On this day in movie history - Human Desire (1954)

Human Desire

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Alfred Hayes,

based on the novel La Bête humaine by Émile Zola,

was released in the United States on August 6, 1954.

Cast:

Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Case, Peggy Maley, Diane DeLaire, Grandon Rhodes, Benjie Bancroft, Paul Brinegar, Minta Durfee, Jean Engstrom, Victor Hugo Greene, Don C. Harvey, Carl Lee, John Maxwell, John Pickard, Dan Riss, Scott Seaton, Allen D. Sewall, Dan Seymour, Olan Soule, Hal Taggart, John Zaremba.

On this day in movie and book history - Black Angel (1946)

Black Angel

directed by Roy William Neill,

written by Roy Chanslor,

based on the novel The Black Angel by Cornell Woolrich,

was released in the United States on August 2, 1946.

Music by Frank Skinner.

Cast:

Dan Duryea, June Vincent, Peter Lorre, Broderick Crawford, Constance Dowling, Wallace Ford, Hobart Cavanaugh, Freddie Steele, John Phillips, Ben Bard, Junius Matthews, Marion Martin, Archie Twitchell, Maurice St. Clair, Vilova, Robert Williams.

Recommended reading:

The Black Angel

by Cornell Woolrich.

Filmed as Black Angel (1946), directed by Roy William Neill.

Published by Pegasus Crime.

First published 1943.

ISBN-10: 1605983551

ISBN-13: 9781605983554

Description:

Nothing beats a tale of fatalistic dread by the supreme master of suspense, Cornell Woolrich, whose novels and short stories define the essence of noir nihilism. – Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review.

Along with Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich practically invented the genre of noir. – Newsday.

Woolrich devised and used instruments of psychological torture―his stories. – Time.

Woolrich was a master of the form. – Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal.

You can palpably feel the agony in Woolrich and his work. – James Ellroy.

A classic is back in print! This hypnotic thriller, by one of the originators of the noir form, exposes its heroine to a waking nightmare.

In this classic crime novel, a panic-stricken young wife races against time to prove that her convicted husband did not murder his mistress. Writing in first person from the wife’s viewpoint, Woolrich evokes her love and anguish and, finally, desperation as she becomes an avenging angel in her attempt to rescue her husband from execution.

On this day in movie history - New York Confidential (1955)

New York Confidential

directed by Russell Rouse,

written by Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse,

based on the novel New York Confidential! by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer,

was released in the United States on February 18, 1955.

Music by Joseph Mullendore.

Cast:

Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Marilyn Maxwell, Anne Bancroft, J. Carrol Naish, Onslow Stevens, Barry Kelley, Mike Mazurki, Celia Lovsky, Herbert Heyes, Steven Geray, William 'Bill' Phillips, Tom Powers, John Doucette.

On this day in movie history - The Flame (1947)

The Flame

directed by John H. Auer,

written by Lawrence Kimble,

based on a story by Robert T. Shannon,

was released in the United States on November 24, 1947.

Music by Heinz Roemheld.

Cast:

John Carroll, Vera Ralston, Robert Paige, Broderick Crawford, Henry Travers, Hattie McDaniel, Blanche Yurka, Constance Dowling, Victor Sen Yung, Harry Cheshire, John Miljan, Garry Owen, Eddie Dunn, Jeff Corey.