On this day in movie history - Mystery House (1938)

Mystery House

directed by Noel M. Smith,

written by Sherman L. Lowe and Robertson White,

based on the novel The Mystery of Hunting's End by Mignon G. Eberhart,

was released in the United States on May 21, 1938.

Music by Howard Jackson.

Cast:

Dick Purcell, Ann Sheridan, Anne Nagel, William Hopper, Anthony Averill, Dennie Moore, Hugh O'Connell, Ben Welden, Sheila Bromley, Elspeth Dudgeon, Anderson Lawler, Trevor Bardette, Jean Benedict, Loia Cheaney, Stuart Holmes, Jack Mower, Paul Panzer, Eric Stanley.

On this day in movie history - Death Hunt (1981)

Death Hunt

directed by Peter Hunt,

written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor,

was released in the United States on May 21, 1981.

Music by Jerrold Immel.

Based on the true 1932 case of Albert Johnson, a.k.a. the Mad Trapper of Rat River.

Cast:

Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Andrew Stevens, Carl Weathers, Ed Lauter, Scott Hylands, Angie Dickinson, Henry Beckman, William Sanderson, Jon Cedar, James O’Connell, Len Lesser, Richard Davalos, Maury Chaykin, August Schellenberg, Dennis Wallace, James McIntire, Rayford Barnes, Maurice Kowalewski, Sean McCann, Steve Finkel, Denis Lacroix, Tantoo Cardinal, Amy Marie George, Steve Mirer.

On this day in movie history - Terminator: Salvation (2009)

Terminator: Salvation

directed by McG,

written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris,

was released in the United States on May 21, 2009.

Music by Danny Elfman.

Cast:

Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Jadagrace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Jane Alexander, Michael Ironside, Ivan G’Vera, Chris Browning, Dorian Nkono, Beth Bailey, Victor J. Ho, Buster Reeves, Kevin Wiggins, Greg Serano, Po Chan, Babak Tafti, Bruce McIntosh, Treva Etienne, Dylan Kenin, Michael Papajohn, Chris Ashworth, Diego Joaquin Lopez, Greg Plitt, Omar Paz Trujillo, Terry Crews, Zach McGowan, Isaac Kappy, Boots Southerland, David Midthunder, Rafael Herrera, Maria Bethke, Marc Maurin, Anjul Nigam, Emerson Brooks, Lorenzo Callender, David Douglas, Joe Basile, Esodie Geiger, Roland Kickinger, Brian Steele, Chris Bentley, Scott Flick, John Gibbs, Linda Hamilton, Neil Harbisson, Casey Wayne Hupp, Luke Kearney, Shani Klein-Madden, Cynthia Lee, Gregory Leiker, Aaron Mastriani, Paul J. Porter, Frank Powers, Mark Rayner, Scott Wyman, Foued Zayani.

On this day in music history - The Spell, by Kevin Braheny and Tim Clark (1996)

 

The Spell

by Kevin Braheny and Tim Clark

was released on May 21, 1996.

Track list:

The Magician; A Perfect Evening For Flying Carpets; Time In The Mirror (Transporter Version); Palace Of Dreams; The Spell; Merlin’s Last Voyage; The Sail Of Argo Navis; Sorceror’s Parade.

World Bee Day – May 20 & Born on this day – Anton Janša - May 20, 1734

 

World Bee Day – May 20

Born on this day – Anton Janša.

Apiarist and pioneer of beekeeping.

Painter.

May 20, 1734 – September 13, 1773. 

William Wordsworth, on writing:

 

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

- William Wordsworth.

Recommended reading - Clean Break

Clean Break

by Lionel White.

Filmed as The Killing (1956), directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Published by Chosho Publishing.
First published 1955.
Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1958425516
ISBN-13: 978-1958425510
 

Description:

Johnny Clay, an ex-con determined to strike it rich, has worked out a fool-proof scheme to knock off a racetrack payroll. The two million bucks should be enough to last him a lifetime or two. But a two-faced dame has another idea: Let Johnny do the work, then she'll grab the swag for herself and her boyfriend.

Johnny Clay’s plan to rob the Long Island race track was daring and highly original. Johnny, an ex-convict, had spent his prison years thinking through every possible hitch to his scheme until he was sure it could go off like clockwork.

His four confederates were not known to the police for they were not professional criminals. They had been picked because they were ordinary nondescript men, all with money problems and a touch of larceny in their hearts. Mike Henty was a bartender at the track and George Peatty a cashier, both essential inside men. Martin Unger, a court stenographer, had put up the initial cash and Randy Kennan, a cop, was to get the money away from the track after Johnny had done the actual robbing.

There were in addition three others who were to do a specific jobs for a cash payment. To one of these men fell the assignment of shooting the favorite in the famous Canarsie Stakes. Once this was accomplished, the robbery was set into motion.

The crime in this story is a grand coup, fantastic yet completely possible if everything clicked. So too has Lionel White achieved a grand coup in the telling of the story as he concentrates first on one character then on another, picking up the individual threads and building them into a brilliantly integrated climax. Clean Break is a masterpiece of originality, a highly plotted and ingeniously executed story of suspense.