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

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:

Rififi

By Alastair Phillips.

Ciné-File French Film Guides.

Published by I.B.Tauris.

Published 2009.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1848850557

ISBN-13: 978-1848850552

Description:

Du rififi chez les hommes (1955), directed by the exiled American film director Jules Dassin, recounts the nail-biting tale of a Parisian gangster heist gone wrong. Famed for its extended dialogue free robbery sequence, it is both a classic French film noir and one of the greatest, most influential crime films. In this lively companion to the film, Alastair Phillips reveals Dassin’s role as a director of socially conscious Hollywood film noir and argues that his seminal contribution to the regeneration of the thriller in post war France therefore uniquely complicated relations between French genre cinema and American mass culture.

Phillips also examines the film's innovative narrative construction and use of sound, its performance style and mise-en-scène, and discusses the film's legacy, showing how even today, the term ""Rififi"" remains a byword for both criminal glamor and the enduring virtues of French popular classical filmmaking.

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.

Born on this day – Glenne Headly:

Glenne Headly

Actress

March 13, 1955 – June 8, 2017

Credits:

2 Days in the Valley (1996); A Girl Thing (2001); AFI Life Achievement Award (2008); And the Band Played On (1993); Around the Bend (2004); Babe: Pig in the City (1998); Bartleby (2001); Bastard Out of Carolina (1996); Bowery Dawn (1972); Breakfast of Champions (1999); Comeback Season (2006); Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2008); Dial a Prayer (2015); Dick Tracy (1990); Dick Tracy Special (2010); Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988); Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Featurette (1988); Doctor Detroit (1983); Don Jon (2013); Eleni (1985); Encore! Encore! (1998–1999); ER (1996–1997); Eulogy (2004); Fandango (1985); Four Friends (1981); Frasier (1995); Future Man (2017); Getting Even with Dad (1994); Grand Isle (1991); Grey's Anatomy (2008); Hotel Room (1993); It's a Good Day: The Making of 'Around the Bend' (2005); Just Getting Started (2017); Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005); Living with Ed (2009); Lloyd in Space (2002); Lonesome Dove (1989); Making Babies (2018); Making Mr. Right (1987); Merry Xmas (2015); Monk (2003–2006); Mortal Thoughts (1991); Mr. Holland's Opus (1995); My Own Country (1998); Nadine (1987); On Golden Pond (2001); Ordinary Magic (1993); Paperhouse (1988); Parks and Recreation (2012); Pepper Ann (2000); Pound Puppies (2012); Pronto (1997); Psych (2012); Raising Flagg (2006); Recess (1998); Rugrats (2002); Santabear's High Flying Adventure (1987); Say Goodnight, Gracie (1983); Scene Stealers (2002); Seize the Day (1986); Sgt. Bilko (1996); Stars and Bars (1988); Steppenwolf Theatre Company: 25 Years on the Edge (2000); Strange Weather (2016); The 41st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1989); The 49th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1997); The 57th Annual Academy Awards (1985); The Amateurs (2005); The Burbs (2002); The Circle (2017); The Darkest Day (1999); The Fugitive (2001); The Guardian (2004); The Joneses (2009); The League (2013); The Namesake (2006); The Night Of (2016); The Oscars (2018); The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985); The Sandy Bottom Orchestra (2000); The X Files (1998); Timecode (2000); What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001); Winchell (1998); Women vs. Men (2002); Working in the Theatre (1985).

Born on this day – Alberta Watson:

Alberta Watson

Actress

March 6, 1955 – March 21, 2015

Born on this day – Rene Kirby:

Rene Kirby

Actor

February 27, 1955 – July 11, 2025

Credits:

Carnivàle (2005); Shallow Hal (2001); Stuck on You (2003).

On this day in movie history - New York Confidential (1955):

New York Confidential

directed by Russell Rouse,

written by Clarence Greene and Russell Rouse,

based on the novel New York Confidential! by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer,

was released in the United States on February 18, 1955.
Music by Joseph Mullendore.

Cast:

Broderick Crawford, Richard Conte, Marilyn Maxwell, Anne Bancroft, J. Carrol Naish, Onslow Stevens, Barry Kelley, Mike Mazurki, Celia Lovsky, Herbert Heyes, Steven Geray, William 'Bill' Phillips, Tom Powers, John Doucette.

On this day in movie history - Les Diaboliques (1955 movie & novel):

Les Diaboliques

aka Diabolique, The Devils, The Fiends,

directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot,

written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jérôme Géronimi, René Masson and Frédéric Grendel,

based on the novel She Who Was No More by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac,

was released in France on January 29, 1955.
Music by Georges Van Parys.

Cast:

Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel, Jean Brochard, Thérèse Dorny, Michel Serrault, Georges Chamarat, Robert Dalban, Camille Guérini, Jacques Hilling, Jean Lefebvre, Aminda Montserrat, Jean Témerson, Jacques Varennes, Georges Poujouly, Yves-Marie Maurin, Noël Roquevert, Pierre Larquey, Jean-Pierre Bonnefous, Christian Brocard, Jean Clarieux, Henri Coutet, Michel Dumur, Johnny Hallyday, Henri Humbert, Zappy Max, Roberto Rodrigo, Madeleine Suffel, Jimmy Urbain.

Recommended reading:

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.

Born on this day – Eddie Van Halen:

Eddie Van Halen

Musician

Songwriter

January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020

On this day in movie history - Six Bridges to Cross (1955):

Six Bridges to Cross

directed by Joseph Pevney,

written by Sydney Boehm,

based on They Stole $25,000,000 – And Got Away with It by Joseph F. Dinneen,

inspired by the true 1950 Brink’s Robbery,

was released in the United States on January 19, 1955.
Music by Frank Skinner and Herman Stein.

Cast:

Tony Curtis, George Nader, Julie Adams, Jay C. Flippen, Sal Mineo, Jan Merlin, Richard Castle, William Murphy, Kendall Clark, Don Keefer, Harry Bartell, Tito Vuolo, Gina Aguglia, Ronald Anton, Peter Avarmo, John S. Barratt, Nicky Blair, Ted Bliss, Edward F. Bowers, William Brackman, Paul Bretanus, Ralph Brooks, Charles Buswell, Joseph Cammarata, Gordon B. Clarke, Tom Coleman, Hal Conklin, William Conley, John J. Connolly, Charles J. Conrad, Harry Cooper, Henry M. Coughlin, John F. Dacey, Sayre Dearing, Kem Dibbs, James Diorio, Paul Dubov, Sam Finn, Diane Flaherty, William Flannery, Carl Frank, Jack Gargan, Grant Gordon, Joe Gray, Herbert Gross, Claudia Hall, Chuck Hamilton, Kathleen Hooper, John Hormel, Helen Keeton, Elizabeth Kerr, Manuel P. Kurland, Scott Lee, Peter Leeds, Carey Loftin, Robert Lynn, Edmund M. MacClosky, Helen Mayon, Bob McElroy, James McGah, Edward McNally, Joe McTurk, Doris Meade, Harold Miller, Carl Moore, Dan Moynihan, John J. Muldoon, Mary Newton, William H. O'Brien, Carl O'Bryan, Robert Paolucci, Kenneth Patterson, Pennachi, Michael F. Powers, Joseph Quaranta, George Ramsey, Harry Raven, John Regan, Edward Richardson, Di Di Roberts, Kenny Roberts, Nandy Robie, Charles F. Roche, William Ryan, Cosmo Sardo, Frank E. Sawin Jr., Anabel Shaw, Edward R. Skrickus, James Stone, Hal Taggart, Janice Thomas, Clifford F. Tobey, Larry Turner, Charles Victor, Jean Goodale Wales, Robert T. Walley, Roger White, Howard Wright.