DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
Members' Mausoleum => Calendar Events / Announcements '24 I => Topic started by: Josette on January 04, 2021, 09:22:45 AM
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I remember liking the TV movie "The Missiles of October" (apparently from 1974) about the Cuban Missile Crisis. I happened to think of it the other day and decided to look it up and check on some of the cast members. The most famous and important ones were William Devane as John Kennedy and Martin Sheen as Robert Kennedy. As I looked through the rest of the cast, I discovered Dana Elcar as Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defense; Dennis Patrick as Llewellyn Thompson, former US Ambassador to the Soviet Union; and Thayer David as uncredited narrator!!
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I remember watching that made-for-TV film. I also remember the actual missiles that almost fell that October.
I was in kindergarten and headed home following the afternoon session (kindergarten was half-day, morning or afternoon, back then). When I arrived home about the same time as my brother, my dad was home from work and busy filling any empty container with water while covering the basement windows with aluminum foil. My mom packed my brother and me into the car and drove to the supermarket, the parking lot full of cars and hysterical people (mostly moms) pushing supply-laden grocery carts. Inside, my mom plopped my brother and me by the comic books section where other moms had dumped their kids, telling them not to move while they joined the panicked mob in the aisles pushing whatever they could into the carts.
Finally, my mom showed up by us, told us to get off the floor and leave whatever comic books we were enjoying, and follow her. Back home, as my parents continued doing whatever they were doing (I had no clue whatsoever what was going on or what it was all about). We were now plopped in front of the black-and-white Admiral console TV set to keep up busy but it was futile as the afternoon cartoons including the Colonel Caboose Show was constantly interrupted by guys in ties always spouting "we interrupt this program."
I don't recall when the crisis suddenly ended. That moment is lost to me, but then, being five, I didn't understand a single thing about how that one afternoon suddenly turned so abnormal and when things went back to the way they were before.
In the next several years of elementary (called "grammar" back then) school, we learned a bit more, especially from a civil-defense-helmet-wearing turtle that always smiled on the classroom movie screen, and how to properly sing: "What do you do when you see the flash? You duck and cover! Duck and cover!"
It's so sad that history is no longer considered a necessary subject, except in brief presentation, in education. Right now we're living through history, a pandemic plague equaling the one of 1918 that wiped out entire communities. And, yes, I did have COVID; I was fortunate while being confined for three weeks in an isolation/quarantine ward (thank goodness for a room with cable TV and free Wi-Fi so I could continue looking at our beloved DS message board). This, like what happened in 1962, is world-changing history and many of us have and/or are living through both of them.
Gerard
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I never watched the show - maybe there was something on opposite it that I was more interested in. And I don't recall the slightest bit about the actual incident. Nor do I recall my parents having been concerned at the time. But maybe that's because I was only 6 and they shielded their concern from me. And when it comes to "duck and roll" drills, my school never held them. Though it was a Catholic school, so maybe they thought God would protect us. Who knows? [santa_undecided]
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I vaguely remember the drills that we had in the second grade. Diving under your desk could be fun, if you didn't bump your head. But being shut in the dark cloak room (like any of us wore a cloak) with about 30 other kids was not comfortable. All this, of course, would have been unnecessary if we were immediately vaporized.
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All this, of course, would have been unnecessary if we were immediately vaporized.
Exactly! And quite possibly that's why my school never had drills because the nuns realized we'd all be vaporized so why waste the time with drills. [santa_wink]
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I've seen Missiles of October a few times but not in several years. It was shot on videotape, so it had the same live feel as Dark Shadows. I thought it was well done. Thayer's narration was pretty much forward countdown like Day 3 of the Missiles of October. Very distinctive. I'm born and raised here in Florida and was like 5 when all this happened - I don't think anybody here really realized how serious things were.
If you want to see another political show with DS alumni , Look for Washington: Behind Closed Doors. It was a mini series knockoff of Watergate and had David Selby, Lara Parker and also Thayer David.
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If you want to see another political show with DS alumni , Look for Washington: Behind Closed Doors. It was a mini series knockoff of Watergate and had David Selby, Lara Parker and also Thayer David.
That one I've seen. It's quite good.
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That one I've seen. It's quite good.
That was a great scene with Selby playing the white house attorney looking to justify wiretaps and arrests in a meeting with Thayer's Hoover character - "Do you know anything about the constitution Sonny? ..." Lol.
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[pointing-up] Yes, that line takes on a whole new level of meaning these days!!
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Actually, when you think about it, we widdo-kiddies crouching under our desks in case of a nuclear attack made perfect sense. Those desks were so full of lead paint and varnish we would've been perfectly shielded.
Gerard
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I was 13, so I remember more of it. We didn't panic and do all of that shopping or anything else out of the ordinary, but I remember watching the President's speech and following the news for several days and it was certainly tense. When the movie came out, I thought it very good.
We had what they called, I think, retention drills, but I recall that more from years before that. I think we went to the auditorium and as many as possible sat lined up on the stage. I guess the rest were in the seats or aisles. I also seem to recall crouching under the desks. I never understood that, especially when I was older and knew more about it - I couldn't see what any of that would accomplish.
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P.S. Gerard, after my last comment I forgot to mention your COVID news - so sorry you got it, but obviously glad you got through it!!!
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Thanks, Josette! The odd thing is that even though my immune system has been completely compromised by what happened to me in May and now just a common cold could kill me, I remained completely asymptomatic during my quarantine: no fever, cough, sneezing, skewed blood pressure, low oxygen levels, congested chest, etc. The only thing that was going to kill me was boredom. After three weeks, I along with several others who came through it, were unleashed back upon the world to spread joy and otherwise sundry havoc.
I get my first shot next week, the second 28 days later. Now bring on those Russian/Cuban bombs! I'm ready to take them on!
Gerard
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Gerard,
I’m very glad to hear that you’re feeling better.
It has to be particularly concerning for people with elderly parents during this d@mned COVID pandemic.
Take care,
Bob
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Gerard, thank goodness you came through it okay and will be getting your shots soon.
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Thanks, Bob and Midnite! I can count my lucky stars: while I remained asymptomatic and came through it with nary a scratch, five residents of where I now live did not make it. It was bizarre watching this in a microcosm, in a constantly expanding isolation ward, where some, like me, didn't have so much as a sniffle, some had what appeared to be nothing more than an annoying cold, others had what simulated a bad flu, and then there were those bedridden and on oxygen.
The worst part was that no one, among family and/or friends, were permitted to visit. The ones who passed, did so alone with none of their loved ones and only caring staff by their side. I was at least fortunate enough to zoom on a regular basis with friends.
Gerard
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For those who haven't seen it before, I see The Missiles of October will be airing on the Movies TV Network on Friday May 7th at 11:05 pm. I'm sure there will be additional showings.
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I could have sworn I had access to that channel but apparently if I did, I don't any longer. Oh well...
But be that as it may, thanks patrick for sharing the info. [easter_smiley]
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On our cable, it's clustered in with the other over the air digital channels like Buzzr, ME TV and Cozi. Perhaps you lost it like we did with Decades and Antenna TV when the corresponding local channel dropped it for something else. Even though it has commercials, I like the channel and watch it quite a bit.
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It could be that I'm remembering having posted last June that hoDS and NoDS were going to be on MOVIES! in July. But I don't remember if I saw the listing on my DVR (in which case I would have had to have had access to the channel) or if I'd received a Google alert about it.
That being said, though, I remember watching a few movies on a channel and the thing I liked about the channel is that even though it had commercials, it didn't edit movies to fit a certain time frame. If, say, a movie ran longer than two hours because of commercials, the next movie the channel ran could start at ten past or twenty past the hour or even twenty of or ten of the hour. And I'd swear that channel was MOVIES! - but I definitely don't have access to it anymore. [easter_sad]