Recommended reading: The Great Escape, by Paul Brickhill (1950):

The Great Escape

By Paul Brickhill.

Filmed as The Great Escape (1963), directed by John Sturges.

Published by W. W. Norton & Company.

Published 1950.

ISBN-10: 0393325792

ISBN-13: 9780393325799

Description:

"One of the great true stories of the war, and one of the greatest escape narratives of all time." – San Francisco Chronicle.

"Absorbing... spine-tingling... puts the average war book so far in the shadow it's not even funny." – Dallas Times Herald.

"For sheer suspense, puts the fictioneers to shame." – Boston Globe.

"A tense, thrilling, fabulous tale." – Philadelphia Inquirer.

They were American and British air force officers in a German prison camp. With only their bare hands and the crudest of homemade tools, they sank shafts, forged passports, faked weapons, and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes. They developed a fantastic security system to protect themselves from German surveillance.

It was a split-second operation as delicate and as deadly as a time bomb. It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than six hundred men – every one of them, every minute, every hour, every day and night for more than a year.

Made into the classic 1963 war film of the same name starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough.

16 pages of photographs.

On this day in movie history - Destination Murder (1950):

Destination Murder

directed by Edward L. Cahn,

written by Don Martin,

was released in the United States on June 9, 1950.
Music by Irving Gertz.

Cast:

Joyce Mackenzie, Stanley Clements, Hurd Hatfield, Albert Dekker, Myrna Dell, James Flavin, John Dehner, Richard Emory, Norma Vance, Suzette Harbin, Buddy Swan, Bert Wenland, Franklyn Farnum, Steve Gibson’s Redcaps, Leon Alton, Kenneth Gibson, Steve Gibson, James Gonzalez, Robert Locke Lorraine, Harold Miller, Suzanne Ridgway, Steven Ritch, John Roche, Jeffrey Sayre.

On this day in movie history - Night and the City (1950):

Night and the City

directed by Jules Dassin,

written by Austin Dempster, William E. Watts and Jo Eisinger,

based on the novel by Gerald Kersh,

was released in the United States on June 9, 1950.
Music by Benjamin Frankel and Franz Waxman.

Cast:

Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L. Sullivan, Herbert Lom, Aubrey Dexter, Maureen Delany, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Mike Mazurki, Ada Reeve, Charles Farrell, Ken Richmond, Edward Chapman, James Hayter, Gibb McLaughlin, Dirk Bogarde.

On this day in movie history - Armored Car Robbery (1950):

Armored Car Robbery

directed by Richard Fleischer,

written by Gerald Drayson Adams and Earl Felton,

based on a story by Robert Leeds and Robert Angus,

was released in the United States on June 7, 1950.

Music by Roy Webb and Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, William Talman, Douglas Fowley, Steve Brodie, Don McGuire, Don Haggerty, James Flavin, Gene Evans.

Born on this day – Gary Graham:

Gary Graham

Actor

Writer

Director

Producer

June 6, 1950 – January 22, 2024

Credits:

A Captain's Log (2021); Alien Nation (1989–1990); Alien Nation: Body and Soul (1995); Alien Nation: Dark Horizon (1994); Alien Nation: Millennium (1996); Alien Nation: The Enemy Within (1996); Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy (1997); All the Right Moves (1983); Ally McBeal (1999); Alongside Night (2014); Amish Grace (2010); Angel Flight Down (1996); Aspiring Hollywood (2011); Cardio World (2012); Champion (2017); CHiPs (1981); Crash and Burn (2023); Crazy Like a Fox (1985); Crossing Jordan (2005); Crusade (1999); David Cassidy - Man Undercover (1978); Dead End City (2008); Demon Protocol (2018); Diagnosis Murder (1998); Dillinger in Paradise (1999); Divas of Novella (2008); Dragnet (2003); Dreams Awake (2011); Dust of War (2013); Eight Is Enough (1977); EverCracked! The Phenomenon of EverQuest (2009); Fire on the Mountain (1981); From the Mouths of Babes (2014–2016); Grace Under Fire (1993); Hardcore (1979); Hollywood Beat (1985); Hunter (1985); In the Best Interest of the Children (1992); InAlienable (2007); Interfleet Broadcasting (2020); Interviews (2008); JAG (1997–2002); Jeepers Creepers: Reborn (2022); Knots Landing (1981); Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story (1995); Life Happens (2010); Lolipop Gang (2024); Lost on Paradise Island (1975); M.A.N.T.I.S. (1994–1995); Man Trouble (1992); Manhattan, AZ (2000); Mistaken Identity (2008); Money on the Side (1982); Moonlighting (1985); Nash Bridges (2001); Necronomicon: Book of Dead (1993); Nip / Tuck (2009); No Place to Hide (1981); Pacific Blue (1996); Paper People (2013); Planted (2023); Plugged (2007); Police Woman (1977); Prelude to Axanar (2014); Promised Land (1998); Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2010); Remington Steele (1984); Renegade (1995); Renegades (2017); Robot Jox (1989); Running Woman (1998); Scruples (1980); Seven Days (2000); Sheena (2002); Shooting Gallery (2012); Shuttlepod Show (2022); Siren (2006); Sisters and Other Strangers (1997); Slavery and the Making of America (2005); Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (1998); Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005); Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2007); Star Trek: Renegades (2015–2017); Star Trek: Voyager (1995); Starsky and Hutch (1977); Steel (1997); T.J. Hooker (1982); The Agency (2002); The Arrogant (1988); The Assassin's Apprentice: Silbadores of the Canary Islands (2023); The Atlanta Child Murders (1985); The Commish (1993); The Crusader (2009); The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987); The Dukes of Hazzard (1982); The Extendables (2014); The Flag: Documentary (2015); The Hollywood Knights (1980); The Incredible Hulk (1979); The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel (1979); The Jace Hall Show (2008–2012); The Last Warrior (1989); The Ordeal of Patty Hearst (1979); The Presence (1992); The Quest (1976); The Siege at Ruby Ridge (1996); The Spy Within (1995); Thou Shalt Not Kill (1982); To Die Quietly (1997); Trouble Shooters: Trapped Beneath the Earth (1993); Unbelievable!!!!! (2016); Under Surveillance (2015); Universal Dead (2010); Vegas Cinefest (2011); Walker, Texas Ranger (2000); Wisdom from the Apocalypse (2023); Work Related (2015).

Born on this day – Chantal Akerman:

Chantal Akerman

Director

Writer

Actress

June 6, 1950 – October 5, 2015

Credits:

40 x 15 (2008); 5% de risque (1980); A Couch in New York (1996); À l’Est avec Sonia Wieder-Atherton (2009); A Whole Night (1982); Addictions (2016); Almayer’s Folly (2011); American Stories: Food, Family and Philosophy (1989); Antenne 2 Midi (1986); Autour de Jeanne Dielman (1975); Autour d’hier aujourd’hui et demain (on déménage) (2004); Beau geste (2024); Birth of a Nation (1983); Chantal Akerman (2013); Chantal Akerman, From Here (2010); Chantal Akerman: Her First Look Behind the Camera (2023); Ciné regards (1978); CinéKino (2017); Cinéma cinémas (1985); Cinéma, de notre temps (1996); Ciném’Arte (2002); Clap (1976); Compression (2024); Dai nostri inviati: La Rai racconta la Mostra del cinema di Venezia 1980-1989 (2013); Delphine and Carole (2019); Des mots de minuit (2000); Días de cine (2015); Down There (2006); Entretien avec ma mère (2007); Family Business: Chantal Akerman Speaks About Film (1984); Farpões, baldios (2017); Fifty Fifty (1998); From the East (1993); From the Other Side (2002); Golden Eighties (1986); Guest (2010); Hanging Out Yonkers (1973); Histoire bruyante de la jeunesse (2020); Hôtel des Acacias (1982); Hotel Monterey (1973); I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman (2015); I, You, He, She (1974); J’ai faim, j’ai froid (1984); Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975); Jeune cinéma (2023); L.A. Tea Time (2019); La chambre (1972); La paresse (1986); Le 15/8 (1975); Le cercle de minuit (1997); Le jour où... (1997); Le Marteau (1986); Le masque et la plume (1976); Leg, Arm, Head (2016); L’enfant aimé ou je joue à être une femme mariée (1971); Les effrontées: Le cinéma au féminin (2022); Les ministères de l’art (1989); Les Nuits de France Culture (2019); Les rendez-vous du dimanche (1976–1978); Les trois dernières sonates de Franz Schubert (1989); Lest We Forget (1991); Letters Home (1986); L’Exposition Philippe Garrel au MMCA de Séoul (Carnet Filmé: 19 décembre 2015 - 22 décembre 2015) (2016); Limonada, limonada (2020); Mallet-Stevens (1986); Mieux partagés que nous ne sommes (2006); Milou and the Venusians (2008); Monologues (1993); Morceaux de Cannes (2021); Movie Night Extravaganza (2023); New York, New York bis (1984); News from Chantal Akerman (2020); News from Home (1976); Night and Day (1991); No Home Movie (2015); On Tour with Pina Bausch (1983); Only Solomon Lee (2013); Paris Seen By... 20 Years After (1984); Parlons Cinema (1977); Picture of Europe (1990); Porto (2016); Portrait d’une jeune fille de la fin des années 60 à Bruxelles / Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge... (1994); ‘Rameau’s Nephew’ by Diderot (Thanx to Dennis Young) by Wilma Schoen (1974) (1974); Saute ma ville (1971); Seven Women, Seven Sins (1986); She Spent So Many Hours Under the Sun Lamps (1985); Shredder (2011); Sodankylä Forever (2010); South (1999); State of the World (2007); TCM Remembers 2015 / Music Video (2015); Télévision de chambre (1984); Tell Me (1980); The Camera: Je or La Camera: I (1977); The Captive (2000); The Eighties (1983); The Lost Days (1999); The Meetings of Anna (1978); The New Cinema (1984); The New Garden (2012); The Oscars / In Memoriam (2016); To Live Forever (2015); Tom in America (2014); Tomorrow We Move (2004); Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher (1989); Venezia: Biennale cinema - Cerimonia per l’assegnazione dei Leoni d’oro 1986 (1986); Voyages (1999); What Is Cinema? (2013); With Sonia Wieder-Atherton (2003); Women from Antwerp in November (2008).

Born on this day – Daniel von Bargen:

Daniel von Bargen

Actor

June 5, 1950 – March 1, 2015

Credits:

London Betty (2009); Things That Hang from Trees (2006); Drip (2005); Law & Order (1991–2004); Dead Horse (2004); Without a Trace (2003); Artworks (2003); S1m0ne (2002); Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2002); Coastlines (2002); The Majestic (2001); Trigger Happy (2001); Judging Amy (2001); Super Troopers (2001); Ally McBeal (2001); The West Wing (2000); The Fearing Mind (2000); The Kid (2000); Shaft (2000); Time of Your Life (2000); O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000); City of Angels (2000); A Question of Faith (2000); Snow Falling on Cedars (1999); Universal Soldier: The Return (1999); The General's Daughter (1999); The Practice (1999); Fantasy Island (1999); A Civil Action (1998); Party of Five (1998); The Faculty (1998); Inferno (1998); Desert Blue (1998); I'm Losing You (1998); Arli$$ (1998); The X-Files (1998); Seinfeld (1997–1998); Significant Others (1998); The Pretender (1998); The Postman (1997); Amistad (1997); Girls Night Out (1997); Trouble on the Corner (1997); The Real Blonde (1997); G.I. Jane (1997); New York Undercover (1995–1997); NYPD Blue (1996); Thinner (1996); The Writing on the Wall (1996); Before and After (1996); Broken Arrow (1996); Looking for Richard (1996); Truman (1995); Lord of Illusions (1995); Statuary (1995); Crimson Tide (1995); The Shamrock Conspiracy (1995); I.Q. (1994); The Gift of Love (1994); One West Waikiki (1994); The Good Policeman (1993); Philadelphia (1993); Six Degrees of Separation (1993); The Saint of Fort Washington (1993); Rising Sun (1993); Scam (1993); With Hostile Intent (1993); RoboCop 3 (1993); The Last Hit (1993); Citizen Cohn (1992); Basic Instinct (1992); Shadows and Fog (1991); Complex World (1991); Company Business (1991); The Silence of the Lambs (1991); H.E.L.P. (1990); Spenser: For Hire (1985–1986); American Playhouse (1985); Right to Kill? (1985); The Dean of Thin Air (1983); The Scarlet Letter (1979); Visions (1976); Great Performances (1974); All My Children (1970); Guiding Light (1952).

On this day in movie history - In a Lonely Place (1950):

In a Lonely Place

directed by Nicholas Ray,

written by Andrew P. Solt and Edmund H. North,

based on the novel by Dorothy B. Hughes,

was released in the United States on May 17, 1950.
Music by George Antheil.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid, Art Smith, Martha Stewart, Jeff Donnell, Robert Warwick, Morris Ankrum, William Ching, Steven Geray, Hadda Brooks, Jack Reynolds.