July in movie history - Cage of Evil (1960):

Cage of Evil,

directed by Edward L. Cahn,

written by Orville H. Hampton,

based on a story by Orville H. Hampton and Alexander Richards,

was released in the United States in July, 1960.
Exact release date unknown.
Music by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter.

Cast:
Ronald Foster, Patricia Blair, Harp McGuire, John Maxwell, Preston Hanson, Doug Henderson, Hugh Sanders, Helen Kleeb, Robert Shayne, Owen Bush, Ted Knight, Howard McLeod, Eve Brent, Henry Darrow, Abel Franco, Joseph Hamilton, Jack Kenney, Gregg Martell, Patrick Miller, Ralph Neff, Ralph Sanford, Jack Tesler.

On this day in movie history - The Mask of Dimitrios (1944):

The Mask of Dimitrios,

directed by Jean Negulesco,

written by Frank Gruber,

based on the novel A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler,

was released in the United States on July 1, 1944.

Music by Adolph Deutsch.

Cast:
Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, Steven Geray, Florence Bates, Eduardo Ciannelli, Kurt Katch, Marjorie Hoshelle, Georges Metaxa, John Abbott, Monte Blue, David Hoffman.

July in movie history - Chicago Syndicate (1955):

Chicago Syndicate,

directed by Fred F. Sears,

written by Joseph Hoffman,

based on a story by William Sackheim,

was released in the United States in July 1955.

Exact release date unknown.

Cast:

Dennis O’Keefe, Abbe Lane, Paul Stewart, Xavier Cugat, Allison Hayes, Richard H. Cutting, Chris Alcaide, William Challee, John Zaremba, George Brand, Hugh Sanders, Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, Nina Borget, John Breen, Al Cantor.

Born on this day – Andre Braugher:

Andre Braugher

Actor

Producer

July 1, 1962 – December 11, 2023

Credits:

The Good Fight (2022); She Said (2022); American Experience (1993–2022); Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–2021); Spirit Untamed (2021); BoJack Horseman (2017); New Girl (2016); Emily & Tim (2015); Axe Cop (2015); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011–2015); The Gambler (2014); Last Resort (2012–2013); The Baytown Outlaws (2012); House (2009–2012); Men of a Certain Age (2009–2011); Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010); Salt (2010); Miami Medical (2010); Passengers (2008); The Andromeda Strain (2008); Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007); The Mist (2007); Live! (2007); Poseidon (2006); Thief (2006); The Jury (2004); Salem's Lot (2004); Hack (2002–2004); Soldier's Girl (2003); Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002); 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002); West Point: The First 200 Years (2002); American Masters (2002); One from the Heart (2001); Gideon's Crossing (2000–2001); The Practice (2001); Jackie Chan Adventures (2000–2001); A Better Way to Die (2000); Duets (2000); Frequency (2000); Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (2000); Homicide: The Movie (2000); All the Rage (1999); Love Songs (1999); Passing Glory (1999); Thick as Thieves (1999); Louisville (1998); Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1998); City of Angels (1998); Get on the Bus (1996); Primal Fear (1996); Law & Order (1996); The Tuskegee Airmen (1995); Striking Distance (1993); Without Warning: Terror in the Towers (1993); Class of '61 (1993); The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990); Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture (1990); Kojak: None So Blind (1990); Murder in Mississippi (1990); Kojak: It's Always Something (1990); Kojak: Flowers for Matty (1990); Glory (1989); Kojak: Fatal Flaw (1989); Kojak: Ariana (1989).

Born on this day – Lisa Blount:

Lisa Blount

Actress

Producer

July 1, 1957 – October 27, 2010

Credits:

An American Story (1992); An Officer and a Gentleman (1982); Annihilator (1986); Big John (2006); Birdseye (2002); Blind Fury (1989); Boone (1984); Box of Moonlight (1996); CBS Summer Playhouse (1988); Cease Fire (1985); Chrystal (2004); Cracker: Mind Over Murder (1997); Cut and Run (1984); Dead & Buried (1981); Deodato Holocaust (2019); Femme Fatale (1991); Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story (1997); Great Balls of Fire! (1989); Greed Kills (2005); If... Dog... Rabbit (1999); In Sickness and in Health (1992); Judging Amy (2002); Judicial Consent (1995); Magnum, P.I. (1987); Moonlighting (1986); Murder Between Friends (1994); Murder Me, Murder You (1983); Murder, She Wrote (1990); Needful Things (1993); Nightflyers (1987); Out Cold (1989); Outlaw Country (2012); Picket Fences (1992); Prince of Darkness (1987); Profit (1996–1997); Radioactive Dreams (1984); Randy and the Mob (2007); September 30, 1955 (1977); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982); Slap Shot (1977); Sons and Daughters (1991); South of Reno (1988); Stalked (1994); Starman (1986); Stormin' Home (1985); The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002); The Accountant (2001); The Client (1995); The Hitchhiker (1986); The Swap (1979); Traffic (1999); Trash (2003); Unholy Matrimony (1988); What Waits Below (1984).

Born on this day – Karen Black:

Karen Black

Actress

Singer

Writer

July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013

Born on this day – David Prowse:

David Prowse

Actor

Bodybuilder

July 1, 1935 – November 28, 2020

Born on this day – Sydney Pollack:

Sydney Pollack

Director

Producer

Actor, July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008

Born on this day – Florence Stanley:

Florence Stanley

Actress

July 1, 1924 – October 3, 2003

Born on this day – Olivia de Havilland:

Olivia de Havilland

Actress

July 1, 1916 – July 26, 2020

Born on this day – Willie Dixon:

Willie Dixon

Blues singer

Musician

Songwriter

Arranger

Producer

July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992

Born on this day – Jean Stafford:

Jean Stafford

Writer

July 1, 1915 – March 26, 1979

Born on this day – Virginia Vance:

Virginia Vance

Actress

July 1, 1902 - October 13, 1942

Born on this day – William Wyler:

William Wyler

Director

Producer

July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981

Born on this day – Charles Laughton:

Charles Laughton

Actor

July 1, 1899 – December 15, 1962

Born on this day – James M. Cain:

James M. Cain

Writer

July 1, 1892 – October 27, 1977

Credits:

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934); Double Indemnity (1936); Serenade (1937); The Embezzler (1940); Mildred Pierce (1941); Love's Lovely Counterfeit (1942); Career in C Major: And Other Fiction (1943); Past All Dishonor (1946); The Butterfly (1947); Sinful Woman (1947); The Moth (1948); Everybody Does It (1949); Jealous Woman (1950); The Root of His Evil (1951); Galatea (1953); Mignon (1962); The Magician's Wife (1965); Rainbow's End (1975); The Institute (1976); Cloud Nine (1984); The Enchanted Isle (1985); Sixty Years of Journalism (1985); Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories (1996); The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (2000); Writing Los Angeles (2002); Murder On The Railways (2003); Los Angeles Noir 2 (2010); The Cocktail Waitress (2012); Books to Die For (2012); A Bad Woman (2015); The Movie Book (2016).

Movies and television:

Algiers (1938); Blockade (1938); Buai laju-laju (2004); Butterfly (1981); Cineficción Radio (2021); Double Indemnity (1944 / 1973); Everybody Does It (1949); Girl in the Cadillac (1995); Gypsy Wildcat (1944); Interlude (1957 / 1968); ITV Play of the Week (1960); Konto ausgeglichen (1959); Kraft Mystery Theater (1963); Lux Video Theatre (1954–1956); Mildred Pierce (1945 / 2011); Money and the Woman (1940); Obsession (1943); Out of the Past (1947); Passion (1998); Puissance de la parole (1988); Serenade (1956); She Made Her Bed (1934); Slightly Scarlet (1956); Stand Up and Fight (1939); Teledrama (1957); The Last Turning (1939); The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 / 1981); The Postman Always Rings Twice: The Radio Play (1947); The Shanghai Gesture (1941); They Gave Him a Gun (1937); Today (1969); When Tomorrow Comes (1939); Wife, Husband and Friend (1939); Yu hai qing mo (1967).

Born on this day – Alice Guy-Blaché:

Alice Guy-Blaché

Director

Writer

Producer

Actress

July 1, 1873 – March 24, 1968

Credits:

A Child's Sacrifice (1910); A Comedy of Errors (1912); A Costly Pledge (1911); A Fateful Gift (1910); A Fool and His Money (1912); A Four-Year-Old Heroine (1907); A House Demolished and Rebuilt (1901); A House Divided (1913); Á la recherche d'un appartement (1906); A Man and the Woman (1917); A Man's a Man (1912); A Midnight Visitor (1911); A Reporter's Romance (1911); A Severe Test (1913); A Solax Celebration (1912); A Sticky Woman (1906); A Terrible Lesson (1912); A Terrible Night (1913); A Widow and Her Child (1910); Across the Mexican Line (1911); Algie, the Miner (1912); Alice Guy - L'inconnue du 7e art (2021); Alice Guy ou l'enfance du cinéma (1996); Alice Guy tourne une phonoscène sur la théâtre de pose des Buttes-Chaumont (1907); Alice Guy-Blaché (1997); Allumeur-Marche (1905); Anna, qu'est-ce que t'attends? (1906); Après la fête (1904); Arrivée d'Arléquin (1900); Arrivée de Pierette et Pierrot (1900); Au bal de Flore (1900); Au cabaret (1899); Au poulailler! (1905); Au réfectoire (1897); Avenue de l'opéra (1900); Badinage (1900); Baignade dans le torrent (1897); Ballet japonais (1900); Ballet libella (1897); Barbara Frietchie (1915); Bataille de boules de neige (1900); Bataille d'oreillers (1900); Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018); Beasts of the Jungle (1913); Behind the Mask (1917); Blighted Lives (1912); Blood and Water (1913); Bonsoir m'sieurs dames (1902); Broken Oaths (1912); Burstup Homes (1913); Burstup Homes' Murder Case (1913); Cake-walk de la pendule (1903); Cake-walk nègre (1905); Cambrioleur et agent (1904); Ce que c'est qu'un drapeau (1909); C'est une ingénue (1905); Chapellerie et charcuterie mécanique (1900); Charles Pathé et Léon Gaumont, premiers géants du cinéma (2016); Charmant froufrou (1901); Chez le barbier (1896); Chez le dentiste (1905); Chez le magnétiseur (1897); Chez le Maréchal-Ferrant (1900); Chez le photographe (1900); Chien jouant à la balle (1905); Child of the Tenements (1912); Chirurgie fin de siècle (1900); Cible humaine (1904); Cinéast(e)s (2015); Cinépanorama (1957); Clown en sac (1904); Clown, chien et ballon (1905); Comme on fait son lit on se couche (1903); Comment monsieur prend son bain (1903); Comment on disperse les foules (1904); Comment on dort à Paris! (1905); Compagnons de voyage encombrants (1903); Concours de bébés (1904); Conscience de prêtre (1906); Corinne in Dollyland (1911); Coucher d'une Parisienne (1900); Course à la saucisse (1907); Course de taureaux à Nîmes (1906); Courte echelle (1899); Cousins of Sherlocko (1913); Cucurbitacée (1905); Culture Intensive (1904); Cupid and the Comet (1911); Dance de l'ivresse (1900); Dans les coulisses (1900); Danse des saisons (1900); Danse du papillon (1900); Danse du pas des foulards par des almées (1900); Danse du voile (1900); Danse excentrique (1902); Danse fantaisiste (1902); Danse fleur de lotus (1897); Danse mauresque (1902); Danse serpentine (1900); Danse serpentine par Mme. Bob Walter (1899); Danses (1900); Danses basques (1901); Déclaration d'amour (1900); Déménagement à la cloche de bois (1898 / 1907); Départ pour les vacances (1904); Dick Whittington and his Cat (1913); Douaniers et contrebandiers (1905); Dranem Performs 'The True Jiu-Jitsu' (1905); Dublin Dan (1912); Duel tragique (1904); Effets de mer (1906); Électrocutée (1904); En classe (1897); En faction (1902); Enlèvement en automobile et mariage précipité (1903); Entrée et sortie de la mine (1899); Erreur de poivrot (1904); Erreur judiciaire (1899); Esmeralda (1905); Espagne (1905); Et la femme créa Hollywood (2016); Être legume (1905); Falling Leaves (1912); Fanfan la Tulipe (1907); Farces de cuisinière (1902); Faust et Méphistophélès (1903); Five O'Clock Tea (1905); Folies masquées (1901); Fra Diavolo (1912); France et Russie (1897); Frivolité (1901); Frozen on Love's Trail (1912); Fruits de saison (1902); Gage d'amour (1904); Gavotte directoire (1900); God Disposes (1912); Greater Love Hath No Man (1911); Guillaume Tell (1900); Hearts Unknown (1912); Her Father's Sin (1910); His Best Friend (1911); His Double (1912); His Mother's Hymn (1911); His Musical Soul (1912); Hollywood Insider (2020–2021); House of Cards (1917); Hubby Does the Washing (1912); Hussards et grisettes (1901); Idylle (1897); Idylle interrompue (1897); Illusionniste renversant (1903); In a Bamboo Hut (1905); In the Year 2000 (1912); Intervention malencontreuse (1902); J'ai un hanneton dans mon pantalon (1906); Je vous y prrrrends! (1898); Jésus devant Pilate (1898); Jeune homme et le trottin (1905); Jocko musician (1903); Kelly from the Emerald Isle (1913); La bonne absinthe (1899); La cène (1898); La charité du prestidigitateur (1905); La chasse au cambrioleur (1903); La chaussette (1906); La concierge (1900); La conquête de Trottin (1906); La cour des miracles (1902); La crèche à Bethléem (1898); La crinoline (1906); La danse du ventre (1900); La dent récalcitrante (1902); La descente de croix (1899); La faim ... l'occasion ... l'herbe tendre (1904); La fée aux choux (1896); La fée aux choux, ou la naissance des enfants (1900); La femme du masque (1906); La fifille à sa mère (1905); La fiole enchantée (1902); La flagellation (1898); La fuite en Égypte (1898); La gavotte (1902); La gavotte de la reine (1904); La gigue (1902); La hiérarchie dans l'amour (1906); La leçon de pipeau (1904); La main du professeur Hamilton ou le roi des dollars (1903); La malagueña et le torero (1905); La mattchiche (1905); La mauvaise soupe (1899); La messe de minuit (1906); La mouche (1903); La paimpolaise (1905); La paysanne (1900); La pègre de Paris (1906); La petite magicienne (1900); La polka des trottins (1905); La poule fantaisiste (1903); La poupée noire (1900); La première cigarette (1904); La première gamelle (1902); La régiment moderne (1906); La reine des jouets (1900); La resurrection (1899); La rêve du chasseur (1904); La source (1900); La statue (1905); La tarentelle (1900); La valise enchantée (1905); La vérité sur l'homme-singe (1906); La vie du christ (1898); La vie du marin (1906); La voiture cellulaire (1906); Lady Betty's Strategy (1910); L'angélus (1900); L'arléquine (1900); L'assassinat du courrier de Lyon (1904); L'attaque d'une diligence (1904); Lavatory moderne (1901); L'aveugle (1897 / 1899); L'aveugle fin de siècle (1898); Le ballon dirigeable 'Le patrie' (1906); Le bébé (1900); Le bébé embarrassant (1905); Le billet de banque (1906); Le boléro cosmopolite (1905); Le Cake-walk du Nouveau Cirque (1905); Le chapeau de Tabarin (1896); Le chemin de croix (1898); Le chiffonnier (1899); Le clubmen (1896); Le cocher de fiacre endormi (1897); Le cochon de lait (1906); Le coq dressé de Cook et Rilly (1905); Le Coucher d'Yvette (1897); Le crime de la Rue du Temple (1904); Le crucifiement (1899); Le déjeuner des enfants (1899); Le départ d'Arlequin et de Pierrette (1900); Le fantassin Guignard (1906); Le fiancé ensorcelé (1903); Le fils du garde-chasse (1906); Le frotteur (1907); Le jardin des oliviers (1898); Le jardin oublié: La vie et l'oeuvre d'Alice Guy-Blaché (1996); Le jour du terme (1904); Le kepi (1905); Le lapin (1900); Le lion savant (1902); Le liqueur du couvent (1903); Le lorgnon accusateur (1905); Le marchand de ballons (1902); Le marchand de coco (1900); Le matelot (1900); Le monolutteur (1904); Le Noël de Monsieur le curé (1906); Le pantalon coupé (1905); Le pavé (1905); Le pêcheur dans le torrent (1897); Le petit Grégoire (1905); Le petit panier (1905); Le planton du colonel (1897); Le plateau (1905); Le Polichinelle (1900); Le pommier (1902); Le pompon malencontreux (1904); Le reveil du jardinier (1904); Le rire du nègre (1905); Le sang d'Adonis donnant naissance à la rose rouge (1900); Le songe du pêcheur (1906); Le tango (1905); Le testament de Pierrot (1904); Le tondeur de chiens (1899); Le tonnelier (1899); Le trou de mon quai (1905); Le voleur sacrilege (1903); Leçon de danse (1897 / 1900); Leçons de boxe (1898); L'écossaise (1900); Lecture quotidienne (1901); L'enfant de la barricade (1907); L'enfant du cordonnier (1905); L'entrée à Jérusalem (1898); L'équilibriste (1902); Les apaches pas veinards (1903); Les aventures d'un voyageur trop pressé (1903); Les bienfaits du cinématographe (1904); Les braconniers (1903); Les cambrioleurs (1897); Les cambrioleurs de Paris (1904); Les clowns (1902); Les concierges (1896); Les dangers de l'alcoolisme (1899); Les démolisseurs (1896); Les deux rivaux (1904); Les dragons de Villars (1906); Les Druides (1906); Les effrontées: Le cinéma au féminin (2022); Les enfants du miracle (1904); Les farces de Jocko (1898); Les maçons (1905); Les malabares, acrobats (1902); Les p'tits pois (1905); Les secrets de la prestidigitation dévoilés (1904); Les soeurs Lumière: 100 ans de cinéma de femmes (1996); Les surprises de l'affichage (1903); Les vagues (1901); L'Habanera (1900); L'honneur du corse (1906); Lilas blanc (1905); L'indiscret (1896); Little Tich and His Funny Feet (1900); L'oeil, le pinceau et le cinématographe: naissance d'un art (2021); L'oiseau envolé (1904); Love's Test (1911); Lui (1904); L'utilité des rayons x (1898); Lutteurs américains (1903); Madame Ducordon, concierge (1906); Madame's Cravings (1907); Magie noire (1904); Making an American Citizen (1912); Marché à la volaille (1900); Matrimony's Speed Limit (1913); Mauvais coeur puni (1904); Medor douche son maître (1906); Mésaventure d'un charbonnier (1899); Micky's Pal (1912); Mignon (1912); Militaire et nourrice (1904); Mireille (1906); Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs (1902); Miss Helyett: Air du portrait (1905); Miss Lina Esbrard, danseuse cosmopolitaine et serpentine (1902); Mixed Pets (1911); Modelage express (1903); Monnaie de lapin (1899); Mort d'Adonis (1900); Mrs. Cranston's Jewels (1912); Mrs. Richard Dare (1910); My Madonna (1915); Ne bougeons plus (1903); Non! Tu ne sortiras pas sans moi! (1911); Nos bons étudiants (1903); Officer Henderson (1913); On est poivrot, mais on a du Coeur (1905); One Touch of Nature (1910); Out of the Arctic (1911); Paris la nuit (1904); Parson Sue (1912); Pas de colombine (1901); Pas de grâce (1900); Pas des éventails (1900); Pas du poignard (1900); Pas Japonais (1900); Pâtissier et ramoneur (1904); Pauvre pompier (1906); Peintre et ivrogne (1905); Phantom Paradise (1912); Pierrot, Murderer (1904); Playing Trumps (1912); Polin, l'anatomie du conscrit (1905); Portrait animé pris par L et A Lumière (1895); Potage indigested (1903); Pour secouer la salade (1902); Put Out (1911); Quadrille réaliste (1902); Questions indiscrètes (1906); Rafle de chiens (1904); Rapt d'enfant par les Romanichels (1904); Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women (2014); Reformation (1907); Répétition dans un cirque (1903); Retour des champs (1900); Ring of Love (1911); Road Leads Home (1911); Robert Macaire et Bertrand (1905); Roméo pris au piège (1905); Rose of the Circus (1911); Sage-femme de première classe (1902); Saharet, boléro (1907); Saut humidifié de M. Plick (1900); Scène d'amour (1901); Scène d'escamotage (1898); Scène d'ivresse (1901); Scènes directoire (1904); Sealed Lips (1906); Secours aux naufragés (1903); Service précipité (1903); Shadows of the Moulin Rouge (1913); Si ça t'va (1905); Souls in the Shadow (1912); Starting Something (1911); Stronger Than Death (1920); Stupefying! (2017); Suite de la danse (1900); Surprise d'une maison au petit jour (1898); Sydney's joujoux (1900); Tarnished Reputations (1920); Tears (2014); Tel est pris qui croyait prendre (1901); Tentative d'assassinat en chemin de fer (1904); The Absent-Minded Shoeblack (1905); The Adventurer (1917); The Animated Bathtub (1912); The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906); The Blood Stain (1912); The Coming of Sunbeam (1913); The Consequences of Feminism (1906); The Cure (1911); The Detective's Dog (1912); The Devil's Seven Castles (1906); The Dream Woman (1914); The Drunken Mattress (1906); The Empress (1917); The Enchanted Bean (1904); The Equine Spy (1912); The Face at the Window (1912); The Finger Prints (1912); The Girl and the Burglar (1911); The Girl in the Arm-Chair (1912); The Glue (1907); The Great Adventure (1918); The Heart of a Painted Woman (1915); The High Cost of Living (1912); The Irresistible Piano (1907); The Legend of St. Nicholas (1904); The Little Hunchback (1913); The Love of the Flag (1912); The Lure (1914); The Monster and the Girl (1914); The Nightcap (1911); The Ocean Waif (1916); The Pawnshop (1910); The Pink Garters (1912); The Pit and the Pendulum (1913); The Reformation of Mary (1912); The Rogues of Paris (1913); The Rolling Bed (1907); The Sergeant's Daughter (1910); The Sewer (1912); The Shooting of Dan McGrew (1915); The Song of the Wage Slave (1915); The Stepmother (1906); The Strike (1912); The Thief (1913); The Tigress (1914); The Vertigo Years (2013); The Violin Maker of Nuremberg (1911); The Woman Behind the Man (1912); The Woman of Mystery (1914); The Wooing of Alice (1912); Tramp Strategy (1911); Transformations (1899 / 1904); Treasures on the Wing (1912); Triste fin d'un vieux savant (1904); Trompé mais content (1902); Two Little Rangers (1912); Two Suits (1910); Un cas de divorce (1906); Un lunch (1899); Un soulier pour un jambon (1906); Une course d'obstacle (1906); Une histoire roulante (1906); Une noce au lac Saint-Fargeau (1905); Une nuit agitée (1897); Une rage de dents (1900); Une scène en cabinet particulier vue à travers le trou de la serrure (1902); Valse directoire (1900); Valse lente (1900); Valsons (1905); Vampire (1915); Vendetta (1901); Vénus et Adonis (1900); Vieilles estampes (1904); Viens, poupoule (1905); Villa dévalisée (1905); V'la le rétameur (1905); Voyage en Espagne (1906); What Do Those Old Films Mean? (1986); What Is to Be, Will Be (1910); What Will People Say? (1916); When You and I Were Young (1917); Yesterday Is History (2021).

Recommended reading - The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain (1934):

The Postman Always Rings Twice,

by James M. Cain.

Description:

“A good, swift, violent story.” – Dashiell Hammett.

An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution — a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve.

First published in 1934, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. It established James M. Cain as a major novelist with an unsparing vision of America's bleak underside and was acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger.

“I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write, and I never forget that the average man … has acquired a vividness of speech that goes beyond anything I could invent.” – James M. Cain.

Mabel Seeley, on imagination:

Imagination is so much harder to face than reality.

– Mabel Seeley.