Born on this day – Theresa Saldana:

Theresa Saldana

Actress

Activist

Writer

August 20, 1954 – June 6, 2016

Credits:

240-Robert (1979); All My Children (1970–2011); American Playhouse (1983); An Evening at the Improv (1992); Angel Town (1990); Batman Beyond (2001); Buck James (1988); Cagney & Lacey (1985); Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1994); Carlo's Wake (1999); CBS Schoolbreak Special (1987); Confessions of Crime (1991); Defiance (1980); Diagnosis Murder (1997); Double Revenge (1988); Falcon Crest (1988); Gang Warz (2004); Home Movies (1979); Hunter (1987); I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978); Illusion Infinity (1999); Jonny Quest Versus the Cyber Insects (1995); Law & Order (1995); MacGyver (1990); Martial Law (1998); Matlock (1986); New Kids on the Block (1990); Nothing Sacred (1997); Nunzio (1978); Nurse (1981); Of Men and Angels (1989); Raging Bull (1980); Ready to Run (2000); Rocco's Star (1983); Santa Barbara (1987); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1983); Shameful Secrets (1993); She Woke Up Pregnant (1996); Simon & Simon (1986); Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980); T.J. Hooker (1983); Tales from the Darkside (1986); The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2017); The 51st Annual Golden Globe Awards (1994); The Bernie Mac Show (2003); The Chuck Woolery Show (1991); The Commish (1991–1996); The Dennis Miller Show (1992); The Evil That Men Do (1984); The Gangster Chronicles (1981); The Highwayman (1987); The Night Before (1988); The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996–1997); The Twilight Zone / Segment: Dead Woman's Shoes (1985); Thrill Seekers (1999); Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story (1984); Werewolf (1987).

Born on this day – Felice Farina:

Felice Farina

Director

Writer

August 14, 1954 – September 18, 2023

Credits:

Suffering specials (1989); Behind the Mountains (2023); Bidoni (1995); Castro (2016); Who c'è c'è (1987); Condominium (1991); Atomic Conversations (2018); What about me SAI (2009); Do You See Me? (2014); Felipe Has Blue Eyes 2 (1993); The Bozano case (1996); Liczba doskonala (2022); Monicelli: Mario's version (2012); Fog in the Po Valley (2000); Nostos: The Return (1989); Oscar for two (1998); Patria (2014); He seems dead... but he only fainted (1986); Without brakes (2003); Marry (1988); Petrol station (1989); Strade d'acqua (2009); The Evening Tree (2024); The Physics of Water (2009); Timekeeper (2022); Last Breath (1992); See Naples and then die (2007).

Recommended reading - Find a Victim (1954):

Find a Victim

By Ross Macdonald.

Paperback.
Published 1954.

ISBN-10: 0446358924
ISBN-13: 978-0446358927

Description:

The hitchhiker rose to his knees on the side of the dark road. When Archer stopped the car and got to him, he knew he was in for a ride – for this boy was dying of a gunshot wound. In a matter of hours, Archer would be suspected by the law, hired by a target-shooting trucking magnate, and propositioned by an adulterer’s wife. A hijacked load of hootch and a band of sinners are on the loose in the hills and desert around this nice Southern California town. So is this L.A. private eye, who keeps getting blood on his hands…

“[The] American private eye, immortalized by Hammett, refined by Chandler, brough to its zenith by Macdonald.”

– New York Times Book Review.

A selection of the mysterious book club.

On this day in movie history - Human Desire (1954):

Human Desire

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Alfred Hayes,

based on the novel La Bête humaine by Émile Zola,

was released in the United States on August 6, 1954.

Cast:

Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Case, Peggy Maley, Diane DeLaire, Grandon Rhodes, Benjie Bancroft, Paul Brinegar, Minta Durfee, Jean Engstrom, Victor Hugo Greene, Don C. Harvey, Carl Lee, John Maxwell, John Pickard, Dan Riss, Scott Seaton, Allen D. Sewall, Dan Seymour, Olan Soule, Hal Taggart, John Zaremba.

On this day in movie history - Pushover (1954):

Pushover

directed by Richard Quine,

written by Roy Huggins,

was released in the United States on August 6, 1954.
Based on the novels The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh

and Rafferty by William S. Ballinger.
Music by Arthur Morton.

Cast:

Fred MacMurray, Philip Carey, Kim Novak, Dorothy Malone, E.G. Marshall, Allen Nourse, James Anderson, Joe Bailey, Tony Barrett, Walter Beaver, Richard Bryan, Robert Carson, Phil Chambers, Dick Crockett, John De Simone, Alan Dexter, Don C. Harvey, Anne Loos, Mort Mills, Ann Morriss, Paul Picerni, Murray Pollack, Paul Richards, Marion Ross, K.L. Smith, Robert Stevenson, Hal Taggart, John Tarangelo, Mel Welles, Jack Wilson.

On this day in movie history - On the Waterfront (1954):

On the Waterfront

directed by Elia Kazan,

written by Budd Schulberg,

was released in the United States on July 28, 1954.
Inspired by the series of articles entitled Crime on the Waterfront by Malcolm Johnson,

published in the New York Sun from November–December, 1948.
Music by Leonard Bernstein.

Cast:

Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Leif Erickson, James Westerfield, Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello, John F. Hamilton, John Heldabrand, Rudy Bond, Don Blackman, Arthur Keegan, Abe Simon, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Balsam, Dan Bergin, Zachary Charles, Jere Delaney, Robert Downing, Michael V. Gazzo, Fred Gwynne, Thomas Handley, Anne Hegira, Pat Hingle, Katherine MacGregor, Barry Macollum, Tiger Joe Marsh, Edward McNally, Donnell O'Brien, Mike O'Dowd, Nehemiah Persoff, Johnny Seven.

Recommended reading - Somebody Up There Likes Me, by Rocky Graziano and Rowland Barber (1954):

Somebody Up There Likes Me

By Rocky Graziano with Rowland Barber.

Filmed as Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), directed by Robert Wise.

Published by Ecco Press.

Published 1954.

ISBN 13: 9780880013932

ISBN 10: 0880013931

ASIN: 0880013931

Paperback.

Description:

The blood-soaked autobiography of a fist-happy hoodlum…

Rocky’s right hand saw him through three stretches in reform school, four man-size prisons, the middle-weight championship of the world, and a career as a television comedian with Martha Raye.

We get a view of what it’s like to be on the lam from truant officers, probation officers, goons, cops, and creeps too stupid to be anything but legitimate. What it’s like to hit first or get hit! – Saturday Review.

On this day in movie history - Them! (1954):

Them!

directed by Gordon Douglas,

written by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes,

based on a story by George Worthing Yates,

was released in the United States on June 19, 1954.
Music by Bronislau Kaper.

Cast:

James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, Onslow Stevens, Sean McClory, Chris Drake, Sandy Descher, Mary Alan Hokanson, Don Shelton, Fess Parker, Olin Howland, Leonard Nimoy, John Beradino, Willis Bouchey, Booth Colman, Richard Deacon, Lawrence Dobkin, Ann Doran, William Schallert, Douglas Spencer, Dub Taylor, Dorothy Green, Harry Wilson, Dick York, Jan Merlin, Walter Coy.

Recommended reading - The Searchers (novel & book of the movie):

The Searchers

By Alan Le May.

Filmed as The Searchers (1956), directed by John Ford.

Published by Harper & Brothers.
First published 1954.
ISBN-10: 0843961724
ISBN-13: 978-0843961720

Description:

On the Texas frontier, a Comanche war party attacks the Edwards ranch and kills all the inhabitants, except for the two girls carried away with them. In the name of civilization, a group of pioneers take off in hot pursuit, into a savage world of unexpected dangers, false hopes, and darkest despair.

The Searchers

By Edward Buscombe.

Published by British Film Institute.
Published 2022.
ISBN-10: 1839024690
ISBN-13: 978-1839024696

Description:

“The Searchers is an insightful analysis … Replete with a wealth of information on the production of The Searchers, and graced with thought-provoking commentary, Buscombe's book is a stimulating introduction to a great American film.” – Journal of American Culture.

John Ford's masterpiece The Searchers (1956) was voted the seventh greatest film of all time in Sight & Sound's most recent poll of critics. Its influence on many of America's most distinguished contemporary filmmakers, among them Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, and John Milius, is enormous. John Wayne's portrait of the vengeful Confederate Ethan Edwards gives the film a truly epic dimension, as does his long and lonely journey into the dark heart of America. Edward Buscombe's insightful study provides a detailed commentary on all aspects of the film, drawing on material in the John Ford archive at Indiana University, including Ford's own memos and the original script, which differs in vital respects from the film he made, to offer new insights into the film's production history.

Born on this day – Jill Jacobson:

Jill Jacobson

Actress

Writer

Producer

May 21, 1954 – December 8, 2024

Credits:

Actors Entertainment (2011); After the Storm (2001); An Uncommon Love (1983); Arli$$ (1999); Baby Sister (1983); Bad Georgia Road (1977); Best Performance (2018); Boredom (2015); Breaking the Silence (1992); Bulba (1981); Castle (2014); Cats Dancing on Jupiter (2011); Crazy Like a Fox (1986); Days of Our Lives (1995); Etheria (2020); Excess Flesh (2015); Falcon Crest (1985–1987); Fixed (2005); Forbidden Love (1982); Freddy's Nightmares (1990); Front of the Class (2008); Ghost Whisperer (2006); Harper Valley P.T.A. (1981); Hotel Vernonia (2013); House of Usher (2008); Hung (2011); I Gave at the Office (1984); Instinct to Kill (2001); Last Look (2014); Leo and Loree (1980); Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders (1989); Merrily (2025); Mic Whore (2014); Murphy Brown (1994); My Sister Sam (1988); Newhart (1989–1990); Not Just Another Affair (1982); Nurse Sherri (1977); Nurses Confessions (2017); Obsessive Love (1984); Party Down (2010); Pecoima Can Wait (2014); Perfect Victims (1988); Policewoman Centerfold (1983); Quantum Leap (1989); Reality Queen! (2020); Restless Souls (1998); Sad Girl: Chlorine (2019); Sideliners (2006); Sledge Hammer! (1988); Splash (1984); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1996); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989); Strong Medicine (2001); The 16th Annual Satellite Awards (2011); The Back-up Bride (2011); The Circle (2005); The Circle (2005); The Devlin Connection (1982); The Fix (2019); The Jigsaw Murders (1989); The New Gidget (1986–1987); The Perfect Marriage (2012); The Stone Boy (2015); Uncle Buck (1990); Up Yours (1979); Visage (2017); War of the Worlds (1989); Watch Out for Slick (2010); Welcome Home (2010); Who's the Boss? (1990); You Me & Her (2014).

Born on this day – Phil Wiggins:

Phil Wiggins

Blues harmonica player

May 8, 1954 – May 7, 2024

Credits:

Albums:

Bluesmen (1993); Cool Down (1996); Dog Days of August (1986); Flip, Flop & Fly (1992); From Richmond to Atlanta (2000); Goin' down the Road Feelin' Bad (1998); Guitar Man (1987); Homemade (1999); Let It Roll: Bowling Green (1985); Living Country Blues USA, vol. 1 (1981); Richmond Blues (2008); Shoulder to Shoulder (2006); Somebody Told the Truth (2002); Sweet Bitter Blues (1984 / 1994); Walking Blues (1988).

Movie and television:

Blues Houseparty (1989); Matewan (1987).

Born on this day – Angela Bofill:

Angela Bofill

Singer

Songwriter

May 2, 1954 – June 13, 2024

Credits:

Albums:

Angel of the Night (1979); Angie (1978); Angie / Expanded Edition (1978); Carl Anderson (1986); I Wanna Love Somebody (1993); Intuition (1988); Let Me Be the One (1984); Live from Manila (2006); Love in Slow Motion (1996); Something About You (1981); Something About You / Expanded Edition (2002); Teaser (1983); Tell Me Tomorrow (1985); The Best of Angela Bofill (1986); The Definitive Collection (1999); The Essential Angela Bofill (2014); Too Tough (1983).

Movies and television:

Body Electric (2004); Ebony/Jet Showcase (1989); Friends in Love (1983); Nina Live! (2005); Soul Train (1983); The Pat Sajak Show (1989); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1982); Unsung (2012).

Recommended reading - Twelve Angry Men, by Reginald Rose (1954)

Twelve Angry Men

Teleplay by Reginald Rose.

Introduction by David Mamet.

Filmed as:

12 Angry Men (1957), directed by Sidney Lumet.

12 Angry Men (1997), directed by William Friedkin.

Paperback.

Published by Penguin Classics.

First published 1954.

ISBN 13: 9780143104407

ISBN 10: 0143104403

ASIN: 0143104403

Description:

A blistering character study and an examination of the American melting pot and the judicial system that keeps it in check, Twelve Angry Men holds at its core a deeply patriotic faith in the U.S. legal system. The play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1 guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear-eyed way not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose deliberately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the men and allows a fuller picture to form of them—and of America, at its best and worst.

After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this landmark American drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957 starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on Broadway.

On this day in movie history - Blackout (1954):

Blackout

aka Murder by Proxy,

directed by Terence Fisher,

written by Richard Landau,

based on the novel Murder by Proxy by Helen Nielsen,

was released in the United States on March 19, 1954.
Music by Ivor Slaney.

Cast:

Dane Clark, Belinda Lee, Betty Ann Davies, Eleanor Summerfield, Andrew Osborn, Harold Lang, Jill Melford, Alvys Maben, Michael Golden, Nora Gordon, Alfie Bass, Arnold Diamond, Norman Fisher, Ann Gow, Lindsay Hooper, Cleo Laine, Delphi Lawrence, Arthur Lovegrove, Joe Phelps, Olive Sloane.

On this day in movie history - Drive a Crooked Road (1954):

Drive a Crooked Road

directed by William Keighley,

written by Blake Edwards and Richard Quine,

based on a story by James Benson Nablo,

was released in the United States on March 10, 1954.
Music by George Duning.

Cast:

Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Kelly, Harry Landers, Jerry Paris, Paul Picerni, Dick Crockett, Irene Bolton, John Close, Richard H. Cutting, John Damler, Linda Danson, Diana Dawson, Jean Engstrom, Mike Mahoney, Peggy Maley, Patrick Miller, Mort Mills, George Paul, Jeffrey Stone, Amzie Strickland, Howard Wright.

Recommended reading - Adjustment Team, by Philip K. Dick (1954):

Adjustment Team

By Philip K. Dick.

Filmed as The Adjustment Bureau (2011), directed by George Nolfi.

Published by Read & Co. Classics.

First published 1954.

Illustrated edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1473305543

ISBN-13: 978-1473305540

Description:

Posing the question of who truly controls our destiny, Adjustment Team is a remarkable short story by the prolific science fiction writer Philip K. Dick.

Ed Fletcher is a real estate salesman with a steady routine. When he leaves late for work one day, his entire life is thrust off-kilter. Arriving at his office, Ed realises the entire world has been transformed into a horrifying black-and-white nightmare. Rushing to get help, Ed begins to question the philosophy of life and, on the brink of a psychotic breakdown, he realises that he might not be in charge of his own fate.

First published in 1954, Adjustment Team was adapted into the science fiction romantic thriller The Adjustment Bureau in 2011.

On this day in movie history - Highway Dragnet (1954):

Highway Dragnet

directed by Nathan Juran,

written by Herb Meadow, Jerome Odlum, Fred Eggers and Tom Hubbard,

based on a story by U.S. Andersen and Roger Corman,

was released in the United States on February 7, 1954.
Music by Edward J. Kay.

Cast:

Richard Conte, Joan Bennett, Wanda Hendrix, Reed Hadley, Mary Beth Hughes, Iris Adrian, Harry Harvey, Tom Hubbard, Frank Jenks, Murray Alper, Zon Murray, House Peters Jr., Joseph Crehan, Charles Anthony Hughes.