Week of February 8-14, 1974

Sailor Suits
The Last Detail opened in New York Feb. 10, with Jack Nicholson, 36, playing a sentimental but tough swabbie. The role led to his second Best Actor Oscar nomination.

Stone Gathers Belongings
The French bid adieu to Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards Feb. 13, banishing the rocker and girlfriend Anita Pallenberg (in London in 1973) for two years after a drug conviction.

A Bid for a House Seat
Ronald Reagan wasn't the only actor with political ambitions 25 years ago. Vanessa Redgrave, then 37, announced her candidacy for the British House of Commons Feb. 12. She ran on a Workers Revolutionary Party platform that supported workers' rights to overthrow the government. She lost.

Fuelish Desire
Pumped with anxiety over dwindling gas supplies caused by an Arab cartel boycott, motorists jammed stations coast to coast. Lines for rationed gallons, like this one in Boston, stretched for six miles.

Thieves Lighten Liberace's Lode
More than $75,000 in jewelry–mostly gifts from admirers–disappeared from Liberace's Dallas hotel room Feb. 14. The FBI would recover some of the 54-year-old entertainer's baubles from a Chicago gem shop two months later.

THE HOTTEST!
Ode to Joy "Sophisticated eroticism but basically just another how-to book" was how The New York Times described The Joy of Sex; the illustrated guide celebrated its 60th week on the newspaper's bestseller list by moving to the top position.