On this day in movie history – Pillow Talk (movie & novel) (1959)

Pillow Talk

directed by Michael Gordon,

written by Russell Rouse, Maurice Richlin, Stanley Shapiro and Clarence Greene,

was released in the United States on October 6, 1959.

Music by Frank De Vol.

Cast:

Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter, Nick Adams, Karen Norris, Julia Meade, Allen Jenkins, Marcel Dalio, Lee Patrick, Mary McCarty, Alex Gerry, Hayden Rorke, Valerie Allen, Jacqueline Beer, Arlen Stuart.

Pillow Talk

by Marvin H. Albert.

Published by Gold Medal.

Published 1959.

ASIN: B000ARHC90

Vintage paperback

Filmed as Pillow Talk (1959), directed by Michael Gordon.

Back cover description:

Good connections.

Doris Day plays the interior decorator who has designs on men.

Rock Hudson and Tony Randall are the men who fall for her, hook, line and sinker.

Coffee and a book ... my perfect day!

Coffee and a book ... my perfect day!

Go on an adventure ... simply by reading a book:

 

Go on an adventure ... simply by reading a book.

There's a lot more to writing a book than most people think ...

There's a lot more to writing a book than most people think ...

The value of reading and the power of imagination:

That moment when you're reading a book and the whole world around you doesn't exist anymore.

Recommended reading - Star Trek: Voyager: Flashback (1996)

Star Trek: Voyager: Flashback

by Diane Carey & Brannon Braga.

Published by Pocket Books.
Published 1996.

First Edition.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0671003836
ISBN-13: 978-0671003838
 
Description:

When Tuvok is haunted by recurring memories of the time he spent under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu, Captain Janeway follows him to the century-old bridge of the starship Excelsior during a desperate battle.

Coffee + book = happiness!

 

Coffee + book = happiness!

Recommended reading - Five Star Final: A Melodrama in Three Acts (1931)

Five Star Final
A Melodrama in Three Acts

Play by Louis Weitzenkorn.

Filmed as Five Star Final (1931), directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

ASIN: B000GDF9TI

Published by Samuel French.
First Edition.
Published 1931.
Hardcover.
 
Description:

Tabloid newspaper editor publishes a 20-year-old murder case to boost newspaper sales. A decision that leads to tragedy.

Every book opens to a new adventure:

Every book opens to a new adventure.

Conjuring magic is easy ... all you have to do is read a book:

Experience magic.

Read.

How I keep adding to our home library:

I am not buying any new books.

Oh, look!

A book!

The answer? … Start another book!

 

I finished my book.

And now I don't know what to do with myself.
The answer? … Start another book!

Recommended reading: Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton (1976):

Eaters of the Dead

Full title:

Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in AD 922

by Michael Crichton.

Filmed as The 13th Warrior (1999), directed by John McTiernan.

Mass Market Paperback.
Published by Harper.
First published 1976.

ISBN 13: 9780061782633
ISBN 10: 0061782637
ASIN: 0061782637

Description:

The year is A.D. 922.  A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs — the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness . . . their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth: He has been enlisted by these savage, inscrutable warriors to help combat a terror that plagues them — a monstrosity that emerges under cover of night to slaughter the Vikings and devour their flesh . . .

A comfortable chair is no use to anyone without a good book:

A comfortable chair is no use to anyone without a good book.

#comfortablechair #goodbook #reading #read

Recommended reading - The Embezzler (1940)

 

The Embezzler

a.k.a. Money and the Woman

by James M. Cain.

 
Published by‎ Avon Books, Inc.
Paperback novella.
 
ASIN: B002MICS6C
 
Description:
 
A bank employee’s wife teams up with his boss – with fatal results – in this noir novella by the legendary author of The Postman Always Rings Twice.
 
Despite an ulcer that requires surgery, workaholic Charles Brent doesn’t want to take time off from his job as a head teller at the bank. What eventually convinces him to give in and take a break is the prospect of his young wife, Sheila, temporarily taking over his responsibilities. Then, in Charles’s absence, his wife and his boss discover the embezzlement he’s been hiding—and the reason behind it. But instead of reporting Charles, the two form a pact . . .
 
Originally published under the title Money and the Woman, The Embezzler is a standout novella from James M. Cain, celebrated crime writer and master of the noir thriller.
 
“James M. Cain is one novelist who has something to teach just about any writer, and delight just about any reader.” – Anne Rice, #1 New York Times – bestselling author of Interview with a Vampire.
 
“One of the greats of American noir.” – The Guardian.
 

Recommended reading - City Primeval & Fire in the Hole, by Elmore Leonard:

City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit
Fire in the Hole: and Other Stories

Both books filmed as the TV series Justified: City Primeval (2023).

City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit
by Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.
First published 1980

ISBN-10: 0062191357
ISBN-13: 978-0062191359

Description:

“As gritty and hard-driving a thriller as you’ll find…. The action never stops, the language sings and stings.” – Washington Post.

Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The cool killer is already back on the Detroit scene – thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his lawyer – and he's feeling invincible enough to execute a crooked judge on a whim. Lieutenant Raymond Cruz thinks the “Oklahoma Wildman” crossed the line long before this latest outrage, and he's determined to see that the hayseed psycho meets an end he deserves, with a gun pointed at him. But that means a good cop, having to play somewhat fast and loose with the rules . . . in order to maneuver Mansell into a wild Midwest showdown that he can't walk away from.

Fire in the Hole: and Other Stories
by Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.
Published 2012.

ISBN-10: 0062120344
ISBN-13: 9780062120342

Description:

“[Leonard’s] most satisfying book since Out of Sight…. Top-notch work from one of our most gifted and consistently entertaining writers.” – New York Times Book Review.

“Vintage Leonard…. Nine stories with booze and shotguns and lowlifes…and lots of scenes that ought to be in movies.” – Detroit Free Press.

“If Leonard were a new kid instead of a past master, this fiction collection would make his name.” – People.

“Rummaging through Leonard’s attic via these nine stories revives some fond memories and turns up a couple of forgotten treasures.” – Kirkus Reviews.

“Elmore Leonard’s 39th book ...finds one of America’s most accomplished novelists presenting his most accomplished female characters in years.” – USA Today.

In this superb short fiction collection, Elmore Leonard, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever” (New York Times Book Review), once again illustrates how the line between the law and the lawbreakers is not as firm as we might thibk. In the title story, the basis for the hit FX series Justified, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens meets up with an old friend, but they’re now on different sides of the law. Federal marshal Karen Sisco, from Out of Sight, returns in “Karen Makes Out,” once again inadvertently mixing pleasure with business. In “When the Women Come Out to Dance,” Mrs. Mahmood gets more than she bargains for when she conspires with her maid to end her unhappy marriage. These nine stories are the great Elmore Leonard at his vivid, hilarious, and unfailingly human best.

Recommended reading – The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (2007)

 

The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps

The Best crime stories from the pulps during their golden age - the '20s, '30s, and '40s.

Edited by Otto Penzler.

Publisher: Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

Published 2007.

 
ISBN-10: 0307280489
ISBN-13: 978-0307280480
 
Paperback.
Unabridged.
Anthology of short stories.
 
Back cover description:
 
The biggest, the boldest, the most comprehensive collection of Pulp writing ever assembled.

Weighing in at over a thousand pages, containing over forty-seven stories and two novels, this book is big baby, bigger and more powerful than a freight train—a bullet couldn’t pass through it. Here are the best stories and every major writer who ever appeared in celebrated Pulps like Black Mask, Dime Detective, Detective Fiction Weekly, and more. These are the classic tales that created the genre and gave birth to hard-hitting detectives who smoke criminals like packs of cigarettes; sultry dames whose looks are as lethal as a dagger to the chest; and gin-soaked hideouts where conversations are just preludes to murder. This is crime fiction at its gritty best.

Including:

• Three stories by Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Dashiell Hammett.
• Complete novels from Carroll John Daly, the man who invented the hard-boiled detective, and Fredrick Nebel, one of the masters of the form.
• A never before published Dashiell Hammett story.
• Every other major pulp writer of the time, including Paul Cain, Steve Fisher, James M. Cain, Horace McCoy, and many, many more of whom you’ve probably never heard.
• Three deadly sections–The Crimefighters, The Villains, and Dames–with three unstoppable introductions by Harlan Coben, Harlan Ellison, and Laura Lippman.

Featuring:

• Plenty of reasons for murder, all of them good.
• A kid so smart–he’ll die of it.
• A soft-hearted loan shark’s legman learning–the hard way–never to buy a strange blonde a hamburger.
• The uncanny “Moon Man” and his mad-money victims.

 
Contents:

Otto Penzler: Foreword. Part One: The Crimefighers. Harlan Coben: Introduction. Paul Cain: One, Two, Three. Dashiell Hammett: The Creeping Siamese. Erle Stanley Gardner: Honest Money. Horace McCoy: Frost Rides Alone. Thomas Walsh: Double Check. Charles G. Booth: Stag Party. Leslie T. White: The City of Hell! Raymond Chandler: Red Wind. Fredrick Nebel: Wise Guy. George Harmon Coxe: Murder Picture. Norbert Davis: The Price of a Dime. William Rollins, Jr.: Chicago Confetti. Cornell Woolrich: Two Murders, One Crime. Carroll John Daly: The Third Murderer. Part Two: The Villains. Harlan Ellison: Introduction. Erle Stanley Gardner: The Cat Woman. Cornell Woolrich: The Dilemma of the Dead Lady. Richard B. Sale: The House of Kaa. Leslie Charteris: The Invisible Millionaire. Steve Fisher: You’ll Always Remember Me. James M. Cain: Pastorale. Frank Gruber: The Sad Serbian. Dashiell Hammett: Faith. Raymond Chandler: Finger Man. Erle Stanley Gardner: The Monkey Murder. Raoul Whitfield: About Kid Deth. Frederick C. Davis: The Sinister Sphere. Paul Cain: Pigeon Blood. C. S. Montanye: The Perfect Crime. Norbert Davis: You’ll Die Laughing. Frederick Nebel: The Crimes of Richmond City: i) Raw Law. ii) Dog Eat Dog. iii) The Law Laughs Last. iv) Law Without Law. v) Graft. Part Three: The Dames. Laura Lippman: Introduction. Cornell Woolrich: Angel Face. Leslie T. White: Chosen to Die. Eric Taylor: A Pinch of Snuff. Raymond Chandler: Killer in the Rain. Adolphe Barreaux: Sally the Sleuth. C. S. Montanye: A Shock for the Countess. C. B. Yorke: Snowbound. Randolph Barr: The Girl Who Knew Too Much. D. B. McCandless: The Corpse in the Crystal. D. B. McCandless: He Got What He Asked For. P. T. Luman: Gangster’s Brand. Robert Reeves: Dance Macabre. Dashiell Hammett: The Girl with the Silver Eyes. Perry Paul: The Jane from Hell’s Kitchen. Whitman Chambers: The Duchess Pulls a Fast One. Roger Torrey: Mansion of Death. Roger Torrey: Concealed Weapon. Carlos Martinez: The Devil’s Bookkeeper. Lars Anderson: Black Legion. Richard Sale: Three Wise Men of Babylon. Eugene Thomas: The Adventure of the Voodoo Moon. T. T. Flynn: Brother Murder. Stewart Sterling: Kindly Omit Flowers.

Recommended reading - Silent Mystery and Detective Movies: A Comprehensive Filmography (2009)

Silent Mystery and Detective Movies: A Comprehensive Filmography

by Ken Wlaschin. 

Published 2009.

ISBN-10: 0786443502

ISBN-13: 978-0786443505

Description:

The silent film era was known in part for its cliffhanger serials and air of suspense that kept audiences returning to theaters week after week. Icons such as Douglas Fairbanks, Laurel and Hardy, Lon Chaney and Harry Houdini were among those who graced the dark and shadowy screen. This reference guide to silent films with mystery and detective content lists more than 1,500 titles in one of entertainment’s most popular and enduring genres. While most of the films examined are from North America, mystery films from around the world are included.

The late Ken Wlaschin was former director of creative affairs at the American Film Institute, headed the Institute’s National Film Theater and founded its Los Angeles film festival. He previously directed the British Film Institute’s National Film Theater and London film festival for 14 years. Wlaschin, the author of three other McFarland books, lived in Palm Springs, California. 

Recommended reading: The Great Escape

 

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.

Recommended reading - The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories (2001)

 

The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories (2001)

Edited by Herbert Van Thal.

Mammoth Books.

ISBN-10: 0786708867
ISBN-13: 978-0786708864
 
Anthology of short stories.
 
Description:
 
Murder, suspense, mystery – the biggest and best collection ever.

This huge and unique volume contains four anthologies by Herbert Van Thai featuring 35 of the best detective stories ever told. The stories range and style and setting from the mean streets of Raymond Chandler's New York to the classic English whodunnit by Agatha Christie and offer an unmissable treat for detective fans.