On this day in movie and book history - Detective Story (1951 and 1949)

Detective Story

directed by William Wyler,

written by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan,

based on the play by Sidney Kingsley,

was released in the United States on October 24, 1951.

Music composed by Miklós Rózsa and Victor Young.

Cast:

Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, George Macready, Horace McMahon, Gladys George, Joseph Wiseman, Lee Grant, Gerald Mohr, Frank Faylen, Craig Hill, Michael Strong, Luis Van Rooten, Bert Freed, Warner Anderson, Grandon Rhodes, William 'Bill' Phillips, Russell Evans, Charles Campbell, Edmund Cobb, Ann Codee, Catherine Doucet, Pat Flaherty, Harper Goff, Howard Joslin, Donald Kerr, George Magrill, Mike Mahoney, James Maloney, Lee Miller, Ralph Montgomery, Burt Mustin, Jack Perry, Robert S. Scott, Jack Shea, Kay Wiley.

Recommended reading:

Detective Story

A play in three acts

 
by Sidney Kingsley.
 
First published 1949.
Published by Legare Street Press.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1022892851
ISBN-13: 978-1022892859
 
Description:
 

Sidney Kingsley's classic play, first performed on Broadway in 1949, is a gripping and intense drama that explores the seedy underbelly of crime and punishment in New York City. The play's intricate plot, complex characters, and dark themes make it a timeless classic of American theater.

 

The scene is the squad room and office in a New York police station. The playwright presents a fascinatingly realistic picture of routine cases brought into a metropolitan police station in the course of a day. Out of the welter of human misery, vice and stupidity there emerges the tragic and moving case of a decent young fellow who has stolen money from his employer. Though a woman who is in love with him comes to his help and the employer is offered everything that has been taken from him, the case has fallen into the hands of McLeod, a hardworking detective whose experience in police work has developed in him a mania for punishing all law breakers, whom he regards as incorrigibles. Nothing will satisfy him but brutal punishment. He is at work at the same time on a case involving an abortionist whose attorney, failing to move him by other means, forces McLeod's wife to confess to her husband that she had herself some years before made use of the services of the abortionist in question. Since McLeod worships his wife and finds in her the only happiness of his existence, his world collapses about him. The climax comes when McLeod gets involved with another prisoner who attempts to escape from the squad room with the aid of a revolver taken from one of the detectives. McLeod is shot and killed. This climax is a fitting end to McLeod's career. To the last, he had been bent upon doing what he considered his duty in seeing that criminals obeyed the letter of the law at no matter what cost."

On this day in movie history - Joe MacBeth (movie & play):

Joe MacBeth

directed by Ken Hughes,

written by Philip Yordan and Ken Hughes,

based on the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare,

released in the United Kingdom on October 18, 1955.

Music by Trevor Duncan.

Cast:

Paul Douglas, Ruth Roman, Bonar Colleano, Grégoire Aslan, Sidney James, Harry Green, Walter Crisham, Kay Callard, Robert Arden, George Margo, Minerva Pious, Philip Vickers, Mark Baker, Bill Nagy, Al Mulock, Victor Baring, Jess Conrad, Shirley Douglas, Beresford Egan, Louise Grant, Launce Maraschal, Robert O'Neil, Johnny Ross, Nicholas Stuart, Teresa Thorne, Sheila Woods.

Recommended reading:

Macbeth

by William Shakespeare.

Edited by Barbara A. Mowat & Paul Werstine.

Folger Shakespeare Library.
Published by Simon & Schuster.
First published 1623.

ISBN-10: 0743477103
ISBN-13: 9780743477109

Description:

The authoritative edition of Macbeth from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers.

In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James’s belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft.

In depicting a man who murders to become king, Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Is Macbeth tempted by fate, or by his or his wife’s ambition? Why does their success turn to ashes?

Like other plays, Macbeth speaks to each generation. Its story was once seen as that of a hero who commits an evil act and pays an enormous price. Recently, it has been applied to nations that overreach themselves and to modern alienation. The line is blurred between Macbeth’s evil and his opponents’ good, and there are new attitudes toward both witchcraft and gender.

This edition includes:
Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play.

Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play.

Scene-by-scene plot summaries.

A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases.

An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language.

An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play.

Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books.

An up-to-date annotated guide to further reading.

Essay by Susan Snyder.

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.

On this day in movie history - The Chase (1946)

The Chase

directed by Arthur Ripley,

written by Philip Yordan,

based on the novel The Black Path of Fear by Cornell Woolrich,

was released in the United States on November 17, 1946.

Music by Michel Michelet.

Cast:

Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Steve Cochran, Lloyd Corrigan, Jack Holt, Peter Lorre, Don Wilson, Alexis Minotis, Nina Koshetz, Yolanda Lacca, James Westerfield, Jimmy Ames.