Thanksgiving weekend box office is big business, providing studios and filmmakers an opportunity to take full advantage of a long holiday weekend to entice moviegoers into theaters. The tradition can be traced back to 1908, when the Selig Polyscope Company hoped to lure audiences to see On Thanksgiving Day, released on Thursday, November 26. The film’s climactic scene takes place during a Thanksgiving dinner.

We heard a rumor the other day that made us laugh. Someone said that Margaret Herrick was just a secretary who happened to stumble into a cushy job at the Academy in 1943. Nothing could be further from the truth. As so often happens with women who have established successful careers, Mrs. Herrick is rarely given full credit for how she built her career or for her many accomplishments.