On this day in movie history - The Blue Gardenia (1953):

The Blue Gardenia

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Charles Hoffman,

based on the novella The Gardenia by Vera Caspary,

was released in the United States on March 28, 1953.
Music by Raoul Kraushaar.

Cast:

Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr, Jeff Donnell, Richard Erdman, George Reeves, Ruth Storey, Ray Walker, Nat King Cole, Dolores Fuller.

Born on this day – John Saint Ryan:

John Saint Ryan

Actor

Horse trainer

Equestrian

Stunt man

March 27, 1953 – April 3, 2025

Credits:

A Small Problem (1987); American Cyborg: Steel Warrior (1993); Babylon 5 (1995); Bad Cat (2015); Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000); CIA II: Target Alexa (1993); Coronation Street (1987–1994); Cover-Up (1991); Crusade (1999); Cybill (1997); Dark Skies (1997); Delta Force 3: The Killing Game (1991); Emmerdale Farm (1987); EZ Streets (1996–1997); Floodtide (1987); G.B.H. (1983); Gargoyles (1995–1996); General Hospital (1963); Gunpowder (1986); Into the Darkness (1993); Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater (1995); L.A. Heat (1997); M.A.N.T.I.S. (1995); MacGyver (1986); Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow (2023); Medicine Man (1992); Murder, She Wrote (1995); No Greater Love (1995); Out of the Wild (2019); Players (1998); Revolution (2012); Roar (1997); Roar: The Making of (1997); Scene (1986); Screen Two (1989); SeaQuest 2032 (1993); Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994); Target Eve Island (1983); The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Adventures in the Secret Service (1999); The Agency (2001); The Assassinator (1992); The Butcher (2009); The Eye of Satan (1992); The Heidi Chronicles (1995); The Sharp End (1991); The Sweeper (1996); The Twilight Zone / Segment: The Storyteller (1986); The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992); Wipe Out (1988).

On this day in movie history - The Hitch-Hiker (1953):

The Hitch-Hiker

directed by Ida Lupino,

written by Ida Lupino and Collier Young,

was released in the United States on March 21, 1953.
Inspired by the true 1950–1951 Billy Cook murder case.
Music by Leith Stevens.

Cast:

Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman, José Torvay, Wendell Niles, Jean Del Val, Clark Howat, Natividad Vacío, Rodney Bell.

Born on this day – Deborah Raffin:

Deborah Raffin

Actress

Audiobook publisher

March 13, 1953 – November 21, 2012

Credits:

47th Annual Academy Awards (1975); 7th Heaven (1996–2005); A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! (2011); A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Grimacing Governor (1994); Aesop's Fables (1995); An Evening at the Improv (1994); B.L. Stryker (1989); Book of Days (2003); Circus of the Stars #2 (1977); Circus of the Stars (1977); Claudia (1985); Dinah! (1975); ER (2008); Family Blessings (1998); Fifty Poems of Emily Dickinson (1997); Futuresport (1998); Golden Globes 50th Anniversary Celebration (1994); Good Morning America (1978); Hollywood Women (1993); Home Song (1996); Hour Magazine (1980); Intimate Portrait (2002); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2006); Making 'Superman': Filming the Legend (2001); Morning Glory (1993); Night of 100 Stars II (1985); Night of the Fox (1990); Noble House (1988); Scanners II: The New Order (1991); Superman (1978); Taking Flight: The Development of 'Superman' (2001); Tattletales (1976); The 38th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1981); The 50th Annual Academy Awards (1978); The American Sportsman (1979); The Annual Daily Variety Honors. A Salutes to Army Archerd (1993); The Mike Douglas Show (1977); The Nina Foch Course for Filmmakers and Actors (2010); The Sands of Time (1992); The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2010); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1988); The Twilight Zone (1989); Today (1979); Unwed Father (1997); Wilde (1997); Windmills of the Gods (1988).

On this day in movie history - Niagara (1953):

Niagara

directed by Henry Hathaway,

written by Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Richard L. Breen,

was released in the United States on January 21, 1953.

Music by Sol Kaplan.

Cast:

Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotton, Jean Peters, Max Showalter, Denis O'Dea, Richard Allan, Don Wilson, Lurene Tuttle, Russell Collins, Will Wright, John 'Scotty' Watson, Leon Alton, Henry Beckman, John Brascia, Harry Carey Jr., Bill Coontz, Roy Damron, Robert Ellis, Howard Engel, Neil Fitzgerald, Gloria Gordon, Patricia Henderson, Winifield Hoeny, George Ives, Arch Johnson, Lester Matthews, Sean McClory, Norman McKay, Audre Monture, Patrick O'Moore, Tom Reynolds, Willard Sage, Bert Stevens, Minerva Urecal, Nina Varela, Gene Wesson.

Born on this day – Silvana Gallardo:

Silvana Gallardo

Actress

Producer

Director

January 13, 1953 – January 2, 2012

Credits:

A Walk in the Clouds (1995); Babylon 5 (1994); Born to the Wind (1981); Cagney & Lacey (1982); Calendar Girl Murders (1984); Centennial (1979); Cincy Entertainment (2009); Copacabana (1985); Days of Our Lives (1988); Deadly Care (1987); Death Wish II (1982); Easy Street (1986); Eischied (1979); Equal Justice (1990); ER (1998); Fading to Zero (2009); Falcon Crest (1981–1982); Hill Street Blues (1982); How the West Was Won (1978); Hunter (1984); If Tomorrow Comes (1986); Independent Lens (2003); J.J. Starbuck (1988); Kingpin (2003); Knots Landing (1989); Kojak (1977); L.A. Law (1987); Lou Grant (1978–1979); MacGyver (1985); Monsters (1989); NYPD Blue (1999–2000); Out of the Dark (1988); Prison Stories: Women on the Inside / Segment: Parole Board (1991); Providence (2001); Quincy, M.E. (1980); Ryan's Four (1983); Sandy (2025); Santa Barbara (1986); Silence of the Heart (1984); Solar Crisis (1990); Starsky and Hutch (1977); Strong Medicine (2001); Tex Murphy: Overseer (1998); The Antagonists (1991); The Children of Times Square (1986); The Chisholms (1979); The Corpse Had a Familiar Face (1994); The Golden Girls (1986); The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990); The Many Loves of Arthur (1978); The New Adam-12 (1991); The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1991); The Wizard (1987); Today's F.B.I. (1981–1982); Trapper John, M.D. (1984); Trauma Center (1983); What a Country (1987); Windwalker (1980); Worn Like a Tattoo (2004).

Born on this day – James Foley:

James Foley

Director

Writer

Producer

December 28, 1953 – May 8, 2025

Credits:

After Dark, My Sweet (1990); Anatomy of a Scene (2003); Arbitrage (2012); At Close Range (1986); Billions (2016); Chow Yun-Fat Goes Hollywood (2001); Confidence (2003); Dark and Deadly: 50 Years of Film Noir (1995); De película (1987); Deep Purple: King of Dreams (1990); Fear (1996); Fifty Shades Darker (2017); Fifty Shades Freed (2018); From the (Under)Ground Up: The Making of 'The Corruptor' (1999); Glengarry Glen Ross (1992); Gun (1997); Hannibal (2013); Hollywood Division (2004); House of Cards (2013–2015); House of Cards: Backstage Politics on the Set of House of Cards (2015); House of Cards: Line of Succession (2014); House of Cards: Politics for the Sake of Politics (2014); James Foley, à bout portant (2018); James Foley, Lumière sur un film noir (2021); Lunch Therapy (2021); Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour (1985); Madonna: Celebration - The Video Collection (2009); Madonna: Dress You Up (1985); Madonna: Live to Tell (1986); Madonna: Papa Don't Preach (1986); Madonna: The Immaculate Collection (1990); Madonna: The Look of Love (1987); Madonna: The Woman Behind the Brand (2011); Madonna: True Blue (1986); Madonna: Who's That Girl (1987); Magic Time: A Tribute to Jack Lemmon (2002); Marky Mark: Hey DJ (1996); Misfire: The Rise and Fall of the Shooting Gallery (2013); Perfect Stranger (2007); Reckless (1984); Red Zone (2014); Reel Talent (2007); The Bannen Way (2010); The Chamber (1996); The Corruptor (1999); The Moment with Brian Koppelman (2015); Twin Peaks (1991); Two Bits (1995); Virtual Lives: The Making of 'Perfect Stranger' (2007); Warren (2014); Wayward Pines (2015); Who's That Girl (1987).

Born on this day – Darlanne Fluegel:

Darlanne Fluegel

Actress

Producer

Professor

November 25, 1953 – December 15, 2017

Born on this day – Joseph Ziegler:

Joseph Ziegler

Actor

Theatre director

November 7, 1953 – July 28, 2025

Credits:

Co-founder of the Soulpepper theatre company.

Movies and television:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1989); Amreeka (2009); Black Harbour (1996–1999); Blue Murder (2001–2002); Dick Francis: In the Frame (1989); Dieppe (1993); Dinner at Lucy's (2009); Due South (1994–1995); E.N.G. (1993); Empire, Inc. (1983); Focus (2001); Forever Knight (1995); Gross Misconduct: The Life of Brian Spencer (1993); Hamlet (Solo) (2007); Heritage Minutes (2005); Leap Years (2001); Murdoch Mysteries (2021); North of 60 (1994); Nurses (2020); Oh, What a Night (1992); Open Heart (2004); Our Fathers (2005); Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad (1994); Relic Hunter (2001); Robin & Mark & Richard III (2016); Side Effects (1994–1996); Slings and Arrows (2005); Sprnva (2014); Stratford Festival: Macbeth (2017); Street Legal (1989–1992); Ten Minute Call (2018); The Circle Game (1994); The Grid (2004); The Hitchhiker (1989); The Matthew Shepard Story (2002); The Trojan Horse (2008); Timon of Athens (2018); To Save the Children (1994); Tom Stone (2002); Tribulation (2000); Twelfth Night (1986); Twists of Terror (1997); War of the Worlds (1988); Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story (2002).

Born on this day – Claire van Kampen:

Claire van Kampen

Composer

Director

Writer

November 3, 1953 – January 18, 2025

Credits:

Stage:

As You Like It; Bash at the Trafalgar Studios; Boeing-Boeing; Helen; Henry IV; I am Shakespeare; King Lear; La Bete; Love's Labour's Lost; Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme; Peer Gynt; Romeo and Juliet; Shakespeare Walks; The Clean House; The Tempest; True West; Twelfth Night.

Movies and television:

Anonymous (2011); Bing (2014); Days and Nights (2014); Globe on Screen: Julius Caesar (2015); It Never Entered My Mind (2025); Nocturne (2009); Shakespeare's Globe (2005); Shakespeare's Globe Theatre: Henry V (2013); Shakespeare's Globe Theatre: Twelfth Night (2013); Shakespeare's Globe: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2014); Shakespeare's Globe: Henry IV, Part 1 (2010); Shakespeare's Globe: Henry IV, Part 2 (2010); The 72nd Annual Tony Awards (2018); The Broadway.com Show (2014); The Phantom of the Open (2021); Theater Talk (2018); Uncle Silas (1989); Wolf Hall (2015).

Born on this day – Kevin Brophy:

Kevin Brophy

Actor

November 1, 1953 – May 11, 2024

Credits:

AfterMASH (1983); Book of 1000 Deaths (2012); Civil Wars (1992); Code Name Vengeance (1987); Easy Wheels (1989); Fatal Charm (1990); Fearless (1993); Finder of Lost Loves (1985); Goodfellas (1990); Growing Pains (1989); Hart to Hart Returns (1993); Hell Night (1981); I'm Losing You (1998); JAG (1996); Just the Ten of Us (1990); Kevin Brophy and Jenny Neumann In Conversation (2017); Lucan (1977–1978); M*A*S*H (1979); Matt Houston (1983–1984); New Love, American Style (1986); Partners in Crime (1984); Remembering 'The Seduction' (2006); Shattered Image (1994); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993); Strange Inheritance (2015); Strike Force (1982); The Clown Statue (2022); The Delos Adventure (1986); The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1978); The Long Riders (1980); The Love Boat (1982); The Magic of the Golden Bear: Goldy III (1994); The Seduction (1982); The Yeagers (1980); Time Walker (1982); Time Walker with Actor Kevin Brophy (2011); Trapper John, M.D. (1981–1983); Trouble in High Timber Country (1980); White Dwarf (1995); Zorro (1992).

Born on this day, Nigel McCrery:

Nigel McCrery

Writer

Producer

October 30, 1953 – February 6, 2025

Credits:

Books:

Dambusters: The Crews and Their Bombers (2021); Final Scrum (2018); Final Wicket (2015); For Conspicuous Gallantry (1990); Go!, Go!, Go! (2008); Going Home / play (date?); Hear the Boat Sing (2017); Into Touch (2013); Season in Hell (2019); Shoot!: How to Make a Video Film to Professional Standards (1993); Silent Witnesses: A History of Forensic Science (2013); The Coming Storm (2017); The Complete History of the SAS (2003); The Extinguished Flame (2016); The Fallen Few of the Battle of Britain (2015); The Final Season (2015); The Undying Flame (2021); The Vanished Battalion / aka All the King's Men (1992); Under the Buns of the Red Baron (1995); Virtus Vera Nobilitas (2024).

Movies and television:

All the King's Men (1999); All the King's Men: Matter of Fact (1991); Backup (1995–1997); Born and Bred (2002–2005); Call the Cops (2008); Impact (2002); New Tricks (2003–2015); Silent Witness (1996–2025); Watching the Dead (2009); Zohra (2006).

Born on this day – Eleonora Giorgi:

Eleonora Giorgi

Actress

Writer

Director

October 21, 1953 – March 3, 2025

Credits:

Music:

Quale appuntamento / Messaggio Personale (1981).

Movies and television:

A Spiral of Mist (1977); Acqua Calda / Hot water (1993); Agente matrimoniale (2006); Alla mia cara mamma nel giorno del suo compleanno (1974); America's Uncle 2 (2006); Appassionata (1974); Arabesque (1983); Atto d'amore (1986); Ballando con le stelle / Dancing with the Stars (2006–2018); Bekim Fehmiu (2023); Beyond the Door (1982); Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971); Born Winner (1976); Ça fait tilt (1978); Carlo! (2012); Castigo (1977); Cuore di cane (1976); Dario Argento's World of Horror (1985); Death of a Witch (1996); Dido... Menica (1992); Disposta a tutto (1977); Domenica in / Sunday in (2016); Don Matteo (2016); Felicità: La stagione dell'amicizia e del rispetto / Happiness: The Season of Friendship and Respect (2023); Fellini's Roma (1972); Festival di Sanremo (1981); Giovanni Senzapensieri (1986); Goodbye and return (1996); Grand Hotel Excelsior (1982); I leave you a song (2009); Il cantante mascherato / The Masked Singer (2022); Inferno (1980); L'Agnese va a morire (1976); L'isola dei famosi / The island of the famous (2008); Live - Non è la D'Urso (2019–2020); Love, Lies, Kids... & Dogs (2003); L'ultima estate (2009); Mani di fata (1983); Mani di velluto (1979); Maurizio Costanzo Show (2017); Mia moglie è una strega (1980); Mom, I got depressed dad (1996); My Family in Disarray (2016); My Father Jack (2016); New Year's Eve Party (1988); Non sparate sui bambini (1978); Notti e nebbie (1984); Nudo di donna (1981); Number one (1973); One of Us (1996); Reckless songs (1993); Safari Rally (1978); Sapore di mare 2 - Un anno dopo (1983); Saucy 70's Volume 2 (2010); Schoolmates (1988); Smell of Flesh (1974); SoloMetro (2007); Story of a Cloistered Nun (1973); Suggestionata (1978); Talcum Powder (1982); The Fox (1988); The Italian Saturday (2018); The Kiss of Death (1974); The Last Summer (2009); The Paolella Connection (2016); The Scialo (1987); The Sex Machine (1975); The Teacher (2007); The Three Musketeers of the West (1973); The Uncle of America / America's Uncle (2002); To Forget Venice (1979); Un uomo in ginocchio (1979); Vediamoci chiaro (1984); Waiting and Changes (2016); What an out-of-time that makes (2016); Yesterday - vacanze al mare / TV Mini Series (1985); Young Violent Dangerous: A Featurette (2019); Young, Violent, Dangerous (1976).

On this day in movie history - The Big Heat (1953 movie & novel):

The Big Heat

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Sydney Boehm,

based on the novel by William P. McGivern,

and the serial that ran in the Saturday Evening Post,

was released in the United States on October 14, 1953.
Music by Henry Vars.

Cast:

Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin, Jeanette Nolan, Peter Whitney, Willis Bouchey, Robert Burton, Adam Williams, Howard Wendell, Dorothy Green.

Recommended reading:

The Big Heat

By William P. McGivern.

First published 1953.

Published by Ibooks.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0743452704

ISBN-13: 978-0743452700

Description:

A tough suspense novel of hero cops, cool killers and hot broads...

“A powerful story, powerfully told.” – New York Times.

MURDER WAS IN THE AIR. A COP HAD KILLED HIMSELF, AND EVERY CROOK IN TOWN KNEW THAT WOULD BE SURE TO BRING ON THE BIG HEAT. It started almost innocently when a cop committed suicide – worry over ill health, said his wife. Detective Dave Bannion wasn’t so sure, but when he started digging, he was told to lay off – fast! Instead, he turned in his badge and started stalking the city streets and bars in search of the truth where he uncovers a red-hot story of murder and corruption that would blow Philadelphia’s underworld sky high. Bannion was big, strong, and angry enough to kill, but he was only one honest man in a city full of mobsters and crooked cops. The big heat was on.