Malcolm McDowell
February 15, 1980: Cruising premieres, directed by William Friedkin, and starring Al Pacino as an undercover cop. It is loosely based on the 1970 novel of the same title, by The New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a serial killer targeting gay men. The title is a double entendre, because "cruising" can describe both police officers on patrol and men who are "cruising for sex" -- for women or men.
The film was poorly received by critics when released. The shooting and promotion were dogged by gay rights protesters, who believed that the film stigmatized them. Pacino subsequently called the film "exploitative."
Despite its theme, it is not the most controversial film released in America on this day. That would be Caligula, with Malcolm McDowell playing the mad Roman Emperor, in a film that would have made even his earlier Alex DeLarge of A Clockwork Orange say, "Blimey, you've gone too far!"
In real life, Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus became Emperor of Rome at age 25, in AD 37, about 4 years after the execution (and resurrection?) of Jesus of Nazareth, upon the death of his great uncle, Emperor Tiberius. He was known as Caligula, meaning "Little Boots," for the uniform he was given as boy while on campaigns with his father.
At first, he was popular. But after an illness that nearly killed him, he seemed to change. Perhaps the wilder stories about him were made up after the fact by his enemies, but those stories included having an affair with his own sister, raping the wives of captive Senators in front of them, and naming his horse a proconsul and himself a god. In AD 41, his own Praetorian Guard, having had enough of him, assassinated him.
The film was directed by Tinto Brass, written by none other than novelist Gore Vidal, and financed by Bob Guccione, publisher of the pornographic magazine Penthouse. With that in mind, it is not surprising that the film is loaded with sex scenes and outright sadism, reflecting what had been widely believed about not only Caligula, but Tiberius, whose depravity was often forgotten due to being allegedly surpassed by that of Caligula, whose name has become synonymous with depraved national leaders.
Teresa Ann Savoy played Drusilla, Caligula's sister/lover. Peter O'Toole played Tiberius, John Gielgud played his aide Nerva, Giancarlo Badessi played Claudius, Guido Mannari played Prateorian Guard leader Macro, and Helen Mirren played Milonia Caesonia, Caligula's 4th and last wife.
With the death of Caligula, his uncle, Claudius, was supported as the new Emperor. The BBC had already done a single-season series I, Claudius about that era of Rome, including Caligula's reign. In that series, which went about as far as the BBC's censors would allow -- and, in America, could then be shown only on PBS -- Caligula was played by John Hurt.
*
February 15, 1980 was a Friday. Singer Conor Oberst was born.
The Winter Olympics were underway in Lake Placid, New York. The U.S. hockey team was between Group Stage games: The day before, they beat Czechoslovakia, 7-3; and the day after, they beat Norway, 5-1. Seven days later, they would enter the Medal Round, and play the Soviet Union.
Baseball and football were out of season. There were 8 games in the NBA:
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons, 114-104 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-107 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Sonny Parker of the Warriors led all scorers on the night with 36 points.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Houston Rockets, 114-103 at The Summit in Houston. It's now the
Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Chicago Bulls, 131-124 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 111-98 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Washington Bullets, 116-104 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Kansas City Kings, 114-100 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in
Inglewood, California.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 106-91 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
And there were 2 games in the NHL. The Hartford Whalers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-4 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena). And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Washington Capitals, 8-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. The hero for the Oilers wasn't Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier or any other Hall-of-Famer: It was Blair MacDonald, with 3 goals and an assist.
