January 27, 1918: Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle lord debuts on screen in Tarzan of the Apes, starring former Arkansas peace officer Elmo Lincoln.
January 23, 1932: Educational Films Corporation signs 3 ½-year-old Shirley Temple to appear in a series of film take-offs called Baby Burlesks.
January 26, 1936: Filmmakers in Hollywood organize the Screen Directors Guild and name King Vidor as their president.
January 23, 1952: Precedent-setter James Stewart chooses to share in the profits of Universal’s Bend of the River rather than accept a fixed salary.
January 28, 1952: The Screen Actors Guild negotiates the first contract granting performers residuals for films sold to television.
January 24, 1957: RKO, the studio that produced King Kong and Citizen Kane, announces plans to close and distribute its remaining films through Universal.
January 29, 1964: Originally intended as a tense Cold War thriller until evolving into a satire, Stanley Kubrick‘s Dr. Strangelove, with Peter Sellers, opens today.
January 25, 1970: Robert Altman‘s M*A*S*H marches into theaters, but showings of the irreverent comedy will be banned on U.S. military bases.
January 26, 1973: Tough guy Edward G. Robinson dies at the age of 79; two months later the Academy will honor him with a posthumous lifetime achievement award.
January 24, 1974: Larry Fine of the Three Stooges dies at the age of 72 in Woodland Hills, California.