Recommended reading - The Chase, by Horton Foote, play & novel (1956/1966):

The Chase

By Horton Foote.

Play version:

72 pages.

Paperback.

Published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

Published 1956.

ISBN 13: 9780822201984

ISBN 10: 0822201984

ASIN: 0822201984

Novel version:

Mass Market Paperback.

Published 1966.

Published by Signet Book.

ASIN: B0DT36B11R

Description:

Sheriff Hawes, honest and sincere peace officer, wearied with his job and its usual run of irritating problems, such as runaway boys, small robberies and the like, is making plans for his retirement. A local boy, Bubber Reeves, escapes from the penitentiary where he is serving a life term. He heads for his hometown, obsessed with the idea of killing Hawes who has become for him the symbol of all he hates. The town is terrified of Bubber and wants him killed. Hawes is determined to take him alive and send him back to the penitentiary. Eventually Hawes traces Bubber to a cabin, but Bubber does not want to be captured and forces Hawes to kill him. Heartbroken over his failure, Hawes goes back to the jail to resign immediately, but his wife convinces him that he is needed in his job, and he decides to continue.

On this day in movie history - Slightly Scarlet (1956):

Slightly Scarlet

directed by Allan Dwan,

written by Robert Blees,

based on the novel Love’s Lovely Counterfeit by James M. Cain,

was released in the United States on February 15, 1956.
Music by Louis Forbes.

Cast:

John Payne, Rhonda Fleming, Arlene Dahl, Kent Taylor, Ted de Corsia, Lance Fuller, Buddy Baer, Fred Aldrich, Murray Alper, Hy Anzell, Joanne Arnold, Ellen Corby, Sam Flint, Frank Gerstle, Roy Gordon, Myron Healey, Frank Jenks, Barry Norton, William ‘Bill’ Phillips, George E. Stone, Hal Taggart, Arthur Tovey, George D. Wallace.

February in movie history - The Houston Story (1956):

The Houston Story

directed by William Castle,

written by James B. Gordon,

based on a story by James B. Gordon,

was released in the United States in February, 1956.
Exact release date unknown.

Cast:

Gene Barry, Barbara Hale, Edward Arnold, Paul Richards, Jeanne Cooper, Frank Jenks, John Zaremba, Chris Alcaide, Jack Littlefield, Paul Levitt, Fred Krone, Pete Kellett.

Recommended reading - Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson (1956):

Badge of Evil

By Whit Masterson.

Filmed as Touch of Evil (1958), directed by Orson Welles.

Published by Adams Media.
First published 1956.
ASIN: 1440560919
ISBN-10: 9781440560910
ISBN-13: 978-1440560910

Description:

“Orson Welles based his noir masterpiece on this equally fine novel.” – The Washington Post.

Quinlan and McCoy – veteran cops who could smell out a murderer …
A dark, swift-running tale of love and hate and death under the bright California sun.
Assistant District Attorney Mitch Holt suspects the wrong people have been arrested in the murder of Rudy Linneker. But if it wasn't Linneker's daughter and her fiance, who was it? And why do two of the city's most decorated and beloved cops look like they're not shooting straight? If they've planted evidence in this case, what else are they guilty of in the past?

On this day in movie history - Nightfall (1956):

Nightfall

directed by Jacques Tourneur,

written by Stirling Silliphant,

based on the novel by David Goodis,

was released in the United States on January 23, 1957.
Music by George Duning.

Cast:

Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Anne Bancroft, Jocelyn Brando, James Gregory, Frank Albertson, Rudy Bond, Arline Anderson, Monty Ash, María Belmar, Orlando Beltran, Art Bucaro, Robert Cherry, George Cisar, Lillian Culver, Bess Flowers, Joan Fotre, Pat Jones, Lillian Kassan, Betty Koch, Jane Lynn, Eddie McLean, Gene Roth, Walter Smith, Annabelle Thiele, Maya Van Horn, Winifred Waring.

Born on this day – Lizzy Mercier Descloux:

Lizzy Mercier Descloux

Singer

Musician

Writer

Composer

Actress

Painter

December 16, 1956 – April 20, 2004

Credits:

Albums:

Rosa Yemen – Live in N.Y.C July 1978 (1978); Press Color (1979); Mambo Nassau (1981); Zulu Rock (1984); One for the Soul (1985); Suspense (1988).

Movies and television:

Corporate (2019); Cocoricocoboy (1984); 5 Flaschen für Angelika (1981); Beauty Becomes the Beast (1979); Midi-Première (1979).

Born on this day – Julee Cruise:

Julee Cruise

Singer

Songwriter

Actress

December 1, 1956 – June 9, 2022

Credits:

Albums:

Floating into the Night (1989); The Voice of Love (1993); The Art of Being a Girl (2002); My Secret Life (2011).

Movies and television:

Alice in Wonderland (1983); Beavis and Butt-Head (1995); Behind the Music (1992); Blue Velvet (1986); Chromatics: Shadow (2017); Cinéma, de notre temps (1989); El club lento (2023); Free Enterprise (1998); Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted (1992); Kinetica (2001); Nutcracker (2001); Popular Voices at the BBC (2017); Psych (2010); Puss in Boots (1983); Saturday Night Live (1990); Scream (1996); Secrets from Another Place: Creating Twin Peaks (2007); Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023); TCM Remembers 2022 (2022); Tele 5 dígame (1991); The Company (2003); The Dream (2017); The Marvelous Land of Oz (1981); The Media Show (1991); The Music of David Lynch Benefit Concert (2015); The Red Shoes (1985); The Wind in the Willows (1983); Too Young to Die (2012); Top of the Pops (1990); Twin Peaks (1989–1990); Twin Peaks (2017); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Until the End of the World (1991); VIP noche (1991).

Born on this day – Erich Anderson:

Erich Anderson

Actor

Writer

October 24, 1956 – June 1, 2024

Patrick Stewart (left), Erich Anderson (right), in Star Trek: The Next Generation / episode: Conundrum (1992)

Credits:

7th Heaven (1996); A Time to Remember (2003); Baby Talk (1991); Bat*21 (1988); Bay City Blues (1983–1984); Beyond Suspicion (2000); Blood Money (2000); Bones (2007); Boomtown (2002–2003); Bosch (2017–2018); Boston Public (2001); Bum Rap (2009); Chicago Hope (1999); Civil Wars (1993); Class of '96 (1993); Close to Home (2005–2006); Cold Brook (2018); Cold Case (2009); Coroner's Report (2020); Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000); CSI: Miami (2004); Dallas (1988); Dragnet (2004); Dream West (1986); Due East (2002); ER (1999); Eyes (2007); Family Law (2001); Fearless (2004); Felicity (1998–2002); For Love and Honor (1983); For the People (2002); Franklin & Bash (2012); Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984); Ghost Whisperer (2009); Gramps (1995); Halfway There (2018); Hard Copy (1987); Hi, Dad (2014); His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009); House (2007); I Married Who? (2012); If Looks Could Kill (1996); Infinity (1996); Interrogation (2020); Jack (2004); Jack's Place (1993); JAG (2001); Jason's Unlucky Day: 25 Years After Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter (2009); Journeyman (2007); Knight Rider (2008); L.A. Doctors (1999); Las Vegas (2007); Level 9 (2008); Love Kills (1991); Major Crimes (2012–2016); Matlock (1994); Medical Investigation (2005); Medium (2008); Melrose Place (1994); Missing in Action (1984); Monk (2009); Murder, She Wrote (1986); NCIS (2003); Nightwatch (1997); NYPD Blue (2000); Officer Downe (2016); Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992); Pair of Aces (1990); Parking (1996); Patty Hearst (1988); Police Story: Monster Manor (1988); Quantum Leap (1990); Second Chances (1993); Session Man (1991); Silk Stalkings (1997); Sisters (1995); Slasher Scotty (2020); Special (2006); Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal (1998); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992); The Antagonists (1991); The Big Easy (1997); The Big Lie (2022); The District (2002); The Division (2002); The Final Cut (1995); The Glass Shield (1994); The Guardian (2003); The Marshal (1995); The Mentalist (2010); The Neighbor (2017); The Outer Limits (1996–2001); The Paper Chase (1985); The Riches (2008); The Witches of Eastwick (1992); The X-Files (2000); Thick as Thieves (1999); Thirtysomething (1990–1991); Those Who Wait (2020); Threadbare (2017); Touched by an Angel (1998); Tour of Duty (1989); Unfaithful (2002); Welcome to 18 (1986); Where's Marlowe? (1998); Without a Trace (2002); Without Limits (1998).

Born on this day – Carrie Fisher:

Carrie Fisher

Actress

Writer

October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016

On this day in movie history - Julie (1956):

Julie

directed and written by Andrew L. Stone,

was released in the United States on October 17, 1956.
Music by Leith Stevens, Tom Adair and Leonard Pennario.

Cast:

Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan, Frank Lovejoy, Jack Kelly, Ann Robinson, Barney Phillips, Jack Kruschen, John Gallaudet, Carleton Young, Hank Patterson, Ed Hinton, Harlan Warde, Aline Towne, Eddie Marr, Joel Marston, Mae Marsh.

Born on this day – Deborah Coleman:

Deborah Coleman

Blues singer

Guitarist

October 3, 1956 – April 12, 2018

On this day in movie history - A Strange Adventure (1956)

A Strange Adventure,

directed by William Witney,

written by Houston Branch,

was released in the United States on August 24, 1956.
Music by R. Dale Butts.

Cast:
Joan Evans, Ben Cooper, Marla English, Jan Merlin, Nick Adams, Peter Miller, Paul Smith, Emlen Davies, Frank Wilcox, Thomas Browne Henry, John Maxwell, Steve Wayne, Wendell Niles, John Pickard, Jack Shea, Ken Terrell, Al Wyatt Sr.

Recommended reading - The Barbarous Coast (1956):

The Barbarous Coast (1956).

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0307279030

ISBN-13: 978-0307279033

Description:

“Ross Macdonald writes like a son of a bitch.” – Anthony Boucher.

“Not since the novels of Nathanael West has the theme of American innocence grinding to a stop at the polluted waters of the Pacific so consistently reverberated through a body of writing.” – Detroit News.

The beautiful, high-diving blonde had Hollywood dreams and stars in her eyes but now she seems to have disappeared without a trace. Hired by her hotheaded husband and her rummy “uncle,” Lew Archer sniffs around Malibu and finds the stink of blackmail, blood-money, and murder on every pricey silk shirt. Beset by dirty cops, a bumptious boxer turned silver screen pretty boy, and a Hollywood mogul with a dark past, Archer discovers the secret of a grisly murder that just won't stay hidden.

Lew Archer navigates through the watery, violent world of wealth and privilege, in this electrifying story of obsession gone mad.

“Macdonald makes a routine story of ocean-side murder among the rich take on a hard-edged, glistening solidity.” – AudioFile.

Born on this day – Carol Higgins Clark:

Carol Higgins Clark

Writer

Actress

July 28, 1956 – June 12, 2023

Credits:

Books:

A Holiday Collection (2010); A Poison That Leaves No Trace: With Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle (2002); All By Myself, Alone (2017); All Through the Night (1998); As Time Goes by (2016); Burned (2005); Carol Higgins Clark Boxed Set Vol 1 (2011); Cursed (2009); Dashing Through the Snow (2008); Deck the Halls (2000); Deck the Halls / The Christmas Thief (2009); Decked (1991); Fleeced (2001); Gypped / Scammed (2012); He Sees You When You're Sleeping (2001); Hitched (2006); Iced (1994); I'll Walk Alone (2011); Jinxed (2002); Laced (2007); Mobbed (2011); Murder For Love (1996); Popped (2003); Santa Cruise (2006); Snagged (1993); The Christmas Collection (2006); The Christmas Thief (2004); The Lost Years (2012); The Lottery Winner (1994); The Plot Thickens (1997); Twanged (1997); Weep No More, My Lady (1987); Wrecked (2010); Zapped (2008).

Movies and television:

A Cry in the Night (1992); Books Equal Gifts Commercial (2008); Bouillon de culture (1999); C à vous (2011); Café Picouly (2011); Deck the Halls (2011); Deck the Halls (2011); Fatal Charm (1990); Home & Family (2013–2014); Imus in the Morning (2014); My Gal Sunday (2014); Night of the Fox (1990); Party Planner with David Tutera (2005); Secret Service (1993); Stillwatch (1987); The Cradle Will Fall (2004); The Mystery Cruise (2013); The View (2004); Tout le monde en parle (2003); Where Are the Children? (1986); While My Pretty One Sleeps (1997).

On this day in movie history - Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956):

Somebody Up There Likes Me,

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Ernest Lehman,

based on the autobiography by Rocky Graziano with Rowland Barber,

was released in the United States on July 4, 1956.
Music by Bronislau Kaper.

Cast:
Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart, Harold J. Stone, Joseph Buloff, Sal Mineo, Ray Stricklyn, Robert Loggia, Steve McQueen, Angela Cartwright, Jack Orrison, Frank Campanella, Dean Jones.