November 2, 1975: Pier Paolo Pasolini is murdered on Ostia Beach in Rome. The legendary film director was 53.
Pasolini was born on March 5, 1922 in Bologna, Italy. Along with Federico Fellini, Vittorio de Sica, Silvio Amdaio, and some others, he was one of the directors who challenged the strict conventions of Italy, a traditionally very conservative country. His first film, in 1955, was The River Girl. But his best-remembered film is La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life), in 1960, with Anita Ekberg climbing into the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
Unlike those others, he went further outside the filming locations: He was a Marxist in a nation that hated Communism, and he was openly gay in a country that was Catholic all but officially. And yet, he told a very traditional version of Jesus' life with his 1964 film The Gospel According to St. Matthew, starring Enrique Irazoqui. Pasolini said he chose Matthew's version because, "John was too mystical, Mark too vulgar, and Luke too sentimental."
At the time of his death, he was about to release Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Set in World War II during the short-lived Republic of Salò, after Mussolini was deposed but before he was capture, it was heavily influenced by The Divine Comedy, the epic poem by Dante Aligheri -- by a macabre coincidence, also completed just before the author's death, in 1321.
Even after Pasolini's death, critics did not spare the film. It has been called "the sickest film ever made." It received only a limited release in the United States, with no rating at all, not even an X, and not until 1977.
But he would never read or hear such criticisms. On November 2, 1975, he was found on Ostia Beach, savagely beaten. The evidence suggested that, after his death, the killer took his car and ran him over with it.
Giuseppe Pelosi, then 17, confessed to the murder. He said that he did it in self-defense after Pasolini attempted to molest him. Since it was not exactly a secret that Pasolini liked teenage boys, this was enough to gain a conviction. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison, and served them all.
In 2005, Pelosi recanted: He said that Mafia hitmen had rubbed Pasolini out, claiming he was a "dirty Communist" (his politics were much more widely known than his sex life), and they pressured Pelosi to confess. He died in 2017. He was not related to Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, or her husband, Paul Pelosi.
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November 2, 1975 was a Sunday. There were 5 NHL games played on this day:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 6-4 at Madison Square Garden. Ranger fans cheered this defeat, because the Rangers had recently waived popular goaltender Eddie Giacomin, who was playing for the Wings in this game. I have a separate entry for this event.
* The Boston Bruins beat the California Golden Seals, 5-0 at the Boston Garden. This would be the last season in Oakland for the Seals franchise, who became the Cleveland Barons for 1976-77. For 1978-79, they merged with the Minnesota North Stars.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Kansas City Scouts, 10-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. This couldn't have been much more of a mismatch: The Flyers were the 2-time defending Stanley Cup Champions, while the Scouts were a 2nd-year expansion team. After this season, they moved to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies, a name that would later be given to Denver's baseball team. In 1982, the NHL's Rockies became the New Jersey Devils. Bobby Clarke, Orest Kindrachuk and Mel Bridgman each scored 2 goals.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-1 at the Chicago Stadium.
There were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:
* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Phoenix Roadrunners, 5-2 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Winnipeg Jets, 1-0 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* The Calgary Cowboys beat the New England Whalers, 4-3 in overtime at the Stampede Corral in Calgary.
* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the San Diego Mariners, 5-3 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
There were 3 games played in the NBA:
* The Houston Rockets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-89 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 116-113 in overtime at The Forum in the Los Angeles "suburb" of Inglewood, California. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 39 for the Lakers.
* And the Washington Bullets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 94-85 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There are 4 ABA games played:
* The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 123-111 at the Nassau Coliseum. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 35 points.
* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Denver Nuggets, 106-103 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
* The Spirits of St. Louis beat the Virginia Squires, 106-99 at the St. Louis Arena.
* And the San Diego Sails beat the San Antonio Spurs, 105-102 at the San Diego Sports Arena. (It's now named the Pechanga Arena.)
These NFL games were played on the day:
* The New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 24-23 at Shea Stadium. (The New York Giants played at Shea the day before, beating the San Diego Chargers, 35-24.)
* The Baltimore Colts beat the Cleveland Browns, 21-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 30-24 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The New Orleans Saints beat their arch-rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, 23-7 at the brand-new Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 30-24 in overtime at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Chicago Bears, 46-13 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 28-17 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the New England Patriots, 24-17 at Busch Memorial Stadium.
* The Houston Oilers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-13 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos, 42-17 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The Detroit Lions beat the San Francisco 49ers, 28-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Los Angeles Rams beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 42-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
Also on this day, child actor Danny Cooksey was born. As an adult, no longer recognizable, he turned to cartoon and video game voiceovers.
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