Monday, April 13, 2026

Born on this day – Herman Raucher:


Herman Raucher


Writer

April 13, 1928 – December 28, 2023
Credits:

Books:

A Glimpse of Tiger (1971); Maynard's House (1980); Summer of '42 (1971); There Should Have Been Castles (1978); Watermelon Man (1970).

Movies and television:

Sweet November (2001); Ode (1999); Morning Patrol (1987); The Great Santini (1979); The Other Side of Midnight (1977); Ode to Billy Joe (1976); Remember When (1974); Class of '44 (1973); Summer of '42 (1971); Watermelon Man (1970); Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969); Sweet November (1968); Follow That Dream (1962); Studio One (1958); Matinee Theatre (1957); Goodyear Playhouse (1956); The Alcoa Hour (1956).

Born on this day – Paul Sorvino:

Paul Sorvino


Actor 

Opera singer

Writer

Sculptor

April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022
Credits:
A Fine Mess (1986); A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives (1993); A Place for Heroes (2014); A Question of Honor (1982); A Touch of Class (1973); A Winter Rose (2014); Abe & Phil's Last Poker Game (2017); Acts of Desperation (2018); Age Isn't Everything (1991); Airship Dracula (2012); Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival (2016); Almost Partners (1987); American Perfekt (1997); Angel and Big Joe (1976); As Long As We Both Shall Live (2016); Backstreet Justice (1994); Bad Blood (2017); Bad Impulse (2019); Beneath the Leaves (2019); Bert D'Angelo / Superstar (1976); Betrayed by Innocence (1986); Bloodbrothers (1978); Blue Heat: The Case of the Cover Girl Murders (1997); Bulworth (1998); Careful What You Wish For (2015); Carnera: The Walking Mountain (2008); Chasing Gold (2016); Cheaters (2000); Chiefs (1983); Chiller (1985); Ciao America (2002); Cold Deck (2015); Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014); Cover Me (1995); Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (2017); Cruising (1980); Cry Uncle (1971); Dead Broke (1998); Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972); Detours (2016); Dick Tracy (1990); Divorce Invitation (2012); DMZ (1990); Doc West (2009); Dog Watch (1997); Don't Touch My Daughter (1991); Drinks with Dee Dee Sorvino (2020); Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man (1997); Dummy (1979); Elementary (2014); Escape Clause (1996); Executor (2017); For the Love of Money (2012); Foreclosed (2013); God Don't Make the Laws (2011); Godfather of Harlem (2019–2021); Goodfellas (1990); Goodnight, Joseph Parker (2004); Grandfathered (2016); Great Performances (1974); Greetings from the Shore (2007); Gutfeld! (2021); Handy Manny (2011); Harlem Aria (1999); Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002); Houdini (1998); How Sweet It Is (2013); I Will... I Will... For Now (1976); I, the Jury (1982); Iggy Azalea Feat. Rita Ora: Black Widow (2014); Imaginary Friend (2012); Immigrant (2013); Insight (1979); It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy (1974); Jack & Bobby (2004); Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012); Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way (1997); Kidnapped in Romania (2016); Kill the Irishman (2011); Kiss-Kiss, Dahlings! (1992); Knock Off (1998); Last Hour (2008); Law & Order (1991–1992); Lily of the Feast (2010); Longshot (2001); L'onore e il rispetto (2006); Lost and Found (1979); Lost Cat Corona (2017); Love Is All There Is (1996); Made for Each Other (1971); Mafia Doctor (2003); Mambo Italiano (2003); Melanie (1982); Men with Guns (1997); Micmacs (2009); Mineville (2010); Money Talks (1997); Moonlighting (1986); Most Guys Are Losers (2020); Most Wanted (1997); Mr. 3000 (2004); Mr. Fix It (2006); Murder, She Wrote (1989); My Mother's Secret Life (1984); Nixon (1995); No Deposit (2015); Off the Wall (1983); Oh, God! (1977); Once Upon a Time in Queens (2013); Papa (2018); Parallel Lives (1994); Paulie (2013); Perfume (2001); Plan B (2001); Price for Freedom (2017); RebelTaxi (2015); Reds (1981); Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008); Rhode Island Blue (2001); Romeo + Juliet (1996); Rules Don't Apply (2016); Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe (2009); Scriptfellas (1999); See Spot Run (2001); Seventh Avenue (1977); Shoot It Black, Shoot It Blue (1974); Sicilian Vampire (2015); Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987); Still Standing (2004–2006); Streghe verso nord (2001); Surviving (1985); Tell Me Where It Hurts (1974); That Championship Season (1982); That's Life (2000–2002); The Amati Girls (2000); The Art of the Cigar (1996); The Bandit Hound (2016); The Birthday Cake (2021); The Brink's Job (1978); The Bronx Bull (2016); The Brooklyn Banker (2016); The Cooler (2003); The Day of the Dolphin (1973); The Devil's Carnival (2012); The Family Man (2000); The Firm (1993); The Gambler (1974); The Goldbergs' Excellent Adventure (2014); The Great American Heist (2022); The Greg Gutfeld Show (2015); The Hybrids Family (2015); The Oldest Rookie (1987–1988); The Panic in Needle Park (1971); The Red Maple Leaf (2016); The Rocketeer (1991); The Streets of San Francisco (1976); The Stuff (1985); The Thin Blue Lie (2000); The Trouble with Cali (2012); The Wild Stallion (2009); Today's F.B.I. (1981); Triggerman (2009); Turk 182 (1985); Undercover Grandpa (2017); Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter (1986); Very Close Quarters (1984); Welcome to Acapulco (2019); We'll Get By (1974–1975); Where's Poppa? (1970); With Intent to Kill (1984); Without Consent (1994); Wives' Tales (2008); Work with Me (1999).

Born on this day – Elisabeth Trissenaar:


Elisabeth Trissenaar


Actress

Writer

April 13, 1944 – January 14, 2024

Credits:
A Love in Germany (1983); Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl / When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (1978); Angry Harvest (1985); Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980); Blaubart (1984); Charlotte (1980); Countdown - Die Jagd beginnt (2011); Das andere Lächeln (1978); Das Ende einer Karriere (1978); Das Gehirn zu Pferde (1986); Das Käthchen von Heilbronn (1980); Der Fall Franza (1986); Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1997); Der mit dem Schlag (2016); Der Teufel von Mailand (2012); Derrick (1992); Die Bubi Scholz Story (1998); Die Familie oder Schroffenstein (1984); Die Fledermaus (La chauve-souris) (2001); Die Geschichte vom Brandner Kaspar (2008); Die Reinheit des Herzens (1980); Die Schwärmer (1985); Die Tote vom Deich (2006); Doktor Martin (2009); Doppeltes Dreieck (1999); Dorothea Merz (1976); Emilie Richards (2011); Erloschene Zeiten (1988); Fast Forward (2012); Franza (1987); Hedda Gabler (1974); Heinrich Penthesilea von Kleist (1983); Il était une fois... (2012); In a Year with 13 Moons (1978); Innocence Unknown (1988); Jedermann Remixed (2011); Journey Into a Secret Life (1983); Kalt ist der Abendhauch (2000); Lügen und andere Wahrheiten (2014); Mario and the Magician (1994); Marleneken (1990); No Sky Limit with Africa (2004); Nobody Loves Me (1994); Oskar und Leni (1999); Pattbergs Erbe (1987); Schattengrenze (1979); Scheidung a la carte (1991); Schumann, Schubert und der Schnee (2006); Siska (1999); So glücklich war ich noch nie (2009); SOKO Kitzbühel (2005); Stockinger (1996); The Making of 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' (1979); The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979); The Old Fox (1990–1999); The Stationmaster's Wife (1977); Theater Talk (1984); Vera - Die Frau des Sizilianers (2005); Versprich mir, dass es den Himmel gibt (1999); Wanda (1984); Wochenendgeschichten (1985).

On this day in movie history - Two O’clock Courage (1945)


Two O’clock Courage


directed by Anthony Mann,

written by Gordon Kahn and Robert E. Kent,

based on the novel by Gelett Burgess,

was released in the United States on April 13, 1945.

Music by Roy Webb.


Cast:
Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, Richard Lane, Lester Matthews, Roland Drew, Emory Parnell, Jane Greer, Jean Brooks.

On this day in movie and book history - Rififi:

Rififi

French title: Du rififi chez les hommes,

directed by Jules Dassin,

written by Auguste Le Breton, Jules Dassin and René Wheeler,

based on the novel by Auguste Le Breton,

was released in France on April 13, 1955.

Music by Georges Auric.

Cast:
Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Janine Darcey, Pierre Grasset, Robert Hossein, Marcel Lupovici, Dominique Maurin, Magali Noël, Marie Sabouret, Claude Sylvain, Jules Dassin, Armandel, Alain Bouvette, Alice Garan, André Dalibert, Jacques David, Émile Genevois, Marcelle Hainia, Marcel Lesieur, Daniel Mendaille, Huguette Montréal, Lita Recio, Fernand Sardou, Jean Bellanger, Jacques Besnard, Teddy Bilis, Jenny Doria, René Hell, Gilbert Moreau, Maryse Paillet, Marcel Rouzé, Roger Rudel.

Recommended reading:

Rififi

by Alastair Phillips.

Ciné-File French Film Guides.

Published by I.B.Tauris.

Published 2009.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1848850557

ISBN-13: 978-1848850552

Description:

Du rififi chez les hommes (1955), directed by the exiled American film director Jules Dassin, recounts the nail-biting tale of a Parisian gangster heist gone wrong. Famed for its extended dialogue free robbery sequence, it is both a classic French film noir and one of the greatest, most influential crime films. In this lively companion to the film, Alastair Phillips reveals Dassin’s role as a director of socially conscious Hollywood film noir and argues that his seminal contribution to the regeneration of the thriller in post war France therefore uniquely complicated relations between French genre cinema and American mass culture.

Phillips also examines the film's innovative narrative construction and use of sound, its performance style and mise-en-scène, and discusses the film's legacy, showing how even today, the term ""Rififi"" remains a byword for both criminal glamor and the enduring virtues of French popular classical filmmaking.

On this day in movie history - F.I.S.T. (1978)


F.I.S.T.

directed by Norman Jewison,

written by Joe Eszterhas, Sylvester Stallone and Norman Jewison,

based on a story by Joe Eszterhas,

was released in the United States on April 13, 1978.

Music by Bill Conti.


Cast:
Sylvester Stallone, Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle, Melinda Dillon, David Huffman, Kevin Conway, Tony Lo Bianco, Cassie Yates, Peter Donat, John Lehne, Henry Wilcoxon, Richard Herd, Tony Mockus Jr., Ken Kercheval, Elena Karam, Joe Tornatore, James Karen, Stuart Gillard, Brian Dennehy, Sam Chew Jr., Robert Lipton, John Bleifer, Frank McRae, Rozsika Halmos, Earl Montgomery, Harry Basch, Nada Rowand, Chuck Gradi, Alphonse Skerl, Reid Cruickshanks, Sidney Clute, M. Patrick Hughes, Bill Zuckert, Martin Braddock, Barry Atwater, Sandy Ward, Andy Romano, Frank Whiteman, Hugo Bolba, Ron Delagardelle, Robert Courtleigh, Judson Pratt, David Greene, Jimmy Murphy, René Le Vant, Tony Mendia, Anthony Kiedis, Deonne Fator, Richard Dioguardi, Tony Crupi, Herman Poppe, Frank Bongiorno, Antonio Canino, Michael Twaine, Walt Davis, Sam Woods, James Jeter, Jack Slate, George Barrow, Norman Rice, Ed Call, Russell Shannon, Fil Formicola, Brass Adams, Eric Carlson, John R. Setard, John Bisenius, Joseph W. Schuver, Carl Vander Meulen, Charles McCarthy, Ethel Kohler, William B. Bicksler, Luther Fear, Fritz Ford, Jenny Inge, Bruce McGill, Loren G. Teggatz.

On this day in movie history - Mother Knows Best (1997)

 

Mother Knows Best


directed by Larry Shaw,

written by Lisa Friedman Bloch and Kathy Kirtland Silverman,

was released in the United States on April 13, 1997.

Based on the true 1990 Lee Goldsmith case.

Music by Patrick Williams.


Cast:
Joanna Kerns, Christine Elise, Grant Show, Jessica Walter, Sherman Augustus, David Spielberg, Kristen Dalton, Jeanette O'Connor, Michael Covert, Eric Robertson, Annabelle Weenick, Giselle Fernandez, Jeff Olson, Alan Gregory, Douglas Caputo, Joey Miyashima, Nancy Peterson, Michael Flynn, Melissa Pace-Tanner (credited as Melissa Pace), George Sullivan, Jeffrey Hanson, Gerald Henderson, Caitlin E.J. Meyer.