Leap Day

Apparently, I didn't come up with a special post for the previous February 29 back in 2008. It's not as if there's a whole lot to post about it. I can't think of any classic movies where February 29 comes into play. The closest I can think of is the 1932 movie I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang. In order to show the passage of time, the filmmakers used a montage shot of small pages from a month-a-page calendar falling off. They obviously came up with just one 1932 calendar for the shot, as one year doesn't follow the next, and the Februaries have 29 days. (Yes, I'm a geek; that's the kind of thing I look for in the movies. But that's also a subject I know I've discussed in the past.)

As for February 29 birthdays, IMDb suggests that the best-known for fans of classic cinema would probably be director William Wellman, who was born on February 29, 1896. TCM correctly doesn't list any birthdays for February 29, 1900, as that's one of those years ending in -00 that was not a leap year. Surprisingly, though, they list two people as having been born on February 29, 1918. No, I can't figure that one out either.