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 - Mulholland Falls (1996)

Mulholland Falls

directed by Lee Tamahori,

written by Pete Dexter,

based on a story by Pete Dexter and Floyd Mutrux,

was released in the United States on April 26, 1996.

Music by Dave Grusin.

Cast:

Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Treat Williams, Jennifer Connelly, Daniel Baldwin, Andrew McCarthy, John Malkovich, Kyle Chandler, Ed Lauter, Larry Garrison, Chelsea Harrington, Johnna Johnson, Rick Johnson, Britt Burr, Melinda Clarke, Ernie Lively, Richard Sylbert, Michael Krawic, Titus Welliver, Robert Peters, William M. Thigpen, Drew Pillsbury, Brad Hunt, Aaron Neville, Buddy Joe Hooker, Eddie Caicedo, Price Carson, Azalea Davila, Suzanne Solari, Alisa Christensen, Bruce Dern, Louise Fletcher, Khris Kaneff, Sharmagne Leland-St. John, Rob Lowe, Johnny Martin, William Petersen, Lisa Rhyne, Randall Rutledge, Christopher Warner.

On this day in movie history - Donnie Brasco (1997)

Donnie Brasco

directed by Mike Newell,

written by Paul Attanasio,

based on the book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley,

was released in the United States on February 24, 1997.

Music by Patrick Doyle.

Cast:

Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, Anne Heche, Zeljko Ivanek, Gerry Becker, Robert Miano, Brian Tarantina, Rocco Sisto, Zach Grenier, Walt MacPherson, Ronnie Farer, Terry Serpico, Gretchen Mol, Tony Lip, George Angelica, Val Avery, Madison Arnold, Delanie Fitzpatrick, Katie Sagona, Sara Gold, Larry Romano, Tim Blake Nelson, Paul Giamatti, James McCauley, James Bulleit, Andrew Parks, Keenan Shimizu, Rocco Musacchia, Joe Francis, Sal Jenco, Billy Capucilli, Laura Cahill, Doreen Murphy, Elle Alexander, Denise Faye, Elaine del Valle, John Horton, Dan Brennan, LaJuan Carter, Sandy Barber, Joyce Stovall, Frank Pesce, Randy Jurgensen, John Di Benedetto, Richard Zavaglia, Tony Ray Rossi, Edward Black, Gaetano LoGiudice, Carmelo Musacchia, Pat Vecchio.

On this day in movie and book history - The Getaway (1994)

 

The Getaway

directed by Roger Donaldson,

written by Walter Hill and Amy Holden Jones,

based on the novel by Jim Thompson,

was released in the United States on February 11, 1994.

Music by Mark Isham.

Cast:

Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Michael Madsen, James Woods, David Morse, Jennifer Tilly, James Stephens, Richard Farnsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Burton Gilliam, Royce D. Applegate, Daniel Villarreal, Scott McKenna, Alex Colon, Justin Williams, Peppi Sanders, Jo Ann Soto, Louis Martinez, Boots Southerland, George Dobbs, Kenny Endoso, Don Pulford, Rick Taylor, Phil Allen, Bill Mosley, Debbie Dedo, Gary Kirk, J.W. ‘Corkey’ Fornof, Peter Donaldson, Michele Hawk, Sammy Hernandez, Parker Anderson, William Bolander, Bill Cook, Kacee DeMasi, Maria Frisby, Lee Hollingsworth, Bob Huff, Elaine Huff, April Manchester-Miller, Elske McCain, Richard Meek, Brian Patterson, Ella Arlienne Scofield, Robert Sucato, Tracy Sucato, Oliver Theess, Rodd Wolff.

Recommended reading: The Getaway

The Getaway

by Jim Thompson.
 
First published 1958.
Published by Mulholland Books.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0316403970
ISBN-13: 978-0316403979
 
Description:

Doc McCoy is the most skilled criminal alive. But when for the first time in Doc's long criminal career, his shot doesn't hit the mark, everything begins to fall apart. And Doc begins to realize that the perfect bank robbery isn't complete without the perfect getaway to back it up.

THE GETAWAY is the classic story of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, where the smallest mistakes have catastrophic consequences, and shifting loyalties lead to betrayals and chaos. The basis for the classic Steve McQueen film of the same name, as well as a 1994 remake with Alec Baldwin, Thompson's novel set the bar for every heist story that followed - but as Thompson's proved time and again, nobody's ever done it better than the master.

On this day in movie history - Kill Me Again (1989)

Kill Me Again 

directed by John Dahl,

written by John Dahl and Rick Dahl,

was released in the United States on October 27, 1989.

Music by William Olvis.

Cast:

Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Michael Madsen, Robert Schuch, Duane Tucker, Molly Flanegin, Dominic Dinino, Daniel Dorse, Bibi Besch, Jim Boeke, Jon Gries, Michael Sharrett, Debby Lynn Ross, Pat Mulligan, Nick Dimitri, Stanley Brown, Dan Sturdivant, Jeff Morrell, Jeff LeBeau, Michael Greene, James Henriksen, Lee Wilkof, Joseph Carberry, Roy Kieffer, Victoria Hirsch, Ralph M. Cardinale, Bruce Claessens, Darrel Wayne, Sheldon Haun, Jeri Arredondo, Hubert Ergenbright, Jeff Smolek, David Ward.