a part time employee, Hitchcock worked hard, keeping his day job at Henley’s but eventually landing full time at Famous Players Lasky in 1921. Peter Lorre, The Man Who Knew Too Much Hitchcock spent the next few years directing and producing various dramas, thrillers and even a musical revue before his 1934 effort, The Man Who Knew Too Much.  Possessing the same title as his subsequent 1956 effort with Doris Day and Jimmy Stewart, the film has a similar plot involving kidnapping, political assassination and criminal intrigue.  It also cast Peter Lorre, having recently fled Germany after his great success in the Fritz Lang classic, “M.”  Lorre, who was Jewish and was uncomfortable with Hitler’s acquisition of political power, barely spoke English and ingratiated himself with the director by anticipating when Hitchcock, already a budding raconteur, would finish a story, laughing noisily despite not understanding a word of the anecdote.  For the part, the Hungarian born actor had to learn his lines phonetically.  Lorre’s mysteriously interesting face was featured on the film’s poster and “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” was received with great acclaim and popularity, reaffirming Hitchcock as a major figure in British cinema. Alma Hitchcock, Joan Harrison, and Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia Hitchcock was headed to greener pastures in the United States.  Sailing on the Queen Mary on March 1, 1939 with his family, his personal secretary, Joan Harrison, two servants and two dogs, he and his wife were eager to leave.  They believed that Hitchcock had accomplished everything he could possibly achieve in Britain and Hollywood allowed him much greater opportunity.  He could afford his entourage, having signed a five-picture deal with David O. Selznick, with a guaranteed $50,000 salary for his first picture, Rebecca.  Olivier and Fontaine in Rebecca                                                                                           If Hitchcock’s personality included a desire for complete control, he certainly met his match in David O. Selznick.  The director’s adaptation and script outline for Rebecca, that also contained as always contributions from his wife, was summarily rejected with any attempts at including characteristic humor deemed inappropriate.  In one of his famously lengthy and detailed memos, the producer stated in the first sentence that “he was shocked and disappointed beyond words,” and declared that the film must be a completely faithful rendition of the novel with a focus on retaining its serious tone.  He also made it quite clear that the final version of the film would be his and his alone.  An additional headache was Laurence Olivier, so miffed that his wife Vivien Leigh wasn’t cast in the film that he took it out on the eventual female lead Joan Fontaine.  If there wasn’t enough tension on the set, the beginning of World War II in Europe coincided with the first week of shooting.  The production was a predictable struggle of wills, Hitchcock sticking to his style of only shooting scenes from an angle or perspective he ultimately would use in a final edit and Selznick wanting vastly more material to select during the editing process.  Clearly, it was not a creatively happy marriage.  But, probably as a tribute to both men’s ability, the resulting film was a commercial success and the Best Picture of 1940.  Fontaine’s performance was academy nominated for Best Actress, the twenty-two year old probably benefiting from the director’s domineering demeanor.
Selznick and Hitchcock One aspect of the production of Rebecca that prevented any permanent damage to Hitchcock’s business relationship with Selznick was the producer’s preoccupation with the lead up to and release of Gone With The Wind.  Selznick also anticipated a profitable gambit to make money on his contract with the director without having to immediately produce another picture.  He loaned Hitchcock to independent producer Walter Wanger at a fee of $5,000 a week while he only had to pay Hitchcock $2500.  A compulsive gambler, methamphetamine addict and profligate spender, Selznick was perpetually strapped for cash.  He could also keep the director at arms-length while the two figured out how to work together in the future.  Raymond Burr as the murderer in the climactic scene of Rear Window. Note resemblance to Selznick Hitchcock began filming Rear Window in November, 1953, only weeks after completing Dial M for Murder.  His enthusiasm combined with his established crew of technical associates handling wardrobe, script supervision, music soundtrack, sound technicians and a stage set so large Hitchcock frequently needed a walkie-talkie to communicate with his cast produced a remarkable effort.  Although this was a complex project, it went as smoothly as any Hitchcock production, Hitch even enjoying the practical joke of having Raymond Burr, the film’s villain made up to look exactly like David O. Selznick.  Box office was sensational and the critical response transcended the usual Hitchcock accolades. Robert Walker as Bruno Antony Robert Walker’s Bruno Antony pushed the limits in a Hitchcock film, strangling his victim onscreen and employing a nasty malevolence unlike any previous Hitchcock character.  His borderline personality is underlined by a Hitchcock designed tie embellished with closed-clawed lobsters and a garishly over-the-top smoking jacket that screams twisted among other things.  In selecting Walker, Hitchcock made a curious casting choice relative to his former colleague David O Selznick.  Walker was deeply upset by the 1943 collapse of his marriage to Jennifer Jones.   Jones’ affair with Selznick was the worst kept secret in Hollywood and Jones left Walker while both were performing in a 1943 Selznick produced film. Her subsequent marriage to the much more powerful producer depressed and humiliated Walker.  When cast in Strangers On A Train, the actor had spent the previous year in a mental hospital battling alcoholism and a psychiatric disorder. Perhaps Hitchcock sensed that to achieve a realistic portrayal of a an individual with a tenuous grip on sanity, he needed to use someone truly familiar with such mania.  Walker’s portrayal of an intensely destructive personality enhances the film’s climax which utilizes an amusement park merry-go-round that goes flying out of control graphically hurling debris into a cloud of onlookers.  That Hitchcock accomplished this by blowing up a toy carousel and enlarging the result does not diminish the sense of realistically violent destruction. Doris Day, sings Que Sera, Sera in the 1955 remake of The Man who Knew Too Much
In 1955, With Grace Kelly intent on bigger things, Hitchcock was forced to find another actress for his next film, a remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, a project that the director had envisioned for many years.  Characteristically, possibly because he would not be the center of attention, Hitchcock eventually turned down an invitation to one of the most high profile events of the decade, the marriage of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainer of Monaco.  Instead Hitch focused on his next project.  A combo of international intrigue, politics and domestic drama, the film meanders for close to two hours but has enough suspense, scenic visuals and plot twists to establish it as theatrically successful.  Considered a cut below some of the other Paramount efforts, the film still holds up today as memorable, especially the Academy Award winning song Que Sera, Sera written especially for the film and presented by Doris Day.

In his sixty year career, Alfred Hitchcock established himself as one of the most important cultural figures of the 20th century

In his sixty year career, Alfred Hitchcock established himself as one of the most important cultural figures of the 20th century. Robert Walker and Farley Granger in Strangers on a Train   Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Rear Window   Grace Kelly, publicity photo for Rear Window Vertigo movie poster   With Kim Novak on the set of Vertigo   Cary Grant, North by Northwest   Eva Marie Saint, North by Northwest   Hitchcock at Mount Rushmore   Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren on the set of Marnie   Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor in The Birds   Hitchcock never won an Academy Award but did receive the Academy's Lifetime Achievement award in 1968

In his sixty year career, Alfred Hitchcock established himself as one of the most important cultural figures of the 20th century.

Although he never robbed a bank or a train, never fought a traditional duel and didn't drink, Billy the Kid remains one of America's most notorious outlaws. The only authenticated photo of Billy the Kid, taken in 1880 Over one hundred films have portrayed him in various scenarios ranging from predictable western themes to plots even involving Count Dracula.  He is the subject of music composed by the likes of Aaron Copland, Bob Dylan and Billy Joel.  Dead at the age of twenty-one, the Kid’s exploits were national news in his own lifetime, despite the reality that he was essentially a nineteenth century gang member, who merely possessed a penchant for dramatic and occasionally violent escape. John Tunstall Tunstall’s father was a successful merchant with interests in Canada and his son emigrated to the southwestern US, believing that the rapidly growing area had unlimited economic potential.  Settling in Lincoln County, Tunstall, only 22, partnered with Alexander McSween, a Canadian lawyer and former employee of The House.  Together they opened up a business and bank in Lincoln that competed directly with Dolan and Murphy.  This newly established entity’s other partner was John Chisum, one of the wealthiest ranchers in the southwest.  His herd of cattle numbered over 100,000 and ranged over New Mexico property that covered over 150 miles.  Tunstall offered cheaper prices and ethical business practices to the citizens of Lincoln and by early 1878, the House was headed for economic ruin. Alexander McSween A lawyer, Alexander McSween, became involved in complicated litigation over proceeds of a life insurance policy that he eventually obtained for his client.  But, because this money involved one of Dolan’s business partners, McSween did not want to release it, presuming that Dolan would eventually gain control of the cash.  This resulted in one of the heirs filing both criminal and civil charges of embezzlement against McSween.  This matter was litigated in the nearby town of Mesilla and while McSween was able to postpone any criminal charges, he left the proceeding before being informed that the judge had issued a writ attaching his property for the sum of 10,000 dollars.  Dolan, also present in Mesilla, quickly returned to Lincoln ahead of McSween and had Brady the Sheriff form a posse and occupy McSween and Tunstall’s property. Sheriff William Brady For years, two merchants, Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan, operated a large store in the center of Lincoln, New Mexico.  This establishment was a monopoly that gouged the locals for basic necessities and clothing and was known negatively as “The House.”  Dolan and Murphy, Civil War veterans, also used their military contacts to provide beef for nearby military installations, a trade marked by shady practices and stolen cattle.  Any local residents who even thought of competing were intimidated by The House’s known connections, not only to Jesse Evans and The Boys but even to the County Sheriff, William Brady. One of two Billy the Kid headstones in Fort Sumner, New Mexico In 2004, a legal fight over an attempt to exhume the bodies of both Billy the Kid and his mother went nowhere, stoking even more rumors that the purported grave of Billy the Kid is actually empty, a secret the town fathers would just as soon you not know.  The graveyard, Pete Maxwell’s house and much of Fort Sumner was rearranged when the Pecos River decided to alter its course over time.  However, the town cemetery today contains not one but two markers devoted to Billy the Kid, both additions installed long after his original burial.