August 30, 1951: The film David and Bathsheba premieres. Directed by Henry King, it tells of Israel's greatest king, played here by Gregory Peck, and his best-remembered wife, played by Susan Hayward. Producer Daryl F. Zanuck wanted the film, inspired by Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 film Samson and Delilah.
David is said to have ruled, roughly, between 1000 and 960 BC, and his life is told in the Bible's Books of 1st Samuel and 2nd Samuel, named for the prophet (played here by Paul Newlan) who told of David's coming.
David becomes infatuated with Bathsheba, wife of one of his generals, Uriah the Hittite (Kieron Moore), as his mistress. She returns his affections. (In the movie, anyway. The Hays Code was still in effect. Most sources suggest that, as King, he could force her to submit.) When she becomes pregnant, David's plan is to send Uriah on a suicide mission, and then, after his death, marry Bathsheba, and pass their child off as premature and legitimate. At first, Uriah resists, but finally follows orders, and is killed. David does marry Bathsheba.
The prophet Nathan (Raymond Massey) reminds David that he is still married to Michal (Jayne Meadows), and has committed the sins of adultery and bigamy. A drought hits the land, and the newborn child dies. (Although the Bible doesn't have nearly the same problem with bigamy that it has with adultery. The Hays Code had a problem with it, though, and it insisted that sinners be properly punishes, especially for sex offenses. But, being a Biblical story, the Code allowed for repentance.)
The people turn on David, and want him and Bathsheba to die for their sins. David tries to protect her, saying he is the one truly at fault, but she accepts her own responsibility. David, known as a poet, and the author of many of the entries in what became the Bible's Book of Psalms, recites what the modern world knows as his most famous work, Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want."
He decides to face God's judgement alone. He goes to the Ark of the Covenant, and begs God to stop punishing Israel, and Bathsheba in particular, for his sins. He touches the Ark, thinking it will mean certain death. But there is a thunderclap, and he has flashbacks to his youth, including his fight with Goliath (Walter Talun, a Croatian professional wrestler) and his anointing by Samuel. When he takes his hands off the Ark, rain begins to fall. God has accepted his repentance.
The film ends there. It does not tell of David's later life, including his conflict with his eldest son, Absalom; or of the son that is later born to him and Bathsheba, Solomon, whom David eventually chooses as his successor.
Michelangelo carved his statue of David in Florence, Italy in 1504. David has also been played in film by Finlay Currie in Solomon and Sheba in 1959, Jeff Chandler in A Story of David on ABC in 1961, Timothy Bottoms (younger) and Keith Michell (older) in The Story of David on ABC in 1976, Richard Gere in King David in 1985, Nathaniel Parker in David and Max von Sydow in Solomon in 1997, and, with the story moved into the present day, with Christopher Egan as a young Captain David Shepherd in the 2009 NBC series Kings.
Timothy Bottoms, who played the younger David in the 1976 ABC production, was born on August 30, 1951, the day David and Bathsheba premiered.
Bathsheba was played by Jane Seymour in The Story of David, Alice Krige in King David, and an older version by Anouk Aimée in Solomon.
One more thing: People call the story of a team or a person that wins when supposedly overmatched a "David vs. Goliath story." The funny thing is, people forget that David didn't kill Goliath with a slingshot, which sounds like a child's toy. He knocked Goliath out with a sling, which can be a very formidable weapon, and then used a sword to hack the giant's head off. Goliath was overconfident, and didn't put his shield up to block the slung stone. David won because Goliath was a fool. And it wasn't the only battle he won because his opponent was a fool.
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August 30, 1951 was a Thursday. This was also the day that the film Rhubarb premiered, and the New York Yankees traded Lew Burdette to the Boston Braves for Johnny Sain. I have separate entries for those events.
These baseball games were played:
* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-9 at the Polo Grounds. I guess the buzzer system was working that day, but couldn't overcome the poor pitching of George Spencer, Sheldon Jones, Dave Koslo and Larry Jansen, the last of whom gave up a 9th-inning home run to Ralph Kiner. Rookie Willie Mays hit 2 home runs.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Ebbets Field. Preacher Roe outpitched Ewell Blackwell. Jackie Robinson went 0-for-2, but also drew 2 walks and stole a base. Duke Snider went 1-for-3 with a walk.
The Giants only lost 5 more games over the course of the regular season, and on only 3 of those days -- September 8, 11 and 20 -- did the Dodgers also win.
* The Boston Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 16-2 at Braves Field in Boston. Earl Torgeson went 2-for-6 with a home run and 4 RBIs.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Stan Musial went 1-for-4.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Morrie Martin, in what had to be the career highlight for the lifetime 38-34 pitcher, outpitched Bob Feller.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-4 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ted Williams went 0-for-4, but did draw 2 walks.
* And the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, the St. Louis Browns and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.
