Pop Culture Happenings: March

50 years ago, Tommy defeats the Pinball Wizard on the silver screen; 40 years ago, Bruce and Cybill moonlight as fast-talking P.I.s; and 25 years ago, 55 Oscar statuettes go missing.

1975

50 years ago

On March 19, 1975, “Tommy: The Movie,” was released. The film is a psychedelic musical fantasy based on the 1969 rock opera “Tommy” by British rock band The Who. The story of the album and film is about Tommy, a “psychosomatically deaf, mute and blind” boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious cult leader. In the movie, Tommy was played by Roger Daltry, lead singer of The Who. Other cast members included Elton John as the Pinball Wizard and Tina Turner as the Acid Queen, as well as Ann-Margret, Jack Nicholson and Eric Clapton.

1985

40 years ago

On March 3, 1985, the comedy drama television series “Moonlighting” premiered. The show starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd as private detectives David Addison and Maddie Hayes of Blue Moon Investigations. The show, with a mix of mystery, sharp dialogue and sexual tension between its leads, introduced Willis to the world and brought Shepherd back into the spotlight after a nearly decade-long absence. “Moonlighting” became one of the first successful TV “dramedies,” with a nearly equal balance of humor and serious content. The show made use of fast-paced, overlapping dialogue between the two leads, harking back to classic screwball comedy films such as those of director Howard Hawks.

2000

25 years ago

On March 10, 2000, 55 Oscar statuettes were stolen before the 72nd Academy Awards. Nine days later, 52 of the stolen statuettes were discovered by a man named Willie Fulgear in a trash bin behind a Los Angeles laundromat. Fullgear made his living repairing and recycling discarded objects he found in trash bins. For the safe recovery of the stolen statuettes, Fulgear was rewarded $50,000, and the academy invited him and his son Allen to the ceremony.

Later, Lawrence Ledent and Anthony Hart were arrested for the theft of the Oscars. Both men pleaded no contest. Ledent served six months in prison, and Hart received probation. Three years later, one of three remaining missing Oscar statuettes was discovered during a drug bust at a mansion in Miami, Fla.; the other two have yet to be found.