Some feats, facts and falderol with a singLE commonality - each ONE has the SINGULAR distinction of having ONE as its major characteristic. Which makes them, in the aggregate, ONE of a kind. Consider the following.

 

Without a doubt - also without having done substantive research on the matter - Alfred Hitchcock left us with the most mononomial movie titles of any director of his generation and all generations subsequent to the present. 44 sound films in his resume, 14 of which have one-word titles. 

AT THE MOVIES Posted by David Krauss -

 May 18, 2012

Hitchcock Blogathon:

Hitch’s One-Word Titles

The following is a list of Hitchcock sound films with one-word titles. How many have you seen?

‘Blackmail‘ (1929) – Hitchcock’s first talkie, this early British film follows a woman’s efforts to thwart a blackmailer who threatens to make a self-defense killing appear to be murder.

‘Murder!‘ (1930) – A woman (Norah Baring) who witnesses a murder and suffers from amnesia is convicted of the crime, but a sympathetic juror (Herbert Marshall) believes she’s innocent, and sets out to find the real killer.

‘Sabotage‘ (1936) – Adapted from the Joseph Conrad novel, this tense thriller, featuring a stellar performance from Sylvia Sidney, chronicles the detonation of a terrorist bomb in London and the messy aftermath.

‘Rebecca‘ (1940) – Hitchcock’s first American movie is a taut, romantic and fascinating examination of the fragile psyche of a young bride who feels diminished by the looming aura of her husband’s dead first wife. Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine star in this Best Picture winner (the only Hitchcock film to receive this honor), adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s classic novel.

‘Suspicion‘ (1941) – Joan Fontaine won a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of another young bride with a fragile psyche who begins to worry that her good-natured, good-looking and good-for-nothing husband (Cary Grant) may be planning to kill her. This fine film is all but ruined by its ridiculous ending, which was tacked on to appease disgruntled audiences and preserve Grant’s standing as a heroic leading man.

‘Saboteur‘ (1942) – One of Hitchcock’s best chase pictures, this fast-paced, exciting yarn follows the desperate efforts of an innocent man (Robert Cummings), wrongly accused of arson, to clear his name. The thrilling climax atop the Statue of Liberty is quintessential Hitchcock.

‘Lifeboat‘ (1944) – When both an American ship and German U-boat sink after a heated battle in World War II, the survivors share a lifeboat. As they wait for an uncertain rescue, tensions mount, secrets are revealed and the fates of those in the boat hang in the balance. Stage legend Tallulah Bankhead makes a rare film appearance in this riveting study of character, patriotism and survival.

‘Spellbound‘ (1945) – One of the first movies to intelligently examine psychoanalysis, this methodical romantic thriller chronicles how a doctor (Ingrid Bergman) repairs the fractured mind of a war veteran (Gregory Peck) who suffers from amnesia and is accused of murder. The stunning dream sequences devised by avant-garde artist Salvador Dali enhance this probing tale.

‘Notorious‘ (1946) – The daughter (Ingrid Bergman) of a Nazi sympathizer goes undercover to root out the secrets of a band of Germans trying to reorganize and revitalize their party. Cary Grant plays the American agent who enlists her service, falls in love with her, and watches her become intimately involved with the group’s head honcho (Claude Rains). This is Hitchcock at his best, effortlessly mixing myriad elements to create a seamless whole. The film still stands as one of the finest espionage movies ever made.

‘Rope‘ (1948) – Notable for its supposed continuous, single-shot presentation, this arresting drama stars Farley Granger and John Dall as two conceited twentysomething friends who try to execute the perfect murder. As a lark, they kill their friend, then brazenly throw a party to test the crime’s merit and their own mettle. Their former teacher (James Stewart), who unwittingly planted the seed of violence in their brains, begins to suspect foul play. This is an unsettling social commentary and tightly constructed thriller.

‘Vertigo‘ (1958) – Some consider this mesmerizing study of obsession to be Hitchcock’s masterpiece. James Stewart stars as a detective who suffers from paralyzing acrophobia, and Kim Novak is the mysterious woman who takes him on a torturous psychological journey. Elegant, cryptic, and enthralling, this one deserves a Blu-ray release soon.

‘Psycho‘ (1960) – The granddaddy of the modern slasher film and a creepy portrait of a deranged mind, this iconic shocker features Hitchcock’s most identifiable (and frightening) sequence. Reportedly, actress Janet Leigh never took a shower again after shooting the grisly scene, though she should be remembered more for her performance than her character’s sad fate. Anthony Perkins is also superb as Norman Bates, the mother-fixated motel owner whose guests always seem to vanish.

‘Marnie‘ (1964) – Following ‘The Birds’, Tippi Hedren teams with Sean Connery in this uneven but strangely hypnotic story of a kleptomaniac with deep-seeded psychological issues who’s coerced into marriage and must ultimately face her demons.

‘Topaz‘ (1969) – A Cold War backdrop frames this slick spy tale involving NATO, the Russians and the French. A cast of largely unknown and European actors heightens the sense of authenticity that distinguishes this little-known but effective Hitchcock film.

‘Frenzy‘ (1972) – Another wrong-man drama (and Hitchcock’s penultimate film), this tight thriller follows a man’s pursuit of innocence after he’s accused of being a serial killer and rapist.

In association with the National Film Preservation Foundation, High-Def Digest is proud to join the 2012 Hitchcock Blogathon. During the week of May 14th to 18th, we will blog about topics related to the films and career of the legendary Sir Alfred Hitchcock. This year, the NFPF hopes to raise money to fund a new musical score and online streaming distribution for ‘The White Shadow’, an early silent film that young Mr. Hitchcock (then officially a writer and Assistant Director) used as a stepping stone to launch his own directorial career. 

Additionally, Hitch - according to the Brianetics Entertainment And No Real Life Desk - is one of the two or three best film directors of all time  never to win an Academy Award. Of his 5 nominations, 4 had that one-word economy of syllable. Below are all 5 nominations:

In post-script there is this title which certainly deserves your consideration for entry or exclusion from this list.  In 1961 Hitch gave us THE BIRDS.  Two words, obviously, but does that pesky definite article THE disqualify the title from the list, non-descriptive though it is? Or is an Honorable Mention accolade enough for the film chosen by Hitchcock to follow PSYCHO ?  Your opinions both welcome and respected. 

THERE'S ONLY ONE NAPOLEON

That would be the 1927 silent film by Abel Gance, the mononomial movie with the longest running time of any film ever made for the general public. Other films of much, much longer running times were either multinomial or experimental or documentary or all three, thus leaving NAPOLEON  with the longest running time in the history of cinema. 

exhibited at various running times, this film clocked as long as 6 hours 43 minutes in 1928 and was sent to the U.S. in 29 reels. Here are some accounts of the film's exhibition after being restored almost 60 years after initial release, notably by film historian Kevin Brownlow.

At the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in July 2011, Brownlow announced there would be four screenings of his 2000 version, shown at the original 20 frames per second, with the final triptych and a live orchestra, to be held at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California, from 24 March to 1 April 2012. These, the first US screenings of his 5.5-hour-long restoration were described as requiring 3 intermissions, one of which was a dinner break. Score arranger Carl Davis led the 46-piece Oakland East Bay Symphony for the performances.^{[1][22][23][24][25]}

At a screening of Napoleon on 30 November 2013, at the Royal Festival Hall in London, full to capacity, the film and orchestra received a standing ovation, without pause, from the front of the stalls to the rear of the balcony. Davis conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance that spanned a little over eight hours, including a 100-minute dinner break.^[26][27]

Napoléon (1927 film) - Wikipedia

A LONELY NUMBER INDEED

There is only one entry in the Music category, but again I welcome dissent from any quarter. The song chosen for this list is so implausibly perfect as to inspire suggestions that the list was created for this song and this song alone  and To disguise this fact, the other categories were added to provide cover. All stuff and nonsense, of course. BRIANETICS requires no subtrefuge in the presentation of these topics. And that's all there is to that. 

And finally, the lone entry in the Some Ones Music category is....

One - Three Dog night 

#5 on Billboard 1969.

Yes, that's right. On a list of things primarily consisting of one of something, a one-word song title makes the list in no small part because the one-word title is ONE.  If Ripley's received this unique fact they would put it in the OR NOT file.

      THE ONE, THE ONLY                                              WALTER P. "BIG TRAIN" JOHNSON           

THAT'S RIGHT, A PITCHER SO GREAT HE IS  HONORED AS THE SOLE PROFESIONAL ATHEIETE TO HAVE HIS own ENTRY 

PLUS TWO PHOTOS.

WHAT DID HE DO? YOU ASK. WELL, HE WON MORE GAMES (373) IN THE 20TH cENTURY THAN ANY OTHER PITCHER AND IS STILL SECOND ALL TIME BEHIND ONLY cY yOUNG (511).  aND HE HAD BUT A SINGLE PITCH IN HIS ARSENAL - THE FAST BALL. bUT OF ALL HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS THERE IS ONE THAT NEEDS TO BE SINGLED OUT HERE WITH THE SOME ONES. tHE RECOUNTING BELOW APPEARS ON the Society for American Baseball Research website.

This article was written by Al Kermisch

This article was published in the 1972 Baseball Research Journal

  WALTER P. JOHNSON over the course of his career participated in no less than 64 1-0 games, winning 38 and losing 26 (including two in relief). He took part in twice as many minimum scoring contests as any other hurler. Not counted is his classic 12-inning 0-0 tie game with Jack Quinn of the Yankees on May 11, 1919. Quinn gave up 10 hits, including one to Johnson, and the Big Train gave up only two in 12 frames. He retired 28 men in a row (George Halas of later football fame going 0-5), but the Nats couldn’t get him any runs.

The longest 1-0 game for Johnson was his 18-inning win over Claude Williams of the White Sox on May 15, 1918. He also had three that went 15 innings and five others that went overtime. Walter also had a half dozen 1-0 losses in extra time. In the 11-inning game of July 29, 1918 at Chicago, he pitched only the last 1 and 2/3 innings in relief of Harry Harper and was the loser.

One saying One saying to Other Ones

A cursory audit of quotes from history and the arts provided a dearth of same with ONE as the salient element, at least according to the BRIANETICS Division of Standards and Practically No Standards.  Meaning the following entries are hardly part of BRIANETICS orthodoxy but merely the best examples found worthy one night after tacos and spiced rum.

One for all and all for one! From The Three Musketeers

The overall sentiment of this credo appeals to the Brianetics core belief in loyalty, friendship and commitment. However, "ALL" compromises the spirit of this page, dedicated as it is to one.

 

One nation, under God... American pledge of allegiance

Patriotic and declaring a SINGLE nation being guided by a singular deity (G)OD). Quite impressive, yet not quite what is being looked for here as high exENplar of one. sorry, God.

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.  Nathan Hale as the hangman adjusts the noose around his throat.

Again, very close. Brianetics, however, is fairly certain that everyone regrets having but one life to lose. which does not diminish the heroic ardor of mr. hale speaking those defiant words as the noose tightened.

Pending further scholorship, here is the one saying one said that won 

One riot, one Ranger.

This seems the perfect one saying; an assertion of authority by a single texas ranger over a single illicit event which he was duty bound to prevent from taking place. Some history behind the saying follows:

An account of a boxing match, written by Bigelow Paine and published in Paine’s 1909 book Captain Bill McDonald: Texas Ranger, became the origin of the Ranger’s motto, “One Riot, One Ranger”.

The phrase was coined in 1896, by Ranger Captain William “Bill” McDonald in Dallas, where he had been sent to prevent the illegal heavyweight prize fight between Bob Fitzsimmons and Pete Maher. The story says the Mayor met McDonald’s trainer and asked where the other Rangers were. McDonald replied, “Hell, ain’t I enough? There’s only one prizefight!”

Texas Historical Marker for THE Texas Ranger Camp Roberts in Blanco Canyon

Actually, not only were “Hanging” Judge Roy Bean and Bat Masterson in attendance, but nearly every Ranger and Captain, and even Adjutant General Woodford H. Mabry had shown up at the match.

No one was sure if the fight should go on, but the Governor’s order was that the fight was illegal and so it was canceled. Eventually, the fight was held near Langtry, on the Mexican side of the border.

Vintage News 2017 Ian Harvey

Another One Gone

 

Today our broadcast and cable systems have channels numbering into the thousands...not quite as high as Quinquagintaquadringentilliard, but close. curiously, however, one channel is conspicuously absent from our tuning options. one guess as to which one is the one missing...

CORRECT! CHANNEL ONE!

Two important developments contributed to the mystery of the missing Channel 1:

• Even though television sets were available for consumer purchase by the late 1930s, due to other factors (primarily the ongoing economic depression and the interruption of a world war) commercial broadcast television did not take off until a decade later.

• Before commercial broadcast television could become a viable enterprise, some agency had to set standards that established the number of channels to be allocated to television signals, the frequencies to be used for those channels, and other details.

• Between 1938 and 1948, several organizations — the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA), and the National Television System Committee (NTSC) — wrestled with the issue of standards, with the result that television standards were set or revised four times during that period.

• The number of channels allocated to television use went from 19 (in 1938) to 18 (in 1940) to 13 (in 1946), and the frequencies assigned to those channels were also shifted around.

  After the penultimate round of standards revisions was enacted in 1946, television sales began to boom, but by 1948 one additional stumbling block remained to be cleared: Television was still sharing some of its frequencies with radio services. The FCC warned that interference problems were imminent if the situation was not resolved soon; the agency then followed up that warning by ruling that television could no longer share frequencies with radio services. The action necessary to settle the issue and completely separate radio and television frequencies was that the television industry would have to give up one more of its channels — the only question was which channel the television industry would choose to sacrifice.

  Amateur radio operators wanted to see television cleared off the frequency range currently assigned to Channel 2, but the television industry had other ideas. During the previous round of standards revisions, the FCC had decreed that Channel 1 could only be used as a community channel, and stations broadcasting on that channel were limited to a maximum power of 1,000 watts. Since those restrictions made Channel 1 the least useful of the thirteen channels currently allocated to the television industry, that was the channel they opted to give up.

  In 1948, Channel 1’s frequencies were deleted from those allocated to television use and given over completely to radio services. The FCC opted not to renumber television’s remaining twelve channels, so from that point onwards we were left with the familiar television (VHF) dial spanning Channels 2 to 13, with no Channel 1.

  • David Mikkelson

  • Published 28 May 2008 snopes

The Big Red One

In a salute to our brave men and women at arms no better choice was fopund for a some ones military entry than the legendary 1st infantary division - known also as the Big Red One.  A short history of the 1st follows:

The First Expeditionary Division, later designated the 1st Infantry Division, was organized in May 1917 from Regular Army units then in service on the Mexican border and at various posts throughout the United States. The first units sailed from New York and New Jersey, on 14 June 1917. Throughout the remainder of the year, the rest of the Division followed landing at St. Nazaire, France, and Liverpool, England. After a brief stay in rest camps, the troops in England proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre. The last unit arrived in St. Nazaire on 22 December. Upon Arrival in France, the Division, less Artillery, was assembled in the 1st (Gondrecourt) Training Area and the Artillery at Le Valdahon. On the 4th of July, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, paraded through the streets of Paris to bolster the sagging French spirits. At Lafayette's tomb, one of General Pershing's staff uttered the famous words, "Lafayette, we are here!" Two days latter, on 6 July, the first Expeditionary Division was re designated as the First Infantry Division. On the morning of 23 October, the first American shell of the war was sent screaming toward German lines by a First Division Artillery unit. Two days latter, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry suffered the first American casualties of the war. By April 1918, the Germans had pushed up to within 40 miles of Paris. In reaction of this thrust, the Big Red One was moved into the Picardy Sector to bolster the exhausted French First Army. To the Divisions front lay the small village of Cantigny, situated on the high ground overlooking a forested country side. It was the "Black Lions of Cantigny," attacked the town and within 45 minuets had captured it together with 250 German soldiers. The first victory of the war was a First Division Victory. Soissons was taken by the First Division in July 1918. The Soissons victory was costly — 7,000 men were killed or wounded. The First Infantry helped to clear the St. Mihiel salient by fighting continuously from 11-13 September 1918. The last major World War I battle was fought in the Meuse-Argonne Forest. The Division advanced seven kilometers and defeated, in whole or part, eight German divisions. The war was over when the Armistice was signed. The Division was at Sedan the farthest American penetration of the war. The Division was the first to cross the Rhine into occupied Germany. By the end of the war, the Division had suffered 22,320 casualties in the war and boasted five Medal of Honor winners. Its colors carry campaign streamers for (1) Lorraine, 1917; (2) Lorraine, 1918; (3) Picardy, 1918; (4) Montdidier-Noyon; (5) Aisne-Marne; (6) St. Hihiel; and (7) Meuse- Argonne.

 The 1st Infantry Division entered World War II at Oran, North Africa, as part of the "Torch" Invasion, the first American campaign against Germany. On 8 November 1942, following training in the United Kingdom, soldiers of the Big Red One landed on the coast of Algeria near Oran. The initial lessons of combat were harsh and many men were casualties in the following campaign in Tunisia. On 9 May 1943, the commander of the German "Afrika Korps" surrendered his force of 40,000. The Division then moved on to take Sicily in "Operation Husky." The 1st Division stormed ashore at Gela on 10 July 1943 and quickly overpowered the preliminary Italian defenses. Soon after, the division came face-to-face with 100 tanks of the Herman Goering Tank Division. With the help of naval gunfire, it's own artillery, and Canadian Allies, the First Infantry Division fought its way over the island's hills, driving the enemy back. The Fighting First advanced onto capture Troiina and opening the allied road to the straits of Mesina.

  On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the Big Red One stormed ashore at Omaha Beach. Soon after H-Hour, the Division's 16th Regiment was fighting for its life on a strip of beach near Colleville-sur-Mer that had been marked the "Easy Red" on battle maps. Within two hours, the decimated unit huddled behind the seawall. The beach was so congested with the dead and the dying there was no room to land reinforcements. Colonel George Taylor, Commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, told his men "Two kinds of people are staying on this beach! The dead and those who are going to die! Now lets get the hell out of here!" Slowly, the move inland got underway. A German blockhouse above the beach became a command post named "Danger Forward." The Division moved through the Normandy hedgerows. The Division liberated Liege, Belgium, and pushed to the German border, crossing through the fortified Siegfried line. The 1st Infantry Division attacked the first major German city, Aachen, and after days of bitter fighting, the German commander surrendered the city on 21 October 1944.

   On 16 December, twenty-four enemy divisions, 10 of which were armored, launched a massive counter-attack the Ardennes sector, resulting in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. On 15 January 1945, the First Infantry attacked and penetrated the Siegfried Line for the second time and occupied the Remagen bridgehead. On Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945, the division marched 150 miles to the east of Siegen. On 8 April, the division crossed the Weser river, into Czechoslovakia. The war was over on 8 May 1945.

   By the end of World War II, the division had suffered 21,023 casualties and 43,743 men had served in its ranks. Its soldiers had won a total of 20,752 medals and awards including 16 Congressional Medals of Honor. Over 100,000 prisoners had been taken. Following the war, the First remained in Germany as occupation troops until 1955 when the Division moved to Fort Riley, Kansas.