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.

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 – Darlanne Fluegel:

Darlanne Fluegel

Actress

Producer

Professor

November 25, 1953 – December 15, 2017

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).

Recommended reading - Hell Hath No Fury (1953):

Hell Hath No Fury

By Charles Williams.

Filmed as The Hot Spot (1990), directed by Dennis Hopper.

Paperback.

First published 1953.

Published by Vintage.

ISBN 13: 9780679733294

ISBN 10: 0679733299

ASIN: 0679733299

Description:

A dark, brooding masterpiece of guilt, greed, and lust in a town ripe for felony.

Madox wasn't all bad.  He was just half-bad.  But trap a man like Madox in a dead-end job in a stultifying small town, introduce him to a femme fatale like the Harshaw woman, and give him a shot at a fast fifteen thousand dollars--in a bank just begging to be knocked over--and his better nature doesn't stand a chance.

Merciless in its suspense, flawless in its grasp of the ways in which ordinary people hurtle over the edge, The Hot Spot is a superb example of fifties roman noir.

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

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.