Tuesday, October 13, 2026

On this day in movie history - Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Odds Against Tomorrow

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Abraham Polonsky and Nelson Gidding,

based on the novel by William P. McGivern,

was released in the United States on October 13, 1959.

Music by John Lewis.



Cast:
Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame, Will Kuluva, Kim Hamilton, Mae Barnes, Richard Bright, Carmen De Lavallade, Lew Gallo, Lois Thorne, Wayne Rogers, Zohra Lampert, Allen Nourse.

On this day in movie history - Midnight Lace (1960)


Midnight Lace


directed by David Miller,

written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts,

based on the play Matilda Shouted Fire by Janet Green,

was released in the United States on October 13, 1960.

Music by Frank Skinner.

Cast:
Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Myrna Loy, Roddy McDowall, Herbert Marshall, Natasha Parry, Hermione Baddeley, John Williams, Richard Ney, Anthony Dawson, Rhys Williams, Richard Lupino, Hayden Rorke, Doris Lloyd, Gage Clarke, Elspeth March, Peter Adams, Rex Evans.

On this day in movie history - Double Indemnity (movie & books):

Double Indemnity


directed by Jack Smight,

written by Steven Bochco, Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler,

based on the novel by James M. Cain,

released in the United States on October 13, 1973.

Music by Billy Goldenberg.


Cast:
Richard Crenna, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Webber, Samantha Eggar, Arch Johnson, Kathleen Cody, John Fiedler, John Elerick, Joan Pringle, Gene Dynarski, Ken Renard, Joyce Cunning, Arnold F. Turner, Rand Brooks, Tom Curtis, John Furlong.

Recommended reading:



Double Indemnity

by James M. Cain.

Filmed as:
 
Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder.
Double Indemnity (1973), directed by Jack Smight.

Published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard.
Published 1943.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 9780679723226
ISBN-13: 9780679723226

Description:

“An American masterpiece.” – Ross Macdonald.

“No one has ever stopped reading in the middle of one of Jim Cain’s books.” – Saturday Review of Literature.

Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.

Tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful, Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.
 

Double Indemnity: The Complete Screenplay

by Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Jeffrey Meyers.

Published by University of California Press.
Published 2000.

ISBN-10: 0520218485
ISBN-13: 9780520218482

Description:

On every level -- writing, direction, acting -- Double Indemnity (1944) is a triumph and stands as one of the greatest achievements in Billy Wilder's career. Adapted from the James M. Cain novel by director Wilder and novelist Raymond Chandler, it tells the story of an insurance salesman, played by Fred MacMurray, who is lured into a murder-for-insurance plot by Barbara Stanwyck, in an archetypal femme fatale role. From its grim story to its dark, atmospheric lighting, Double Indemnity is a definitive example of World War II-era film noir. Wilder's approach is everywhere evident: in the brutal cynicism the film displays, the moral complexity, and in the empathy we feel for the killers. The film received almost unanimous critical success, garnering seven Academy Award nominations. More than fifty years later, most critics agree that this classic is one of the best films of all time. The collaboration between Wilder and Raymond Chandler produced a masterful script and some of the most memorable dialogue ever spoken in a movie.

This facsimile edition of Double Indemnity contains Wilder and Chandler's original -- and quite different -- ending, published here for the first time. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction contextualizes the screenplay, providing hilarious anecdotes about the turbulent collaboration, as well as background information about Wilder and the film's casting and production.

On this day in movie history - Jade (1995)


Jade


directed by William Friedkin,

written by Joe Eszterhas,

was released in the United States on October 13, 1995.

Music by James Horner.


Cast:
David Caruso, Linda Fiorentino, Chazz Palminteri, Richard Crenna, Michael Biehn, Donna Murphy, Ken King, Holt McCallany, David Hunt, Angie Everhart, Kevin Tighe, Victor Wong, Robin Thomas, Victoria Smith, Jay Jacobus, Bud Bostwick, Darryl Chan, Ron Ulstad, Buddy Joe Hooker, Bobby Bass, Sandy Berumen, Dick Ziker, Ron Yuan.

On this day in movie history - Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998)


Phantasm IV: Oblivion


a.k.a. Phantasm: Oblivion


directed and written by Don Coscarelli,

was released in the United States on October 13, 1998.

Music by Christopher L. Stone.


Cast:
A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, Bill Thornbury, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy, Angus Scrimm, Christopher L. Stone, Chloe Kay, Sylvia Flammer, David Gasster, Sasha Kassel, Aidan Kassel, Eric Avary, Andy John, George A. Craig, Steven C. Kassel, Robert Gates, Todd Mecklem, Jason Jacobs, Michael Perkins, Colin Jessup, Stanley Potter, Roger Avary, Bret Schweinfurth, Robert Tomaszewski.

On this day in movie history - Warning (2021)


Warning


directed by Agata Alexander,

written by Agata Alexander, Rob Michaelson and Jason Kaye,

was released at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Spain on October 13, 2021.

Music by Gregory Tripi.


Cast:
Thomas Jane, Tomasz Kot, Toni Garrn, Rupert Everett, Przemyslaw Wyszynski, Alice Eve, James D'Arcy, Aleksandra Zagrodzka, Billy Howerdel, Kylie Bunbury, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jakub Wypler, Annabelle Wallis, Alex Pettyfer, Annabel Mullion, Richard Pettyfer, Garance Marillier, Izabela Kuna, Izabela Perez, Sebastian Perdek, Karolina Adamczyk, Benedict Samuel, Blu Mantic, Olga Boladz, Alma Asuai, Charlotte Le Bon, Janina Pruszkowska, Piotr Polak, Stephen Mao, Cybill Lui Eppich.

On this day at Moonbase Alpha:


Space 1999
Season 1. Episode 7.

Episode entitled: Alpha Child.

Released October 13, 1975.

Directed by Ray Austin.

Written by Christopher Penfold.

Series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson.

Music by Barry Gray.

Cast:
Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, Julian Glover, Cyd Hayman, Prentis Hancock, Clifton Jones, Zienia Merton, Anton Phillips, Nick Tate, Wayne Brooks, Tony Allyn, Sarah Bullen, Loftus Burton, Gerry Crampton, Andy Dempsey, Vincent Wong, James Fagan, Raymond Harris, Alf Joint, Rula Lenska, Quentin Pierre, Suzanne Roquette, Michael Stevens, Maureen Tan