August 27, 1953: Audrey Hepburn captivates audiences with her Hollywood debut as the runaway princess in Roman Holiday, for which she’ll win an Academy Award.
August 27, 1917: The first feature to be directed by John Ford, the Harry Carey–Hoot Gibson western Straight Shooting, opens.
August 23, 1925: With its premiere at the Century Theater in New York, Fritz Lang‘s Siegfried introduces the synchronized, sound-on-film process.
August 23, 1926: Film fans react in shock to news of the death of beloved screen idol Rudolph Valentino, 31, struck down following surgery for a ruptured ulcer.
August 26, 1930: The silent cinema loses one of its greatest stars when “man of a thousand faces” Lon Chaney succumbs to bronchial cancer at the age of 47.
August 24, 1937: “The Dead End Kids” (Huntz Hall, Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, et. al.) reprise their stage roles in the film version of Dead End, co-starring Humphrey Bogart.
August 24, 1938: MGM’s price for the loan of Clark Gable‘s services to Selznick for Gone With the Wind: the distribution rights and one half the profits.
August 21, 1939: RKO Pictures contracts with theater/radio wunderkind Orson Welles, allowing him to produce, direct, script and act in two projects of his choosing.
August 23, 1943: Olivia de Havilland files her trailblazing lawsuit against Warner Brothers that ultimately broke the studios’ practice of extending performer contracts indefinitely.
August 26, 1980: Master of outlandish cartoon mayhem Frederick “Tex” Avery, who gave Bugs Bunny his “What’s up, Doc?” catchphrase, dies at 72.
August 21, 1987: Stars Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey have the time of their lives in the surprise hit Dirty Dancing.