On this day in movie history - Hard Times (1975)

Hard Times

a.k.a. The Streetfighter

directed by Walter Hill,

written by Walter Hill, Bryan Gindoff and Bruce Henstell,

based on a story by Bryan Gindoff and Bruce Henstell,

was released in France on August 13, 1975.

Music by Barry De Vorzon.

Cast:

Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Jill Ireland, Strother Martin, Margaret Blye, Michael McGuire, Felice Orlandi, Edward Walsh, Bruce Glover, Robert Tessier, Nick Dimitri, Frank McRae, Maurice Kowalewski, Naomi Stevens, Lyla Hay Owen, John Creamer, Robert Castleberry, Becky Allen, Joan Kleven, Anne Welsch, Fred Lerner, Jimmy Nickerson, Chuck Hicks, Walter Scott, Max Kleven, Valerian Smith, Bob Minor, Larry Martindale, Charles W. Schaefer Jr., Leslie Bonano, Ronnie Philips, Greater Liberty Baptist Church Choir and Congregation, Ron Centanni, M.C. Gainey, Brion James, Laura Misch Owens.

On this day in movie history - Young Guns II (1990)

Young Guns II

directed by Geoff Murphy,

written by John Fusco,

was released in the United States on August 1, 1990.

Music by Alan Silvestri and Jon Bon Jovi.

Cast:

Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christian Slater, William Petersen, Alan Ruck, R.D. Call, James Coburn, Balthazar Getty, Jack Kehoe, Robert Knepper, Tom Kurlander, Viggo Mortensen, Leon Rippy, Tracey Walter, Bradley Whitford, Scott Wilson, Jenny Wright, John Hammil, William J. Fisher, Carlotta Garcia, Joy Bouton, Albert Trujillo, Alina Arenal, John Alderson, Lee de Broux, Sixto Joost, Rudy Sena, Adam Taylor, Redmond Gleeson, David Paul Needles, Jerry Gardner, Domingo Ambriz, Sonny Skyhawk, Richard Schiff, Stephan Kraus, Nick Gomez, Mark Bustamante, Airen Balen, Don Simpson, Holt Parker, Tony Frank, Frank Fierro Jr., Rene L. Moreno, Chief Buddy Redbow, Danielle Blanchard, Joey Hamlin, Alexis Alexander, Ginger Lynn, Iris Pappas, Ed Adams, Mark Silverstein, Boots Southerland, Bud Stout, Howard Young, John Fusco, Walter Feldbusch, Bo Greigh, Thomas Byrd, Donald Guideau, Robert Harvey, Ted Kairys, William Upchurch, Michael Eiland, Jon Bon Jovi, Don ‘Tex’ Clark, Rusty Lee, Kerry Wallum.

On this day in movie and book history - The Great Escape (1963)

The Great Escape

directed by John Sturges,

written by James Clavell and W. R. Burnett,

based on the book by Paul Brickhill,

was released in the United States on July 2, 1963.

Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton, Angus Lennie, Nigel Stock, Robert Graf, Jud Taylor, Hans Reiser, Harry Riebauer, William Russell, Robert Freitag, Ulrich Beiger, George Mikell, Lawrence Montaigne, Robert Desmond, Til Kiwe, Heinz Weiss, Tom Adams, Karl-Otto Alberty, Arthur Atkinson.

Recommended reading:

The Great Escape

by Paul Brickhill.

Filmed as The Great Escape (1963), directed by John Sturges.

Published by W. W. Norton & Company.
Published 1950.

ISBN-10: 0393325792
ISBN-13: 9780393325799
 
Description:

"One of the great true stories of the war, and one of the greatest escape narratives of all time." – San Francisco Chronicle.

"Absorbing... spine-tingling... puts the average war book so far in the shadow it's not even funny." – Dallas Times Herald.

"For sheer suspense, puts the fictioneers to shame." – Boston Globe.

"A tense, thrilling, fabulous tale." – Philadelphia Inquirer.

They were American and British air force officers in a German prison camp. With only their bare hands and the crudest of homemade tools, they sank shafts, forged passports, faked weapons, and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes. They developed a fantastic security system to protect themselves from German surveillance.

It was a split-second operation as delicate and as deadly as a time bomb. It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than six hundred men – every one of them, every minute, every hour, every day and night for more than a year.

Made into the classic 1963 war film of the same name starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough.

16 pages of photographs.

On this day in movie history - The Last of Sheila (1973)

The Last of Sheila

directed by Herbert Ross,

written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim,

was released in the United States on June 14, 1973.

Music by Billy Goldenberg.

Cast:

Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Joan Hackett, James Mason, Ian McShane, Raquel Welch, Yvonne Romain.

On this day in movie history - Payback (1999)

Payback

directed by Brian Helgeland,

written by Brian Helgeland and Terry Hayes,

based on the novel The Hunter by Richard Stark,

was released in the United States on February 5, 1999.

Music by Chris Boardman and Scott Stambler.

Cast:

Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, Lucy Alexis Liu, Deborah Kara Unger, David Paymer, Bill Duke, Jack Conley, John Glover, William Devane, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Trevor St. John, Freddy Rodriguez, Manu Tupou.

On this day in movie history - The Magnificent Seven (1960)

The Magnificent Seven

directed by John Sturges,

written by William Roberts,

was released in the United States on October 12, 1960.

Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Vladimir Sokoloff, Rosenda Monteros, Rico Alaniz, Pepe Hern, Natividad Vacío, Mario Navarro, Danny Bravo, John A. Alonzo, Enrique Lucero, Alex Montoya, Robert J. Wilke, Val Avery, Whit Bissell, Bing Russell, Manuel Alvarado, Henry Amargo, José Chávez, Roberto Contreras, Jim Davis, Valentin de Vargas, Larry Duran, Victor French, Edwin Max, Lalo Rios, Joseph Ruskin.

On this day in television history - Naked City (1958 - 1963)

Naked City
Season 1. Episode 1.

Episode entitled: Meridian.

Released September 30, 1958.

Directed by Jerry Hopper.

Written by Stirling Silliphant.

Inspired by the movie The Naked City, a.k.a. Naked City (1948), directed by Jules Dassin, written by Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald.

Narrated by Herbert (Bert) B. Leonard.

Theme music: This is the Naked City by George Duning, Somewhere in the Night by Billy May, and The Naked City Theme by Nelson Riddle.

There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.

– Narrator.

Cast:

John McIntire, James Franciscus, Suzanne Storrs, Alison Marshall, Joseph Walsh, Pat DeSimone, Harry Kadison, Bill Zuckert, Al Hodge, Frank Downing, Barbara Banks, Miriam Acevedo, Herbert B. Leonard.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1957)

M Squad

Season 1. Episode 1.

Episode entitled: The Golden Look.

Released September 20, 1957.

Directed by Bernard Girard.

Written by Joel Murcott.

Music by Stanley Wilson.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Bruce Gordon, Henry Brandon, Morris Ankrum, Tyler McVey, Peter Brocco, Anne Barton, Paul Hahn, Ken Lynch, David Hoffman, John Mitchum, Frank Richards.