May 10, 1912: The screen’s earliest romantic pairing, Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne, first gaze into each other’s eyes in The House of Pride.
May 11, 1927: The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is founded. There are 36 members, presided over by Douglas Fairbanks.
May 11, 1931: Germany’s first sound film, Fritz Lang‘s M, is released, featuring stage actor Peter Lorre in a chilling portrayal of a child murderer.
May 12, 1944: Roy Rogers makes his first movie with future wife Dale Evans, The Cowboy and the Se�orita, but saves his screen kisses for Trigger.
May 10, 1948: Aviator, business mogul and part-time film producer Howard Hughes purchases RKO for a reported $8.8 million.
May 11, 1963: An Italian court sentences director Pier Paolo Pasolini to four months suspended sentence for “public defamation” because of his work in RoGoPaG.
May 10, 1977: Joan Crawford, star of Mildred Pierce and Johnny Guitar and famous Hollywood “mommie,” dies at the age of 73.
May 10, 1980: Teen-slayer Jason Voorhees, not yet wearing his trademark hockey mask, makes his screen debut in the original Friday the 13th.
May 12, 1987: Woody Allen and Ginger Rogers are among the Hollywood notables speaking out against the colorization of vintage films before Congress.
May 6, 1992: Marlene Dietrich, sultry and sensuous figure of German and American cinema, dies at age 90.