The Film Critic Who Hijacked a Plane and Other Confident Disasters

The Film Critic Who Hijacked a Plane and Other Confident Disasters

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Episode description

The Film Critic Who Hijacked a Plane and Other Confident Disasters

On 18 October 1973, a woman hijacked a Paris to Nice flight and demanded that a French comedy film be pulled from cinemas. The film in question, Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob, was a warm-hearted farce about tolerance starring Louis de Funès. The hijacker believed it was too pro-Jewish given the Yom Kippur War raging in the Middle East. The hijacking was resolved peacefully, the film was released anyway, and it became one of the biggest box office successes of 1973 in France. Also on this date: in 1565, the first naval battle between Japan and a Western power took place off Kyushu when the Matsura clan attacked a Portuguese carrack; in 1009, the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim ordered the complete destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, hacking it down to bedrock; and in 1945, Argentine colonel Juan Perón married actress Eva Duarte, who would go on to become one of the most influential and polarising figures in Latin American history. Four stories of human certainty meeting historical reality.

Chapters

  • Intro A woman hijacked a Paris to Nice flight in 1973 with an unusual demand: that a French comedy film be pulled from cinemas.
  • The Hijack That Wanted a Film Cancelled On 18 October 1973, the wife of French film producer Georges Cravenne hijacked a flight, demanding the cancellation of Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob, which she believed was too pro-Jewish during the Yom Kippur War. The hijacking was resolved peacefully and the film became a box office success.
  • The First Naval Battle Between Japan and the West On 18 October 1565, the Matsura clan attempted to seize a Portuguese trading carrack off the coast of Kyushu in what became the first recorded naval engagement between Japan and a Western power. The Portuguese defended successfully.
  • Al-Hakim and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre On 18 October 1009, Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the complete destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, demolishing it to bedrock. The church was eventually rebuilt and stands today after centuries of reconstruction.
  • Juan Perón Marries Eva Duarte On 18 October 1945, Argentine military officer Juan Perón married actress Eva Duarte. Within months he became president and she became one of the most powerful and polarising figures in Argentine history before her death at age 33 in 1952.
  • Outro History is full of people absolutely certain they were right, from film-critical hijackers to naval raiders to caliphs. History, being history, had other ideas.

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