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

The Enforcer

aka Murder, Inc.,

directed by Bretaigne Windust,

written by Martin Rackin,

based on the Murder, Inc. trials (1929 – 1941),

was released in the United States on February 24, 1951.
Music by David Buttolph.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane, Roy Roberts, Michael Tolan, King Donovan, Bob Steele, Adelaide Klein, Don Beddoe, Tito Vuolo, John Kellogg, Jack Lambert, Patricia Joiner.

Recommended reading - She Who Was No More (1951):

She Who Was No More

By Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.

Filmed as Les Diaboliques, a.k.a. Diabolique, The Devils, The Fiends (1955), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.

ASIN: B00TNBPJ9O

Published by Pushkin Vertigo.

English language translation edition 2015.

Published 2015.

First published 1951.

Description:

Every Saturday evening, travelling salesman Ferdinand Ravinel returns to his wife, Mireille, who waits patiently for him at home. But Ferdinand has another lover, Lucienne – an ambitious doctor – and together the adulterers have devised a murderous plan.

Drugging Mireille, the pair drown her in a bathtub. But before the "accidental" death can be discovered, the corpse mysteriously disappears. So begins the unraveling of Ferdinand's plot, and his sanity.

This classic of French noir fiction was adapted for the screen by Henri-Georges Clouzot as Les Diaboliques (The Devils; The Fiends), starring Simone Signoret and Véra Clouzot, the film which in turn inspired Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. A second movie version, Diabolique, followed in 1996, starring Sharon Stone.

On this day in movie history - Under the Gun (1951):

Under the Gun

directed by Ted Tetzlaff,

written by George Zuckerman,

based on a story by Daniel B. Ullman,

was released in the United States on January 26, 1951.
Music by Milton Rosen.

Cast:

Richard Conte, Audrey Totter, John McIntire, Sam Jaffe, Shepperd Strudwick, Gregg Martell, Phillip Pine, Donald Randolph, Royal Dano, Richard Taber, Dabbs Greer.

Born on this day – Kim Manners:

Kim Manners

Producer

Director

Actor

January 13, 1951 – January 25, 2009

Credits:

21 Jump Street (1987–1990); Alaska (2003); Automan (1983–1984); Baywatch (1989); Booker (1989–1990); Breaking Bad (2009); Broken Badges (1990); Can't Be Stopped (2022); Charlie's Angels (1977–1981); Delta County, U.S.A. (1977); Divorce Wars: A Love Story (1982); Empire (2005); Finder of Lost Loves (1985); Fortune Hunter (1995); Greyhounds (1994); Halls of Anger (1970); Hardcastle and McCormick (1985–1986); Harsh Realm (2000); Hart to Hart (1981); Hawaiian Heat (1984); Headmaster (1970); Hunter (1986–1987); Implanted Memories: 25 Years of the X-Files (2018); J.J. Starbuck (1987–1988); K-9000 (1990); Kate McShane (1975); Locusts (1974); M.A.N.T.I.S. (1994–1995); Matt Houston (1982–1985); Mission: Impossible (1988); Over There (2005); Paradise (1988); Riptide (1985–1986); Scared Silly (1982); Sidekicks (1986–1987); Simon & Simon (1984–1986); Sledge Hammer! (1986); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988); Stingray (1986–1987); Street Hawk (1985); Supernatural (2005–2009); The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage (1991); The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993–1994); The Cigarette Smoking Man Revealed (1999); The Commish (1991–1994); The Hat Squad (1992–1993); The Killer Who Wouldn't Die (1976); The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1981); The Return of Mod Squad (1979); The Unseen (2016); The Users (1978); The X-Files (1995–2004); Valdez Is Coming (1971); Wiseguy (1988).

On this day in movie history - On Dangerous Ground (1951):

On Dangerous Ground

directed by Nicholas Ray and Ida Lupino,

written by A. I. Bezzerides and Nicholas Ray,

based on the novel Mad with Much Heart by Gerald Butler,

was released in the United States on December 12, 1951.
Music by Bernard Herrmann.

Cast:

Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Anthony Ross, Ed Begley, Ian Wolfe, Sumner Williams, Gus Schilling, Frank Ferguson, Cleo Moore, Olive Carey.

Born on this day – Treat Williams:

Treat Williams

Actor

Writer

Aviator

December 1, 1951 – June 12, 2023

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

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.

On this day in movie history - Detective Story (1951):

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.

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 (1951).

By Ray Bradbury.

Published by Panther.

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 (1951).

By Ross Macdonald.

Paperback.

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.