Recommended reading - Clean Break, by Lionel White (1955):

Clean Break

By Lionel White.

Filmed as The Killing (1956), directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Published by Chosho Publishing.

First published 1955.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1958425516

ISBN-13: 978-1958425510

Description:

Johnny Clay, an ex-con determined to strike it rich, has worked out a fool-proof scheme to knock off a racetrack payroll. The two million bucks should be enough to last him a lifetime or two. But a two-faced dame has another idea: Let Johnny do the work, then she'll grab the swag for herself and her boyfriend.

Johnny Clay’s plan to rob the Long Island race track was daring and highly original. Johnny, an ex-convict, had spent his prison years thinking through every possible hitch to his scheme until he was sure it could go off like clockwork.

His four confederates were not known to the police for they were not professional criminals. They had been picked because they were ordinary nondescript men, all with money problems and a touch of larceny in their hearts. Mike Henty was a bartender at the track and George Peatty a cashier, both essential inside men. Martin Unger, a court stenographer, had put up the initial cash and Randy Kennan, a cop, was to get the money away from the track after Johnny had done the actual robbing.

There were in addition three others who were to do a specific jobs for a cash payment. To one of these men fell the assignment of shooting the favorite in the famous Canarsie Stakes. Once this was accomplished, the robbery was set into motion.

The crime in this story is a grand coup, fantastic yet completely possible if everything clicked. So too has Lionel White achieved a grand coup in the telling of the story as he concentrates first on one character then on another, picking up the individual threads and building them into a brilliantly integrated climax. Clean Break is a masterpiece of originality, a highly plotted and ingeniously executed story of suspense.

Born on this day – Bill Paxton:

Bill Paxton

Actor

Director

Musician

May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017

Credits:

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On this day in movie history - Las Vegas Shakedown (1955):

Las Vegas Shakedown

directed by Sidney Salkow,

written by Steve Fisher,

was released in the United States on May 15, 1955.
Music by Edward J. Kay.

Cast:

Dennis O’Keefe, Coleen Gray, Charles Winninger, Thomas Gomez, Dorothy Patrick, Mary Beth Hughes, Elizabeth Patterson, James Millican, Robert Armstrong, Joe Downing, Lewis Martin, Mara McAfee, Charles Fredericks, Regina Gleason, Murray Alper, James Alexander, Frank Hanley, Allen Mathews, Sid Fields, Rory Mallinson, Matty Malneck, Eve Marley, Beverly Richards, Charles Sherlock, Paul Sorensen.

On this day in movie history - Death of a Cyclist (1955):

Death of a Cyclist

directed and written by Juan Antonio Bardem,

based on a story by Luis Fernando de Igoa,

was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 9, 1955.
Music by Isidro B. Maiztegui.

Cast:

Lucia Bosè, Alberto Closas, Bruna Corrà, Carlos Casaravilla, Otello Toso, Alicia Romay, Julia Delgado Caro, Matilde Muñoz Sampedro, Mercedes Albert, José Sepúlveda, José Prada, Fernando Sancho, Manuel Alexandre, Jacinto San Emeterio, Manuel Arbó, Emilio Alonso, Margarita Espinosa, Rufino Inglés, Antonio Casas, Manuel Guitián, Elisa Méndez, José María Rodríguez, Carmen Castellanos, José María Gavilán, José Navarro, Gracia Montes, Valeriano Andrés, Elsa Fábregas, Manuel Red.

On this day in movie history - Kiss Me Deadly (1955):

Kiss Me Deadly

directed by Robert Aldrich,

written by A. I. Bezzerides and Robert Aldrich,

based on the novel by Mickey Spillane,

was released in the United States on April 20, 1955.
Music by Frank De Vol.

Cast:

Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy, Marian Carr, Marjorie Bennett, Mort Marshall, Fortunio Bonanova, Strother Martin, Mady Comfort, James McCallion, Robert Cornthwaite, Silvio Minciotti, Nick Dennis, Ben Morris, Jack Elam, Paul Richards, Jesslyn Fax, James Seay, Percy Helton, Leigh Snowden, Jack Lambert, Jerry Zinneman, Maxine Cooper, Cloris Leachman, Gaby Rodgers, Kitty White, Sam Balter, Joe Hernandez, Eddie Beal, Leonard Bremen, Yvonne Doughty, John George, Charles Lane, Art Loggins, Mara McAfee, Leonard Mudie, Bing Russell, Robert Sherman, Max Wagner, Trude Wyler.

On this day in movie history - Rififi (1955):

Rififi

French title: Du rififi chez les hommes,

directed by Jules Dassin,

written by Auguste Le Breton, Jules Dassin and René Wheeler,

based on the novel by Auguste Le Breton,

was released in France on April 13, 1955.
Music by Georges Auric.

Cast:

Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Janine Darcey, Pierre Grasset, Robert Hossein, Marcel Lupovici, Dominique Maurin, Magali Noël, Marie Sabouret, Claude Sylvain, Jules Dassin, Armandel, Alain Bouvette, Alice Garan, André Dalibert, Jacques David, Émile Genevois, Marcelle Hainia, Marcel Lesieur, Daniel Mendaille, Huguette Montréal, Lita Recio, Fernand Sardou, Jean Bellanger, Jacques Besnard, Teddy Bilis, Jenny Doria, René Hell, Gilbert Moreau, Maryse Paillet, Marcel Rouzé, Roger Rudel.

Recommended reading - The Name Is Archer, by Ross MacDonald (1955):

The Name Is Archer

By Ross MacDonald.

Part of the Lew Archer mystery series.

Paperback

Published by Grand Central Pub.

First published 1955.

ISBN 13: 9780446361569

ISBN10: 0446361569

ASIN: 0446361569

Description:

Anthology containing the following stories: Find the woman; Gone girl; The bearded lady; The suicide; Guilt-edged blonde; The sinister habit; Wild goose chase; Midnight blue; Sleeping dog.

On this day in movie history - The Big Combo (1955):

The Big Combo

directed by Joseph H. Lewis,

written by Philip Yordan,

was released in the United States on March 25, 1955.

Music by David Raksin.

Cast:

Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Robert Middleton, Lee Van Cleef, Earl Holliman, Helen Walker, Jay Adler, John Hoyt, Ted de Corsia, Helene Stanton, Roy Gordon, Whit Bissell, Steve Michaell, Baynes Barron, James McCallion, Tony Michaels, Brian O'Hara, Bruce Sharpe, Michael Mark, Philip Van Zandt, Donna Drew.