Recommended reading - My Kind of Game, by Marvin Albert (1962):

My Kind of Game

By Marvin Albert.

Published by Fawcett.

First published 1962.

Mass Market Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0449133885

ISBN-13: 978-0449133880

Description:

WANTED – Anyone with information about Louis Kovac may find it worth-while to get in touch with Anthony Rome at the Seaview Motel. Kovac met with an accident. His assignment will be completed by Rome.

The ad was Rome’s last hope, a stab-in-the-dark that someone might spill who had it in for Lou Kovac, and why.

Rome didn’t expect an immediate answer. He wasn’t ready to get it in his motel room, in person, from a beautiful girl, pointing a very loaded .32.

A new, trigger-sharp case in the fast, bullet-scarred career of detective Anthony Rome.

My Kind of Game.

On this day in movie history - L’Eclisse (1962):

L’Eclisse

aka The Eclipse,

directed by Michelangelo Antonioni,

written by Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra, Elio Bartolini and Ottiero Ottieri,

was released in Italy on April 12, 1962.
Music by Giorgio Gaslini.

Cast:

Alain Delon, Monica Vitti, Francisco Rabal, Lilla Brignone, Rossana Rory, Mirella Ricciardi, Louis Seigner, Cyrus Elias, Alba Maiolini, Maria Tedeschi.

Born on this day – Andrea Blaugrund Nevins:

Andrea Blaugrund Nevins

Writer

Director

Producer

March 15, 1962 – April 12, 2025

Credits:

A Line in the Sand: War or Peace? (1991); Hysterical (2021); Intimate Portrait (1995); Jane Pratt (1993); Play It Forward (2015); Quincy (2018); State of Play (2014); Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies (1997); The Cowboy and the Queen (2023); The Orson Bean Show (2025); The Other F Word (2011); The Witness (2015); Tiny Shoulders, Rethinking Barbie (2018).

On this day in movie history - La Jetée (1962 movie & book):

La Jetée

aka The Jetty / The Pier,

directed and written by Chris Marker,

the inspiration for 12 Monkeys (1995), directed by Terry Gilliam,

was released in France on February 16, 1962.
Narrated by Jean Négroni.
Music by Trevor Duncan.

Cast:

Hélène Châtelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, André Heinrich, Jacques Branchu, Pierre Joffroy, Etienne Becker, Philbert von Lifchitz, Ligia Borowczyk, Janine Klein, William Klein, Germano Facetti.

Recommended reading:

La Jetée: Ciné-Roman

By Chris Marker.

Zone Books

Distributed by The MIT Press.

Published 1992.

ISBN-10: 0942299663

ISBN-13: 978-0942299663

The inspiration for the movie 12 Monkeys (1995), directed by Terry Gilliam.

Description:

In the aftermath of World War III, both the earth’s surface and all of history – everything ever dreamed or known – lies irretrievably buried in a heap of radioactive devastation. Space has become off-limits, and the war’s few remaining survivors, huddled underground in the dank galleries beneath Chaillot, seek desperately an alternative path to survival – one perhaps that passes through Time. At the expense of madness, death, and unspeakable cruelty, they begin a set of experiments whose purpose will be to launch emissaries, in search of food, medicine and energy, through a hole in Time. A man is chosen for his unique quality of having retained a single clear image from pre-war days; no more than an ambiguous memory fragment from childhood – a visit to the jetty at Orly airport, the troubling glance of an unknown woman, the crumbling body of a dying man. These elements become crucial hinge-points in the ensuing narrative, thickening and accumulating nuance with each successful expedition into the historical past. The image of a woman, increasingly suffused with the time – and eros – bestowing capacities of a deep and impossible love, provides both the kernel for the recovery of the dimension through which humankind and history will be saved, as well as the tragic abyss into which both the hero and the narrative inexorably fall.

Although Chris Marker’s legendary film is no more than 29 minutes long and contains but a single moving image, perhaps no other film has matched its combination of devastating emotional power, former brilliance and philosophical complexity. The story marker tells – a stunning parable of our modern fate – is about the death of the world, about loss, memory, hope, and the indomitable power of love.

“This strange and poetic film, a fusion of science fiction, psychological fable, and photomontage … creates its own conventions from scratch. It triumphantly succeeds where science fiction invariably fails.” – J.G. Ballard.

On this day in music history - Victoria And Her Blues, by Victoria Spivey (1962):

Victoria And Her Blues

Album by Victoria Spivey,

recorded February 12, 1962.

Track list:

Grant Spivey; When I Was Seven; Talk About Moanin'; Mr. Daddy; So Long Buddy; From Broadway to 7th Ave.; Brooklyn Bridge; Thirteen Years; Cool Papa; New York Moan; New York Tombs; Buddy Tate.

Born on this day – Zoë Lund:

Zoë Lund

Composer

Musician

Actress

Writer

Producer

February 9, 1962 – April 16, 1999

Credits:

Dreamland (1997); Hand Gun (1994); Hot Ticket (1993); Bad Lieutenant (1992); The Houseguest (1989); Exquisite Corpses (1989); Hothouse (1988); Miami Vice (1985); Special Effects (1984); Ms .45 (1981); Times Square (1980).

On this day in movie history - Days of Wine and Roses (1962 movie & books):

Days of Wine and Roses

directed by Blake Edwards,

written by JP Miller,

based on the 1958 teleplay by JP Miller,

was released in the United States on December 26, 1962.
Music by Henry Mancini.

Cast:

Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford, Jack Klugman, Alan Hewitt, Tom Palmer, Debbie Megowan, Maxine Stuart, Jack Albertson, Leon Alton, Don Anderson, Carl Arnold, Roger Barrett, Russ Bender, Mary Benoit, Mel Blanc, Gail Bonney, Lynn Borden, Dick Crockett, Russell Custer, George DeNormand, Jennifer Edwards, Ella Ethridge, James Gonzalez, Lisa Guiraut, Chuck Hicks, Barbara Hines, Charlene Holt, Tai Yen Horowitz, Jerry Jensen, Kenner G. Kemp, Rita Kenaston, James Lanphier, Ken Lynch, John Bard Manulis, Mathew McCue, Harold Miller, Richard O'Brien, Doye O'Dell, Pat O'Malley, Alan Paige, Peggy Patten, Jack Riley, Tom Rosqui, Myrna Ross, Doc Scortt, Robert 'Buddy' Shaw, Stanley Sober, Olan Soule, Katherine Squire, Florence Stark, Bert Stevens, Lynn Terry, Arthur Tovey, John Truax, Charles Watts, Charles Wood.

Recommended reading:

Days of Wine and Roses

By J.P. Miller.

Published by Dramatist's Play Service.
Teleplay first published 1958.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0822202816
ISBN-13: 9780822202813

Description:

In the fast-moving milieu of Madison Avenue, social drinking is almost an occupational necessity, and one that fast-rising young Joe Clay adopts with too ready ease. Unfortunately, the girl he meets and marries shares his proclivity, and while they continue to tell themselves that they drink because they choose to, it is soon apparent that their habit has become a serious problem. But their failure to acknowledge this plunges them headlong into the shattering events of the play a career in shambles, a marriage destroyed, the esteem of friends and family lost, and a child who has become the innocent victim of their obsession. In the poignant ending of the play a spectre of hope arises but, more important, so does a galvanizing awareness of the depth of their torment, and of the lesson which their compulsive self-destruction must have for others.

Days of Wine and Roses

By David Westheimer.

Mass Market Paperback.

ISBN: B0000CLO9H

Published 1963.

Published by Bantam Books.

Description:

A story of Brandy Alexander and the insidious way alcohol can destroy a life. Based on J.P. Miller's play and includes three still pictures on back cover from the movie of the same name.