Born on this day – Treat Williams:

Treat Williams

Actor

Writer

Aviator

December 1, 1951 – June 12, 2023

Born on this day – Jack Vettriano:

Jack Vettriano

Painter

November 17, 1951 – March 1, 2025

Credits:

Books:

A Man's World (2009); Fallen Angels (1999); Jack Vettriano: A Life (2004 / 2007); Lovers and Other Strangers (2003); Studio Life (2008); Women in Love (2009).

Movies and television:

Artworks Scotland (2009); Billy Connolly: Portrait of a Lifetime (2017); Breakfast (2004–2010); Breakfast with Frost (2004); Nighthawks (2014); Sunday AM (2007); The South Bank Show (2004); This Is Your Life (2001); What Do Artists Do All Day? (2013).

Born on this day – Dean Paul Martin:

Dean Paul Martin

Singer

Actor

Pilot

November 17, 1951 – March 21, 1987

Credits:

A Boy... a Girl (1969); Ann-Margret: Hollywood Movie Girls (1980); Backfire (1987); Boys in Blue (1984); California My Way (1974); Dem Tinseltown Homiez, the Hollywood Guys (2023); Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024); Headliners & Legends with (1998–2008); Heart Like a Wheel (1983); Hell Ride (2008); King of Cool (2021); Made in U.S.A. (1987); Misfits of Science (1985–1986); Murderers' Row (1966); Name Droppers (1970); Once Upon a Wheel (1971); Players (1979); Rough Night in Jericho (1967); Shivaree (1965); The Alan Thicke Show (1980); The All New Truth or Consequences (1961); The Dean Martin Show (1967–1971); The Ed Sullivan Show (1965); The Hitchhiker (1987); The Hollywood Palace (1964–1968); The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1970); The Joey Bishop Show (1968–1969); The Love Boat (1984); The Merv Griffin Show (1971); The Mike Douglas Show (1979); Today (1985); Where the Action Is (1966–1967).

On this day in movie history - The Racket (movie & play):

The Racket

directed by John Cromwell,

written by William Wister Haines and W.R. Burnett,

based on the play by Bartlett Cormack,

was released in the United States on October 25, 1951.
Music by Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Talman, Ray Collins, Joyce MacKenzie, Robert Hutton, Virginia Huston, William Conrad, Walter Sande, Les Tremayne, Don Porter, Walter Baldwin, Brett King, Richard Karlan, Tito Vuolo, Milburn Stone.

Recommended reading:

The Racket

By Bartlett Cormack.

A play in three acts.
ASIN: B0BPM49P6T
Published by Samuel French.
Published 1928.

Adapted to film in 1928 and 1951.

The play The Racket is also available in the following anthology:

Strictly Dishonorable and Other Lost American Plays

Edited by Richard Nelson.

Paperback.
Published 1993.
Published by Theatre Communications Group.
ISBN 13: 9780930452551
ISBN 10: 0930452550
ASIN: 0930452550

Contents: Strictly Dishonorable by Preston Sturges; The Racket by Bartlett Cormack; The Ghost of Yankee Doodle by Sidney Howard and A Slight Case of Murder by Howard Lindsay and Damon Runyon.

On this day in movie history - Detective Story (movie & play):

Detective Story

directed by William Wyler,

written by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan,

based on the play by Sidney Kingsley,

was released in the United States on October 24, 1951.
Music composed by Miklós Rózsa and Victor Young.

Cast:

Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, George Macready, Horace McMahon, Gladys George, Joseph Wiseman, Lee Grant, Gerald Mohr, Frank Faylen, Craig Hill, Michael Strong, Luis Van Rooten, Bert Freed, Warner Anderson, Grandon Rhodes, William 'Bill' Phillips, Russell Evans, Charles Campbell, Edmund Cobb, Ann Codee, Catherine Doucet, Pat Flaherty, Harper Goff, Howard Joslin, Donald Kerr, George Magrill, Mike Mahoney, James Maloney, Lee Miller, Ralph Montgomery, Burt Mustin, Jack Perry, Robert S. Scott, Jack Shea, Kay Wiley.

Recommended reading:

Detective Story

A play in three acts

By Sidney Kingsley.

First published 1949.

Published by Legare Street Press.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1022892851

ISBN-13: 978-1022892859

Description:

Sidney Kingsley's classic play, first performed on Broadway in 1949, is a gripping and intense drama that explores the seedy underbelly of crime and punishment in New York City. The play's intricate plot, complex characters, and dark themes make it a timeless classic of American theater.

The scene is the squad room and office in a New York police station. The playwright presents a fascinatingly realistic picture of routine cases brought into a metropolitan police station in the course of a day. Out of the welter of human misery, vice and stupidity there emerges the tragic and moving case of a decent young fellow who has stolen money from his employer. Though a woman who is in love with him comes to his help and the employer is offered everything that has been taken from him, the case has fallen into the hands of McLeod, a hardworking detective whose experience in police work has developed in him a mania for punishing all law breakers, whom he regards as incorrigibles. Nothing will satisfy him but brutal punishment. He is at work at the same time on a case involving an abortionist whose attorney, failing to move him by other means, forces McLeod's wife to confess to her husband that she had herself some years before made use of the services of the abortionist in question. Since McLeod worships his wife and finds in her the only happiness of his existence, his world collapses about him. The climax comes when McLeod gets involved with another prisoner who attempts to escape from the squad room with the aid of a revolver taken from one of the detectives. McLeod is shot and killed. This climax is a fitting end to McLeod's career. To the last, he had been bent upon doing what he considered his duty in seeing that criminals obeyed the letter of the law at no matter what cost."

On this day in movie history - The Mob (1951):

The Mob

directed by Robert Parrish,

written by William Bowers,

based on the novel Waterfront by Ferguson Findley,

was released in the United States on September 21, 1951.
Music by George Duning.

Cast:

Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler, Richard Kiley, Otto Hulett, Matt Crowley, Neville Brand, Ernest Borgnine, Walter Klavun, Frank DeKova, Lynn Baggett, Jean Alexander, Ralph Dumke, John Marley, Charles Bronson, Jay Adler, Emile Meyer, Duke Watson, Carleton Young.

Recommended reading - The Illustrated Man (1951):

The Illustrated Man

By Ray Bradbury.

Published by Panther.

First published 1951.

1977 edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0586043594

ISBN-13: 978-0586043592

Description:

Anthology of 18 science fiction short stories.

Contents:

Prologue: The Illustrated Man; The Veldt; Kaleidoscope; The Other Foot; The Highway; The Man; The Long Rain; The Rocket Man; The Fire Balloons; The Last Night of the World; The Exiles; No Particular Night or Morning; The Fox and the Forest; The Visitor; The Concrete Mixer; Main article: Marionettes, Inc.; The City; Zero Hour; The Rocket; Epilogue.

Sample:

It was a warm afternoon in early September when I first met the Illustrated Man. I didn’t know he was Illustrated then. …

He took his shirt off. He was covered with Illustrations from the blue tattooed ring about his neck to his belt line. He was a riot of rockets and fountains and people. There were yellow meadows and blue rivers and mountains and stars and suns and planets spread in a Milky Way across his chest.

“You see,” said the Illustrated Man, “the Illustrations predict the future. It’s all right in sunlight. But at night the pictures move. The pictures change. Don’t you look at them, I warn you. Turn the other way when you sleep.”

The night was serene. I lay back a few feet from him. He didn’t seem violent, and the pictures were beautiful. I let my eyes fill up on them.

Sixteen illustrations, sixteen tales. I counted them one by one.

Primarily my eyes focused upon a scene, a large house with two people in it. I saw a flight of vultures on a blazing flesh sky, I saw yellow lions, and I heard voices.

The first Illustrations quivered and came to life. …

Born on this day – Greg Bear:

Greg Bear

Writer

Illustrator

August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022

Credits:

Books:

A Flag Full of Stars (1991); A Forest Apart (2003); Across the Universe (1999); Allegiance (2007); Allegiance in Exile (2013); Anvil of Stars (1992); Assignment: Eternity (1998); Bear's Fantasies (1988); Beyond Heaven's River (1980); Beyond the Farthest Suns (2016); Black Fire (1983); Blood Music (1985); Bloodthirst (1987); Cast No Shadow (2011); Chain of Attack (1987); Children of the Jedi (1995); Choices of One (2011); City at the End of Time (2008); Classic Jurassic Park (1993); Classic Jurassic Park, Volume 2 (2011); Classic Jurassic Park, Volume 4 (2012); Cloak of Deception (2000); Corona (1984); Country Of The Mind (1998); Crisis on Coruscant (2010); Crosscurrent (2010); Crossroad (1994); Crucible (2013); Cryptum (2011); Dangerous Games (2012); Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (2006); Darksaber (1995); Darth Maul Shadow Hunter (2001); Darth Maul's Revenge (2000); Darth Plagueis (2012); Darwin's Children (2002); Darwin's Radio (1999); Dead Lines (2001); Death Count (1992); Death Star (2007); Death Troopers (2009); Dinosaur Summer (1998); Double, Double (1989); Dragons of Light (1980); Dwellers in the Crucible (1985); Early Harvest (1988); Eon (1984); Eternity (1988); Ex Machina (2004); Excelsior: Forged in Fire (2007); Faces of Fire (1992); Far Thoughts and Pale Gods (2016); Firestorm (1994); First Frontier (1995); Fool's Bargain (2004); Foundation and Chaos (1998); Foundation's Fear (1997); Foundation's Triumph (2000); From the Depths (1993); Future Visions (2015); Ghost-Walker (1991); Grave Predictions (2016); Hackers (1996); Hardfought (1988); Heads (1990); Hegira (1953); Home Is the Hunter (1990); Hull Zero Three (2010); I, Jedi (1998); Ice Trap (1992); In the Name of Honor (2002); Infinity Concerto (1984); Into the Void: Dawn of the Jedi (2013); Ishmael (1985); Jango Fett: Bounty Hunter (2002); Jedi Trial (2004); Jurassic Park Vol. 5 (2013); Just Over the Horizon (2016); Kenobi (2013); Killing Time (1985); Killing Titan (2015); Knight Errant (2011); Labyrinth of Evil (2005); Legacy (1994); Like Water for Quarks (2011); Lost Souls (1982); Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012); Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (2008); Mariposa (2009); Maul: Lockdown (2012); Millennium Falcon (2008); Mind Meld (1997); Mirrorshades (1986); Mississippi Review 47 / 48 (1988); Moving Mars (1993); Mudd in Your Eye (1997); Multiverse (2014); Murasaki (1992); Nebula Awards 49 (2015); New Legends (1995); New Skies: An Anthology of Today's Science Fiction (2003); Omni Visions Two (1994); Outbound Flight (2006); Paragons (1996); Pawns and Symbols (1985); Petra (1982); Planet of Twilight (1997); Prime Directive (1991); Primordium (2011); Psychlone (1979); Quantico (2007); Queen of Angels (1990); Ready, Set, Podrace! (2007); Recovery (1995); Red Harvest (2010); Renegade (1991); Riptide (2011); Rogue Planet (2000); Sanctuary (1992); Scoundrels (2013); Scourge (2012); Shadow Games (2011); Shadow Lord (1985); Shadows of the Empire (2011); Shatterpoint (2003); Shell Game (1993); Silentium (2013); Sisters (1992); Slant (1997); Sleepside (1988); Songs of Earth and Power (1984); Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978); Strength of Stones (1981); Survivor's Quest (2004); Take Back the Sky (2016); Tales from the New Republic (1999); Tangents (1989); Tatooine Ghost (2003); Telling Tales: The Clarion West 30th Anniversary Anthology (2013); The Abode of Life (1982); The Adventures of Lando Calrissian (1983); The Approaching Storm (2002); The Ascent of Wonder (1994); The Better Man (1994); The Captain's Daughter (1995); The Cestus Deception (2004); The Children of Kings (2010); The Collected Stories of Greg Bear (2002); The Courtship of Princess Leia (1994); The Crystal Star (1994); The Devils in the Desert (2011); The Disinherited (2007); The Fearful Summons (1995); The Final Nexus (1988); The First Omni Book of Science Fiction (1983); The Forge of God (1987); The Great Starship Race (1993); The Han Solo Adventures (1979); The IDIC Epidemic (1988); The Joy Machine (1996); The Lost Years (1989); The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction (2006); The New Rebellion (1996); The Patrian Transgression (1994); The Prometheus Design (1982); The Rift (1991); The Rings of Tautee (1996); The Ruins of Dantooine (2003); The Serpent Mage (1984); The Starship Trap (1993); The Tears of the Singers (1984); The Three-Minute Universe (1988); The Truce at Bakura (1994); The Unfinished Land (2019); The Venging (1983); The Vulcan Academy Murders (1984); The Wind from a Burning Woman (1983); The Wounded Sky (1983); Third Annual Collection (1989); Tomorrow: New Worlds of Science Fiction (1975); Traitor Winds (1994); Triangle (1983 / 1991); Twilight's End (1996); Uhura's Song (1985); Visions of the Future (2015); Vitals (2002); Vulcan's Glory (1989); Vulcan's Heart (1999); War Dogs (2014); We Don't Do Weddings (1995); Web of the Romulans (1983); Winner Lose All (2012); Women in Deep Time (2003); Year's Best SF 11 (2006); Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (2004).

Movies and television:

Comic-Con Begins (2021); Future Fantastic (1996); Grunge, Punk, Politics and the Fight Against Ballot Measure 9 (2017); Halo Legends / The Making of 'Halo Legends' (2010); Heroes Manufactured: Creators Unleashed (2020); New Nightmares (1993); Prisoners of Gravity (1993); Prophets of Science Fiction (2006); Sci-Fi Buzz (1992); Sightings / Segment: The Sci-Fi Prophet (1994–1996); Tales from the Bridge (2021–2022); The AckerMonster Chronicles! (2012); The Daily Show (2007); The Twilight Zone / Segment: Dead Run (1986); Time Machine: Fantastic Voyage - The Evolution of Science Fiction (2002).

On this day in movie history - Roadblock (1951):

Roadblock

directed by Harold Daniels,

written by George Bricker and Steve Fisher,

based on a story by Richard H. Landau and Daniel Mainwaring,

was released in the United States on July 30, 1951.
Music by Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, Lowell Gilmore, Louis Jean Heydt, Milburn Stone.

Recommended reading - The Way Some People Die (1951):

The Way Some People Die

By Ross Macdonald.

Paperback.

Published 1951.

ISBN-10: 0307278980

ISBN-13: 978-0307278982

Back cover description:

“The greatest American mystery novelist. Macdonald imbued the mystery with the qualities of a full-bodied novel: impeccable plotting, a sense of place, a careful delineation of human psychology, and a perfect fusion of story and character.” – Richard North Patterson.

In a rundown house in Santa Monica, Mrs. Samuel Lawrence presses fifty crumpled bills into Lew Archer's hand and asks him to find her wandering daughter, Galatea. Described as ‘crazy for men’ and without discrimination, she was last seen driving off with small-time gangster Joe Tarantine, a hophead hood with a rep for violence. Archer traces the hidden trail from San Francisco slum alleys to the luxury of Palm Springs, traveling through an urban wilderness of drugs and viciousness. As the bodies begin to pile up, he finds that even angel faces can mask the blackest of hearts. Filled with dope, delinquents and murder, this is classic Macdonald and one of his very best in the Lew Archer series.

“Ross Macdonald gives to the detective story that accent of class that Raymond Chandler did.” – Chicago Tribune.

Born on this day – Robin Williams:

Robin Williams

Actor

Comedian

July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014

On this day in movie history - He Ran All the Way (1951):

He Ran All the Way

directed by John Berry,

written by Hugo Butler and Dalton Trumbo,

based on the novel by Sam Ross,

was released in the United States on July 13, 1951.
Music by Franz Waxman.

Cast:

John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford, Selena Royle, Gladys George, Norman Lloyd, Robert Hyatt, Clancy Cooper, Vici Raaf, Keith Hetherington, Robert Karnes.

On this day in movie history - The Hoodlum (1951):

The Hoodlum

directed by Max Nosseck,

written by Sam Neuman and Nat Tanchuck,

was released in the United States on July 5, 1951.
Music by Darrell Calker.

Cast:

Lawrence Tierney, Allene Roberts, Marjorie Riordan, Lisa Golm, Edward Tierney, Stuart Randall, Angela Stevens, John De Simone, Tom Hubbard, Eddie Foster, O.Z. Whitehead, Richard Barron, Rudy Rama, Raymond Bond, James Conaty, Bill Coontz, Russell Custer, Rudy Germane, William H. O'Brien, Gene Roth.

Born on this day – Antonia Bird:

Antonia Bird

Director

Producer

May 27, 1951 – October 24, 2013

Born on this day – Olivia Hussey:

Olivia Hussey

Actress

April 17, 1951 – December 27, 2024

Credits:

2008 Camie Awards (2008); Acting in the Sixties (1967); All the Right Noises (1970); An Audience with Mel Brooks (1983); Bad English I: Tales of a Son of a Brit (1995); Batman Beyond (2000); Black Christmas (1974); Black Christmas Legacy (2015); Boy Meets World (1997); Chinaman's Chance: America's Other Slaves (2008); Clarkworld (2009); Cup Fever (1965); Dead Man's Island (1996); Death on the Nile (1978); Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette (1978); Distortions (1988); Drama 61-67 (1964); E! True Hollywood Story (1998); El grito (2000); Entertainment Tonight (1986); Fractured Skulls: The Making of Headspace (2006); Greatest Ever Christmas Movies (2013); Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006); H-Bomb (1976); Headspace (2005); Hour Magazine (1984); I Married a Princess (2005); Ice Cream Man (1995); Into the Night (1990); Island Prey (2001); It (1990); Ivanhoe (1982); Jesus of Nazareth (1977); Lonesome Dove: The Series (1994); Lost Horizon (1973); Miss Hollywood 1986 (1986); Mother Teresa (2003); Murder, She Wrote (1985); Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008); Now and Then (1967–1968); Our World (1967); Pinky and the Brain (1998); Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990); Quest of the Delta Knights (1993); Romeo and Juliet (1968); Royal Film Performance 1968: "Romeo and Juliet" by Franco Zeffirelli. London (1968); Sammy LaBella: The Real Skip E. Lowe (2025); Save Me (1994); Seven Days of Grace (2006); Shame, Shame, Shame (1999); Social Suicide (2015); Star Wars: Force Commander (2000); Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998); Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011); Superman: The Animated Series (1999); Take a Sapphire (1966); Tax Shelter Terrors (2017); That Was the Week We Watched (2004); The 100 Scariest Movie Moments (2004); The 12 Days of 'Black Christmas' (2006); The 21st Annual Genesis Awards (2007); The Actor's Journey (2011); The Actor's Journey for Kids (2011); The Bastard (1978); The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965); The Cat and the Canary (1978); The Corsican Brothers (1985); The Donald O'Connor Show (1968); The Gardener (1998); The Girl on the Balcony: The Life and Work of Actress Olivia Hussey (2025); The Great Christmas Movies (1998); The Jeweller's Shop (1988); The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002); The Last Days of Pompeii (1984); The Lord Protector (1996); The Man with Bogart's Face (1980); The Merv Griffin Show (1971); The Pirate (1978); The Psycho Legacy (2010); The Summertime Killer (1972); The Teen-Age Lovers of Verona (1968); The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther (1979); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1963–1973); Three Priests (2008); Today (1984); Tortilla Heaven (2007); Turkey Shoot (1982); Undeclared War (1990); US Against the World (1977); Virus (1980); Welcome to the Basement (2015–2016); Yesterday and Today (1973).

On this day in movie history - The Scarf (1951):

The Scarf

directed and written by Ewald André Dupont,

based on a story by Arthur St. Claire and Lawrence Taylor,

based on a story by Isadore Goldsmith and E.A. Rolfe,

was released in the United States on April 6, 1951.
Music by Herschel Burke Gilbert.

Cast:

John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, James Barton, Emlyn Williams, Lloyd Gough, Basil Ruysdael, David Bauer, Harry Shannon, Celia Lovsky, David McMahon, Chubby Johnson, Frank Jenks, Emmett Lynn, Dick Wessel, Frank Jaquet, Iris Adrian.