A short update today, but there's an earthshaking story in the world of entertainment in this update. Charles Bluhdorn, the president of Gulf+Western, wants to buy the Walt Disney Company. Plus, an update on the Reagan administration, and Star Trek: Planet of the Titans concludes filming.
BLUHDORN EYES DISNEY TAKEOVER
June 5, 1979
Charles Bluhdorn, the billionaire industrialist and CEO of conglomerate Gulf+Western, is seeking his largest corporate takeover yet: the acquisition of the struggling Walt Disney Company. After Star Trek: The Motion Picture cemented Paramount's status as the top movie studio in Hollywood, Bluhdorn believes that he has the assets and financial clout to force a deal out of Disney chairman Card Walker. "Bluhdorn sees this moment as the time to strike, and Disney has never been at a lower point in its history, especially when it comes to making motion pictures," a source close to Bluhdorn told the Journal. Although Disney is still profitable, parts of its operation are shedding money, especially its moribund movie division. The proposed deal would acquire Disney in stages: the motion picture division would be immediately absorbed and placed under the control of Paramount Pictures, and the theme parks, Walt Disney World in Florida, and Disneyland in Southern California, would be acquired by Bluhdorn over a period of two years. Bluhdorn will keep the Disney name on the properties. Mr. Walker has proposed a sale price of $750 million for Disney, and Bluhdorn, after his troubles with the Securities and Exchange Commission subsided, is able to cover the cost, provided he sells off several plots of land in the Dominican Republic. "If Bluhdorn acquires Disney, Paramount will become the largest filmmaker in history," several Hollywood insiders commented. "No other studio could possibly compete with them, with the possible exceptions of Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Brothers."
NUCLEAR ARMS TALKS STALLED
REAGAN ADMINISTRATION, U.S.S.R. CANNOT AGREE ON TERMS
June 19, 1979
Secretary of State Mr. Henry Kissinger told his Soviet counterpart, Mr. Andrei Gromyko, that no agreement was possible on reducing the nuclear stockpiles in both nations unless the Soviet Union withdrew troops from Czechoslovakia and promised no further military actions for the remainder of the calendar year. The Reagan administration is still furious about Soviet aggression in Prague, despite a drawdown of troops there, and perceives the Islamic Iranian takeover as Soviet-backed, despite little evidence that Moscow supports Mr. Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran. "The Soviet Union is a bad actor at this stage, and we cannot trust them with an agreement that they could shred at a moment's notice, especially with nuclear arms," Mr. Kissinger said. Two years ago, American and Soviet troops eyeballed each other near Berlin, as the Soviets failed to cut off the disputed city due to American intervention. "The American stance in negotiations is to distrust the Andropov government, who has violated world peace at every turn," Mr. Reagan's chief of staff, Mr. Donald Regan, said. "Until Moscow chooses to coexist with the Western world instead of attempting to overthrow it, no nuclear arms deal is possible." Mr. Gromyko interpreted the negotiations in the following way: "The Americans under the Reagan government are not a negotiating partner. The Soviet Union will continue to defend itself by any means necessary from capitalist aggression. Premier Andropov views American arms in Czechoslovakia and the attack on Iranian naval forces in the Hormuz Strait as actions of a rogue government."
STAR TREK TV MOVIE CONCLUDES FILMING
June 21, 1979
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley celebrated the end of filming Star Trek: Planet of the Titans, with a more subdued celebration than their blockbuster motion picture outing, still playing in some theaters eight months after its release. NBC, attempting to capitalize on the Trek boom, negotiated with Paramount and Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, to bring the cast back for one more television feature. The cast agreed, although reluctantly. "We were not as excited to go back on television for Star Trek because of the movie success," Shatner said. "We want to return next year for the sequel, hopefully get a great script, and ring up the cash registers at the box office again, just like we did with Star Trek: The Motion Picture." Gene Roddenberry convinced the cast, who initially did not want to make a television movie, to make the movie for him, because Paramount is very reluctant on giving control of the sequel to Roddenberry. "We did it as a favor to Gene," Kelley said. "Gene did so much for us over the years, so we all owed it to him." James Doohan, back on the scene as Mr. Scott, was more enthusiastic than the big three stars. "I love making Star Trek, regardless of whether it is for television or the movie theater," Doohan said. "I'm nearing sixty, and I'm grateful for any chance I get to be Mr. Scott. Who knows how many more times we'll make movies together."
Shatner:
Planet of the Titans was an average script. There were some decent scenes where we fought the Klingons again, but I felt as if it did not live up to the first feature film. I'm glad it was relegated to television. That being said, the movie was excellent business for NBC, who wanted Roddenberry to create a new Star Trek television series. But by then, Roddenberry was fed up with Paramount, and no new series was on the horizon yet. Even if there was a new series, the cast unanimously agreed not to do it, as making the television series a decade ago was an enormous grind. I know that I largely wanted to be in movies, and Leonard was of the same viewpoint. DeForest Kelley was enjoying his time working with Robin Williams, and Nichelle Nichols loved playing Bobby Ewing's lawyer on Dallas.
