Born on this day – River Phoenix:

River Phoenix

Actor

Musician

August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993

Credits:

Stand by Me: Deleted and Alternate Scenes (2019); Dark Blood (2012); The Thing Called Love (1993); Silent Tongue (1993); Sneakers (1992); Red Hot Chili Peppers: Breaking the Girl (1992); Dogfight (1991); My Own Private Idaho (1991); I Love You to Death (1990); Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989); Running on Empty (1988); Little Nikita (1988); A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988); Ben E. King: Stand by Me (1986); The Mosquito Coast (1986); Circle of Violence: A Family Drama (1986); Stand by Me (1986); Family Ties (1985); Explorers (1985); Surviving (1985); Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985); Hotel (1984); It's Your Move (1984); ABC Afterschool Specials (1984); Celebrity (1984); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982–1983).

On this day in movie and book history - Stand by Me (1986) and Different Seasons (1982)

Stand by Me

directed by Rob Reiner,

written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon,

based on the novella The Body by Stephen King,

was released in the United States on August 22, 1986.

Narrated by Richard Dreyfuss.

Music by Jack Nitzsche.

Cast:

Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, Casey Siemaszko, Gary Riley, Bradley Gregg, Jason Oliver Lipsett, Marshall Bell, Frances Lee McCain, Bruce Kirby, William Bronder, Scott Beach, Richard Dreyfuss, John Cusack, Madeleine Swift, Popeye (the dog, as Chopper), Geanette Bobst, Art Burke, Matt Williams, Andy Lindberg, Dick Durock, O.B. Babbs, Charlie Owens, Kenneth Hodges, John Hodges, Susan Thorpe, Korey Scott Pollard, Rick Elliott, Kent W. Luttrell, Chance Quinn, Jason Naylor, Sky Siewerski.

Recommended reading:

Different Seasons

by Stephen King.

Published by Scribner.

First published 1982.

ISBN-10: 1501143484

ISBN-13: 9781501143489

Description:

A “hypnotic” (The New York Times Book Review) collection of four novellas – including the inspirations behind the films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption—from Stephen King, bound together by the changing of seasons, each taking on the theme of a journey with strikingly different tones and characters.

This gripping collection begins with Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge – the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption.

Next is Apt Pupil, the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town.

In The Body, four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me.

Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in The Breathing Method.

“The wondrous readability of his work, as well as the instant sense of communication with his characters, are what make Stephen King the consummate storyteller that he is,” hailed the Houston Chronicle about Different Seasons.

On this day in movie history - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

directed by Steven Spielberg,

written by Jeffrey Boam,

based on a story and characters by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes,

was released in the United States on May 24, 1989.

Music by John Williams.

Cast:

Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, Robert Eddison, Richard Young, Alexei Sayle, Alex Hyde-White, Paul Maxwell, Isla Blair, Vernon Dobtcheff, J.J. Hardy, Bradley Gregg, Jeff O’Haco, Vince Deadrick Sr., Marc Miles, Ted Grossman, Tim Hiser, Larry Sanders, Will Miles, David Murray, Frederick Jaeger, Jerry Harte, Billy J. Mitchell, Martin Gordon, Paul Humpoletz, Tom Branch, Graeme Crowther, Luke Hanson, Chris Jenkinson, Nicola Scott, Louis Sheldon, Stefan Kalipha, Peter Pacey, Pat Roach, Suzanne Roquette, Eugene Lipinski, George Malpas, Julie Eccles, Nina Armstrong, Vic Armstrong, Roy Beck, Dickey Beer, Peter Diamond, Hugh Elton, Albert Evansky, Nick Gillard, Martin Grace, Paul Heasman, Ronald Lacey, Derek Lyons, Paul Markham, Wayne Michaels, Lee Richards, Michael Sheard, Tip Tipping, Chris Webb.

On this day in movie history - Dogfight (1991)

Dogfight

directed by Nancy Savoca,

written by Bob Comfort,

was released in the United States on October 4, 1991.

Music by Sarah Class and Mason Daring.

Cast:

River Phoenix, Lili Taylor, Richard Panebianco, Anthony Clark, Mitchell Whitfield, Holly Near, Elizabeth Daily, Sue Morales, Christina Mastin, Christopher Shaw, John Lacy, Chris San Nicholas, Brian Gotta, Peg Phillips, Neal Allen, Ron Lynch, Dale Garman, Bruce Pearson, Angie Utt, Kenneth Utt, Julian Schembri, Barb Benedetti, Ivars Mikelson, Brendan Fraser, Matt Skerritt, Dion Williams, Jason Moore, Denise Williams, Kristie Gamer, David MacIntyre, Art Cahn, Robert Munns, Jessica Wallenfels, Bonnie Fox, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Joseph Franklin, Frank Walters, Jacob Luft, Constance McCord, Laura Vetter, Krisha Fairchild, George Evans, Jillian Armenante, Anne Elizabeth Washburn, John Fry, Albert Farrar, Brett Baker, Don Berg, Dale Carman, Joe James, Dewayne Luckett, William Rossman, Sky Siewerski, Tom Stewart.