November 7, 1902: French inventor/film executive Leon Gaumont demonstrates his Chronophone system of showing films with synchronized phonograph cylinders.
November 4, 1907: The Chicago City Council Ordinance forbids the showing of “obscene and immoral pictures” and grants police permission to ban a movie’s release.
November 2, 1924: The first film from the newly-formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, He Who Gets Slapped with Lon Chaney, is released.
November 3, 1939: “Garbo Laughs!,” and so do audiences, as Ernst Lubitsch’s wry comedy Ninotchka opens.
November 4, 1948: The treatment of the mentally ill is graphically depicted in The Snake Pit, starring Olivia de Havilland.
November 3, 1954: The biggest leading man in Japanese film history rises out of the Pacific, as the original Gojira opens.
November 3, 1956: The Wizard of Oz makes its network broadcast debut (in black and white) on CBS; “Cowardly Lion” Bert Lahr and a 10-year-old Liza Minnelli are the hosts.
November 6, 1958: A young Steve McQueen, in his first starring film role, defends Phoenixville, Pa. from that man-eating goo from outer space, The Blob.
November 1, 1962: Shane star Alan Ladd is found lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his heart; he’ll later tell police the self-inflicted shooting was accidental.
November 1, 1967: The popularity of screen “anti-heroes” continues with the arrival of Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman as a prisoner with a “failure to communicate.”
November 1, 1968: The MPAA’s self-imposed ratings system goes into effect. They are: G (General Audiences), M (Mature Audiences), R (Restricted), X (Over 18 Only).
November 2, 1975: The disfigured body of Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, 51, is found on a beach in Italy, the victim of an apparent homicide.
November 3, 1976: Brian De Palma’s shock tale Carrie, starring Sissy Spacek, debuts. It’s the first film based on the writings of author Stephen King.
November 4, 1980: America puts its first professional actor in the White House, as Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th President of the United States.
November 2, 1990: Pioneering silent comedy producer Hal Roach, who created Our Gang and teamed Laurel and Hardy, passes away at the age of 100.
November 6, 1991: The sultry title star of Laura, actress Gene Tierney, passes away from emphysema at 70.
November 4, 1994: After winning acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, Kevin Smith’s $30,000 convenience-store comedy Clerks goes into general release.
November 1, 2006: Actress/filmmaker Adrienne Shelly, 40, whose seriocomedy Waitress would be released the following year, is found murdered in her Manhattan apartment.
November 5, 2010: Oscar-nominated actress Jill Clayburgh, star of An Unmarried Woman, dies at 66.