September 5, 1901: William McKinley, the first U.S. president to be captured on film, is shown at the Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, one day before his assassination.
September 5, 1916: In response to the outcry over The Birth of a Nation, D.W. Griffith releases Intolerance, a cinematic plea for understanding and goodwill.
September 9, 1916: Silent comedy star Harold Lloyd, at the suggestion of producer Hal Roach, first sports his trademark horn-rimmed glasses in Over the Fence.
September 10, 1921: Comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle is charged in the death of actress Virginia Rappe after a long, wild hotel party five days earlier.
September 10, 1922: The first of Hal Roach’s “Our Gang” comedies is released, One Terrible Day, with Mickey Daniels, Jack Davis and Jackie Condon.
September 6, 1935: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance “cheek to cheek” in Top Hat, a smashing box office success for the financially-troubled RKO Pictures.
September 11, 1947: Jane Russell delivers her bust-out debut performance as Howard Hughes‘ much-anticipated, controversial adult western The Outlaw opens.
September 8, 1949: The most famous cinema squint this side of Clint Eastwood (poll) debuts when the nearsighted Mr. Magoo makes his bow in the animated short Ragtime Bear.
September 11, 1970: Joan Crawford makes a less than seemly screen farewell in the “B” horror vehicle Trog.
September 8, 1979: The body of actress Jean Seberg, 40, is found in the back of a car in Paris. Her controversial death will be attributed to an overdose of barbiturates.
September 9, 1993: Palms get sweaty in many a Hollywood boardroom as well-connected Beverly Hills madam Heidi Fleiss is arraigned on charges of narcotics possession and pandering.
September 6, 1998: The king of Japanese cinema, Rashomon and The Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa, passes away from a stroke at 88.