Born on this day – Chuck Barris:

 

Chuck Barris

Game show creator

Producer

Host

Writer

June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017

#TheGongShow

On this day in movie history - The Untouchables (1987)

The Untouchables

directed by Brian De Palma,

written by David Mamet,

based on the book by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley,

was released in the United States on June 3, 1987.

Music by Ennio Morricone.

 

Cast:

Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro, Richard Bradford, Jack Kehoe, Brad Sullivan, Billy Drago, Patricia Clarkson, Vito D’Ambrosio, Steven Goldstein, Peter Aylward, Don Harvey, Robert Swan, John J. Walsh, Del Close, Colleen Bade, Greg Noonan, Sean Grennan, Larry Viverito Sr., Kevin Michael Doyle, Mike Bacarella, Michael P. Byrne, Kaitlin Montgomery, Aditra Kohl, Charles Keller Watson, Larry Brandenburg, Chelcie Ross, Tim Gamble, Sam Smiley, Pat Billingsley, John Bracci, Jennifer Anglin, Eddie Minasian, Anthony Mockus Sr., Will Zahrn, Louie Lanciloti, Vince Viverito, Valentino Cimo, Joe Greco, Clem Caserta, Bob Martana, Joseph Scianablo, George S. Spataro, Melody Rae, Robert Miranda, James Guthrie, Basil Reale.

On this day in movie history - Cinderella Man (2005)

Cinderella Man

directed by Ron Howard,

written by Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman,

story by Cliff Hollingsworth,

based on the life of James J. Braddock,

was released in the United States on June 3, 2005.

Music by Thomas Newman.

Cast:

Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine, Bruce McGill, David Huband, Connor Price, Ariel Waller, Patrick Louis, Rosemarie DeWitt, Linda Kash, Nicholas Campbell, Gene Pyrz, Chuck Shamata, Ron Canada, Alicia Johnston, Troy Amos-Ross, Mark Simmons, Art Binkowski, David Litzinger, Matthew G. Taylor, Rance Howard, James Ritz, Fulvio Cecere, Clint Howard, Gerry Ellison, Bill Mackie, Ray Marsh, Fernand Chretien, Dave Dunbar, Ken James, Rufus Crawford, Angelo Dundee, Lou Eisen, Wayne Gordon, Wayne Flemming, Nick Alachiotis, Christopher D. Amos, Nick Carusi, Keith Murphy, Everton McEwan, John Kalbhenn, David Georgieff, Wayne Bourque, Paul Ryan, Sean Gilroy, Michael McNamara, Billy Wine, Richard Bachynsky Hoover, Michael Chin, Stewart Lunn, Richard Lewis, Peter Wylie, Thomasz Kurzydlowski, Stuart Clark, Julian Lewis, Eric Fink, Sergio Di Zio, Gavin Grazer, Boyd Banks, Daniel Kash, Judah Katz, Angelo Tsarouchas, Rob Smith, Craig Warnock, Aaron Abrams, Duff MacDonald, Andrew Stelmack, Christopher Crumb, Gerry Quigley, Peter MacNeill, Darrin Brown, John Healy, Peter Didiano, James Kirchner, Michael Langlois, Magdalena Alexander, Nola Augustson, Gino Marrocco, Mark Taylor, Sharron Matthews, Alec Stockwell, Chick Roberts, Isabella Fink, Beau Starr, Philip Craig, Roman Podhora, R.D. Reid, Michael Dyson, Sam Malkin, Tony Munch, Conrad Bergschneider, Richard Binsley, Ramona Pringle, Katrina Matthews Swain, Cooper Bracken, Jacob Bracken, Alon Nashman, Dominic Cuzzocrea, Neil Foster, Brian Jagersky, Ray Kerr, Tim Eddis, Dave Arkell, Debra Sherman, Joanne Ritcey, Alex Cairns, George Duff, Tom Anastasios, Timothy Burd, Krysta Carter, Rick Cordeiro, James Donohue, Mark Falvo, Conor Gomez, Carlos Henriques, Riva Lombardi, Robert-William McAlpine, Kennedy McGuckian, Liam McGuckian, Robert Morse, Michael C. Newsome, Andrew Martin Priestman, Riley Raymer, Jake Richards, Jason Ruta, Michael Sercerchi, John Shannon, Nick Smith, Nick Smyth, Michael Stevens, Derek Sypniewski, Egidio Tari, Marcello Tulipano, Nancy E.L. Ward.

Francine Prose, on reading:

With so much reading ahead of you, the temptation might be to speed up.

But in fact it’s essential to slow down and read every word.

Because one important thing that can be learned by reading slowly is the seemingly obvious but oddly underappreciated fact that language is the medium we use in much the same way a composer uses notes, the way a painter uses paint.

I realize it may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how easily we lose sight of the fact that words are the raw material out of which literature is crafted.

– Francine Prose.

Recommended reading - The Gracie Allen Murder Case

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

a.k.a. The Smell of Murder

by S.S. Van Dine.

Filmed as The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939), directed by Alfred E. Green.

Published by Felony & Mayhem Press.
First published 1938.

ISBN-10: 1631942069
ISBN-13: 9781631942068
 
Description:

“Mr. Van Dine’s amateur detective is the most gentlemanly, and probably the most scholarly snooper in literature.” – Chicago Daily Tribune.

Gracie Allen breaks the Philo Phormula in a number of ways. First is its title: this is the only book in the series to modify “Murder Case” with more than one word, much less with the name of a character. And then there’s that character: Gracie Allen was a very real, much-loved comedienne in the 1930s, famous for her double act with George Burns, and in fact the plot revolves around her. Gracie’s centrality is no accident: Van Dine wrote the story as a vehicle for Allen, and actually created the novel only after the film had come out. So, do all these departures pay off? We’d be lying if we said that Gracie hits every single mark, but Van Dine does a surprisingly entertaining job of translating Ms. Allen’s delicious Ditzy Blonde persona to the page, and she makes a charming foil for Philo’s evergreen erudition.

Born on this day – Thomas Hardy:

Thomas Hardy

Writer

June 2, 1840 - January 11, 1928

Credits:

 

A Laodicean (1881); A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873); Desperate Remedies (1871); Far From the Madding Crowd (1874); Fathers: A Literary Anthology (2011); Jude the Obscure (1895); Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891); The Hand of Ethelberta (1876); The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886); The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (1992); The Return of the Native (1878); The Trumpet-Major (1880); The Well-Beloved (1892); The Withered Arm (1888); The Woodlanders (1887); Two on a Tower (1882); Under the Greenwood Tree (1872); Victorian Short Stories: Stories of Successful Marriages (2022); War: An Anthology (1969); World War One British Poets: Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg and Others (1997); Writers: Their Lives and Works (2018).

Movies and television:

 

2nd House (1975); Actor's Studio (1949); And There Was a Great Calm (2017); Boston Blackie (1952–1953); Cheongchun mujeong (1970); Daags na de kermis (1974); Day Out (1985); Dulhan Ek Raat Ki (1967); Exploits at West Poley (1985); Far from the Madding Crowd (1915 / 1967 / 1998 / 2015); General Electric Theater (1956); Hora once (1970); ITV Play of the Week (1960); Jude (1996); Jude the Obscure (1971); Kraft Theatre / The United States Steel Hour (1959); Man Ki Jeet (1944); Romina (1980); Screen Two (1995); Tajemství dáblovy kapsy (1980); Tess (1979); Tess d'Urberville (1959); Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1913 / 1924 / 1952 / 1998 / 2008); The Claim (2000); The Day After the Fair (1986); The Distracted Preacher (1969); The Greenwood Tree (1929); The Mayor of Casterbridge (1921 / 1978 / 2003); The Return of the Native (1994 / 2010); The Scarlet Tunic (1998); The Secret Cave (1953); The Sunday Programme (2002); The Unforeseen (1958); The Woodlanders (1970 / 1997); Thomas Hardy: Fate, Exclusion & Tragedy (2021); Thomas Hardy's the Three Strangers (2014); Trishna (2011); Una romantica avventura (1940); Under the Greenwood Tree (2005); Wessex Tales (1973); Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021); Your Favorite Story (1953).

Born on this day – Yolande Donlan:

 

Yolande Donlan

Actress

June 2, 1920 – December 30, 2014

Credits:

80,000 Suspects (1963); Brian Rix Presents ... (1966); Celebrity Squares (1976); Cross-Country Romance (1940); Dark Streets of Cairo (1940); Expresso Bongo (1959); Jigsaw (1962); Larry and Vivien: The Oliviers in Love (2001); Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941); Looks Familiar (1980); Miss Pilgrim's Progress (1949); Mr Drake's Duck (1951); Penny Princess (1952); Psychedelic Cinema (2002); Rheingold Theatre (1956); Road Show (1941); Seven Nights in Japan (1976); Sunday Night Thriller (1981); Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957); The Adventurers (1970); The Blitz Kiss (1941); The Body Said No! (1950); The Devil Bat (1940); Theatre Night (1957–1959); They Can't Hang Me (1955); This Is Your Life (1962); Traveller's Joy (1950); Turnabout (1940); Under Age (1941); Unfinished Business (1941); What's My Line (1955).