On this day in movie history - Key Largo (1948)

Key Largo

directed by John Huston,

written by Richard Brooks and John Huston,

based on the play by Maxwell Anderson,

was released in the United States on July 16, 1948.

Music by Max Steiner.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor, Thomas Gomez, Harry Lewis, John Rodney, Marc Lawrence, Dan Seymour, Monte Blue, William Haade, Jay Silverheels, Rodd Redwing.

On this day in movie history - Raw Deal (1948)

Raw Deal

directed by Anthony Mann,

written by Leopold Atlas and John C. Higgins,

based on a story by Arnold B. Armstrong and Audrey Ashley,

was released in the United States on May 26, 1948.

Music by Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Dennis O’Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland, Raymond Burr, Curt Conway, Chili Williams, Richard Fraser, Whit Bissell, Cliff Clark, Gregg Barton, Robert Bice, David Clarke, Victor Cutler, John Daheim, Alexis Davidoff, Abe Dinovitch, Lloyd Everett, Tom Fadden, Ilka Grüning, Frank Hyers, Richard Irving, Bill Kennedy, Paul Kruger, Mike Lally, Carey Loftin, James Magill, Joan Myles, Edna Ryan, Cap Somers, Dok Stanford, Ray Teal, Regis Toomey, Harry Tyler, Robert B. Williams, Beverly Wills.

On this day in movie and book history - Born to Kill (1947)

Born to Kill

a.k.a. Lady of Deceit and Deadlier Than the Male,

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay,

based on the novel Deadlier Than the Male by James Gunn,

was released in the United States on May 3, 1947.

Music by Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak, Phillip Terry, Audrey Long, Elisha Cook Jr., Isabel Jewell, Esther Howard, Kathryn Card, Tony Barrett, Grandon Rhodes, Demetrius Alexis, Symona Boniface, Ruth Brennan, George Bruggeman, James Carlisle, Ellen Corby, Sayre Dearing, Joe Dixon, Neal Dodd, Jean Fenwick, George Ford, Lee Frederick, Ben Frommer, Harry Harvey, Martha Hyer, Perc Launders, Sam Lufkin, Wilbur Mack, Beatrice Maude, Russell Meeker, Al Murphy, Tommy Noonan, Netta Packer, Jason Robards Sr., Romeo (the dog), Paul Russell, Scott Seaton, Sammy Shack, Stanley Stone, Phil Warren, Napoleon Whiting.

Recommended reading:

Deadlier Than the Male

by James Gunn.

Introduced by Curtis Evans.

Filmed as Born to Kill, aka Lady of Deceit and Deadlier Than the Male (1947), directed by Robert Wise.

Published by Stark House Press.

Film Noir Classics, 7.

First published 1942.

Paperback.

ISBN-13: 979-8886010824

ASIN: B0CW22PDN7

Description:

“Deadlier Than the Male is truly one of the strangest of all American crime novels. In fact it’s one of the strangest of all American novels… It is in no way a pleasant read but it is fascinating in a bizarre, morbid and very unsettling way. Gunn’s style is as extreme and as offbeat as his plotting. This is psychological noir at its darkest.” – Vintage Pop Fictions.

DEADLIER THAN THE MALE.

Helen is in Reno for her second divorce and staying with Mrs. Krantz and her daughter Rachel at their boarding house. Mrs. Krantz’s drinking companion, Laura Pollicker, lives next door. That night she is murdered, and Helen discovers the body—and wastes no time in returning to the San Francisco house she shares with his sister Georgia. How could she know that the very man who meets and marries her sister only days later is the same man who had slit Mrs. Pollicker’s throat.

Sam Wild is a powerful man, tall, muscular, with very little control over his emotions. His friend Mart watches out for him, but Sam sometimes just can’t help himself—he has to kill. Now he’s got a rich wife with an attractive sister, and he’s just biding his time until he can take over Georgia’s money and get rid of her, too. But that’s when Helen steps in with some plans of her own.

On this day in movie history - Hoodlum Empire (1952)

Hoodlum Empire

directed by Joseph Kane,

written by Bruce Manning and Bob Considine,

based on a story by Bob Considine,

was released in the United States on April 15, 1952.

Music by Nathan Scott.

Cast:

Brian Donlevy, Claire Trevor, Forrest Tucker, Vera Ralston, Luther Adler, John Russell, Gene Lockhart, Grant Withers, Taylor Holmes, Roy Barcroft, William Murphy, Richard Jaeckel, Don Beddoe, Roy Roberts, Richard Benedict, Phillip Pine, Damian O'Flynn, Pat Flaherty, Gertrude Astor, Walter Bacon, Joe Bailey.