Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Emile Kuri, first Hispanic recipient of an Oscar

Emile Kuri, born June 11, 1907 in Cuernavaca, Mexico, was a set decorator who won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and was nominated fore six more.

In 1942, he was nominated for Best Art Direction for Silver Queen, becoming the first Hispanic to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category. He won the Academy Award in 1949 for The Heiress, and again in 1954 for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  

He received nominations for Carrie (1952), Executive Suite (1954), Executive Suite (1954), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), Mary Poppins (1964), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

Kuri passed away in October 2000.

"Blackbeard's Ghost" premieres (1968)

Walt Disney's fantastical story Blackbeard's Ghost premiered February 8, 1968.  It starred Peter Ustinov (as Blackbeard), Dean Jones, who probably starred in every live action Disney movie in the 60s and 70s and the lovely Suzanne Pleshette.

The basis of the movie was that Blackbeard, who had been cursed by his last wife (a witch) so he would never die, had to do a good deed to break the curse.  The screenplay was written by Bill Walsh.  He wrote many Disney screenplays, including Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, from 1950 until his death in 1975.

A squeaky-clean, antiseptic movie, Blackbeard's Ghost was a fun movie, but one must suspend copious disbelief, especially if one has any notion of the real Blackbeard, a man who shot a man indiscriminately.

My favorite movies: 1968-1973

My favorite moview from 1968-1973.  I got to 1974 and it's going to be another year where there are so many movies it is going to be hard to choose.

1968: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes





1969: Hello, Dolly! starring Barbara Streisand and Walter Matthau



1970: Airport starring Dean Martin, Helen Hayes, George Kennedy and everybody else.




1971: Bedknobs and Broomsticks starring Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson



1972: The Poseidon Adventure starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and everybody else.



1972 (runner-up): What's Up, Doc? starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal.



1973: The Three Musketeers starring Michael York, Faye Dunaway, Charlton Heston and everybody else.



1973 (runner-up): Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee and John Saxon.