This Week In Film History, 11.20.11

Sylvester Stallone, Mae West,Cary Grant, James Cagney,"toy story"November 25, 1940: Voiced by Mel Blanc, Woody Woodpecker laughs his way into cartoon fame in the Andy Panda short Knock Knock.

November 26, 1942: Taking advantage of Allied landings that put the North African city in the news, Warner Bros. opens Casablanca in New York.

November 24, 1947: Ten Hollywood writers and producers are cited for contempt of Congress and will go on to be found guilty and be banished from the film community.

November 20, 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which producer Michael Douglas‘ father Kirk had been trying to bring to the screen for years, debuts.

November 21, 1976: Rocky, the low-budget tale of a Philadelphia boxer written by and starring the unknown Sylvester Stallone, debuts.

November 22, 1980: Queen of screen innuendo and double entendre Mae West, 87, dies from complications from a stroke.

November 20, 1981: James Cagney returns to the big screen after a 20-year absence in director Milos Forman‘s Ragtime.

November 20, 1986: The epitome of Hollywood sophistication and suaveness, Cary Grant, dies at 82 while taking part in an Iowa film festival.

November 26, 1990: Japanese company Matsushita purchases MCA, parent company of Universal Pictures, for $6.13 billion.

November 22, 1995: The first feature-length computer-animated film, Toy Story, is released by Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.