Born on this day – Bill Paxton:

Bill Paxton

Actor

Director

Musician

May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017

Credits:

100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994); 12 Mighty Orphans (2021); 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2013); 2 Guns (2013); 2 Guns: Boston Premiere Documentary (2013); 5 Things I Learned Today (2010); 8th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards (2010); A Bright Shining Lie (1998); A Simple Plan (1998); A World on the 'Edge of Tomorrow' (2014); Abducted: An MTV News Special Report (1997); Access Hollywood (1996); Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014 / 2017); Aliens (1986); Aliens vs. Pinball (2016); America in Primetime (2011); American Experience (2001); An Early Frost (1985); Anatomy of a Scene (2002); Anatomy of a 'Twister' (2000); Apollo 13 (1995); Arctic Void (2022); Avatar: The Way of Water (2022); Back to Back (1989); Barnes & Barnes: Ah A (1984); Barnes & Barnes: Fish Heads (1980); Barnes & Barnes: Love Tap (1981); Barnes & Barnes: Soak It Up (1983); Beach Blanket Bango (1975); Big Bad Mama (1974); Big Love (2006–2011); Big Love: In the Beginning (2007); Biography (1999–2008); Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters (2006); Boxing Helena (1993); Brain Dead (1990); Breaking the Silence: The Making of 'Hannibal' (2001); Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981); Call Me by Your Name (2017); Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Exo Zombies (2015); Carried Away (2009); Charlie Rose (1998); Cinemassacre's Monster Madness (2013); Club Dread (2004); Commando (1985); Crazy Mama (1975); Curiosity (2011); Deadly Lessons (1983); Death Game (1977); Derailroaded (2005); Directors: James Cameron (1997); Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection / Fish Heads (1991); Drift (2023); E! True Hollywood Story (2008); Eat My Dust (1976); Edge of Tomorrow (2014); Edge of Tomorrow: Storming the Beach (2014); Edge of Tomorrow: Weapons of the Future (2014); Entertainment Tonight (2008–2017); Extra (2017); Festival Pass with Chris Gore (2002); Flicks (1983); Frailty (2001); Frank & Jesse (1994); Frasier (2003); Fresno (1986); Future Shock (1994); Galaxy of Terror (1981); Ghosts of the Abyss (2003); Good Morning America (2015); Good Morning, Texas (2015); Great Day (1983); Hate* (*a comedy) (1999); Hatfields & McCoys (2012); Haven (2004); Haywire (2011); HBO First Look (1996–2000); Head Smash: The Prequel (2013); His Highness Hollywood (2008); Hollywood Today (2016–2017); Impulse (1984); Indian Summer (1993); Invasion of Independence Day (1996); JFK: The Final Hours (2013); Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater (1995); Jurassic World Dominion (2022); Larry King Live (2000); Larry King Now (2013–2015); Last Call with Carson Daly (2005–2017); Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1998); Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009–2012); Late Show with David Letterman (1995); Le grand journal de Canal+ (2007); Limp Bizkit: Eat You Alive (2003); Limp Bizkit: Greatest Videoz (2005); Live with Kelly and Mark (2007–2012); Living in Darkness (2002); Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13 (1996); Made in Hollywood (2013); Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon (2005); Martini Ranch: How Can the Laboring Man Find Time for Self-Culture (1988); Martini Ranch: Reach (1988); Maury (1994); McClain's Law (1982); Mean Dreams (2016); Miami Vice (1986); Mighty Joe Young (1998); Million Dollar Arm (2014); Minty Comedic Arts (2019); Modern Marvels (2003); Monolith (1993); Mortuary (1982); Movie Guide (2013); Navy Seals (1990); Near Dark (1987); Nerdist Presents: A Conversation with... Bill Paxton (2013); Next of Kin (1989); Nightcrawler (2014); No Strings Attached: The Making of Thunderbirds (2003); Nostalgia Critic (2011); Olhó Popular (1995); One False Move (1991); Overheard (2011); Parkland (2013); Pass the Ammo (1987); Pat Benatar: Choice Cuts - The Complete Video Collection (2003); Pat Benatar: Hit Videos / Shadows of the Night (1984); Pat Benatar: Shadows of the Night (1982); Pat Benatar: The Visual Music Collection / Shadows of the Night (1986); Pixies (2015); Predator 2 (1990); Rachael Ray (2010); Reckless (1983); Red Wing (2013); Reflections on Titanic (2012); Reinventando Hollywood (2008); Resistance (2003); Rumble on the Lot: Walter Hill's Streets of Fire Revisited (2013); SAG Foundation Conversations (2009); Saturday Night Live (1980 / 1999); Saturday Night Live / Fish Heads (1980); Saturday Night Live: Just Shorts (2009); Secret's Out (2007); Séries express (2009); Sexo en serie (2008); Shanghai Calling (2012); Shootout (2006); Showbiz Today (1995); Sky Soldier (2012); Slipstream (1989); Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002); Spy Kids 3: Game Over (2003); Streets of Fire (1984); Stripes (1981); Superior Firepower: The Making of 'Aliens' (2003); Taking Tiger Mountain (1983); Taking Tiger Mountain: Revisited (2019); Taking Tiger Mountain: Revisited (2019); Tales from the Crypt (1993); Tattoo (2011); Tavis Smiley (2009); TCM Guest Programmer (2013); TCM Remembers 2017 (2017); Term Life (2016); Texas Rising (2015); Texas Rising: Capturing the Revolution - Filming Texas Rising (2015); Texas Rising: General Santa Anna: Leading Mexico (2015); Texas Rising: Sam Houston - A Man of the Revolution (2015); The 2001 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2001); The 21st Annual People's Choice Awards (1995); The 22nd Annual People's Choice Awards (1996); The 43rd Annual People's Choice Awards (2017); The 48th NAACP Image Awards (2017); The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999); The 58th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2001 (2001); The 5th Annual Critics' Choice Television Awards (2015); The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2007); The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2010); The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards (2017); The 9th Annual IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (1994); The 'Alien' Saga (2002); The Annual 1995 ShoWest Awards (1995); The Atlanta Child Murders (1985); The Circle (2017); The Cleaner (2021); The Colony (2013); The Dark Backward (1991); The EE British Academy Film Awards (2018); The Egyptian Princess, an Unfolding Fantasy (1977); The Evening Star (1996); The Fanatic (2019); The Gamechangers (2015); The Good Life (2007); The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005); The Hitchhiker (1987); The Hollywood Moment at Home Edition (2020); The Howard Stern Show (1991); The Hunters and the Hunted: The Making of 'Predator 2' (2005); The Jay Leno Show (2010); The Last of the Finest (1990); The Last Supper (1995); The Late Late Show with James Corden (2017); The Lords of Discipline (1983); The Making of 'Alien 3' (1992); The Making of 'Frailty' (2002); The Making of 'Terminator' (1984); The Making of 'Tombstone' (2002); The Making of 'Trespass' (1992); The Making of 'True Lies' (1994); The Movies That Made Us (2021); The Oprah Winfrey Show (1996); The Predator 2: International (1990); The Predator Goes to Town (2005); The Queen Latifah Show (2014); The Reichen Show (2005); The Roommate (1989); The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1997); The Talk (2017); The Terminator (1984); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1986); The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1996–2005); The Vagrant (1992); The View (2006); The WIN Awards 2006 (2006); The Year in Memoriam (2017); Thunderbirds (2004); Titanic (1997); Titanic: 100 Years On (2012); Titanic: Deleted Scenes (2012); Today (2016); Tom Hanks: A League of His Own (2016); Tombstone (1993); Tornado Alley (2011); Training Day (2017); Trap (1998); Traveller (1997); Trespass (1992); Trespass: Behind the Scenes (1992); True Lies (1994); Twister (1996); Twister: Ride It Out (1998); U-571 (2000); Vedro (2017); Vertical Limit (2000); Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary: No Guts, No Glory (1998); Weird Science (1985); Who Do You Think You Are? (2015); WTF with Marc Maron (2017); WWE Smackdown! (2000).

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 movie & novel):

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.

Recommended reading:

Kiss Me Deadly

By Mickey Spillane.

Filmed as Kiss Me Deadly (1955), directed by Robert Aldrich.

Published by Orion.

First published 1952.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1409158691

ISBN-13: 978-1409158691

Description:

# 6 in the Mike Hammer series.

Before Jack Reacher . . . there was Mike Hammer.

One night, a blonde jumps out in front of PI Mike Hammer's car. She's so scared he doesn't have much choice but to give her a ride. At a police roadblock, he discovers she's on the run from a sanatorium, but he passes her off as his wife. Other people besides the police are after the blonde, and these people play rough. Real rough.

The blonde turns out to be the star witness against some big-time mobsters. Mike has blundered into something unimaginably big, but the Feds don't want him involved – and take his PI licence and gun.

For Mike, it's a chance to strike a blow against evil on a grand scale. He discovers that something representing a great deal of money, and a lot of power, has gone missing, and that some people will go to any lengths to get it back . . .

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.