The Mormon Observer

The entire book of 1 Nephi movie.

Prophet and FLDS leader Warren Jeffs gives a sermon on Brigham Young and his Prophethood.

A Mormon Maid is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Charles Sarver and Paul West. While traveling westward with her family, Dora must face the proposal to become a Mormon elder's sixth wife. The film stars Mae Murray, Frank Borzage, Hobart Bosworth, Edythe Chapman, Noah Beery, Sr., and Richard Henry Cummings. The film was released on April 22, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.[1][2] The film survives complete.[3] Plot Set in the 1840s during the Mormon migration westward, this film introduces a young woman named Dora and her family as they travel west. After being saved from an Indian attack by a Mormon community, the family joins their wagon train traveling to Utah. Throughout the film, Dora is pursued by two men, one a recent convert to the church and the other a scheming elder with multiple wives. Dora's mother ends up killing herself due to her revulsion towards polygamy, leaving Dora to consider her own future and the man she loves.[4] The elder is a former apostle of the church and is determined to have Dora as his sixth wife. After refusing to marry him, Dora eventually ends up killing the old man as he tries to capture her for his own. To summarize, the plot of this film explores the implications of Dora's rejecting becoming a polygamist wife.[5] Cast Mae Murray as Dora Frank Borzage as Tom Rigdon Hobart Bosworth as John Hogue Edythe Chapman as Nancy Hogue Noah Beery, Sr. as Darius Burr Richard Henry Cummings as Lion of the Lord Reception Like many American films of the time, A Mormon Maid was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors cut two intertitles, "I am not a –" and "You have scoffed at our faith – now you will pay."[6] Many towns received this film with open arms, misunderstanding the film as an exposé on Mormonism and the religion's practices. One newspaper even went so far as to link the film to the K. K. K.[7]

State of Utah, Salt Lake City Travelogue This 1948 color film, “produced in cooperation with the state of Utah” by filmmaker Richard C. Sullivan provides a travelogue overview of natural landmarks and historic architecture in the Utah Valley, with many references to the Mormon faith and the achievements of its adherents (TRT: 29:18).Opening titles: “Viking Pictures presents” and “Valley of Triumph” over a spinning globe (0:08). “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them: and the desert shall rejoice and blossom...” A bible verse from the book of Isiah (0:48). Utah’s Great Salt Lake at sunset (1:20). A daytime view of the Salt Lake shore and a passing 1940s convertible automobile, with mountains and brine water in the background (1:46). Aerial photography and a panorama of the lake (1:57). POV a man cruising the lake in a small motorboat. Bathers in swimsuits (2:20). Two glass beakers, one full of water, another containing salt. A hand full of salt (2:35). A map of Utah indicates the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. Red lines from surrounding states converge upon the city (2:59). Former sea levels are visible on mountainsides surrounding the lake. The map indicates the previous size of Lake Bonneville, a prehistoric pluvial lake (3:35). Men on horseback ride down a mountainside. Scenes of the valley (3:59). Aerial photography of the Jordan river, farmland, residential zones (4:23). Horses at pasture nearby irrigation streams. A farmer labors to open an irrigation canal (5:07). Rows of bountiful crops at harvest time, with mountains in the background (5:36). Temple Square and a statue of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City International Airport and a United Airlines passenger plane (5:58). The Rio Grande Western Pacific Railway station and a Union Pacific Railway station. The Utah State Capitol building. The University of Utah campus in Orem (6:16). A neon sign welcoming people to Ogden, “Utah’s Fastest Growing City.” Brigham City, nestled in the Wasatch mountain range. A sign: “World’s Greatest Game Bird Refuge” (6:45). Water birds in flight. A man walks with three young girls. A Canadian goose and hatching eggs. Goslings (7:05). Tundra swans. Ibises. A baby bird stands shakily on its legs. Ducks. A pelican. Geese. A large flock of seagulls (8:12). A monumental statue of seagulls in Temple Square. Extended montage of seagulls in closeup and in flight. Babies hatching (9:26). Men in a boat. Rowing towards “Pelican Island” aka Gunnison Island. A montage of pelicans in closeup and from afar. A man taunts a pelican up close and is pecked at defensively (11:36). A Santa Fe steam locomotive. The Lucin Cutoff railroad line, originally built by the Southern Pacific (12:41). Antelope Island State Park in Davis County (13:47). The Bonneville Salt Flats. A 1940s convertible drives quickly toward the camera. The car parks, and passengers get out. A salt deposit is extracted on the base of a telephone pole. The car speeds over the salt flats and collects on whitewall tires (14:22). The Inland Crystal Salt Co. Water drains from a ditch. A man in overalls shovels salt. Driving tractors scoop and pile salt. A steam shovel dumps salt (16:06). Sunset Beach and Black Rock. A billboard for the “World Famous Saltair: Dining, Dancing, Bathing” (17:58). A boat ride loaded with children. Signs: “Do Not Dive.” A convertible piled high with women in bathing suits. They run into the water at Sunset Beach (18:22). The women ride a motorboat. The women bathers, wearing bathing caps, enter the water and float due to the water’s buoyancy. A bald man gets salt in his eyes, then passes out newspapers to the women (18:55). A portrait of the ladies at rest (21:09). Salt Lake City’s Mormon Temple and tourists. The Great Tabernacle Organ and choir in performance (21:16). Scenic views of Utah Valley (25:07). Peaches. More scenic views, with lyrics superimposed (26:05). Sunset over Temple Square (28:44).A condensed version of this film “Valley of Triumph” was played at the LDS visitors center in Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Sullivan Richardson also filmed a 1947 reenactment film about the Sons of Utah Pioneers entitled, “This is the Place.”

Theodore Roosevelt Jr.[b] (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or T. R., was an American politician, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He was previously active in New York politics and served as the state's 33rd governor for two years. He was the vice president under President William McKinley for six months in 1901, assuming the presidency after McKinley's assassination. As president, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies. A sickly child with debilitating asthma, Roosevelt overcame health problems through a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality and a range of interests and achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard College. His book The Naval War of 1812 established his reputation as a historian and popular writer. Roosevelt became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in the New York State Legislature. His first wife and mother died on the same night, devastating him psychologically. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. Roosevelt served as assistant secretary of the Navy under McKinley, and in 1898 helped plan the successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish Army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, Roosevelt was elected New York's governor in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to choose him as his running mate in the 1900 presidential election; the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace, and prosperity. Roosevelt assumed the presidency aged 42, and is the youngest person to become US president. As a leader of the progressive movement, he championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, which called for fairness for all citizens, breaking bad trusts, regulating railroads, and pure food and drugs. Roosevelt prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments to preserve America's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America, beginning construction of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project naval power. His successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, the first American to win a Nobel Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and promoted policies to the left, despite opposition from Republican leaders. He groomed his ally William Howard Taft to succeed him in 1908. Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's conservatism and tried, and failed, to win the 1912 Republican presidential nomination. He founded the new Progressive Party and ran in 1912; the split allowed the Democratic Woodrow Wilson to win. Roosevelt led a four-month expedition to the Amazon basin, where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the US out; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. Roosevelt's health deteriorated and he died in 1919. Polls of historians and political scientists rank him as one of the greatest American presidents. Early life Roosevelt at age 11 Roosevelt's birthplace at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City.[1] He was the second of four children born to socialite Martha Stewart Bulloch and businessman and philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne).[2] Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C. V. S." Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill, and a brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A. Roosevelt. Martha was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P. "Patsy" Stewart.[3] Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors had no cure.[4] Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive.[5] His lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught. At age nine, he recorded his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects".[6] Family trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective.[7] Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt discovered the benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits.[8] Roosevelt began a heavy regimen of exercise. After being manhandled by two older boys on the way to a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen his body.[9][10] Education Roosevelt was homeschooled. In 1998, biographer H. W. Brands wrote that, "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven coverage of the various areas of human knowledge."[11] He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. In September 1876, he entered Harvard College. His father instructed him to, "take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies."[12] His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878, devastated Roosevelt.[13] He inherited $60,000 (equivalent to $1,894,345 in 2023), enough wealth on which he could live comfortably for the rest of his life.[14] His father, a devout Presbyterian, regularly led the family in prayers. While at Harvard, young Theodore emulated him by teaching Sunday School for more than three years at Christ Church in Cambridge. When the minister at Christ Church, which was an Episcopal church, eventually insisted he become an Episcopalian to continue teaching, Roosevelt declined, and instead began teaching a mission class in a poor section of Cambridge.[15] Roosevelt did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory.[16] While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing. Roosevelt was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor of The Harvard Advocate.[citation needed] In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. In 1931, biographer Henry F. Pringle wrote: Roosevelt, attempting to analyze his college career and weigh the benefits he had received, felt that he had obtained little from Harvard. He had been depressed by the formalistic treatment of many subjects, by the rigidity, the attention to minutiae that were important in themselves, but which somehow were never linked up with the whole.[17] Roosevelt gave up his earlier plan of studying natural science and decided to attend Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Although Roosevelt was an able law student, he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time writing a book on the War of 1812.[18] Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the 59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party and defeated an incumbent Republican state assemblyman tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling closely. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class."[18] Naval history and strategy While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the United States Navy in the War of 1812.[19][20] In preparation, Roosevelt interviewed his uncle James Dunwoody Bulloch, a former Confederate naval officer. He scrutinized original source materials, ultimately publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and comparisons of British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and style, and it remains a standard study of the war.[21] With the 1890 publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, US Navy Captain, Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Mahan had argued that only nations with significant naval power had been able to influence the course of history, dominate the world's oceans, exert their diplomacy to the fullest, and defend their own borders.[22][23] Mahan popularized a concept that had been little appreciated before his seminal work. It has been commonly believed that Roosevelt's ideas were almost entirely derived from Mahan's book. An alternate view was put forth by naval historian, Nicolaus J. Danby who felt that Roosevelt's ideas on sea power predated Mahan's book.[24] First marriage and widowerhood In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee.[25] Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of undiagnosed kidney failure. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large "X" on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." His mother, Martha, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house on 57th Street in Manhattan. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three.[26] After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized in the mayor's office.[27] For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography.[28] Early political career State Assemblyman Roosevelt as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1883 In 1881, Roosevelt won election to New York State Assembly, representing the 21st district, then centered on the "Silk Stocking District" of New York County's Upper East Side. He served in the 1882, 1883, and 1884 sessions of the legislature. He began making his mark immediately: he blocked a corrupt effort of financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt also exposed the suspected collusion of Gould and Judge Theodore Westbrook and argued for and received approval for an investigation to proceed, aiming for the judge to be impeached. Although the investigation committee rejected the proposed impeachment, Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany and assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications.[29] Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made even more impressive by the victory that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won in Roosevelt's district.[30] With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as the Republican party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill.[31] Roosevelt won re-election a second time and sought the office of Speaker, but Titus Sheard obtained the position.[32][33] In his final term, Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities, during which he wrote more bills than any other legislator.[34] Presidential election of 1884 See also: 1884 United States presidential election With numerous presidential hopefuls from whom to choose, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont. The state Republican Party preferred incumbent president, Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Roosevelt fought for and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica. He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; consequently, he gained a national reputation as a key politician in his state.[35] Roosevelt attended 1884 Republican National Convention in Chicago, where he gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be the temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers against Blaine. However, Blaine gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, and won the nomination on the fourth ballot. In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of his fellow Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman... To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe."[36] He was also impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to that date. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River.[37] Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York and the Democratic nominee in the general election. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt carelessly said he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication".[38] When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "That question I decline to answer. It is a subject I do not care to talk about."[39] In the end, he realized that he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the GOP and he did so in a press release on July 19.[40] Having lost the support of many reformers, and still reeling from the recent deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt decided to retire from politics and move to North Dakota.[41] Cattle rancher in Dakota Roosevelt as a Badlands hunter in 1885 Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison.[42] Exhilarated by the western lifestyle and with the cattle business booming in the territory, Roosevelt invested $14,000 ($457,800 in 2023) in hopes of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For the next several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and his ranch in Dakota.[43] Following the 1884 United States presidential election, Roosevelt built Elkhorn Ranch 35 mi (56 km) north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed.[44] However, he identified with the herdsman of history. A cowboy, he said, possesses, "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation".[45][46] He began writing about frontier life for national magazines; he also published three books: Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter.[47] Roosevelt successfully led efforts to organize ranchers there to address the problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns, which resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats.[48] In 1886, Roosevelt served as a deputy sheriff in Billings County, North Dakota. During this time, he and two ranch hands hunted down three boat thieves.[49] The severe winter of 1886–1887 wiped out his herd of cattle and those of his competitors and over half of his $80,000 investment ($2.71 million in 2023).[50][51] He ended his ranching life and returned to New York, where he escaped the damaging label of an ineffectual intellectual.[52] Second marriage Roosevelt and members of his family. Left to right: Ethel, Kermit, Quentin, Edith, Ted, Theodore Jr., Archibald, Alice, and Nicholas Longworth On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood friend, Edith Kermit Carow.[53] Roosevelt felt deeply troubled that his second marriage was soon after the death of his first wife and he faced resistance from his sisters.[54] The couple married nonetheless at St George's, Hanover Square, in London, England.[55] The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. They also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother.[56] Reentering public life Upon Roosevelt's return to New York in 1886, Republican leaders quickly approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the 1886 election.[57] Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard for the position, but Hewitt won with 41% (90,552 votes), taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31% (68,110 votes), and Roosevelt took third place with 27% (60,435 votes).[58][59] Fearing that his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned his attention to writing The Winning of the West, a historical work tracking the westward movement of Americans; the book was a great success for Roosevelt, earning favorable reviews and quickly selling all the copies from the first printing.[60] Civil Service Commission After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison.[61] On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895.[62] While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure,[63] Roosevelt vigorously fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws.[64] The Sun then described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic".[65] Roosevelt frequently clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out numerous patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically.[66] Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the presidential election of 1892, the eventual winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him to the same post.[67] Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system: The very citadel of spoils politics, the hitherto impregnable fortress that had existed unshaken since it was erected on the foundation laid by Andrew Jackson, was tottering to its fall under the assaults of this audacious and irrepressible young man... Whatever may have been the feelings of the (fellow Republican party) President (Harrison)—and there is little doubt that he had no idea when he appointed Roosevelt that he would prove to be so veritable a bull in a china shop—he refused to remove him and stood by him firmly till the end of his term.[65] New York City Police Commissioner In 1894, a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it.[68] William Lafayette Strong, a reform-minded Republican, won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners.[61][69] Roosevelt became president of the board of commissioners and radically reformed the police force. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.[70] In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt: When Roosevelt read [my] book, he came... No one ever helped as he did. For two years we were brothers in (New York City's crime-ridden) Mulberry Street. When he left I had seen its golden age... There is very little ease where Theodore Roosevelt leads, as we all of us found out. The lawbreaker found it out who predicted scornfully that he would "knuckle down to politics the way they all did", and lived to respect him, though he swore at him, as the one of them all who was stronger than pull... that was what made the age golden, that for the first time a moral purpose came into the street. In the light of it everything was transformed.[71] Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty.[72] He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against boss Tom Platt as well as Tammany Hall—he was notified that the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, but he also delighted in the insults, caricatures, and lampoons directed at him, and earned some good will.[73] Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party.[74] As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a single Police Commissioner.[75] Emergence as national figure Assistant Secretary of the Navy The Asiatic Squadron destroying the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election.[76] Roosevelt strongly opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics. He gave scores of campaign speeches for McKinley.[77] Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897.[78] Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships.[79] Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba.[80] He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897: I would regard war with Spain from two viewpoints: first, the advisability on the grounds both of humanity and self-interest of interfering on behalf of the Cubans, and of taking one more step toward the complete freeing of America from European dominion; second, the benefit done our people by giving them something to think of which is not material gain, and especially the benefit done our military forces by trying both the Navy and Army in actual practice.[81] On February 15, 1898, USS Maine, an armored cruiser, exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution.[82] Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war.[82][83] George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders.[84] After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War.[85] War in Cuba Further information: Rough Riders Colonel Roosevelt in 1898 Colonel Roosevelt and the Rough Riders along with members of the 3rd Volunteers and the 10th Cavalry Regiment after capturing Kettle Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War in July 1898 With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in April 1898, Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.[86] His wife and many of his friends begged Roosevelt to remain in his post in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country.[87] Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", the regiment was one of many temporary units active only for the duration of the war.[88] The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas, and in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills.[89] The Rough Riders used some standard issue gear and some of their own design, purchased with gift money. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler, which itself was one of three divisions in the V Corps under Major General William Rufus Shafter. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the Rough Riders on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong. Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions.[90] Under Roosevelt's leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded.[91] In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill (part of the San Juan Heights) as "the great day of my life". In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions;[92] he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it.[93] After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel", though "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, even though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker.[94][page needed] Governor of New York After leaving Cuba in August 1898, the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever.[95] Shortly after Roosevelt's return to the United States, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Prospering politically from the Platt machine, Roosevelt's gradual rise to power was marked by the pragmatic decisions of New York machine boss Thomas C. "Tom" Platt, who disliked Roosevelt personally. Platt additionally feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black. Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus by a vote of 753 to 218, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election.[96] Roosevelt campaigned vigorously on his war record, winning the election by a margin of just one percent.[97] As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He studied the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".[98] By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base.[99] Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys".[100] He rejected "boss" Thomas C. Platt's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises.[101] The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".[102] G. Wallace Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society.[98] Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations on the one hand and radical movements on the other.[103] As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president.[104] Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the Republican nomination in 1900 and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900.[105] Vice presidency (1901) Main article: 1900 United States presidential election In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination.[106] Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination.[107] Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination if the convention offered it to him but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Mark Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket.[108] Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously.[109] Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and a match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's barnstorming style. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of those who won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. The voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896.[110][111] Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament.[112] Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned.[113] On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."[114] Presidency (1901–1909) Main article: Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt Official White House portrait of Roosevelt by John Singer Sargent in 1903 On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt was vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont,[115] and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondack Mountains.[116] When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again rushed back to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.[117] McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Ohio Senator Mark Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley. Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the 1904 election.[118] Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. This sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction among whites across the heavily segregated South.[119] Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the white South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided;[120] their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at 10:00 a.m. instead.[121] Domestic policies: The Square Deal Further information: Square Deal Trust busting and regulation For his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster".[122] Roosevelt viewed big business as a necessary part of the American economy and sought only to prosecute the "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices.[123] He brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly; and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company.[124][122] Presidents Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley combined had prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations under the Sherman Antitrust Act.[122] Bolstered by his party's winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to the Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the antitrust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. Roosevelt successfully appealed to the public to pressure Congress, and Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass Roosevelt's version of the bill.[125] In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policymaking: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands states, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve."[126] In fact, Roosevelt's willingness to exercise his power included attempted rule changes in the game of football; at the U.S. Naval Academy, he sought to force retention of martial arts classes and to revise disciplinary rules. He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of 300 words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board. He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the U.S. House of Representatives.[127] Coal strike Main article: Coal strike of 1902 In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition.[128][129] Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man."[130] Roosevelt was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.[131] Prosecuted misconduct During Roosevelt's second year in office, it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service, the United States General Land Office, and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various Native American tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands. In November 1902, Roosevelt and Secretary Ethan A. Hitchcock forced Binger Hermann, the General Land Office Commissioner, to resign from office. On November 6, 1903, Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor and obtained 146 indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July 1905, and sentenced to six months in prison.[132] More corruption was found in the Postal Department, that brought on the indictments of 44 government employees on charges of bribery and fraud.[133] Historians generally agree that Roosevelt moved "quickly and decisively" to prosecute misconduct in his administration.[134] Railroads Main article: Hepburn Act Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, fought back. Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable".[135][136] In addition to rate-setting, the Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and several other aspects of railroad operations.[137] Pure food and drugs Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, helped galvanize support for reform.[138] The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908, and in 1909 he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children.[139] Conservation Main article: Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt § Conservation Roosevelt driving through a sequoia tree tunnel Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in the conservation of natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife.[140] Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that often met with resistance from Western members of Congress, such as Charles William Fulton.[141] Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately 230 million acres (930,000 square kilometers).[142] In part due to his dedication to conservation, Roosevelt was voted in as the first honorary member of the Camp-Fire Club of America.[143] Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as president.[144] By the end of his second term in office, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 150 million acres (600,000 square kilometers) of reserved forestry land.[145] Roosevelt was unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite the perception in Congress that he was encroaching on too many lands.[145] Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton (R-OR) attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill that effectively prevented the president from reserving any further land.[145] Before signing that bill into law, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign the bill into law.[146] In total, Roosevelt used executive orders to establish 121 forest reserves in 31 states.[146] Prior to Roosevelt, only one president had issued over 200 executive orders, Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1,081.[147] Business panic of 1907 Further information: Panic of 1907 A 1907 portrait of Roosevelt by Harris & Ewing In 1907, Roosevelt faced the greatest domestic economic crisis since the Panic of 1893. Wall Street's stock market entered a slump in early 1907, and many investors blamed Roosevelt's regulatory policies for the decline in stock prices.[148] Roosevelt ultimately helped calm the crisis by meeting with the leaders of U.S. Steel on November 4, 1907, and approving their plan to purchase a Tennessee steel company near bankruptcy—its failure would ruin a major New York bank.[149] He thus approved the growth of one of the largest and most hated trusts.[citation needed] However, in August, Roosevelt had exploded in anger at the super-rich for their economic malfeasance, calling them "malefactors of great wealth" in a major speech titled, "The Puritan Spirit and the Regulation of Corporations". Trying to restore confidence, he blamed the crisis primarily on Europe, but then, after saluting the unbending rectitude of the Puritans, he went on:[150] It may well be that the determination of the government...to punish certain malefactors of great wealth, has been responsible for something of the trouble; at least to the extent of having caused these men to combine to bring about as much financial stress as possible, in order to discredit the policy of the government and thereby secure a reversal of that policy, so that they may enjoy unmolested the fruits of their own evil-doing. Regarding the very wealthy, Roosevelt privately scorned, "...their entire unfitness to govern the country, and ... the lasting damage they do by much of what they think are the legitimate big business operations of the day".[151] Foreign policy Main article: Foreign policy of the Theodore Roosevelt administration Japan The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that Japan would dominate or seize the Hawaiian Republic.[152] Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan.[153] In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, Roosevelt wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values, but he did not envision any new acquisitions. One of Roosevelt's priorities during his presidency and afterwards, was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan.[154][155] From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.[156] Though he proclaimed that the United States would be neutral during the Russo-Japanese War, Roosevelt secretly favored Imperial Japan to emerge victorious against the Russian Empire. He wanted the influence of the Russians to weaken in order to take them out in the Pacific diplomatic equation, with the Japanese emerging to their spot as the Russian replacement.[157] In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. It ended explicit discrimination against the Japanese, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States.[158] The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908 during its round-the-world tour. Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment, the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome by Japanese elite as well as the general public. This goodwill facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.[159] [160] China Following the Boxer Rebellion, foreign powers, including the United States, required China to pay them indemnities as part of the Boxer protocol. In 1908, Roosevelt appropriated these indemnities for the Boxer Indemnity Scholarships, which funded tens of thousands of Chinese students to study in the U.S. over the next 40 years.[161]: 91  Europe Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power.[162] Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad.[163] He also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany.[164] Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat.[165] In 1901, Britain and the United States signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the United States from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.[166] The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the United States, as Great Britain was unwilling to alienate the United States over what it considered to be a secondary issue. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."[167] Latin America and Panama Canal As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal.[168] Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term the United States had more battleships than any other country besides Britain. The Panama Canal, when it opened in 1914, allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters.[169] In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis.[170] The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: "Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power."[171] Roosevelt felt American dominance of the region was essential to building the Panama Canal. He used military dominance to ensure Panama successfully revolted and achieved independence in 1903. The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes—Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in 1903.[172] Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $13.56 billion in 2023) for the rights and equipment to build the canal.[134] Critics charged that an American investor syndicate allegedly divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, 1906, message to Congress. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases".[173] Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings.[174] Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the World and the News but are divided on whether actual corruption in acquiring and building the Panama Canal took place.[175] In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines, if necessary, without congressional approval.[176] Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard reports that: The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and real politician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism.[177] On November 6, 1906, Roosevelt was the first president to depart the continental United States on an official diplomatic trip. Roosevelt made a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico[178] aboard the USS Louisiana.[179][180] He visited the Panama Canal worksite, visiting extensively with the workers there. He and Edith Roosevelt also attended diplomatic receptions in both Panama and Puerto Rico.[178] Media A 1903 cartoon, "Go Away, Little Man, and Don't Bother Me", depicting Roosevelt intimidating Colombia to acquire the Panama Canal Zone Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.[181] Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. "The liar", he said, "is no whit better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves."[182] The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After 1904, he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the U.S. Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in state courts. The Justice Department had predicted that result and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly.[183] Election of 1904 Main article: 1904 United States presidential election 1904 United States presidential election results The control and management of the Republican Party lay in the hands of Ohio Senator and Republican Party chairman Mark Hanna until McKinley's death. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the 1904 Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker, forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the 1904 nomination.[184] Unwilling to break with the president, Hanna was forced to publicly endorse Roosevelt. Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early 1904, and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination.[185] In deference to Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President.[186] The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated.[187] Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination.[185] While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.[188] The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt himself.[189] Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time ordering Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $3.4 million in 2023) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil.[190] Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public.[190] Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...".[191] Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal".[191] Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote, and Parker received 38%; Roosevelt also won the Electoral College vote, 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term.[192] Democrats afterwards would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations during Roosevelt's second term.[193] Second term As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass.[194] In his last year in office, he was assisted by his friend Archibald Butt (who later perished in the sinking of RMS Titanic).[195] Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen.[196] He sought a national incorporation law (at a time when all corporations had state charters), called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws.[197] The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery that financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $5.1 million in 2023) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him.[198] Rhetoric of righteousness Roosev

FLDS Leader and Prophet reads the Poem of Zion

Isaac Jeffs Speaks about FLDS Prophet and Leader Warren Jeffs.

Leroy Jeffs speaks about Time.

Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley is known as a prosperous agricultural area, but it also contains pockets of rural poverty. The most visible aspect of this poverty is substandard housing. In a fascinating look at an isolated and marginalized social group, this film focuses on two couples for whom an improvement in housing has fostered hopes for a better life. A Ballad of South Mountain is the first of two documentaries dealing with some of the problems of, and solutions to, rural poverty in the Annapolis Valley. The Church and the Hearth is a fake Church who supports homosexuality. No support should be given to them for any reason because they are in league with Lucifer.

Ben Shaffer speaks about the Ken Follet Discourse

Old VHS taping of how the KKK came to be. Some wanker decided to watermark it. Sorry. Wasn't me.

With all the news coming out of Gaza, it has been easy to overlook the low-level war that Israel has been waging with Hezbollah, the paramilitary and political group in next-door Lebanon. But recently, both sides have been ratcheting up the rhetoric - and this bodes badly for the prospects for regional peace.

The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey is a 2003 American adventure drama film directed by Gary Rogers and written by Rogers and Craig Clyde. A film adaptation of the first two books in the Book of Mormon, the film was given a limited theatrical release on September 12, 2003. Plot The film is based on the first two books of the Book of Mormon: First Nephi and Second Nephi. The source material contains much theological discussion, and parables, some of which have been cut from the adaptation due to their unsuitability as narrative material. Some of the visionary material is retained. The film starts in Jerusalem around 600 BC, where the audience meets patriarch Lehi, his wife Sariah, and their four sons: Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. Lehi and his wife are devout believers in God, as are their sons, Nephi and Sam. Laman and Lemuel are more wayward and do not tend to agree with the commands of God or their father and brother Nephi. While in Jerusalem, Lehi prophesies that the city will be destroyed. This elicits a negative reaction from many people, to the point of their wanting to kill him. The family flees into the desert at this point and becomes nomadic. While in the wilderness, Lehi sends Nephi and his brothers back to Jerusalem to try to get hold of the Brass Plates, as commanded by God. The Brass Plates are inscribed with ancient scriptures and records that they need to take with them on their journey and which will form part of the basis of the Book of Mormon. However, these plates are within the compound of a powerful and violent man called Laban, who has many men under his command. They first try to persuade Laban to hand over the plates, but eventually a fight ensues and they are forced to flee. One of Laban's servants, Zoram, ends up defecting to Lehi's side and joins his family in the desert. Ishmael and Lehi's families intermarry, but Ishmael dies in the Arabian wilderness. The group is ordered to build a boat to take them to the new Promised Land, which they do with limited resources. Laman and Lemuel once more start complaining about this idea, but they all end up boarding this ship and leaving the Old World for the New. They arrive in the New World after this voyage, but the quarrel within the family continues. After Lehi dies in the promised land, Laman and Lemuel, and their families, rebel again, and turn to evil things. The Lamanites separate from the Nephites.[3][4] Because of this, Nephi and his allies have to escape them, and once more go into the wilderness. Cast Noah Danby as Nephi Bryce Chamberlain as Lehi Jan Broberg Felt as Sariah Cragun Foulger as Lemuel Mark Gollaher as Laman Kirby Heyborne as Sam Sue Rowe as daughter of Lehi Bruce Newbold as Moroni Bern Kubiak as Jesus Christ Jacque Gray as Nephi's wife Ron Frederickson as Ishmael Todd Davis as Zoram Michael Flynn as Laban Richard J. Clifford as Lucan Brad Johnson as Jonathan Production Development Rogers's inspiration was the Cecil B. DeMille 1956 version of The Ten Commandments. He envisioned The Book of Mormon as one long historical epic. His plan was to make nine films that cover the entire story of the book. The film's length is two hours, and it was revealed on the DVD commentary that the first cut of the film was two hours and forty minutes. Casting Noah Danby was cast as Nephi because of his strong resemblance to the art of Arnold Friberg, who created a series of paintings inspired by The Book of Mormon. [citation needed] He had never read the Book of Mormon prior to his casting. Danby is a devout Lutheran, and while at first he didn't feel comfortable in making the film due to religious differences, he has said in an interview for The Hollywood Reporter that he took the role to gain experience as an actor. Filming The desert scenes were filmed in Utah in the spring, and it was very cold. The "great and spacious building" was a five-foot miniature. The boat does not appear in the theatrical version of the scene in which the family arrives in the promised land. It was digitally added to that scene for the DVD version. Mike Ripplinger[5] directed and filmed the behind-the-scenes portion on the DVD release. The film was mentioned in Paul C. Gutjahrs 2012 book The Book of Mormon: A Biography.[6] Release The film was rated PG-13 for "a scene of violence", having contained an image of Nephi with blood splatter on his face after beheading Laban. This image was removed for home media releases, and the film received a PG rating on DVD. Box office Produced for $1.5 million, Book of Mormon opened in 29 theaters on September 12, 2003 and made $114,573 in its first weekend, ranking number 41 in the domestic box office.[7] The film played for 35 weeks before closing on May 13, 2004, its widest release being 38 theaters, and it had grossed $1,680,020.[2] It is the fourth highest-grossing film in the history of LDS cinema.[8] Critical reception The film was widely panned by Latter-day Saint and non-Latter-day Saint critics.[9][10] Variety described it as "[w]ell meaning but often as tediously earnest as a Sunday sermon".[11] In the Mormon Blogosphere, A Motley Vision gave it a grade of C−.[12] In a 2010 literary study of the Book of Mormon, scholar Grant Hardy mentioned the film as "a not entirely successful attempt to bring the Book of Mormon to the big screen."[13]:20 Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes scored 17% of 6 critics giving the film a positive review.[14]

Allentown - On a small mountain ridge known as the Hollow, in the foothills of the Adirondacks, indoor plumbing was first installed six years ago and many people still do not have telephones. There may be a few signs of modernization in the area, which social workers call the Appalachia of the North: Subsistence farmers no longer keep animals inside their homes. Sales people sometimes venture in now. And more parents are sending their children to school, although they say heavy snow on the mountain roads often keeps them from reaching classes during the long winters. Still, most people in the Hollow, home to several hundred descendants of two farming families that settled here in the early 19th century, continue to make their living as the woodsmen and trappers they have been for nearly 200 years, selling firewood or serving as guides. Few apply for social services, and the authorities rarely intervene in their lives. There are no officials, no leaders, elected or otherwise, in the Hollow, which is 35 miles north of Saratoga Springs and is in the town of Day in the northwestern corner of Saratoga County, bordering Warren County. "We lead our own life," said Howie Kathan, 34. "That's the best way." Claude Allen, who has spent all but three months of his life in the Hollow, is among the town elders at age 56. "I've not seen a lot of changes since I was a boy," he said as he tended a pot of boiling soup in the kitchen of the four-room wood home where he was raised. Mr. Allen said that was fine by him. The Allen and Kathan families stayed behind when most of their neighbors left the Great Sacandaga Valley in the 1930's after construction of a river dam flooded their farmland, and the mills that had been the mainstay of the economy failed in the Depression. Despite their history of hardship, few residents of the Hollow, or Allentown, as outsiders call it, show any desire to make a home anywhere else. "I left this town a while back, but I came back" after a year, said Jerry Allen, 28, who went as far as Corinth, 10 miles away. "They all come back because they miss it here. Down there I didn't see none of my people. I couldn't take it." An anthropology professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs said he occasionally mentions Allentown in class "as an illustration that you can do anthropological studies without going to a foreign land." The deputy commissioner of Saratoga County's Department of Social Services calls it "a sociological pocket." But it is not the dirt-floor shacks or dilapidated trailers that set residents of the Hollow apart from others living in rural poverty and isolation. Rather, over the years, dark tales of inbreeding and abuse -- which county officials say were grossly exaggerated -- made outsiders wary. Lynn Allen, who is 23 and has enrolled her 4-year-old daughter in a Head Start program in nearby Luzerne, said most of the talk about intermarriage was ancient history. "Everybody up in here's related" but nobody marries close relations these days, she said. "One guy married his first cousin and everyone was condemning him, but he was adopted." Editors’ Picks Air-Conditioning for Olympians? It Is a ‘High-Performance Decision.’ Is It OK to Police My Patient’s Financial Choices? R.I.P. to Yet Another Form of Creeping on the Internet Still, folklore about Allentown's clannish, closed society eventually became somewhat self-fulfilling, as families from the Hollow withdrew from a world they viewed as hostile. "A lot of kids get made fun of in school and called Allentowners," said Carol Kathan, 22, who was trying her best to keep her three young children from playing in the mud outside her trailer. "Kids with stonewashed jeans and Reeboks used to tell us to go home and dump our pails." In 1973, a documentary film called "The Hollow" focused local attention on inadequate health care and substandard housing here. But the attention was unwanted, the residents here said, and most of the social workers from various agencies who offered help were turned away. Clifford Logan of the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council said his agency had weatherized 150 homes in the Allentown area since then. "Once you do something nice for somebody you're accepted," he said, adding that he believes residents of the Hollow are slowly becoming more comfortable with outsiders. "They've been a town with a gate, and they're opening up." No Welfare, Thank You But Emily Smith, deputy commissioner for the County Social Services Department, said the number of public assistance cases in the entire Hollow was "probably not more than a couple of handfuls" and has not grown in 15 years. "They still tend to be a very close-knit group and they take care of each other," she said. "Their ways don't change much. They're happy and that's their way of life. To you and me, our standards are much higher but they don't have those high standards and they're not striving to have them." James Bowen, the Saratoga County Sheriff, said his services are rarely requested. "We don't get a lot of calls from Allentown," he said. "They sort of police themselves." While a local fire department provides service for the area, he said, "If one of the Allens has a fire, one of the Allens next door will help put it out." Proud of their independence and heritage of hard work, several residents of the Hollow said they wouldn't have it any other way. But not everyone is content. The only newcomer who did not marry into the community said he doesn't even want to feel at home in Allentown. "It's a place to live," said Harry Ladd, who arrived 15 years ago but is still considered a newcomer. "But a lot of times people up in here like the way they live. It's a disgrace." David Allen, 67, mending a barbed-wire fence outside a small house with a "For Sale" sign, said he would move when it was sold, along with two other small structures, a fine pond and three head of cattle, for a total of $20,000. "I got to sell them all together or I can't sell any," he said. He said he still had not yet decided where he might go if they did sell. "I haven't been much of anywhere, so it'd be hard to tell you," he said.

The Golden Palace is an American sitcom television series produced as a sequel to The Golden Girls, a continuation without Bea Arthur (though she did guest star in a double episode) that aired on CBS from September 18, 1992, to May 7, 1993. It starred Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, Cheech Marin, and Don Cheadle. Billy L. Sullivan also co-starred for the first half of its run. Not as popular as its predecessor, the series aired for a single 24-episode season and was canceled by CBS. Synopsis The Golden Palace begins where The Golden Girls had ended, in the quartet's now-sold Miami house. With Dorothy Zbornak having married and left in the previous series finale, the three remaining housemates (Sophia Petrillo, Rose Nylund, and Blanche Devereaux) invest in The Golden Palace, a Miami hotel that is for sale. The hotel, however, is revealed to have been stripped of all of its personnel in an effort to appear more profitable, leaving only two employees: Roland Wilson, the hotel's manager; and Chuy Castillos, the hotel's chef. This requires the women to help perform the hotel duties. The series focuses on the interactions between hotel staff and guests. Celebrity guest stars were frequent,[1] and the series also featured the return of some recurring actors from The Golden Girls, such as Debra Engle as Rebecca Devereaux, Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak and Harold Gould as Miles Webber. Bea Arthur reprised her role as Dorothy Zbornak for a two-part storyline in which she visits the hotel to check on her mother.[2][3] Cast Betty White as Rose Nylund, a jack-of-all-trades in the hotel. In some episodes, this series has Rose being of a notably stronger will than her previous incarnation (as Dorothy Zbornak noted in her guest appearance, "When did she become the strong one?"). Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, the main operator of the hotel. Her character traits, particularly her promiscuity and vanity, are somewhat toned down in this series, although she retains her Southern charm and generally chipper demeanor. Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, the hotel's 87-year-old co-chef. Don Cheadle as Roland Wilson, the hotel's manager and a straight man to the rest of the cast. He is one of only two staff members retained from the previous ownership. Cheech Marin as Chuy Castillos, the other co-chef, and the other staff member held on from the previous ownership. He nearly quits after quarreling with Sophia over Italian vs. Mexican food, but comes back and remains with the staff for the rest of the series run.[4] Billy L. Sullivan as Oliver Webb, Roland's foster child (episodes 1–6, 11, 14), a streetwise, arrogant preteen. Oliver appeared in eight episodes before being written out of the series, the character's birth mother retaking custody of him in episode 14. Episodes No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date [5] Prod. code [5] U.S. viewers (millions) 1 "The Golden Palace" Terry Hughes Susan Harris September 18, 1992 1001 18.5[7] Less than two months after Dorothy's departure,[6] Blanche, Rose, and Sophia sell their Miami house and purchase The Golden Palace, a hotel in the city. The women meet hotel manager Roland, his foster child Oliver, and hotel chef Chuy Castillos. The women learn that the previous owners had fired much of the staff to make the hotel appear profitable, and the hotel has no money to hire new employees. Furthermore, the ladies have only one week to make the hotel's bank note payment, which is dependent on satisfying a group of travel agents booked for the hotel. Sophia and Rose are upset at Blanche for getting them into the situation, but Blanche convinces them that they can operate the hotel and make the business a success. Chuy wants to continue serving Mexican food at the hotel, while Sophia wants to start serving Italian food instead. Chuy quits in frustration, but later asks for his job back, and he and Sophia agree to work together. The women manage to get through the week after hosting the travel agents, making enough money to keep the hotel for another month and hire more staff. Guest stars: Tom LaGrua as the Thief, Stephen James Carver as Brad 2 "Promotional Considerations" Lex Passaris Jim Vallely September 25, 1992 1002 16.7[8] Rose makes a deal with the producer of a talk show to have a guest on the program stay at the Golden Palace for free, in exchange for an ad acknowledging the hotel. However, they learn that the program will be focusing on murderers who are set free, which includes their new hotel guest, Gordon M. Cosay. Blanche, Rose, and the other hotel employees are nervous about having Cosay stay at the hotel, and they try to keep him happy, as he is easily upset and frequently yells. Roland eventually confronts Cosay and helps him realize that he appears weird to people, convincing him not to yell. When the program airs, the hotel employees are surprised to learn that Cosay is actually a psychiatrist, and they are upset when he recommends the Golden Palace as a quiet, stress-free place for former murderers to stay. Meanwhile, Roland and the other employees are upset that Blanche keeps trying to oversee all aspects of the hotel, and that she wants decisions to be approved by her. Blanche later realizes how much she needs Roland to help operate the hotel. Guest star: Bobcat Goldthwait as Gordon M. Cosay 3 "Miles, We Hardly Knew Ye" Peter D. Beyt Jamie Wooten & Marc Cherry October 2, 1992 1006 16.7[9] While looking through the hotel guestbooks, Blanche discovers that Rose's boyfriend Miles Webber was a frequent guest at the Golden Palace until the ladies purchased it. As Miles has frequently been canceling his dates with Rose lately, Blanche concludes that he has been cheating on Rose. Later, Rose confronts Miles and ends their relationship before he can explain himself. However, Roland clarifies that the Miles Webber who frequented the hotel was a different man and not Rose's boyfriend, which causes tensions between Rose and Blanche. Miles and Rose reconcile, although he has recently fallen in love with another woman, a waitress named Fern. Not wanting to ruin Rose's friendship with Blanche, Miles decides to tell Rose about Fern, revealing that Blanche happened to be right about him. Although Miles still loves Rose too, she decides to break up with him, and later reconciles with Blanche. Meanwhile, Sophia discovers that Oliver has been charging guests who want to retrieve their missing items from the hotel's lost-and-found. Special guest star: Harold Gould as Miles 4 "One Old Lady to Go" Lex Passaris Jim Vallely October 9, 1992 1005 15.6[10] Rose befriends a disoriented elderly woman named Vivian, who is lost and believes that Rose is her daughter Charlene. Rose lets Vivian stay at the Golden Palace, ignoring advice to contact the police. For the past six years, Rose has regretted putting her own mother in a retirement home, and she feels she can now make up for it by not letting Vivian wind up in a police shelter, as Vivian reminds Rose of her mother. Meanwhile, a new Chinese restaurant, also called the Golden Palace, has opened in Miami, causing confusion between the two businesses. Sophia takes advantage of this by accepting food orders from people who mistakenly contact the hotel. Chuy hires his friend, a woman named Dr. Fong, to help prepare the food, which is then delivered by Oliver. Roland discovers the scheme and forces the group to give their earnings to the real Golden Palace restaurant. Roland and Blanche also convince Rose to contact the police to help locate Vivian's family. When the police arrive at the hotel, they initially take Sophia by mistake, believing she is Vivian. Eventually, Vivian is reunited with her daughter, Charlene. Meanwhile, Roland is hesitant to have a talk with Oliver about sex. Guest star: Anne Haney as Vivian Co-stars: Margaret Cho as Fong, Michael Francis Clarke as Officer #1, Kelly Cinnante as Officer #2, Annie O'Donnell as Charlene 5 "Ebbtide for the Defense" Peter D. Beyt Marc Sotkin October 16, 1992 1008 15.0[11] The hotel's insurance company declines to renew its policy following a mishap in which Rose covered the hotel pool while unaware that people were still in it. The hotel is hosting a convention of lawyers, and Rose has booked the remaining rooms for a group of judges from Jacksonville, Florida. Because Rose has accidentally overbooked the hotel, she, Blanche, and Sophia agree to share a room, while Roland, Chuy, and Oliver share another. They also convince one of the lawyers, Mr. Burrows, to share a room with one of the judges. However, the hotel employees realize that the Judges of Jacksonville are actually a biker group, and Burrows threatens legal action if anything should happen to him while staying with his roommate, a biker named Angel. Burrows later checks out of the hotel without any complaints. Meanwhile, the hotel hires a second chef named Rubin, the man who had sex with Chuy's now-estranged wife. Chuy and Rubin had been friends since childhood, and Chuy eventually forgives Rubin. Guest stars: Gregory Sierra as Rubin, Christopher Collins as Angel, Steve Hytner as Burrows 6 "Can't Stand Losing You" Peter D. Beyt Mitchell Hurwitz October 23, 1992 1007 13.4[12] Rose believes that Roland is lonely and should have a girlfriend, and she convinces Blanche to compete with her in finding a woman for him. Rose finds a woman named Joanne, whom Roland likes. Blanche learns that Roland had an ex-girlfriend named Trisha and decides to have her fly to Miami to see him, thinking that Roland still likes Trisha. However, Blanche learns that Trisha is overly affectionate and obsessed with Roland, who had lied to Trisha about moving elsewhere to become a priest, in order to end their relationship. Roland eventually tells Trisha the truth that he is not in love with her, and she accepts it. Meanwhile, Sophia is upset that Chuy is chosen instead of her to go on a television program for a cooking segment. Guest stars: Kim Fields as Trisha, Monte Landis as Mr. Ricchuitti Co-star: Monica Allison as Joanne 7 "Seems Like Old Times (Part 1)" Lex Passaris Jamie Wooten & Marc Cherry October 30, 1992 1009 13.5[13] Dorothy visits the Golden Palace for the first time and reunites with Blanche, Rose, and Sophia after four months. Dorothy is shocked at how hard Sophia is working at the hotel, although Sophia does not consider this to be an issue. Dorothy contacts her husband Lucas and decides that Sophia should come to live with them in Atlanta. She believes Blanche and Rose are overworking Sophia, who is left to choose between staying at the Golden Palace or moving to Atlanta with Dorothy. Unable to choose between her daughter and the two women she thinks of as daughters, Sophia takes her belongings and runs away from the hotel. Meanwhile, Chuy is initially excited to finalize his divorce with his wife after eight years of marriage. However, he feels lonely afterwards, so Roland encourages him to begin dating. During a drunken night, Chuy marries a woman named Beverly and buys her a new car. Chuy, wanting to make the marriage work, rejects his friends' concerns that he and Beverly barely know each other. Special guest star: Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy Guests stars: Bertila Damas as Beverly, Henry Polic II as Man #1 8 "Seems Like Old Times (Part 2)" Lex Passaris Jim Vallely November 6, 1992 1010 15.7[14] Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy search for Sophia throughout Miami. They learn from a cab driver that Sophia asked to be dropped off at Shady Pines, the retirement home that she had despised. Upon arriving there, the ladies are surprised to see how nice Shady Pines has become after it was rebuilt following the fire. Despite the amenities, the ladies convince Sophia to return to the hotel, where she ultimately decides to stay rather than move with Dorothy to Atlanta. Sophia wants to remain active at the hotel, as she felt old when she was being cared for at Shady Pines. Dorothy accepts Sophia's decision. Meanwhile, Chuy is upset that Beverly will not have sex with him yet, and his work suffers as a result of his unhappiness. A man named Ramone visits the Golden Palace to congratulate Chuy on his marriage to Beverly, whom Ramone loves. Ramone vows to kill Chuy if he mistreats Beverly. Upon learning of this, Beverly realizes that Ramone loves her. Beverly tells Chuy that she only married him to make Ramone jealous, and that they were not really married, as their priest was actually a men's room attendant. Chuy is happy to have the relationship ended, as he realizes he does not love Beverly. Special guest star: Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy Guest stars: Bertila Damas as Beverly, Carol Leifer as Meredith, Miguel Sandoval as Ramone Note: This episode features the final appearance of Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy. Jack Black has a "co-starring" role as a cab driver. This also marks the first and only appearance of Shady Pines, the nursing home frequently mentioned throughout The Golden Girls. 9 "Just a Gigolo" Lex Passaris Tony DeLia November 13, 1992 1011 15.1[15] Blanche is attracted to a handsome man, Nick DeCarlo, who has been staying at the hotel. However, she loses interest when she learns he is a gigolo. When Nick is unable to pay his hotel bill, Blanche agrees to let him work it off in the kitchen with Chuy. Following the death of Blanche's blind date, she accepts Nick's offer to accompany her to a dance, despite his occupation. Blanche and Nick fall in love with each other, convincing him to end his line of work. After Nick works off his hotel bill, he decides to return to his hometown in Indiana, to work in his brother's hardware store. Blanche convinces him to stay at the hotel by financially supporting him, despite him saying he is uncomfortable with her doing so. Nick eventually decides to return to Indiana and work for his brother, then return to Blanche when he has saved up enough money to support her. Blanche agrees to write him a check to help him get settled in Indiana. However, Rose researches Nick and learns he is a con artist, as his hometown does not exist. She forces Nick to give the check back to Blanche, while not revealing that he was using her, so as not to upset her. Meanwhile, Vincent Vale holds a self-help seminar at the hotel. Chuy and Roland participate in the seminar, which includes walking over hot coals. Special guest star: Barry Bostwick as Nick DeCarlo Guest star: Phil Proctor as Vincent Vale 10 "Marriage on the Rocks, with a Twist" Peter D. Beyt Jamie Wooten & Marc Cherry November 20, 1992 1012 16.1[16] Roland's parents, George and Louise Wilson, visit the hotel with the announcement that they are getting a divorce. Blanche tries to mediate problems between them, but is unsuccessful, as they have been unhappy with each other for the past 20 years. Roland accepts that his parents want to move on with their lives. Meanwhile, the hotel hosts local radio disc jockeys Bill and Milton for a comedy night. Sophia convinces them to pull one of their well known pranks during the event, with Rose as their target, telling them that she is stupid enough to believe the prank. During the event, Milton is locked in a tank of water, and Rose must answer Bill's various questions in order to have Milton released before he drowns. However, Rose is too late, and Milton is said to have drowned. When Milton comes to the hotel dressed as a ghost to scare Rose, she shoots him, to Sophia's horror. Rose and the other hotel employees then reveal to Sophia that she is the true target of the prank, as Milton is alive and well. The comedians believed that Sophia was deserving of a practical joke, as they considered her to be vindictive after she suggested the prank to them. Special guest stars: Tim Conway as Milton, Harvey Korman as Bill Guest stars: Bruce A. Young as George Wilson, Ja'Net DuBois as Louise Wilson 11 "Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be" Lex Passaris Marc Sotkin December 4, 1992 1004 13.2[17] Blanche has booked the hotel for a group of southern women known as Daughters of the Traditional South, although Roland, as a black man, objects to the group staying there as he believes they are bigoted toward black people. Roland further objects to a Confederate flag that Blanche has hung on the front desk to welcome the group. Roland views the flag as a symbol of prejudice toward black people, but Blanche tells him that the flag was her grandfather's and that it represents only good family memories for her growing up in the south. Roland decides to quit his job at the hotel over Blanche's refusal to remove the flag, although she eventually realizes that he was right about it, and that her memories are not as happy as she thought. They reconcile, and Roland stays at the hotel. Meanwhile, a couple checks into the hotel under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, although Rose realizes the man used an alias and is cheating on his wife. Rose dislikes the idea of people staying at the hotel solely for sexual activities, but Blanche and Roland tell her that it is not their job to judge the guests. Nevertheless, Rose repeatedly annoys the Smiths enough to check out of the hotel. Guest star: Charles Napier as Mr. Smith Co-star: Camille Ameen as Mrs. Smith Note: this episode received media attention in 2020, for its focus on racism and the Confederate flag. See Notable episodes in the Production section for more details. 12 "It's Beginning to Look a Lot (Less) Like Christmas" Peter D. Beyt Jonathan Schmock December 18, 1992 1014 13.6[18] During Christmas time, the Golden Palace has booked a therapist, Dr. Norman Charles, and his seminar group of recently divorced patients who are traumatized by Christmas. Charles intends to help his patients get over their bad memories by having them stay in a Christmas-free environment, so Roland and the ladies reluctantly remove all Christmas decorations from the hotel to accommodate them. Chuy is pleased by this, as he has several bad Christmas memories. Later, Chuy has a dream in which the ladies appear to him as ghosts who teach him the joys of Christmas. Rose is the Ghost of Christmas Past, Blanche is the Ghost of Christmas Presents, and Sophia is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Upon waking up, Chuy realizes how much he loves Christmas, and he manages to convince Charles' patients that the holiday is not bad. Guest star: Nick Toth as Dr. Norman Charles 13 "Rose and Fern" Peter D. Beyt Marc Sotkin January 8, 1993 1013 15.3[19] Miles keeps calling the hotel and leaving messages for Rose, leading her to believe he wants to get back together with her. Meanwhile, a woman named Fern decides to have her wedding at the hotel, and Rose agrees to help plan it. Rose and Fern bond while planning a cow-themed wedding, although Rose later learns that Fern is marrying Miles. At Rose's insistence, Miles and Fern still have their wedding at the hotel, as Rose wants to see Miles get married so she can have the closure necessary to move on with her life. Meanwhile, Roland and Blanche learn someone has been stealing money from the hotel. Rose, Sophia, and Chuy are interrogated, but Roland ultimately realizes that Blanche is the culprit. Roland tells Blanche that the hotel's revenue is not her personal money to spend, and that what she has been doing is considered embezzlement. Special guest star: Harold Gould as Miles Co-star: Nanette Fabray as Fern 14 "Runaways" Lex Passaris Mitchell Hurwitz January 15, 1993 1003 14.4[20] Oliver wants to see a wrestling show, and Sophia wants to borrow a car to go downtown; they both are denied, leading them to steal a guest's car for a drive. Oliver's mother, Paula Webb, arrives at the hotel after getting out of rehab and is ready to take back her son. Roland tells her that Oliver is busy spending time with one of his foster grandmas. Oliver and Sophia are pulled over by a police officer for driving too slow; they are returned to the hotel, and Oliver goes home with Paula. Meanwhile, the Golden Palace is hosting a 16th birthday party for the daughter of a banker. Roland and Rose are eager to make the party a success, as the girl's father holds the bank note to the hotel. They are upset with Blanche for spending time with her boyfriend Ernie rather than helping to plan the party. Rose accuses Blanche of abandoning the hotel and believes she cannot handle the responsibility, but they later reconcile. Guest stars: Hansford Rowe as Mr. Siegel, Joely Fisher as Paula Webb Note: This episode features the final appearance of Billy L. Sullivan as Oliver Webb. 15 "Heartbreak Hotel" Lex Passaris Julie Thacker January 29, 1993 1016 N/A Taylor, a man who Blanche was attracted to in college, visits the Golden Palace. Taylor had previously chosen Blanche's college roommate over her, so Blanche tries to win him over when he visits the hotel, but he ends up falling for Rose. Blanche secretly sabotages one of their dates, allowing Blanche to take Rose's place with Taylor while Rose does hotel work. Rose learns Blanche sabotaged the date and eventually confronts her. Later, the women go on a date together with Taylor, who upsets Blanche by continuing to express his attraction to Rose. Blanche later realizes how many female friends she has lost due to her competitive behavior for men, and she and Rose reconcile. Meanwhile, a relationship expert known as The Love Doctor is holding a couples seminar at the hotel, and Sophia wants to participate, so she convinces Roland to accompany her. Later, she reveals that she wanted Roland to participate in the seminar so he could work out issues with his own love life. Guest star: Dick Van Patten as Taylor, Pamela Dunlap as The Love Doctor 16 "Señor Stinky Learns Absolutely Nothing About Life" Peter D. Beyt Marc Sotkin February 5, 1993 1019 12.9[21] Roland, Brad the hotel pool maintenance man, and Chuy make up the members of a successful volleyball team. Roland, the team captain, wants to win a volleyball championship trophy. Chuy, who is a poor player, is upset about always being left out of the game by Roland. Rose later joins the volleyball team, and Roland agrees to let Chuy play as well. However, Rose and Chuy play poorly. Rose decides to become a volleyball cheerleader instead, and when Brad injures his ankle, Roland decides to put Chuy back in the game. However, Chuy loses the championship for the team, and Roland criticizes him for it. They later reconcile after Roland apologizes. Meanwhile, after Blanche meets with a bank employee and flirts with him, Rose and Roland make her realize that her behavior toward men could be considered sexual harassment, prompting her to try acting more professional with men. Lawrence Gentry, the owner of an adjacent hotel, complains that the Golden Palace parking lot occupies a portion of his hotel's parking lot. Blanche dresses in a business suit and tries to remain professional when meeting Gentry, despite their attraction to each other. They devise a solution by having the two hotels share the parking spaces, and they later decide to begin a relationship. Special guest star: Ricardo Montalbán as Lawrence Gentry Guest star: Stephen James Carver as Brad, the pool guy 17 "Say Goodbye, Rose" Peter D. Beyt Jim Vallely February 12, 1993 1020 17.1[23] The Golden Palace is preparing to hold a stand-up comedy competition. Blanche's son, Matthew, visits the hotel with the announcement that he has temporarily quit his job as a stockbroker so he can try stand-up comedy. Matthew intends to participate in the hotel's comedy show, but Blanche does not want him to do so, as she believes he has made a mistake by quitting his job. She eventually decides to support Matthew's career choice. Meanwhile, Rose falls in love with Bill Douglas, a hotel guest who looks identical to her late husband Charlie. After dating for a while, Rose reveals to Bill why she initially became attracted to him, and he decides they should end their relationship, believing Rose only loves him for his appearance. Rose denies this, and she does not want him to end the relationship because she will feel like she has lost Charlie again. Because Charlie died suddenly, Rose did not have a chance to tell him goodbye. To placate her, Bill has Rose tell him goodbye as if he were Charlie. Sophia's friend, comedian George Burns, sings a song during the comedy night to cheer up Rose following the break-up. Guest stars: Eddie Albert as Bill Douglas, Bill Engvall as Matthew Devereaux Special appearance by: George Burns[22] 18 "You've Lost That Livin' Feeling" Peter D. Beyt Marco Pennette February 19, 1993[24] 1018 14.0[25] The Golden Palace holds a grand reopening celebration to improve business. A local news team has been invited to the hotel to cover the event, and Rose has arranged for food critic Gerald Davenport to review the hotel's restaurant. Chuy despises Davenport for previously giving him a bad review. When Davenport is found dead, Chuy worries that he may have accidentally put rat poison in Davenport's meal. The news team arrives, and the body is hidden in the kitchen's walk-in freezer. When city health inspector Mr. Tucker arrives unexpectedly at the hotel, Blanche distracts him while Rose stuffs the body in a large suitcase to covertly transport it elsewhere. Rose abandons the suitcase in the lobby in order to distract the news team. Roland, unaware of the body's location, delivers the suitcase to hotel guest Mr. Mitchelson, who owns a chain of travel agencies. Later, Roland, Blanche, and Rose sneak into Mitchelson's hotel room and retrieve the body. However, they are forced to drop the body down a laundry chute when the news team approaches. Ultimately, Mitchelson and the news team see Davenport's body; the hotel employees pass him off as an unconscious drunk man and promote a new designated driver program for restaurant customers. Mitchelson recommends the hotel to his fellow travel agents, and the employees later learn that Davenport died of a massive coronary. Guest stars: Bill Morey as Mr. Mitchelson, Eric Christmas as Davenport, Stephen Root as Mr. Tucker 19 "The Chicken and the Egg" Lex Passaris Mitchell Hurwitz March 5, 1993[26] 1015 14.3[27] Blanche begins dating a cattle rancher named Bobby Lee, who wants to marry her and have children with her. Despite her age, he tells her about in vitro fertilisation, but the process would require an egg donor. Simultaneously, Blanche is visited by her daughter Rebecca in time for Blanche's birthday. Rebecca reluctantly agrees to be Blanche's egg donor, despite wanting her mother to act her age. Later, Blanche dreams that she, Rose, Sophia, Roland, and Chuy are pregnant. Upon waking up, Blanche realizes she cannot handle pregnancy and motherhood again. She meets with Bobby Lee to end the idea of having children, but before she can, he reveals that he has discovered himself to be impotent. Nevertheless, they agree to continue their relationship. Meanwhile, Sophia borrows Rose's car, but it and Sophia's purse later go missing. Sophia believes they have been stolen, so Roland teaches a self-defense class to Sophia and her elderly friends. Later, Roland and Rose learn that Sophia valet-parked the car, with her purse inside, at a hotel next door. Guest stars: Dick Gautier as Bobby Lee, Amzie Strickland as Sylvia, Debra Engle as Rebecca 20 "A New Leash on Life" Lex Passaris Marco Pennette April 2, 1993 1022 13.7[28] Blanche begins dating a travelling greyhound dog trainer named Charlie Sardisco, who is staying at the hotel, and Rose bonds with his greyhound. When Sophia's friend Gladys breaks her hip, she gives Sophia her ticket to be a potential guest on The Price Is Right. Sophia needs money for a plane ticket to reach the show's studio in California, and after talking with Charlie, she decides to bet on dog races. Later, Rose is upset to learn that Charlie will euthanize his dog if it loses its next race. Rose steals the dog and tells Blanche that 50,000 greyhounds are euthanized every year for failing to win. Horrified by this, Blanche ends her relationship with Charlie, while Sophia ends her sports betting. Charlie takes the dog back but later agrees to let Rose adopt it out after it loses its race. Sophia skips her trip because of lack of money, and she is upset when she hears her name being called during a broadcast of The Price Is Right. Meanwhile, Roland's mother Louise begins spending time with Chuy, giving Roland the uncomfortable impression that they are dating. Roland is relieved when Louise reveals that she and Chuy have been attending classes for divorcees together. Guest stars: Ken Kercheval as Charlie Sardisco, Ja'Net DuBois as Louise Wilson 21 "Pros and Concierge" Lex Passaris Kevin Rooney April 9, 1993 1024 12.2[29] Roland confides in Chuy that a more successful hotel offered him a job, which he turned down out of loyalty to the Golden Palace. Chuy tries to convince Roland to use the job offer to leverage a raise out of Blanche, but when Roland refuses, Chuy begins to drop hints to Blanche on Roland's behalf. Blanche is unable to give Roland a raise, but wanting what is best for him, she fires him, believing this will force him to take the better job. This leaves Roland unemployed and forced to take a humiliating job renting bicycles at the airport, while the Golden Palace staff struggle to contain the chaos without him. Eventually Blanche rehires Roland and manages to cut enough corners to give him a small raise. Meanwhile as a cash-saving method, Blanche gives Sophia a "vacation" that she chooses to spend at the hotel. 22 "Tad" Peter D. Beyt Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten April 16, 1993[30] 1023 12.2[31] Blanche's mysterious yearly trips to Chattanooga, Tennessee have the staff guessing that there's a special man in her life, until her mentally disabled brother Tad shows up unexpectedly at the hotel, having taxied from his institution in Tennessee. Rose and Sophia are shocked that Blanche never mentioned her second brother after all these years. The staff goes out of their way to be kind to Tad, with Rose forming an especially close bond that causes Tad to declare he is in love with her. Blanche, upset, plans to send Tad back to his institution, until Rose confronts her and accuses Blanche of being ashamed of Tad. Blanche is forced to admit that she has felt ashamed of Tad all these years, but watching Rose's tenderness toward him makes Blanche decide that she wants to be more involved in Tad's life, inviting him back to the hotel for more visits in the future. Guest star: Ned Beatty as Tad Hollingsworth 23 "One Angry Stan" Lex Passaris Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal April 30, 1993[32] 1021 9.7[33] Blanche and Rose are stunned to learn that Stanley Zbornak, Dorothy's ex-husband and Sophia's former son-in-law, is dead. The three women try to work through their complicated feelings toward the man. However, Stan secretly approaches Sophia and admits that he faked his death to avoid prison for tax evasion and plans to flee the country. Sophia tells this to Blanche and Rose, who assume Sophia is in denial. After Stan's funeral, he secretly visits Sophia a final time, with both admitting that in spite of their difficulties, they loved one another. His exit leaves Sophia in tears, while Blanche and Rose assume she has finally accepted his death. Meanwhile, Roland and Chuy are excited to plan a bachelor party booked at the Golden Palace and scheme to hire an exotic dancer. The two men learn at the last minute that the bachelor party was really a bachelorette party, forcing Roland to provide the entertainment. Special guest star: Herbert Edelman as Stan Guest stars: Earl Boen as The Priest, Abraham Alvarez as Herb Jenkins 24 "Sex, Lies and Tortillas" Lex Passaris Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal May 7, 1993 1017 8.9[34] During Spring Break, the Golden Palace is overrun by vacationing college students. Roland must go to extraordinary lengths to prevent the wily students from sneaking in unauthorized guests. Among the students is Rose's granddaughter Charlene, who confides to Rose that she intends to give her virginity to her boyfriend at the hotel. Seeing Charlene's uncertainty, Rose persuades Charlene to hold off on sex until she feels ready. Rose's advice is borne out when Charlene's boyfriend dumps her for refusing him. An unexpected tropical storm leaves the rambunctious college students trapped in the hotel until Chuy organizes their help in building the world's longest burrito in order to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. The group effort is successful but not official, as no record auditor can verify the burrito's size before it falls apart. Guest stars: Brooke Theiss as Charlene, Adam Biesk as Benson Production The Carlyle hotel in 2017, following renovation as a residential condominium complex[35] Bea Arthur had grown tired of starring in The Golden Girls,[36][37] and chose not to return for an eighth season.[38] As a result, the show was retitled and revamped as a new series, The Golden Palace, with Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty reprising their roles.[39][40] Like the original series, The Golden Palace was also created by Susan Harris,[41] who once again served as executive producer alongside Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The trio had mixed feelings about the new series, but felt obligated to continue onward for the sake of the cast and crew. Thomas said, "We had been employing a lot of people, so to just pull the plug would have meant ending something that provided a very satisfying life for a lot of people".[42] White said that she and her Golden Girls co-stars were initially skeptical of the new series but, "To our great surprise, we are having a ball. It's coming together much better than we had thought".[43] McClanahan had suggested keeping the original series and adding a fourth roommate to replace Arthur's character, but this idea was rejected by the producers.[44][45][46] British comedian Alexei Sayle was originally hired to play the hotel's chef, who initially was to be portrayed as Eastern European.[47][48] Sayle was replaced by Cheech Marin before the pilot was shot.[48][49][50] The idea of having a Latino chef as a comic foil to the rest of the cast had originally been proposed at the beginning of The Golden Girls; the original chef, Coco (portrayed by Charles Levin), appeared in the first episode of The Golden Girls but was written out due to concerns about how to work him into later scripts with a cast of four women with strong personalities.[51][52] With Arthur gone and the core group down to three, the concept was revived. Marin had wanted to branch out into television and away from being typecast as a Los Angeles stoner, and had previously worked on a film project with Witt. Marin was promised a spin-off series for his character in the event that The Golden Palace were successful.[53] The Golden Palace marked Marin's and Don Cheadle's first starring roles in a television series.[53][54] According to Cheadle, the director of photography had trouble with him and White in shared scenes due to their heavily contrasted complexions; White's hair and makeup had to be altered to reduce the contrast, ensuring Cheadle was properly lit.[55] The Carlyle hotel on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive was used for exterior shots depicting the Golden Palace hotel,[56] while the rest of the series was taped at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, California.[43] On The Golden Girls, Getty often had to reshoot her scenes as she had trouble remembering her lines.[57][58] McClanahan noted that this was not the case on The Golden Palace, speculating that Getty may have been subconsciously intimidated by Arthur.[57] Cancellation and aftermath Ratings were initially solid, with the show winning its timeslot for its first few weeks,[59][60][61][62] but viewership fell steadily as the season progressed.[63][64][65][66] A second season was to be greenlit according to McClanahan, but network executives decided to cancel the show a couple of hours before the upfronts. CBS opted not to renew the series,[45] canceling it in May 1993.[67][68] Harris attributed the series' failure to Arthur's absence, saying it did not work without her.[69] Following the cancellation, White joined the short-lived second season of Bob, which had aired in the same block as The Golden Palace for its first season.[37] Getty went on to portray Sophia in the later seasons of another Golden Girls spin-off, Empty Nest.[70][71] The character returned to the rebuilt Shady Pines retirement home, which had burned down in the previous series. What became of the characters of Rose, Blanche, Roland, Chuy, and the hotel is left unresolved. Notable episodes In 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter movement and following the murder of George Floyd, the episode "Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be" attracted attention for how it had addressed the issues of racism and the Confederate flag. Journalist Seb Starcevic first drew attention to the episode in a Twitter thread that became popular before the wider media began to pick up the story.[72][73][74][75][76][77] Broadcast history The Golden Palace aired on CBS, changing networks from NBC, which had aired The Golden Girls on Saturday nights for its entire run.[39][40] NBC was willing to greenlight a 13-episode order for The Golden Palace, but the series producers were not satisfied with this number and moved the series to CBS, which promised a full season.[78][79] NBC had been seeking a younger demographic, and The Golden Girls did not fit into its plans.[60][80] White believed that a new network would be beneficial for the series.[43] CBS used The Golden Palace as one of four comedies assembled on Friday night in an effort to combat ABC's TGIF comedy block; The Golden Palace was grouped with Major Dad, Designing Women, and Bob, all of which were either successful comedies prior to the move, or in the case of Bob, featured a previously successful sitcom star (Bob Newhart).[81][82][83] Syndication of the series is handled by Disney–ABC Domestic Television. Although the series has never been syndicated as a stand-alone series, Lifetime, during the time it owned the rights to The Golden Girls, carried The Golden Palace on several occasions in the mid-2000s, running the series in rotation as a de facto eighth season of The Golden Girls.[84] The show's existence is generally not well known.[85][86][87] According to McClanahan, most Golden Girls fans were unaware of the series until reruns began airing on Lifetime.[44][45] In recognition of what would have been White's 100th birthday, The Golden Palace became available on the Hulu streaming platform January 10, 2022.[88] Reception Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Rick Du Brow stated that Harris "deserves plenty of credit for infusing the premiere of the tired old series with new verve, drive and wit in its resuscitated form".[41] The Orlando Sentinel wrote that the premise "seemed like one of the worst ideas of the year," but found that the premiere episode "crackles with the same energy that marked the early years of The Golden Girls," writing further, "The change of scenery, plus fresh chemistry created by the addition of new characters, relieves the numbing sense of deja vu that settled over the characters" in the final seasons of the previous series.[89] However, John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote, "It's all a bit too familiar, and the format is forced into some unseemly stretching".[90] Tom Shales of The Washington Post gave a mixed review of the pilot episode but praised White's performance, writing "she seems faster and fresher than ever. Arthur's absence is felt (and duly noted in a sly joke or two), but without Betty White, this is one show that clearly could not go on."[91] Several critics praised the series after it debuted on Hulu. Robert Lloyd, writing for the Los Angeles Times, applauded the cast "even if they are playing in a sequel to a show people remember better and love more".[92] Eliot Glazer of Vulture.com considered the cast to have "undeniable" chemistry despite the absence of Arthur.[93] Megan McCaffrey of Collider wrote that the series "takes the groundwork laid by the original and runs with it into a successful spinoff".[94] Conversely, TVLine ranked it as the 20th worst television spinoff ever.[95]

This film reconstructs the history of the movement and talks to former judges and FBI agents who tried to fight the organization.

The Golers are a clan of poor, rural families in Canada, on Nova Scotia's South Mountain, near Wolfville, known for inter-generational poverty and the conviction in the 1980s of many family members for sexual abuse and incest.[1][2] Background The Goler family lived together in two shacks in a remote wooded area on South Mountain, located south of the community of White Rock, outside the town of Wolfville. Their ancestors occupied the area since at least the mid-1800s and, according to a sociologist at Acadia University, showed incest in the family dating back to the 1860s.[3] Charles and Stella Goler, the patriarch and matriarch of the family, lived together with their five sons and grandchildren in a dilapidated shack.[3] Like most other mountain clans, they were isolated from most of the residents of the farming district in the Annapolis Valley and most of the nearby towns. The adults of the family, some of whom had intellectual disabilities, had little schooling and rarely worked. One sibling, Cecil (1939–1991), was non-verbal and born paralyzed from the neck down. He was able to communicate by barking and groaning like a dog. It is theorized that he learned the majority of his social cues from a family dog.[citation needed] The Golers supported themselves on a combination of social welfare and occasional labor at the many nearby farms, supplemented by fishing and foraging for berries and other fruits.[4] The children performed chores, such as preparing food, or removing trash.[4] From about 1980, several of the children had attempted to tell outsiders and authorities about the abuse they suffered, but they were disbelieved and returned to their family, who punished them.[4] In 1984, one of the children, a 14-year-old girl, revealed the details of a long history of torture and abuse (physical, sexual, and psychological) to a school official. As the case was investigated, authorities learned that a number of Goler children were victims of sexual abuse at the hands of fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, cousins, and each other. During interrogation by police, several of the adults openly admitted to, and even boasted about, engaging in many forms of sexual activity, up to and including full intercourse, multiple times with the children. They often went into graphic detail, claiming that the children themselves had initiated the activity.[4] Trial and aftermath Eventually, fifteen men and one woman were charged with hundreds of allegations of incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five.[4] Given the detailed confessions by the accused, authorities did not anticipate a trial. However, the accused eventually recanted their confessions and denied any wrongdoing. The case garnered significant attention in the media. The legal system of Kings County was strained by the Goler case. There was only one full-time prosecutor, who normally handled one or two rape cases per year alongside a relatively small number of assaults, thefts, disorderly conduct, and other crimes.[4] Thirteen of the accused received jail sentences of one to seven years, with William Dennis Goler receiving seven years imprisonment and his nephew, William James Goler, receiving 4.5 years.[5][3] The event brought to greater attention the inadequate living conditions of many poorer Kings County residents, not only on North Mountain and South Mountain where some 4,000 poor people lived, but in the rich farmlands around Kentville where tar paper shacks blighted the landscape. These communities had been shunned by society, forcing them to look inward for support. Authorities had largely ignored them for a century or more, despite documents dating to the 1860s that showed the prevalence of intrafamilial relationships through high rates of birth defects and intellectual disabilities, although the county's low-income housing society had been working to build 565-square-foot 'hearth homes'.[3] Due to the sensational nature of the crimes, the trial received extensive national coverage. A book entitled On South Mountain: The Dark Secrets of the Goler Clan was written and published in 1998, covering their story in detail.[4] Donna Goler, one of the abused children who was removed from the Goler household when she was 11, has become an outspoken activist for stricter child abuse laws and stronger protection of children from convicted child molesters.[6] Donna's testimony was described by both the prosecutor and defense attorneys as the most important evidence presented at trial.[4] A year after the book On South Mountain was published, she began a long fight to revise the Criminal Code, saying that it failed to protect the young relatives of convicted child molesters.[6][7

The Golden Palace is an American sitcom television series produced as a sequel to The Golden Girls, a continuation without Bea Arthur (though she did guest star in a double episode) that aired on CBS from September 18, 1992, to May 7, 1993. It starred Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, Cheech Marin, and Don Cheadle. Billy L. Sullivan also co-starred for the first half of its run. Not as popular as its predecessor, the series aired for a single 24-episode season and was canceled by CBS. Synopsis The Golden Palace begins where The Golden Girls had ended, in the quartet's now-sold Miami house. With Dorothy Zbornak having married and left in the previous series finale, the three remaining housemates (Sophia Petrillo, Rose Nylund, and Blanche Devereaux) invest in The Golden Palace, a Miami hotel that is for sale. The hotel, however, is revealed to have been stripped of all of its personnel in an effort to appear more profitable, leaving only two employees: Roland Wilson, the hotel's manager; and Chuy Castillos, the hotel's chef. This requires the women to help perform the hotel duties. The series focuses on the interactions between hotel staff and guests. Celebrity guest stars were frequent,[1] and the series also featured the return of some recurring actors from The Golden Girls, such as Debra Engle as Rebecca Devereaux, Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak and Harold Gould as Miles Webber. Bea Arthur reprised her role as Dorothy Zbornak for a two-part storyline in which she visits the hotel to check on her mother.[2][3] Cast Betty White as Rose Nylund, a jack-of-all-trades in the hotel. In some episodes, this series has Rose being of a notably stronger will than her previous incarnation (as Dorothy Zbornak noted in her guest appearance, "When did she become the strong one?"). Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, the main operator of the hotel. Her character traits, particularly her promiscuity and vanity, are somewhat toned down in this series, although she retains her Southern charm and generally chipper demeanor. Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo, the hotel's 87-year-old co-chef. Don Cheadle as Roland Wilson, the hotel's manager and a straight man to the rest of the cast. He is one of only two staff members retained from the previous ownership. Cheech Marin as Chuy Castillos, the other co-chef, and the other staff member held on from the previous ownership. He nearly quits after quarreling with Sophia over Italian vs. Mexican food, but comes back and remains with the staff for the rest of the series run.[4] Billy L. Sullivan as Oliver Webb, Roland's foster child (episodes 1–6, 11, 14), a streetwise, arrogant preteen. Oliver appeared in eight episodes before being written out of the series, the character's birth mother retaking custody of him in episode 14. Episodes No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date [5] Prod. code [5] U.S. viewers (millions) 1 "The Golden Palace" Terry Hughes Susan Harris September 18, 1992 1001 18.5[7] Less than two months after Dorothy's departure,[6] Blanche, Rose, and Sophia sell their Miami house and purchase The Golden Palace, a hotel in the city. The women meet hotel manager Roland, his foster child Oliver, and hotel chef Chuy Castillos. The women learn that the previous owners had fired much of the staff to make the hotel appear profitable, and the hotel has no money to hire new employees. Furthermore, the ladies have only one week to make the hotel's bank note payment, which is dependent on satisfying a group of travel agents booked for the hotel. Sophia and Rose are upset at Blanche for getting them into the situation, but Blanche convinces them that they can operate the hotel and make the business a success. Chuy wants to continue serving Mexican food at the hotel, while Sophia wants to start serving Italian food instead. Chuy quits in frustration, but later asks for his job back, and he and Sophia agree to work together. The women manage to get through the week after hosting the travel agents, making enough money to keep the hotel for another month and hire more staff. Guest stars: Tom LaGrua as the Thief, Stephen James Carver as Brad 2 "Promotional Considerations" Lex Passaris Jim Vallely September 25, 1992 1002 16.7[8] Rose makes a deal with the producer of a talk show to have a guest on the program stay at the Golden Palace for free, in exchange for an ad acknowledging the hotel. However, they learn that the program will be focusing on murderers who are set free, which includes their new hotel guest, Gordon M. Cosay. Blanche, Rose, and the other hotel employees are nervous about having Cosay stay at the hotel, and they try to keep him happy, as he is easily upset and frequently yells. Roland eventually confronts Cosay and helps him realize that he appears weird to people, convincing him not to yell. When the program airs, the hotel employees are surprised to learn that Cosay is actually a psychiatrist, and they are upset when he recommends the Golden Palace as a quiet, stress-free place for former murderers to stay. Meanwhile, Roland and the other employees are upset that Blanche keeps trying to oversee all aspects of the hotel, and that she wants decisions to be approved by her. Blanche later realizes how much she needs Roland to help operate the hotel. Guest star: Bobcat Goldthwait as Gordon M. Cosay 3 "Miles, We Hardly Knew Ye" Peter D. Beyt Jamie Wooten & Marc Cherry October 2, 1992 1006 16.7[9] While looking through the hotel guestbooks, Blanche discovers that Rose's boyfriend Miles Webber was a frequent guest at the Golden Palace until the ladies purchased it. As Miles has frequently been canceling his dates with Rose lately, Blanche concludes that he has been cheating on Rose. Later, Rose confronts Miles and ends their relationship before he can explain himself. However, Roland clarifies that the Miles Webber who frequented the hotel was a different man and not Rose's boyfriend, which causes tensions between Rose and Blanche. Miles and Rose reconcile, although he has recently fallen in love with another woman, a waitress named Fern. Not wanting to ruin Rose's friendship with Blanche, Miles decides to tell Rose about Fern, revealing that Blanche happened to be right about him. Although Miles still loves Rose too, she decides to break up with him, and later reconciles with Blanche. Meanwhile, Sophia discovers that Oliver has been charging guests who want to retrieve their missing items from the hotel's lost-and-found. Special guest star: Harold Gould as Miles 4 "One Old Lady to Go" Lex Passaris Jim Vallely October 9, 1992 1005 15.6[10] Rose befriends a disoriented elderly woman named Vivian, who is lost and believes that Rose is her daughter Charlene. Rose lets Vivian stay at the Golden Palace, ignoring advice to contact the police. For the past six years, Rose has regretted putting her own mother in a retirement home, and she feels she can now make up for it by not letting Vivian wind up in a police shelter, as Vivian reminds Rose of her mother. Meanwhile, a new Chinese restaurant, also called the Golden Palace, has opened in Miami, causing confusion between the two businesses. Sophia takes advantage of this by accepting food orders from people who mistakenly contact the hotel. Chuy hires his friend, a woman named Dr. Fong, to help prepare the food, which is then delivered by Oliver. Roland discovers the scheme and forces the group to give their earnings to the real Golden Palace restaurant. Roland and Blanche also convince Rose to contact the police to help locate Vivian's family. When the police arrive at the hotel, they initially take Sophia by mistake, believing she is Vivian. Eventually, Vivian is reunited with her daughter, Charlene. Meanwhile, Roland is hesitant to have a talk with Oliver about sex. Guest star: Anne Haney as Vivian Co-stars: Margaret Cho as Fong, Michael Francis Clarke as Officer #1, Kelly Cinnante as Officer #2, Annie O'Donnell as Charlene 5 "Ebbtide for the Defense" Peter D. Beyt Marc Sotkin October 16, 1992 1008 15.0[11] The hotel's insurance company declines to renew its policy following a mishap in which Rose covered the hotel pool while unaware that people were still in it. The hotel is hosting a convention of lawyers, and Rose has booked the remaining rooms for a group of judges from Jacksonville, Florida. Because Rose has accidentally overbooked the hotel, she, Blanche, and Sophia agree to share a room, while Roland, Chuy, and Oliver share another. They also convince one of the lawyers, Mr. Burrows, to share a room with one of the judges. However, the hotel employees realize that the Judges of Jacksonville are actually a biker group, and Burrows threatens legal action if anything should happen to him while staying with his roommate, a biker named Angel. Burrows later checks out of the hotel without any complaints. Meanwhile, the hotel hires a second chef named Rubin, the man who had sex with Chuy's now-estranged wife. Chuy and Rubin had been friends since childhood, and Chuy eventually forgives Rubin. Guest stars: Gregory Sierra as Rubin, Christopher Collins as Angel, Steve Hytner as Burrows 6 "Can't Stand Losing You" Peter D. Beyt Mitchell Hurwitz October 23, 1992 1007 13.4[12] Rose believes that Roland is lonely and should have a girlfriend, and she convinces Blanche to compete with her in finding a woman for him. Rose finds a woman named Joanne, whom Roland likes. Blanche learns that Roland had an ex-girlfriend named Trisha and decides to have her fly to Miami to see him, thinking that Roland still likes Trisha. However, Blanche learns that Trisha is overly affectionate and obsessed with Roland, who had lied to Trisha about moving elsewhere to become a priest, in order to end their relationship. Roland eventually tells Trisha the truth that he is not in love with her, and she accepts it. Meanwhile, Sophia is upset that Chuy is chosen instead of her to go on a television program for a cooking segment. Guest stars: Kim Fields as Trisha, Monte Landis as Mr. Ricchuitti Co-star: Monica Allison as Joanne 7 "Seems Like Old Times (Part 1)" Lex Passaris Jamie Wooten & Marc Cherry October 30, 1992 1009 13.5[13] Dorothy visits the Golden Palace for the first time and reunites with Blanche, Rose, and Sophia after four months. Dorothy is shocked at how hard Sophia is working at the hotel, although Sophia does not consider this to be an issue. Dorothy contacts her husband Lucas and decides that Sophia should come to live with them in Atlanta. She believes Blanche and Rose are overworking Sophia, who is left to choose between staying at the Golden Palace or moving to Atlanta with Dorothy. Unable to choose between her daughter and the two women she thinks of as daughters, Sophia takes her belongings and runs away from the hotel. Meanwhile, Chuy is initially excited to finalize his divorce with his wife after eight years of marriage. However, he feels lonely afterwards, so Roland encourages him to begin dating. During a drunken night, Chuy marries a woman named Beverly and buys her a new car. Chuy, wanting to make the marriage work, rejects his friends' concerns that he and Beverly barely know each other. Special guest star: Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy Guests stars: Bertila Damas as Beverly, Henry Polic II as Man #1 8 "Seems Like Old Times (Part 2)" Lex Passaris Jim Vallely November 6, 1992 1010 15.7[14] Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy search for Sophia throughout Miami. They learn from a cab driver that Sophia asked to be dropped off at Shady Pines, the retirement home that she had despised. Upon arriving there, the ladies are surprised to see how nice Shady Pines has become after it was rebuilt following the fire. Despite the amenities, the ladies convince Sophia to return to the hotel, where she ultimately decides to stay rather than move with Dorothy to Atlanta. Sophia wants to remain active at the hotel, as she felt old when she was being cared for at Shady Pines. Dorothy accepts Sophia's decision. Meanwhile, Chuy is upset that Beverly will not have sex with him yet, and his work suffers as a result of his unhappiness. A man named Ramone visits the Golden Palace to congratulate Chuy on his marriage to Beverly, whom Ramone loves. Ramone vows to kill Chuy if he mistreats Beverly. Upon learning of this, Beverly realizes that Ramone loves her. Beverly tells Chuy that she only married him to make Ramone jealous, and that they were not really married, as their priest was actually a men's room attendant. Chuy is happy to have the relationship ended, as he realizes he does not love Beverly. Special guest star: Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy Guest stars: Bertila Damas as Beverly, Carol Leifer as Meredith, Miguel Sandoval as Ramone Note: This episode features the final appearance of Beatrice Arthur as Dorothy. Jack Black has a "co-starring" role as a cab driver. This also marks the first and only appearance of Shady Pines, the nursing home frequently mentioned throughout The Golden Girls. 9 "Just a Gigolo" Lex Passaris Tony DeLia November 13, 1992 1011 15.1[15] Blanche is attracted to a handsome man, Nick DeCarlo, who has been staying at the hotel. However, she loses interest when she learns he is a gigolo. When Nick is unable to pay his hotel bill, Blanche agrees to let him work it off in the kitchen with Chuy. Following the death of Blanche's blind date, she accepts Nick's offer to accompany her to a dance, despite his occupation. Blanche and Nick fall in love with each other, convincing him to end his line of work. After Nick works off his hotel bill, he decides to return to his hometown in Indiana, to work in his brother's hardware store. Blanche convinces him to stay at the hotel by financially supporting him, despite him saying he is uncomfortable with her doing so. Nick eventually decides to return to Indiana and work for his brother, then return to Blanche when he has saved up enough money to support her. Blanche agrees to write him a check to help him get settled in Indiana. However, Rose researches Nick and learns he is a con artist, as his hometown does not exist. She forces Nick to give the check back to Blanche, while not revealing that he was using her, so as not to upset her. Meanwhile, Vincent Vale holds a self-help seminar at the hotel. Chuy and Roland participate in the seminar, which includes walking over hot coals. Special guest star: Barry Bostwick as Nick DeCarlo Guest star: Phil Proctor as Vincent Vale 10 "Marriage on the Rocks, with a Twist" Peter D. Beyt Jamie Wooten & Marc Cherry November 20, 1992 1012 16.1[16] Roland's parents, George and Louise Wilson, visit the hotel with the announcement that they are getting a divorce. Blanche tries to mediate problems between them, but is unsuccessful, as they have been unhappy with each other for the past 20 years. Roland accepts that his parents want to move on with their lives. Meanwhile, the hotel hosts local radio disc jockeys Bill and Milton for a comedy night. Sophia convinces them to pull one of their well known pranks during the event, with Rose as their target, telling them that she is stupid enough to believe the prank. During the event, Milton is locked in a tank of water, and Rose must answer Bill's various questions in order to have Milton released before he drowns. However, Rose is too late, and Milton is said to have drowned. When Milton comes to the hotel dressed as a ghost to scare Rose, she shoots him, to Sophia's horror. Rose and the other hotel employees then reveal to Sophia that she is the true target of the prank, as Milton is alive and well. The comedians believed that Sophia was deserving of a practical joke, as they considered her to be vindictive after she suggested the prank to them. Special guest stars: Tim Conway as Milton, Harvey Korman as Bill Guest stars: Bruce A. Young as George Wilson, Ja'Net DuBois as Louise Wilson 11 "Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be" Lex Passaris Marc Sotkin December 4, 1992 1004 13.2[17] Blanche has booked the hotel for a group of southern women known as Daughters of the Traditional South, although Roland, as a black man, objects to the group staying there as he believes they are bigoted toward black people. Roland further objects to a Confederate flag that Blanche has hung on the front desk to welcome the group. Roland views the flag as a symbol of prejudice toward black people, but Blanche tells him that the flag was her grandfather's and that it represents only good family memories for her growing up in the south. Roland decides to quit his job at the hotel over Blanche's refusal to remove the flag, although she eventually realizes that he was right about it, and that her memories are not as happy as she thought. They reconcile, and Roland stays at the hotel. Meanwhile, a couple checks into the hotel under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, although Rose realizes the man used an alias and is cheating on his wife. Rose dislikes the idea of people staying at the hotel solely for sexual activities, but Blanche and Roland tell her that it is not their job to judge the guests. Nevertheless, Rose repeatedly annoys the Smiths enough to check out of the hotel. Guest star: Charles Napier as Mr. Smith Co-star: Camille Ameen as Mrs. Smith Note: this episode received media attention in 2020, for its focus on racism and the Confederate flag. See Notable episodes in the Production section for more details. 12 "It's Beginning to Look a Lot (Less) Like Christmas" Peter D. Beyt Jonathan Schmock December 18, 1992 1014 13.6[18] During Christmas time, the Golden Palace has booked a therapist, Dr. Norman Charles, and his seminar group of recently divorced patients who are traumatized by Christmas. Charles intends to help his patients get over their bad memories by having them stay in a Christmas-free environment, so Roland and the ladies reluctantly remove all Christmas decorations from the hotel to accommodate them. Chuy is pleased by this, as he has several bad Christmas memories. Later, Chuy has a dream in which the ladies appear to him as ghosts who teach him the joys of Christmas. Rose is the Ghost of Christmas Past, Blanche is the Ghost of Christmas Presents, and Sophia is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Upon waking up, Chuy realizes how much he loves Christmas, and he manages to convince Charles' patients that the holiday is not bad. Guest star: Nick Toth as Dr. Norman Charles 13 "Rose and Fern" Peter D. Beyt Marc Sotkin January 8, 1993 1013 15.3[19] Miles keeps calling the hotel and leaving messages for Rose, leading her to believe he wants to get back together with her. Meanwhile, a woman named Fern decides to have her wedding at the hotel, and Rose agrees to help plan it. Rose and Fern bond while planning a cow-themed wedding, although Rose later learns that Fern is marrying Miles. At Rose's insistence, Miles and Fern still have their wedding at the hotel, as Rose wants to see Miles get married so she can have the closure necessary to move on with her life. Meanwhile, Roland and Blanche learn someone has been stealing money from the hotel. Rose, Sophia, and Chuy are interrogated, but Roland ultimately realizes that Blanche is the culprit. Roland tells Blanche that the hotel's revenue is not her personal money to spend, and that what she has been doing is considered embezzlement. Special guest star: Harold Gould as Miles Co-star: Nanette Fabray as Fern 14 "Runaways" Lex Passaris Mitchell Hurwitz January 15, 1993 1003 14.4[20] Oliver wants to see a wrestling show, and Sophia wants to borrow a car to go downtown; they both are denied, leading them to steal a guest's car for a drive. Oliver's mother, Paula Webb, arrives at the hotel after getting out of rehab and is ready to take back her son. Roland tells her that Oliver is busy spending time with one of his foster grandmas. Oliver and Sophia are pulled over by a police officer for driving too slow; they are returned to the hotel, and Oliver goes home with Paula. Meanwhile, the Golden Palace is hosting a 16th birthday party for the daughter of a banker. Roland and Rose are eager to make the party a success, as the girl's father holds the bank note to the hotel. They are upset with Blanche for spending time with her boyfriend Ernie rather than helping to plan the party. Rose accuses Blanche of abandoning the hotel and believes she cannot handle the responsibility, but they later reconcile. Guest stars: Hansford Rowe as Mr. Siegel, Joely Fisher as Paula Webb Note: This episode features the final appearance of Billy L. Sullivan as Oliver Webb. 15 "Heartbreak Hotel" Lex Passaris Julie Thacker January 29, 1993 1016 N/A Taylor, a man who Blanche was attracted to in college, visits the Golden Palace. Taylor had previously chosen Blanche's college roommate over her, so Blanche tries to win him over when he visits the hotel, but he ends up falling for Rose. Blanche secretly sabotages one of their dates, allowing Blanche to take Rose's place with Taylor while Rose does hotel work. Rose learns Blanche sabotaged the date and eventually confronts her. Later, the women go on a date together with Taylor, who upsets Blanche by continuing to express his attraction to Rose. Blanche later realizes how many female friends she has lost due to her competitive behavior for men, and she and Rose reconcile. Meanwhile, a relationship expert known as The Love Doctor is holding a couples seminar at the hotel, and Sophia wants to participate, so she convinces Roland to accompany her. Later, she reveals that she wanted Roland to participate in the seminar so he could work out issues with his own love life. Guest star: Dick Van Patten as Taylor, Pamela Dunlap as The Love Doctor 16 "Señor Stinky Learns Absolutely Nothing About Life" Peter D. Beyt Marc Sotkin February 5, 1993 1019 12.9[21] Roland, Brad the hotel pool maintenance man, and Chuy make up the members of a successful volleyball team. Roland, the team captain, wants to win a volleyball championship trophy. Chuy, who is a poor player, is upset about always being left out of the game by Roland. Rose later joins the volleyball team, and Roland agrees to let Chuy play as well. However, Rose and Chuy play poorly. Rose decides to become a volleyball cheerleader instead, and when Brad injures his ankle, Roland decides to put Chuy back in the game. However, Chuy loses the championship for the team, and Roland criticizes him for it. They later reconcile after Roland apologizes. Meanwhile, after Blanche meets with a bank employee and flirts with him, Rose and Roland make her realize that her behavior toward men could be considered sexual harassment, prompting her to try acting more professional with men. Lawrence Gentry, the owner of an adjacent hotel, complains that the Golden Palace parking lot occupies a portion of his hotel's parking lot. Blanche dresses in a business suit and tries to remain professional when meeting Gentry, despite their attraction to each other. They devise a solution by having the two hotels share the parking spaces, and they later decide to begin a relationship. Special guest star: Ricardo Montalbán as Lawrence Gentry Guest star: Stephen James Carver as Brad, the pool guy 17 "Say Goodbye, Rose" Peter D. Beyt Jim Vallely February 12, 1993 1020 17.1[23] The Golden Palace is preparing to hold a stand-up comedy competition. Blanche's son, Matthew, visits the hotel with the announcement that he has temporarily quit his job as a stockbroker so he can try stand-up comedy. Matthew intends to participate in the hotel's comedy show, but Blanche does not want him to do so, as she believes he has made a mistake by quitting his job. She eventually decides to support Matthew's career choice. Meanwhile, Rose falls in love with Bill Douglas, a hotel guest who looks identical to her late husband Charlie. After dating for a while, Rose reveals to Bill why she initially became attracted to him, and he decides they should end their relationship, believing Rose only loves him for his appearance. Rose denies this, and she does not want him to end the relationship because she will feel like she has lost Charlie again. Because Charlie died suddenly, Rose did not have a chance to tell him goodbye. To placate her, Bill has Rose tell him goodbye as if he were Charlie. Sophia's friend, comedian George Burns, sings a song during the comedy night to cheer up Rose following the break-up. Guest stars: Eddie Albert as Bill Douglas, Bill Engvall as Matthew Devereaux Special appearance by: George Burns[22] 18 "You've Lost That Livin' Feeling" Peter D. Beyt Marco Pennette February 19, 1993[24] 1018 14.0[25] The Golden Palace holds a grand reopening celebration to improve business. A local news team has been invited to the hotel to cover the event, and Rose has arranged for food critic Gerald Davenport to review the hotel's restaurant. Chuy despises Davenport for previously giving him a bad review. When Davenport is found dead, Chuy worries that he may have accidentally put rat poison in Davenport's meal. The news team arrives, and the body is hidden in the kitchen's walk-in freezer. When city health inspector Mr. Tucker arrives unexpectedly at the hotel, Blanche distracts him while Rose stuffs the body in a large suitcase to covertly transport it elsewhere. Rose abandons the suitcase in the lobby in order to distract the news team. Roland, unaware of the body's location, delivers the suitcase to hotel guest Mr. Mitchelson, who owns a chain of travel agencies. Later, Roland, Blanche, and Rose sneak into Mitchelson's hotel room and retrieve the body. However, they are forced to drop the body down a laundry chute when the news team approaches. Ultimately, Mitchelson and the news team see Davenport's body; the hotel employees pass him off as an unconscious drunk man and promote a new designated driver program for restaurant customers. Mitchelson recommends the hotel to his fellow travel agents, and the employees later learn that Davenport died of a massive coronary. Guest stars: Bill Morey as Mr. Mitchelson, Eric Christmas as Davenport, Stephen Root as Mr. Tucker 19 "The Chicken and the Egg" Lex Passaris Mitchell Hurwitz March 5, 1993[26] 1015 14.3[27] Blanche begins dating a cattle rancher named Bobby Lee, who wants to marry her and have children with her. Despite her age, he tells her about in vitro fertilisation, but the process would require an egg donor. Simultaneously, Blanche is visited by her daughter Rebecca in time for Blanche's birthday. Rebecca reluctantly agrees to be Blanche's egg donor, despite wanting her mother to act her age. Later, Blanche dreams that she, Rose, Sophia, Roland, and Chuy are pregnant. Upon waking up, Blanche realizes she cannot handle pregnancy and motherhood again. She meets with Bobby Lee to end the idea of having children, but before she can, he reveals that he has discovered himself to be impotent. Nevertheless, they agree to continue their relationship. Meanwhile, Sophia borrows Rose's car, but it and Sophia's purse later go missing. Sophia believes they have been stolen, so Roland teaches a self-defense class to Sophia and her elderly friends. Later, Roland and Rose learn that Sophia valet-parked the car, with her purse inside, at a hotel next door. Guest stars: Dick Gautier as Bobby Lee, Amzie Strickland as Sylvia, Debra Engle as Rebecca 20 "A New Leash on Life" Lex Passaris Marco Pennette April 2, 1993 1022 13.7[28] Blanche begins dating a travelling greyhound dog trainer named Charlie Sardisco, who is staying at the hotel, and Rose bonds with his greyhound. When Sophia's friend Gladys breaks her hip, she gives Sophia her ticket to be a potential guest on The Price Is Right. Sophia needs money for a plane ticket to reach the show's studio in California, and after talking with Charlie, she decides to bet on dog races. Later, Rose is upset to learn that Charlie will euthanize his dog if it loses its next race. Rose steals the dog and tells Blanche that 50,000 greyhounds are euthanized every year for failing to win. Horrified by this, Blanche ends her relationship with Charlie, while Sophia ends her sports betting. Charlie takes the dog back but later agrees to let Rose adopt it out after it loses its race. Sophia skips her trip because of lack of money, and she is upset when she hears her name being called during a broadcast of The Price Is Right. Meanwhile, Roland's mother Louise begins spending time with Chuy, giving Roland the uncomfortable impression that they are dating. Roland is relieved when Louise reveals that she and Chuy have been attending classes for divorcees together. Guest stars: Ken Kercheval as Charlie Sardisco, Ja'Net DuBois as Louise Wilson 21 "Pros and Concierge" Lex Passaris Kevin Rooney April 9, 1993 1024 12.2[29] Roland confides in Chuy that a more successful hotel offered him a job, which he turned down out of loyalty to the Golden Palace. Chuy tries to convince Roland to use the job offer to leverage a raise out of Blanche, but when Roland refuses, Chuy begins to drop hints to Blanche on Roland's behalf. Blanche is unable to give Roland a raise, but wanting what is best for him, she fires him, believing this will force him to take the better job. This leaves Roland unemployed and forced to take a humiliating job renting bicycles at the airport, while the Golden Palace staff struggle to contain the chaos without him. Eventually Blanche rehires Roland and manages to cut enough corners to give him a small raise. Meanwhile as a cash-saving method, Blanche gives Sophia a "vacation" that she chooses to spend at the hotel. 22 "Tad" Peter D. Beyt Marc Cherry & Jamie Wooten April 16, 1993[30] 1023 12.2[31] Blanche's mysterious yearly trips to Chattanooga, Tennessee have the staff guessing that there's a special man in her life, until her mentally disabled brother Tad shows up unexpectedly at the hotel, having taxied from his institution in Tennessee. Rose and Sophia are shocked that Blanche never mentioned her second brother after all these years. The staff goes out of their way to be kind to Tad, with Rose forming an especially close bond that causes Tad to declare he is in love with her. Blanche, upset, plans to send Tad back to his institution, until Rose confronts her and accuses Blanche of being ashamed of Tad. Blanche is forced to admit that she has felt ashamed of Tad all these years, but watching Rose's tenderness toward him makes Blanche decide that she wants to be more involved in Tad's life, inviting him back to the hotel for more visits in the future. Guest star: Ned Beatty as Tad Hollingsworth 23 "One Angry Stan" Lex Passaris Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal April 30, 1993[32] 1021 9.7[33] Blanche and Rose are stunned to learn that Stanley Zbornak, Dorothy's ex-husband and Sophia's former son-in-law, is dead. The three women try to work through their complicated feelings toward the man. However, Stan secretly approaches Sophia and admits that he faked his death to avoid prison for tax evasion and plans to flee the country. Sophia tells this to Blanche and Rose, who assume Sophia is in denial. After Stan's funeral, he secretly visits Sophia a final time, with both admitting that in spite of their difficulties, they loved one another. His exit leaves Sophia in tears, while Blanche and Rose assume she has finally accepted his death. Meanwhile, Roland and Chuy are excited to plan a bachelor party booked at the Golden Palace and scheme to hire an exotic dancer. The two men learn at the last minute that the bachelor party was really a bachelorette party, forcing Roland to provide the entertainment. Special guest star: Herbert Edelman as Stan Guest stars: Earl Boen as The Priest, Abraham Alvarez as Herb Jenkins 24 "Sex, Lies and Tortillas" Lex Passaris Michael Davidoff & Bill Rosenthal May 7, 1993 1017 8.9[34] During Spring Break, the Golden Palace is overrun by vacationing college students. Roland must go to extraordinary lengths to prevent the wily students from sneaking in unauthorized guests. Among the students is Rose's granddaughter Charlene, who confides to Rose that she intends to give her virginity to her boyfriend at the hotel. Seeing Charlene's uncertainty, Rose persuades Charlene to hold off on sex until she feels ready. Rose's advice is borne out when Charlene's boyfriend dumps her for refusing him. An unexpected tropical storm leaves the rambunctious college students trapped in the hotel until Chuy organizes their help in building the world's longest burrito in order to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. The group effort is successful but not official, as no record auditor can verify the burrito's size before it falls apart. Guest stars: Brooke Theiss as Charlene, Adam Biesk as Benson Production The Carlyle hotel in 2017, following renovation as a residential condominium complex[35] Bea Arthur had grown tired of starring in The Golden Girls,[36][37] and chose not to return for an eighth season.[38] As a result, the show was retitled and revamped as a new series, The Golden Palace, with Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty reprising their roles.[39][40] Like the original series, The Golden Palace was also created by Susan Harris,[41] who once again served as executive producer alongside Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The trio had mixed feelings about the new series, but felt obligated to continue onward for the sake of the cast and crew. Thomas said, "We had been employing a lot of people, so to just pull the plug would have meant ending something that provided a very satisfying life for a lot of people".[42] White said that she and her Golden Girls co-stars were initially skeptical of the new series but, "To our great surprise, we are having a ball. It's coming together much better than we had thought".[43] McClanahan had suggested keeping the original series and adding a fourth roommate to replace Arthur's character, but this idea was rejected by the producers.[44][45][46] British comedian Alexei Sayle was originally hired to play the hotel's chef, who initially was to be portrayed as Eastern European.[47][48] Sayle was replaced by Cheech Marin before the pilot was shot.[48][49][50] The idea of having a Latino chef as a comic foil to the rest of the cast had originally been proposed at the beginning of The Golden Girls; the original chef, Coco (portrayed by Charles Levin), appeared in the first episode of The Golden Girls but was written out due to concerns about how to work him into later scripts with a cast of four women with strong personalities.[51][52] With Arthur gone and the core group down to three, the concept was revived. Marin had wanted to branch out into television and away from being typecast as a Los Angeles stoner, and had previously worked on a film project with Witt. Marin was promised a spin-off series for his character in the event that The Golden Palace were successful.[53] The Golden Palace marked Marin's and Don Cheadle's first starring roles in a television series.[53][54] According to Cheadle, the director of photography had trouble with him and White in shared scenes due to their heavily contrasted complexions; White's hair and makeup had to be altered to reduce the contrast, ensuring Cheadle was properly lit.[55] The Carlyle hotel on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive was used for exterior shots depicting the Golden Palace hotel,[56] while the rest of the series was taped at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, California.[43] On The Golden Girls, Getty often had to reshoot her scenes as she had trouble remembering her lines.[57][58] McClanahan noted that this was not the case on The Golden Palace, speculating that Getty may have been subconsciously intimidated by Arthur.[57] Cancellation and aftermath Ratings were initially solid, with the show winning its timeslot for its first few weeks,[59][60][61][62] but viewership fell steadily as the season progressed.[63][64][65][66] A second season was to be greenlit according to McClanahan, but network executives decided to cancel the show a couple of hours before the upfronts. CBS opted not to renew the series,[45] canceling it in May 1993.[67][68] Harris attributed the series' failure to Arthur's absence, saying it did not work without her.[69] Following the cancellation, White joined the short-lived second season of Bob, which had aired in the same block as The Golden Palace for its first season.[37] Getty went on to portray Sophia in the later seasons of another Golden Girls spin-off, Empty Nest.[70][71] The character returned to the rebuilt Shady Pines retirement home, which had burned down in the previous series. What became of the characters of Rose, Blanche, Roland, Chuy, and the hotel is left unresolved. Notable episodes In 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter movement and following the murder of George Floyd, the episode "Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be" attracted attention for how it had addressed the issues of racism and the Confederate flag. Journalist Seb Starcevic first drew attention to the episode in a Twitter thread that became popular before the wider media began to pick up the story.[72][73][74][75][76][77] Broadcast history The Golden Palace aired on CBS, changing networks from NBC, which had aired The Golden Girls on Saturday nights for its entire run.[39][40] NBC was willing to greenlight a 13-episode order for The Golden Palace, but the series producers were not satisfied with this number and moved the series to CBS, which promised a full season.[78][79] NBC had been seeking a younger demographic, and The Golden Girls did not fit into its plans.[60][80] White believed that a new network would be beneficial for the series.[43] CBS used The Golden Palace as one of four comedies assembled on Friday night in an effort to combat ABC's TGIF comedy block; The Golden Palace was grouped with Major Dad, Designing Women, and Bob, all of which were either successful comedies prior to the move, or in the case of Bob, featured a previously successful sitcom star (Bob Newhart).[81][82][83] Syndication of the series is handled by Disney–ABC Domestic Television. Although the series has never been syndicated as a stand-alone series, Lifetime, during the time it owned the rights to The Golden Girls, carried The Golden Palace on several occasions in the mid-2000s, running the series in rotation as a de facto eighth season of The Golden Girls.[84] The show's existence is generally not well known.[85][86][87] According to McClanahan, most Golden Girls fans were unaware of the series until reruns began airing on Lifetime.[44][45] In recognition of what would have been White's 100th birthday, The Golden Palace became available on the Hulu streaming platform January 10, 2022.[88] Reception Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Rick Du Brow stated that Harris "deserves plenty of credit for infusing the premiere of the tired old series with new verve, drive and wit in its resuscitated form".[41] The Orlando Sentinel wrote that the premise "seemed like one of the worst ideas of the year," but found that the premiere episode "crackles with the same energy that marked the early years of The Golden Girls," writing further, "The change of scenery, plus fresh chemistry created by the addition of new characters, relieves the numbing sense of deja vu that settled over the characters" in the final seasons of the previous series.[89] However, John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote, "It's all a bit too familiar, and the format is forced into some unseemly stretching".[90] Tom Shales of The Washington Post gave a mixed review of the pilot episode but praised White's performance, writing "she seems faster and fresher than ever. Arthur's absence is felt (and duly noted in a sly joke or two), but without Betty White, this is one show that clearly could not go on."[91] Several critics praised the series after it debuted on Hulu. Robert Lloyd, writing for the Los Angeles Times, applauded the cast "even if they are playing in a sequel to a show people remember better and love more".[92] Eliot Glazer of Vulture.com considered the cast to have "undeniable" chemistry despite the absence of Arthur.[93] Megan McCaffrey of Collider wrote that the series "takes the groundwork laid by the original and runs with it into a successful spinoff".[94] Conversely, TVLine ranked it as the 20th worst television spinoff ever.[95]

Legend has it that Egyptian treasure was discovered in a Grand Canyon cave in 1909. Against the backdrop of America's most grandiose natural spectacle, Scott Wolter embarks on a search for the truth, in Season 2, Episode 5, "Grand Canyon Treasure." #AmericaUnearthed

Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum (Deluxe Edition)

Examining the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints community, and the life of prophet, Warren Jeffs.

Baby Doll is a 1956 American black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (1955). The plot focuses on a feud between two rival cotton gin owners in rural Mississippi. Filmed in Mississippi in late 1955, Baby Doll was released in December 1956. It provoked significant controversy, mostly because of its implied sexual themes, and the National Legion of Decency condemned the film. Despite the moral objections, Baby Doll enjoyed a mostly favorable response from critics and earned numerous accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Director for Kazan and nominations for four other Golden Globe awards, four Academy Awards and four BAFTA Awards. Wallach won the BAFTA award for Most Promising Newcomer. Baby Doll has been listed by some film scholars as among the most notorious films of the 1950s, and The New York Times included it in its Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.[1] Plot In the Mississippi Delta, bigoted, middle-aged cotton gin owner Archie Lee Meighan has been married to pretty, naïve 17-year-old "Baby Doll" Meighan for two years. Archie Lee impatiently waits for her 18th birthday, when, by prior agreement with her now-deceased father, the marriage can finally be consummated. In the meantime, she sleeps in a crib, because the only other bedroom furniture in the house is the bed in which Archie sleeps; Archie, an alcoholic, spies on her through a hole in a wall. Baby Doll's senile Aunt Rose Comfort lives in the house, as well, much to Archie's chagrin. After defaulting on payments to a furniture-leasing company due to his failing cotton gin, virtually all the furniture in the house is repossessed, and Baby Doll threatens to leave. Archie's competitor, a Sicilian-American named Silva Vacarro—who is manager of a newer and more modern and profitable cotton gin—has taken away all of Archie's business. Archie retaliates by burning down Vacarro's gin that night. Suspecting Archie as the arsonist, Vacarro visits the farm the following day with truckloads of cotton, offering to pay Archie Lee to gin for him. Archie asks Baby Doll to entertain Vacarro while he supervises the work, and the two spend the day together. Vacarro explicitly inquires about Archie's whereabouts the night before and makes sexual advances toward her. When Vacarro outright accuses Archie of burning down his gin, Baby Doll goes to find Archie, who slaps her in the face and leaves for town to purchase new parts for his gin. Vacarro comforts Baby Doll, and after becoming friendly, Vacarro forces her to sign an affidavit admitting Archie's guilt. He then takes a nap in Baby Doll's crib, and is invited for supper at Baby Doll's request as a storm approaches. Archie, drunk and jealous of Baby Doll's romantic interest in Vacarro, angrily tells Aunt Rose she needs to move out of the house; Vacarro immediately offers to let her live with him as his cook, and Baby Doll and he flirt with each other and taunt Archie. After Vacarro confronts Archie with the affidavit, Archie retrieves his shotgun and chases Vacarro outside while Baby Doll calls the police. The police arrive, and Archie is arrested when Vacarro presents them with the affidavit. Vacarro then leaves the farm, telling Baby Doll he will be back the following day with more cotton. As Archie is taken away by the police, remarking that it is Baby Doll's birthday, Baby Doll and her Aunt Rose return inside the house to await Vacarro's return. Cast Karl Malden as Archie Lee Meighan Carroll Baker as Baby Doll Meighan Eli Wallach as Silva Vacarro Mildred Dunnock as Aunt Rose Comfort Lonny Chapman as Rock Eades Hogue as Town Marshal Noah Williamson as Deputy R. G. Armstrong as Townsman Sid (voice only, uncredited) Madeleine Sherwood as Nurse in Doctor's Office (uncredited) Rip Torn as Dentist (uncredited) Production Development Jack Garfein, Carroll Baker, and Elia Kazan on the set of Baby Doll Although the film's title card reads "Tennessee Williams' Baby Doll" and the film is based on Williams' one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, Elia Kazan claimed in his autobiography that Williams was only "half-heartedly" involved in the screenplay and that Kazan actually wrote most of it.[2][3] Casting Kazan cast Baby Doll using numerous alumni of the Actors Studio, including each of the principal cast members.[4] Carroll Baker was Kazan's first choice for the title role, although Williams had considered Marilyn Monroe for the part.[2][5] Williams favored Baker after she performed a scene from his script at the Actors Studio. Kazan had been impressed by her performance in All Summer Long on Broadway the year prior.[6] Eli Wallach was cast in his first screen role[7] but was hesitant, as he was unfamiliar with film acting and lacked confidence in his ability.[8] Although racial segregation was still present in Mississippi at the time,[9] several local black actors appear in bit parts.[7] Actors Studio alumnus Rip Torn appears in an uncredited role as a dentist.[8] Filming Principal photography began in October 1955 in Benoit, Mississippi[10] at the J.C. Burrus house, an 1848 antebellum home in Bolivar County.[7] Kazan asked the actors to dress the home's interiors with props that they felt reflected their characters' personalities.[7] Other shooting locations included nearby Greenville, Mississippi and New York City.[2] According to Kazan, Williams did not stay long while the film was shooting in Benoit because of the way in which locals looked at him.[2] Some locals were used for minor roles, and one called "Boll Weevil" acted and also served as the production unit's utility man.[2] The working titles for the film included the name of the play and Mississippi Woman. Baker claims that Kazan changed the title to Baby Doll as a present to her.[7] Release Box office Baby Doll premiered in New York City on December 18, 1956, opening the following week in Los Angeles on December 26 before receiving an expanded release on December 29.[7] During its opening week at New York's Victoria Theater, the film earned promising box-office returns, totaling $51,232.[11] It grossed a total of $2.3 million at the U.S. box office.[12] According to Kazan, the film was ultimately not profitable.[13] Claims of indecency Cardinal Francis Spellman, Archbishop of New York, protested the film. Baby Doll courted controversy before its release with the display of a promotional billboard in New York City that depicted Baker lying in a crib and sucking her thumb.[14] Cardinal Spellman urged both Catholics and non-Catholics to avoid the film, deeming it a moral danger.[15] Although Baby Doll received a seal of approval from the MPAA, Motion Picture Herald criticized the approval, noting: "Both the general principles of the Code and several specific stipulations are tossed aside in granting the film a Code seal. Among these, the law is ridiculed, there are sexual implications, vulgarity, and the words 'wop' and 'nigger.'"[7] Religious groups continued to apply pressure following the film's December 18, 1956 premiere, and the Catholic Legion of Decency rated the film as a "C" ("Condemned") and deemed it "grievously offensive to Christian and traditional standards of morality and decency."[7] The group succeeded in having the film withdrawn from numerous theaters.[2] Variety noted that it was the first time in years that the Legion of Decency had condemned a major American film that had been approved by the MPAA.[2] Drive-in advertisement from 1957 Response to the film from Catholic laity was mixed,[16] and Episcopal bishop James A. Pike argued that The Ten Commandments contained more "sensuality" than did Baby Doll.[2] According to Baker, the cast and crew were unaware that the material would be perceived as controversial.[17] The main reason for the backlash was believed to be the seduction scene between Baker and Wallach.[17] Speculation arose among some audiences that during their scene together on a swinging chair, Wallach's character was fondling Baby Doll underneath her dress because his hands are not visible in the frame.[17] According to both Baker and Wallach, the scene was intentionally filmed as such because Kazan had placed heaters all around them in the cold weather.[17] The film was banned in many countries, including Sweden, because of "exaggerated sexual content." It also was condemned by Time, which called it "just possibly the dirtiest American-made motion picture that has ever been legally exhibited."[18] Such heated objections and the ensuing publicity earned Baby Doll a reputation as one of the most notorious films of the 1950s.[19] Critical response Reviews from critics were mostly positive. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote in a generally favorable review that Tennessee Williams "has written his trashy, vicious people so that they are clinically interesting...But Mr. Kazan's pictorial compositions, got in stark black-and-white and framed for the most part against the background of an old Mississippi mansion, are by far the most artful and respectable feature of 'Baby Doll.'"[20] Variety wrote that Kazan "probably here turns in his greatest directing job to date" and praised the "superb performances," concluding that the film "ranks as a major screen achievement and deserves to be recognized as such."[21] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called it "one of the finest films of this or many another year, a chilling expose of what ignorance does to human beings...and an excellent example of why the Motion Picture Association should follow Britain's lead in classifying films into distinct categories for children and adults."[22] John McCarten of The New Yorker praised the cast as "uniformly commendable" and wrote that the plot machinations "add up to some hilarious French-style farce, and it is only at the conclusion of the piece, when Mr. Kazan starts moving his camera around in a preternaturally solemn way, that one's interest in 'Baby Doll' briefly wanes."[23] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote "Kazan has often fallen afoul of his own cleverness, but in Baby Doll he responds to a brilliant and astute scenario by Tennessee Williams with a great invention and the most subtle insight...There are no bad performances, and those of Carroll Baker as Baby Doll and Eli Wallach as the Sicilian are outstanding."[24] Not all reviews were positive. Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "offers an experience so basically sordid, and so trying besides, that if one does not manage to laugh at its fantastic ribaldry, he will think that he has spent two hours in bedlam."[25] Harrison's Reports called the film "thoroughly unpleasant and distasteful screen fare, in spite of the fact that it is expertly directed and finely acted."[26] Accolades Institution Category Recipient(s) Result Ref. Academy Awards Best Actress Carroll Baker Nominated [27] Best Supporting Actress Mildred Dunnock Nominated Best Adapted Screenplay Tennessee Williams Nominated Best Black-and-White Cinematography Boris Kaufman Nominated BAFTA Awards Most Promising Newcomer Eli Wallach Won [28] Best Film Baby Doll Nominated Best Foreign Actor Karl Malden Nominated Best Foreign Actress Carroll Baker Nominated Golden Globe Awards Best Director Elia Kazan Won [29] Best Actor – Drama Karl Malden Nominated Best Supporting Actor Eli Wallach Nominated Best Actress – Drama Carroll Baker Nominated New Star of the Year Won Best Supporting Actress Mildred Dunnock Nominated WGA Awards Best Written American Drama – Screen Tennessee Williams Nominated Stage play In the 1970s, Williams wrote the full-length stage play Tiger Tail, based on his screenplay for Baby Doll. The screenplay and stage play have been published in one volume.[30] In 2015, the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey premiered a stage version of Baby Doll,[31] adapted by Emily Mann, the theater's artistic director, and Pierre Laville, who had written an earlier version that premiered at the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Paris in 2009.[32] The latest adaptation supplemented parts of the film script with material based on several others of Williams' works, including Tiger Tail.[33]

A Painted House is a 2001 novel by American author John Grisham. Inspired by his childhood in Arkansas,[1] it is Grisham's first major work outside the legal thriller genre in which he established himself. Initially published in serial form, the book was released in six installments in The Oxford American magazine.[2] The entire novel was later published in hardback and paperback by Doubleday. Set in the late summer and early fall of 1952, its story is told through the eyes of seven-year-old Luke Chandler, the youngest in a family of cotton farmers struggling to harvest their crops and earn enough to settle their debts. The novel portrays the experiences that bring him from a world of innocence into a harsh reality. Plot The story begins as Luke Chandler and his grandfather Eli, also known as Pappy, search for migrant workers to help them with the cotton picking. They initially consider themselves lucky to hire the Spruills, a family of "hill people," and a few Mexican migrants who annually come to the area looking for work. Aside from working long hours under the hot sun in the fields, Luke's life is fairly idyllic. He is obsessed with beautiful 17-year-old Tally Spruill, who on one occasion lets him see her naked, bathing in a creek. But a much more unpleasant experience is seeing Tally's brother, the overly aggressive and mentally unstable Hank Spruill, attack three boys from the notorious Sisco family, one of whom is beaten so severely that he dies from his wounds. Hank arrogantly identifies Luke as a friendly witness who can support his version of the event. The fearful boy backs up his story, although the adults in his life, including local sheriff Stick Powers, suspect he's too frightened to admit the truth. When Luke sees Cowboy, one of the Mexicans, later murder Hank and tossing his body into the river, Cowboy threatens to kill Luke's mother if he tells anyone what he saw. Cowboy and Tally then run off together and are not seen again. Luke also learns that his admired Uncle Ricky, fighting in the Korean War, might have fathered a child with a daughter of the Latchers, their poverty-stricken sharecropping neighbors. Grisham surrounds these dramatic moments with descriptive passages of life in the rural South and the ordinary events that fill Luke's weekly routine. His hard work in the fields is preceded by a hearty breakfast of eggs, ham, biscuits, and the one cup of coffee his mother allows him, and at day's end he's rewarded with an evening on the front porch, where the family gathers around the radio to listen to Harry Caray announce the St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. A devoted fan, Luke is saving his hard-earned money to buy a team warm-up jacket he saw advertised in the Sears, Roebuck catalog. Saturday afternoons are spent in town, where the adults share idle gossip and serious concerns and the youngsters visit the movie house, while Sunday morning is reserved for church. A visiting carnival, the annual town picnic, and Luke's introduction to television – to see a live broadcast of a World Series game – are additional bits of local color scattered throughout the tale. A flood devastates the family's crop before the harvest is completed, and Luke's parents decide to travel to the city to find work in a Buick plant, breaking a history of generations working on the land. The novel ends with Luke's mother smiling on the bus, having finally gotten her wish to leave cotton farming. The book's title refers to the Chandler house, which never has been painted, a sign of their lower social status in the community. One day Luke discovers that someone has been secretly painting the weather-beaten clapboards white, and eventually he continues the job with the approval of his parents and the assistance of the Mexicans, contributing some of his own savings for the purchase of paint. Main characters This house in Lepanto, Arkansas was the house used in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie A Painted House Luke Chandler – the youngest in the family and the protagonist of the story. Eli "Pappy" Chandler – Luke's highly respected and hard-working grandfather and patriarch of the family. He is a World War I veteran. Ruth "Gran" Chandler – Luke's quiet, conservative, and wise grandmother who prays for the safe return of her younger son, Ricky, from the Korean War. Jesse Chandler – Luke's father, who served in World War II (during which he suffered a debilitating injury), and struggles to help his father erase the family's debt. Kathleen Chandler – Luke's mother, who tends to the garden while dreaming of a better life in a suburban home with indoor plumbing and modern conveniences. Hank Spruill – the 'hill people' family's oldest son, boastful and quick to offer violence to anyone who offends him. Tally Spruill – the seventeen-year-old daughter in the migrant worker family. Trot Spruill – the youngest Spruill, who suffers from a crippled arm. He is also mentally slow, and is the only member of the family, other than his sister Tally, to whom Hank is never cruel. Cowboy – the Mexican who kills Hank, carries a switchblade and is quick to use it. Additional characters The remainder of the Spruill family—consisting of the parents, Leon and Lucy, who fear Hank, and their two nephews, Bo and Dale. Pop and Pearl Watson—owners of the local store, a meeting place for the community. Miguel—leader of the Mexicans who work for the Chandlers. Reverend/Brother Akers—the fiery minister of the Black Oak Baptist Church. Jimmy Dale—An uncle of Luke's, who works at a Buick plant in Michigan and offers to help his cousin Jesse find employment if he and his family relocate north. Stacy—Jimmy Dale's snobbish "Yankee" bride, who is horrified by the Chandlers' living conditions and becomes the butt of Luke's practical joke as retaliation for her arrogant attitude. Stick Powers—Black Oak's lazy overweight sheriff, who asserts his authority when necessary but would prefer to catnap in his car parked in the shade. The Latcher family—A family of poor sharecroppers, whose daughter Libby gives birth to a child she claims is fathered by Ricky Chandler. Dewayne—Luke's best friend. Ricky Chandler—Luke's 19-year-old uncle - in effect, more of an elder brother - who is fighting in the Korean War. He is never seen and referenced only in letters and flashbacks. Television adaptation On April 27, 2003, CBS broadcast a television adaptation directed by Alfonso Arau for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Aside from advancing Luke's age from seven to ten and adding a brief scene at the end, Patrick Sheane Duncan's teleplay remained faithful to its source and frequently used Grisham's dialogue verbatim. The cast included Scott Glenn as Pappy, Logan Lerman as Luke, Robert Sean Leonard as Jesse, Melinda Dillon as Gran, Arija Bareikis as Kathleen, Audrey Marie Anderson as Tally, Luis Esteban Garcia as Cowboy, and Pablo Schreiber as Hank.

Pioneers of the Oregon Trail.