On this day in movie history - Impact (1949):

Impact

directed by Arthur Lubin,

written by Jay Dratler and Dorothy Davenport,

based on a story by Jay Dratler,

was released in the United States on April 1, 1949.
Music by Michel Michelet.

Cast:

Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn, Helen Walker, Anna May Wong, Robert Warwick, Clarence Kolb, Art Baker, William Wright, Mae Marsh, Sheilah Graham, Tony Barrett, Philip Ahn, Glen Vernon, Linda Leighton, Jason Robards, Erskine Sanford, Ruth Robinson, Lucius Cooke, Tom Greenway, Ben Welden, Joel Friedkin, Joe Kirk, William Ruhl, Mary Landa, Harry Cheshire.

On this day in movie history - The Set-Up (1949 movie & novel):

The Set-Up

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Art Cohn,

based on the book-length narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March,

was released in the United States on March 29, 1949.
Music by C. Bakaleinikof and Roy Webb.

Cast:

Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Fieberling, Darryl Hickman, Kenny O'Morrison, James Edwards, David Clarke, Phillip Pine, Arthur 'Weegee' Fellig.

Recommended reading:

The Set-Up

By Joseph Moncure March.

Filmed as The Set-Up (1949), directed by Robert Wise.

The Lost Classic by the Author of The Wild Party.

Illustrated by Erik Kriek.

Book-length narrative poem.

Published by Korero Press.

First published 1928.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1912740087

ISBN-13: 978-1912740086

Description:

"A ringside seat at a heavyweight bout is what is offered by Mr. March in this astonishing narrative… episodes that make the blood boil, and the hair rise…tragic pathos so deep as almost to defeat any faith in man." – New York Times Book Review, upon original 1928 publication.

"It’s a cross between a graphic novel and a heavily illustrated epic poem. It has the feel of a lost treasure one would find on a back shelf of some forgotten bookstore. And yet, somehow it seems crisp and new. . . . If you can imagine there was a month-long collaboration where Eric Powell, Charles Burns and Will Eisner were all locked in a studio together, you will be able to envision exactly what this art looks like. Kriek’s illustrations employ black and grey tones with a moody effect. And he’s not handcuffed into any formal page layout or size. Some illustrations are full pagers, some are spot illustrations in weird shapes, and some overflow to two pages. There are no word balloons, and as this is a poem, there’s great flexibility and freshness to each and every page layout." – Pop Culture Squad.

"So prolifically illustrated it reads like a graphic novel. Striking artwork." – Bud's Art Books.

"The tale is told in relentless rhyme and pitiless beats presaging modern Hip Hop culture. This is dawn-era storytelling with classical themes delivered as primordial Rap in its purest, most primal form." – Comics Review.

Written in 1928, The Set-Up is a long narrative poem about the boxing underworld - a hard-boiled tragedy told in syncopated rhyming couplets. When the work was first published it made the bestseller list, and in 1949 it was turned into an award-winning film featuring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter. This reprinting of the original, unchanged 1928 poem features dynamic, specially commissioned artwork by Erik Kriek that vividly conveys the story of Pansy, an up-and-coming black prize fighter who takes on all comers. When he was in the ring, "It was over before you knew it. He'd carve you up like a leg of mutton. And drop you flat with a sock on the button." Pansy's complicated love life leads to a spell in prison and his career subsequently takes a nosedive; but he continues to box until the fateful night his fight managers and opponent triple-cross him and he meets a grisly end at the hands of a vengeful gang.

Born on this day – Roberta Alexander:

Roberta Alexander

Opera singer (soprano)

March 3, 1949 – October 14, 2025

Credits:

Albums:

Andriessen: Miroir de Peine, Orchestral Music & Concertos (2021); Bach, J.S.: Johannes-Passion (1972); Charles Ives, Songs (2005); Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (Highlights) (1985); Giacomo Puccini, Songs & other rare pieces (1987); Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto [Highlights] (- Apex) (1987); Leonard Bernstein, Songs (1986); Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, The Divan of Moses Ibn Ezra, for voice and guitar op 207 (1992); Mass in B minor (1994); Richard Strauss Lieder, Op. 10, 22, 27, 29 (1985); Roberta Alexander sings Samuel Barber, with The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic (1992); Roberta Alexander, a retrospective, Barber, Ives, Mozart, Puccini, Bernstein, Copland (1999); Songs by Dutch Composers (2002); Songs my mother taught me (1999); Symphony no. 4 in G major (1984); Theodora (Arnold Schoenberg Chor & Concentus Musicus Wien feat. conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt) (1999); With you, Broadway Songs (1996); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Songs for soprano and fortepiano (1985).

Songs:

An Chloë, KV 524; Autumn; Avanti Urania!; Dans un bois solitaire, KV 308; Did you ever cross over to sneden's; Do not go, my love; E l'uccellino; Feldeinsamkeit; Give me jesus, Arr. Hall Johnson; I don't remember you; Inno a Diana; Knoxville: summer of 1915, Opus 24; Let all my life be music; Love's philosophy; Mass - A simple song; Miroir De Peine: I. Agonie au Jardin; Morire?; Music I heard with you; My soul's been anchored, Arr. Florence price; On the counter; peter pan - my house; peter pan - who am I?; Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden – Suite; Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden - Suite: 2. Dance of the Birds; Salve regina; Sole e amore; Solitary hotel; Songs my mother taught me; Storiella d'amore; Terra e mare; Three orchestrated songs, Sure on this shining night; Two little flowers.

Movies and television:

Angels in America: The Opera (2004); Elektra, tragédie en un acte (2013); Giulio Cesare (1985); Hello I Must Be Going (2012); Hier is... Adriaan van Dis (1983); Jenufa (1989); Podium Witteman (2018); The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2016); The Metropolitan Opera Presents (2015).

Born on this day – Niels Arestrup:

Niels Arestrup

Actor

Writer

Director

February 8, 1949 – December 1, 2024

Credits:

20 Heures le Journal (1999–2014); 8:30 p.m. on Sunday (2021); 28' (2022); 96 hours (2014); A Private Affair (2002); A Prophet (2009); Albert Savarus (1993); Will in the cinema (1976); Arte Journal (2024); At Eternity's Gate (2018); At the Field of The Night (2014); Barbablù, Barbablù (1987); Baron noir (2016); Broth culture (1991–1992); By the Sea (2015); C à vous (2011–2021); Calls (2019); Captain Marleau (2017); Champs-Elysées (1982); Charlie Goofy (1987); Cinema 3 (2009–2010); Citizen Langlois (1995); City Empires (1998); Sunday Click (2018); Compression (2024); Minor Misdemeanour (1994); Demain les mômes (1976); Diesel (1985); Diplomacy (2014); Diplomacy: Making of (2015); Divertimento (2022); Bittersweet (1987); Dream On (2000); Du blues dans la tête (1981); Breaking and Entering (1986); En aparté (2023); Adieu (2009); Fernando Krapp wrote me this letter (2000); Film Önü / Arkasi (2020); Fragments of Antonin (2006); The Rise and Fall of a Small Business of Cinema (1987); Abominable Stories / Segment: The Passion of a Heartless Woman (1979); I, You, He, She (1974); Jacques Audiard - Cinema at Heart (2021); The Cherry Orchard (1982); The Dance of Death (1982); La derelitta / Cinema 16 (1977–1988); The Last Map (1974); The Abandoned Woman (1992); The Great Dune (1990); The The Trojan War Will Not Take Place (1984); The War of One Man (1981); The Caesar Night (2006–2019); La nuit des Molières (1920); The animal share (2007); The Shadow's Share (2000); The Passion of a Woman Without a Heart (1979); Rumba (1987); The Crossing of the Looking Glass (2011); La vie de château (1984); The candidate (2007); The Midnight Circle (1994–1995); Le goûter chez Niels (1986); The great chessboard (1983); Le grand journal de Canal+ (2007–2016); The Big Night (1976); Le petit théâtre d'Antenne 2 (1980); The Picnic of Lulu Kreutz (1999); The Rainbow Warrior (2006); The Return of Elisabeth Wolff (1982); The Saturday Novel (1980); Le Temps des Cerises (2008); The Whirlwind of Days (1979); The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1977); The Last Days of the Victim (1995); The enquêtes by Éloïse Rome (2002); The Heirs (1981); The Wolves Between Them (1985); Black Butterflies (2022); Wild Ponies (1983); The secrets of the Princess of Cadignan (1982); Letters to a Young Poet (2010); The invitation (2009); The Guest (2021); The Blue Bird (1981); Lulu (1978); Lumière (1976); Manon Roland (1989); Meeting Venus (1991); Memoirs of a French Whore (1979); Plural of Monsieur The Jurors (1974); Miss O'Gynie and the Flower Men (1974); Myster Mocky Presents (2020); Nowhere Else (1995–2000); On est en direct (2021); One can't please everyone (2001); On n'est pas couché (2015–2016); Our Children (2012); Papa lumière (2015); Parlez-moi d'amour (2002); The more it goes, less (1977); Profession (2018); Rausch der Verwandlung (1989); Return to Montauk (2017); Rewind (1998); Sarah's Key (2010); Second Chance (1976); See You Up There (2017); Alone (1981); Sincerely Charlotte (1985); Small World (2010); Leaving the factory 2017 (2017); Stavisky (1974); Studio Gabriel (1996); Suite black (2009); Tauwetter (1977); Télé Caroline (1989); The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005); The Big Picture (2010); The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007); The Dune (2013); The French Minister (2013); The Future Is Woman (1984); Tea or coffee (2001–2015); The Song of Roland (1978); The Woman Cop (1980); Villa Caprice (2020); Foreign City (1988); Vivement dimanche (2015–2019); Briskly next Sunday (2011–2021); War Horse (2011); You Will Be My Son (2011).

On this day in movie history - Criss Cross (1949):

Criss Cross

directed by Robert Siodmak,

written by Daniel Fuchs,

based on the novel by Don Tracy,

was released in the United States on January 19, 1949.
Music by Miklós Rózsa.

Cast:

Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Esy Morales, Tom Pedi, Percy Helton, Alan Napier, Griff Barnett, Meg Randall, Richard Long, Joan Miller, Edna Holland, John Doucette, Marc Krah, James O'Rear, John 'Skins' Miller, Jean Bane, Ralph Brooks, Dolores Castle, Michael Cisney, Corky (the Dog), Tony Curtis, Gene Evans, Sam Finn, Lee Tong Foo, Timmy Hawkins, Geraldine Jordan, George Lynn, Robert Osterloh, Garry Owen, Kenneth Patterson, Jose Portugal, Isabel Randolph, Suzanne Ridgway, Beatrice Roberts, Stephen Roberts, John Roy, Vito Scotti, Ann Staunton, Diane Stewart, Kippee Valez, Charles Wagenheim, Robert Winkler, Bud Wolfe.

Born on this day – Robert Palmer:

Robert Palmer

Singer

Songwriter

Musician

Producer

January 19, 1949 – September 26, 2003

Born on this day – Andy Kaufman:

Andy Kaufman

Actor

Comedian

January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984