On this day in 1946, a little-known young woman named Norma Jeane Dougherty walked into a future she could scarcely have imagined. At just 20 years old, the aspiring model signed her very first motion picture contract with 20th Century Fox, accepting a modest salary of about $150 per week. It was a simple studio agreement by Hollywood standards, yet it marked the first official step in the extraordinary transformation of a woman who would later become known across the globe as Marilyn Monroe.
At the time, Norma Jeane was far from the glamorous screen goddess history would celebrate. Raised in foster homes and orphanages after a difficult childhood, she had married young during World War II while her husband served overseas.
She spent part of the war working in a California aircraft factory, where her life changed after a military photographer spotted her during an assignment documenting women supporting the war effort. Her natural charm in front of the camera soon led to modeling assignments, with her radiant smile and unmistakable presence earning growing attention from photographers and magazine editors.
Hollywood talent scouts noticed that same magnetic quality. Executives at 20th Century Fox believed the photogenic blonde possessed something difficult to define but impossible to ignore. Before offering substantial acting opportunities, the studio arranged a screen test, allowing producers to evaluate how she appeared and performed before motion picture cameras.
The footage revealed a young woman whose expressive face and warmth translated naturally onto film. Although she had little acting experience, studio executives sensed enormous promise. Around this period, Norma Jeane made another decision that would shape entertainment history forever.
She adopted the professional name Marilyn Monroe. “Marilyn” was inspired by Broadway performer Marilyn Miller, while “Monroe” came from her mother’s maiden name. The elegant stage name proved memorable and perfectly suited the glamorous image the studio hoped to cultivate.
The initial contract did not guarantee immediate stardom. Monroe’s early months in Hollywood included acting lessons, voice coaching, dance instruction, and countless hours refining her craft. She also faced setbacks, including losing her first Fox contract before later rebuilding her career with determination.
By the early 1950s, audiences had fallen in love with her unforgettable performances in films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, and The Seven Year Itch. Her blend of vulnerability, wit, and undeniable screen presence elevated her beyond movie stardom into the realm of cultural legend.
Looking back, that 1946 contract appears almost unbelievable in its modest beginnings. For just $150 a week, 20th Century Fox secured the services of a hopeful young model whose new name, Marilyn Monroe, would become one of the most recognizable in cinema history, forever symbolizing the glamour, ambition, and enduring mystique of Hollywood’s golden age.
Robert De Niro’s filmography is truly second to none, but one genre he never fully explored was horror.
According to IMDb, De Niro has been apart of roughly 127 films and television projects throughout his career. Only four of those credits fall into the horror or horror-hybrid genre.
One of those films was 2004’s Godsend, released 22 years ago. Directed by Nick Hamm, it also starred Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn, and Cameron Bright.
The psychological horror film follows a grieving couple who secretly clone their deceased 8-year-old son, only to discover the cloned child has a dark and sinister side.
On paper, the premise is somewhat intriguing, but Godsend struggled both critically and commercially. More than two decades later, it remains De Niro’s lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes with a 3% score.
De Niro has never publicly addressed the struggles surrounding the film or why it did not pan out the way they likely expected when creating it. However, with the number of films he has made throughout his career, not every project is going to become an all-time classic.
Interestingly, 2004 was not the best year for De Niro. He also released The Bridge of San Luis Rey that same year, and alongside Godsend, it ranks as his second-lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes with just a 4% critics score.
Some of his other lowest-rated films include The Big Wedding (2013), New Year’s Eve (2011), Little Fockers (2010), and Killing Season (2013).
There are 15 MLB games on today’s schedule, and three of them air nationally on FOX and FS1. FS1 carries an afternoon matchup between the Twins and Mariners, two teams hovering right around .500, while FOX has a doubleheader of its own in prime time featuring the Diamondbacks and Guardians, both clubs sitting comfortably above .500, and the Yankees and Cubs, two of the stronger records in baseball right now. All three streams live and on demand on FOX One. MLB Schedule for August 1 on FOX Networks Twins at Mariners Minnesota is hovering around .500 and Seattle is hanging just below it, so this one shapes up as a tight, low-margin affair between two teams still very much in the mix. Both sides need wins to keep pace in a crowded American League field, which should make for a competitive afternoon on the West Coast. Diamondbacks at Guardians Arizona and Cleveland enter this one on comparable footing, both clubs a handful of games over .500 and pushing for playoff positioning in their respective leagues. It is a matchup of two teams trending in the right direction, and neither wants to slip this weekend. Yankees at Cubs This is a marquee matchup between two of the better records in baseball. New York and Chicago have both separated themselves from the pack, and a night game at Wrigley Field between two contenders is about as good as the regular season gets. Other August 1 MLB Games How to Watch MLB Games FOX and FS1 carry today’s national games, Twins at Mariners, Diamondbacks at Guardians and Yankees at Cubs, all of them streaming live and on demand on FOX One.
After breaking through with the 1976 sports drama Rocky, Sylvester Stallone established himself as one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood with blockbuster films such as First Blood, where he debuted the iconic Vietnam veteran John Rambo, Cliffhanger and Demolition Man.
However, in 1997, Stallone decided to take a major career risk by taking on a role that required a dramatic pay cut. He also had to put on 40 pounds, thereby effectively shedding his action-hero persona.
Stallone portrayed Freddy Heflin, the sheriff of a suburban New Jersey town, in the crime drama Cop Land, directed by James Mangold. Freddy teams up with Internal Affairs officer Moe Tilden, played by Robert De Niro, to try to uncover a massive cover-up by a group of corrupt cops. This included Gary Figgis, played by Ray Liotta.
The film was generally well received by critics. It was not a commercial flop, but its box-office performance was far below that of Stallone’s more popular action films.
The risk did not pay off for Stallone, who admitted the movie was a major setback in his career.
“Nobody wanted me after Cop Land,” he told AARP in a 2025 interview. “Even my agents. I was fired from CAA. My personal manager at the time let me go. He said, ‘I can’t do anything for you. Nobody really wants you anymore.’ And I go, ‘How’d this happen?’ I was told these studios feel as though you’re not what you were. Time has passed. Your genre is over.
“For almost a decade, I couldn’t find work. My former agent, Ron Meyer, was running Universal Studios. And I would go in and say, ‘Please, I’ll take anything.’ He goes, ‘I’ll try to help you, but it’s not up to me.’ And that was it.”
Stallone eventually returned to the top. He wrote, directed and starred in the sixth installment of the signature franchise that put him on the map. Rocky Balboa grossed $155 million worldwide in 2006, marking Stallone’s successful comeback.
Cop Land Considered One of Sylvester Stallone’s Best Movies
Despite nearly ending Stallone’s decorated career, Cop Land has endured as one of his best works. Rolling Stone ranks the 1997 drama No. 3 in its list of Stallone’s best movies, as voted on by the publication’s readers.
“Stallone’s career hit some serious roadblocks in the mid-1990s,” Rolling Stone wrote. “The Specialist, Judge Dredd, Assassins and Daylight were all debacles, and studios suddenly stopped bankrolling his signature big-budget action movies.
“… Stallone gained weight for the movie, and showed he could do more than flex his biceps and blow about bad guys with a bazooka. His career would fall deeper into oblivion over the next few years, and Cop Land remains one of his great, great movies from the low point of his post-fame career.”
The gamble may have proved costly for Stallone, but it also produced one of the defining points in his legacy.
Throughout Robert De Niro’s career, he starred in a slew of wildly successful movies, which often made it seem like everything he touched turned to gold. Films like The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Deer Hunter were all immediate box office and critical hits. However, one strikingly unusual box office flop starring the actor grew to become a cult classic that is now ranked as one of the greatest films ever made.
Robert De Niro’s 1985 Film ‘Brazil’ Flopped at the Box Office Amid a Troubled Release
Robert De Niro wearing a memorable costume behind the scenes on the set of Brazil.
Photo by Embassy International Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
In 1985, Universal Pictures released the film Brazil, which starred Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan, and Kim Greist. Unfortunately for everyone involved in the making of the movie, it was a box office flop. According to IMDb, the film was produced for an estimated $15 million, excluding distribution and marketing expenses, and brought in just $9,953,708 at the worldwide box office.
In May 2023, Brazil’s director Terry Gilliam discussed the film’s troubled release when he appeared on The Hollywood Reporter’s It Happened in Hollywood podcast. During that discussion, he explained that the head of Universal Pictures at the time, Sid Sheinberg, “hated” the movie. As a result, the studio wouldn’t even release it in North America at the time unless major changes were made.
After refusing to transform his own film, Gilliam launched a campaign attempting to force the film’s release. For example, he took out a full-page ad in Variety with a simple message: “Dear Sid Sheinberg: When are you going to release my film, ‘Brazil‘? Terry Gilliam.” He also publicly encouraged members of the media to see the film internationally and push for its domestic release.
The director even enlisted Robert De Niro to help call for the movie to come out when they arranged to appear on Good Morning America together. Ultimately, the film only hit theaters after the LA Film Critics Association voted Brazil best picture, best screenplay, and Gilliam best director of 1985, which resulted in Sheinberg relenting.
The delay was so bad that Brazil was released on December 18, 1985, in the United States after it came out in France on February 20, 1985. It was also allowed into theaters in several other international countries before American audiences were given their first chance to see it. The film didn’t even come out until 1986 in Canada, Hong Kong, and Japan.
Robert De Niro’s ‘Brazil’ Ranked One of the ‘Best Movies of All Time’
Even though Brazil wasn’t embraced by the studio that produced it or moviegoers at the time of its release, it definitely found its audience. The film developed a dedicated fan following, which Criterion celebrated by listing it among the “cult movies” the company has released remastered copies of. As time progressed, the film garnered more mainstream accolades, including currently being listed on Rotten Tomatoes’ dynamic “Best Movies of All Time” ranking. Additionally, Empire Magazine ranked Brazil at No. 83 on its “Greatest Movies of All Time” list in 2008.
There are many reasons why Brazil has been ranked among the best films of all time by widely respected outlets like those. One obvious factor in its garnering praise is that it is a singular film and visual masterpiece from the mind of Terry Gilliam. Easily one of the most unique mainstream directors ever, the former Monty Python member has helmed other acclaimed but strange movies like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and 12 Monkeys.
The sci-fi comedy presents a captivating dystopian future in which incompetence and bureaucratic indifference make life comically difficult for everyone. Beyond its narrative, the film stands as a highly influential work thanks to retro-futuristic visuals that left a lasting mark on pop culture and society. Another factor that shouldn’t be ignored is that Robert De Niro gave one of the most memorably unusual performances of his career in his small but iconic role. Without giving spoilers, the movie features an ending that is legitimately stunning.
For decades, treating cavities has almost always meant drills, fillings, and, in severe cases, surgery. But new research suggests many young children could avoid those procedures thanks to a simple liquid that stops tooth decay before it worsens.
A large U.S. clinical trial has found that silver diamine fluoride (SDF), an inexpensive liquid applied directly to decayed teeth, can successfully halt cavity progression without drilling, injections, or anesthesia. The findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, provide the strongest evidence yet that the treatment is both safe and effective in young children, potentially paving the way for full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Phase III trial, led by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, enrolled 830 children younger than six years old from dental offices, pediatric medical practices, and Head Start programs across Michigan, New York, and Iowa. Researchers evaluated whether applying 38% silver diamine fluoride every six months could stop active tooth decay in baby teeth.
The results were encouraging. The treatment successfully arrested decay in more than half of affected baby teeth, offering a noninvasive alternative to traditional cavity treatment, which typically requires removing decayed tooth material before placing a filling.
Lead investigator Margherita Fontana said the treatment is safe even for children as young as one year old. That finding is especially significant because tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease affecting children in the United States, with more than 40% experiencing cavities. Left untreated, those cavities can lead to severe pain, infections, difficulty eating or sleeping, missed school days, and emergency hospital visits.
Researchers believe SDF could transform care for patients who struggle with conventional dental treatment, including toddlers, older adults, people with developmental or physical disabilities, individuals with severe dental anxiety, and those with limited access to dentists.
The treatment involves painting the liquid onto the cavity using a small sponge applicator, eliminating the need for drilling or sedation. One drawback is that the decayed portion of the tooth permanently turns dark after treatment.
Scientists say the trial provides the rigorous evidence needed to support an FDA application for SDF as a cavity treatment. If approved, experts believe insurers may be more willing to cover the therapy, healthcare providers could adopt it more widely, and more children could receive treatment before cavities become painful or require surgery.
Researchers also note that repeated applications may preserve baby teeth until they naturally fall out, while adults could use the treatment as either long term cavity management or temporary protection before restorative dental work becomes possible.
