On this day in movie and book history - The Natural (1984 and 1952):

The Natural

directed by Barry Levinson,

written by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry,

based on the novel by Bernard Malamud,

was released in the United States on May 11, 1984.

Music by Randy Newman.

Cast:

Robert Redford, Paul Sullivan Jr., Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Rachel Hall, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky, Richard Farnsworth, Joe Don Baker, Darren McGavin, Michael Madsen, John Finnegan, Alan Fudge, Ken Grassano, Mike Starr, Mickey Treanor, Jon Van Ness, Anthony J. Ferrara, George Wilkosz, Robert Rich III, Sibby Sisti.

Recommended reading:

The Natural

by Bernard Malamud.

Filmed as The Natural (1984), directed by Barry Levinson.

Paperback.

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

First published 1952.

ISBN: 9780374502003

ISBN 10: 0374502005

ASIN: 0374502005

Description:

The Natural, Bernard Malamud's first novel, published in 1952, is also the first – and some would say still the best – novel ever written about baseball. In it, Malamud, usually appreciated for his unerring portrayals of postwar Jewish life, took on very different material – the story of a superbly gifted "natural" at play in the fields of the old daylight baseball era – and invested it with the hardscrabble poetry, at once grand and altogether believable, that runs through all his best work. Four decades later, Alfred Kazin's comment still holds true: "Malamud has done something which – now that he has done it! – looks as if we have been waiting for it all our lives. He has really raised the whole passion and craziness and fanaticism of baseball as a popular spectacle to its ordained place in mythology." 

On this day in movie history - The Underneath (1995)

The Underneath

directed by Steven Soderbergh,

written by Sam Lowry and Daniel Fuchs,

based on the novel Criss Cross by Don Tracy,

was released in the United States on April 28, 1995.

Music by Cliff Martinez.

Cast:

Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, William Fichtner, Adam Trese, Joe Don Baker, Paul Dooley, Shelley Duvall, Elisabeth Shue, Anjanette Comer, Dennis Hill, Harry Goaz, Mark Feltch, Jules Sharp, Kenneth D. Harris, Cliff Haby, Tonie Perensky, Randall Brady, Richard Linklater, Helen Cates, Kevin Crutchfield, Brad Leland, John Martin, C.K. McFarland, Rick Perkins, Paul Wright, David Jensen, Jordy Hultberg, Steve Shearer, Fred Ellis, Joe Chrest, David L. Carter, Cowboy Mouth (band), Mike Enright, Mark Hanson, Matthew Hurley, Mike Malone, Christopher K. Philippo, Ryan Wickerham.

Born on this day – Joe Don Baker:

Joe Don Baker

Actor

February 12, 1936 – May 7, 2025

Credits:

Adam at Six A.M. (1970); Best Ever Bond (2002); Bicentennial Minutes (1974); Bonanza (1968); Bracken's World (1970); Cape Fear (1991); Charley Varrick (1973); Checkered Flag or Crash (1977); Citizen Cohn (1992); Complex of Fear (1993); Congo (1995); Cool Hand Luke (1967); Countdown to Tomorrow Never Dies (1997); Cowboys from Hell (2025); Criminal Law (1988); Doc Elliot (1973); Edge of Darkness (1985); Eischied (1979–1980); Felony (1995); Final Justice (1985); Fletch (1985); Framed (1975); George Wallace (1997); Getting Even (1986); Golden Needles (1974); GoldenEye (1995); GoldenEye: Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Director Martin Campbell (2006); Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969); Gunsmoke (1966–1969); Honey West (1965); In Search of James Bond with Jonathan Ross (1995); In the Heat of the Night (1989); Inside 'the Living Daylights' (2000); Iron Horse (1966); Ironside (1972); James Bond Special Edition DVD Sampler (2002); James Bond: Licence to Thrill (1987); Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater (1995); Joe Dirt (2001); Joysticks (1983); Judd for the Defense (1967); Junior Bonner (1972); Lancer (1968–1970); Leonard Part 6 (1987); Mars Attacks! (1996); Mission: Impossible (1971); Mitchell (1975); Mod Squad (1969); Mongo's Back in Town (1971); Mud (2012); Panther (1995); Poodle Springs (1998); Power (1980); Reality Bites (1994); Ring of Steel (1994); Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004); Screen Two (1989); Speedtrap (1977); Strange Wilderness (2008); That Certain Summer (1972); The 50 Greatest Television Dramas (2007); The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2004); The Abduction of Kari Swenson (1987); The Big Valley (1969); The Children (1990); The Cleaner (2009); The Commission (2003); The Distinguished Gentleman (1992); The Dukes of Hazzard (2005); The F.B.I. (1970); The Felony Squad (1967); The Grass Harp (1995); The High Chaparral (1971); The Killing Time (1987); The Living Daylights (1987); The Making of 'GoldenEye 007' (2021); The Most Deadly Game (1970); The Natural (1984); The Outfit (1973); The Outsider (1968); The Pack (1977); The Shadow of Chikara (1977); The Siege at Ruby Ridge (1996); The Streets of San Francisco (1973); The Underneath (1995); The Valachi Papers (1972); The Wild West (1993); Timeshift (2015); To Dance with Olivia (1997); To Kill a Cop (1978); Tomorrow Never Dies (1997); Tomorrow Never Dies: Storyboard Presentations (2002); Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke (1999); Traps (1994); Vegas, City of Dreams (2001); Wacko (1982); Walking Tall (1973); Welcome Home Soldier Boys (1971); Wild Rovers (1971).

On this day in movie history - Charley Varrick (1973)

Charley Varrick

directed by Don Siegel,

written by Dean Riesner and Howard A. Rodman,

based on the novel The Looters by John H. Reese,

was released in the United States on October 19, 1973.

Music by Lalo Schifrin.

Cast:

Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Felicia Farr, Andrew Robinson, Sheree North, Norman Fell, Benson Fong, Woodrow Parfrey, William Schallert, Jacqueline Scott, Marjorie Bennett, Rudy Diaz, Colby Chester, Charlie Briggs, Priscilla Garcia, Scott Hale, Charles Matthau, Hope Summers, Monica Lewis, James Nolan, Tom Tully, Albert Popwell, Kathleen O'Malley, Christina Hart, Craig R. Baxley, Al Dunlap, Virginia Wing, Don Siegel, John Vernon, Robert D. Carver, Joe Conforte, Art Cribbs, Carol Daniels, Thom Dunbar, Richard R. Hogan, Fred Little, Holly Nutter, Fred Scheiwiller, Bob Steele, Carlos Velasquez, Walt Wallace.

On this day in movie history - The Outfit (1973)

The Outfit

directed and written by John Flynn,

based on the novel by Richard Stark,

was released in the United States on October 19, 1973.

Music by Jerry Fielding.

Cast:

Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, Timothy Carey, Richard Jaeckel, Sheree North, Felice Orlandi, Marie Windsor, Jane Greer, Henry Jones, Joanna Cassidy, Tom Reese, Elisha Cook Jr., Bill McKinney, Anita O'Day, Archie Moore, Tony Young, Roland La Starza, Edward Ness, Roy Roberts, Toby Andersen, Emile Meyer, Roy Jenson, Philip Kenneally, Bern Hoffman, John Steadman, Paul Genge, Francis De Sales, James Bacon, Army Archerd, Tony Trabert, Lee de Broux, Raven Grey Eagle, Bob Harks, Charles Knapp, Mike Ragan, Jeannine Riley, George Savalas, Jeffrey Sayre, Arthur Tovey, Ralph Volkie.