On this day in movie history - The Detective (1968):

The Detective

directed by Gordon Douglas,

written by Abby Mann,

based on the novel by Roderick Thorp,

was released in the United States on May 28, 1968.
Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:

Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman, Horace McMahon, Lloyd Bochner, William Windom, Tony Musante, Al Freeman Jr., Robert Duvall, Pat Henry, Patrick McVey, Dixie Marquis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Renée Taylor, Jim Inman, Tom Atkins, Jacqueline Bisset, Mikel Angel, Ted Beniades, Mark Dawson, James Dukas, Jan Farrand, Don Fellows, Tom Gorman, Sharon Henesy, Richard Krisher, Lou Krugman, Paul Larson, Alan Manson, Bette Midler, Earl Montgomery, Peg Murray, Lou Nelson, George Plimpton, Frank Raiter, Jilly Rizzo, Jose Rodriguez, Joe Santos, Diane Sayer, Arnold Soboloff, Philip Sterling, Stephen Wright, Peter York.

On this day in music history:

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash (1968)

Alcohol & Salvation by Carolyn Wonderland (2003)

Natalie Merchant by Natalie Merchant (2014)

Within Temptation: The Invisible Force (2025)

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

Album by Johnny Cash,

released May 6, 1968.

Track list: Folsom Prison Blues; Busted; Dark as the Dungeon; I Still Miss Someone; Cocaine Blues; 25 Minutes to Go; Orange Blossom Special; The Long Black Veil; Send a Picture of Mother; The Wall; Dirty Old Egg-Suckin’ Dog; Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart; Joe Bean; Jackson; Give My Love to Rose; I Got Stripes; The Legend of John Henry’s Hammer; Green, Green Grass of Home; Greystone Chapel (Reprise).

Alcohol & Salvation

Album by Carolyn Wonderland,

released May 6, 2003.

Track list: I’m Innocent; I’m Out Sick; How Many Crowes; Brick Wall; The Only Girl You Knew; Worst Day of My Life; Bad Girl; Beer; Pieces of a Postcard; Feed Me to the Lions; Sober; I’m the Man; Gospel Song; I Don’t Wanna Fall for You.

Natalie Merchant

Album by Natalie Merchant,

released May 6, 2014.

Track list: Ladybird; Maggie Said; Texas; Go Down Moses; Seven Deadly Sins; Giving up Everything; Black Sheep; It's A-Coming; Lulu (Introduction); Lulu; The End.

Within Temptation: The Invisible Force

Documentary directed by Arjen Sinninghe Damsté.

Released May 6, 2025.

Cast: Sharon den Adel, Robert Westerholt, Within Temptation.

On this day in music history:

Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel (1968)

La Cenerentola (1996)

Night Songs by Renée Fleming and Jean-Yves Thibaudet (2001)

Bookends

Album by Simon & Garfunkel,

released April 3, 1968.

Track list: Bookends Theme; Save the Life of My Child; America; Overs; Voices of Old People; Old Friends; Bookends Theme (Reprise); Fakin’ It; Punky’s Dilemma; Mrs. Robinson (From “The Graduate” Soundtrack); A Hazy Shade of Winter; At the Zoo; You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies; Old Friends (Demo).

La Cenerentola

An episode of the Great Performances TV series.

Directed by Brian Large.

Written by Jacopo Ferretti and Charles Perrault.

Released in the United States on April 3, 1996.

Music by Gioachino Rossini.

Cast: Cecilia Bartoli, Enzo Dara, Raúl Giménez, Alessandro Corbelli, Michele Pertusi, Laura Knoop, Jill Grove, Bruno Campanella, Houston Grand Opera Chorus, Spiro Winsett.

Night Songs

Album by Renée Fleming and Jean-Yves Thibaudet,

released April 3, 2001.

Track list: Debussy: Mandoline; Debussy: Apparition; Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis, L. 90 - La Flûte de Pan; Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis, L. 90 - La Chevelure; Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis, L. 90 - Le Tombeau des Naiades; Marx: Nocturne; Marx: Nachtgebet; Marx: Selige Nacht; Marx: Pierrot Dandy; R. Strauss: Ruhe, meine Seele, Op. 27, No. 1; R. Strauss: Schlechtes Wetter, Op. 69, No. 5; R. Strauss: Leises Lied, Op. 39, No. 1; R. Strauss: Leise Lieder, Op. 41a, No. 5; R. Strauss: Caecilie, Op. 27, No. 2; Rachmaninoff: Zdes’ khorosho, Op. 21, No. 7; Rachmaninoff: V molchani nochi taynoy, Op. 4, No. 3; Rachmaninoff: The Waterlily, Op. 8, No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Dreams, Op. 38, No. 5; Rachmaninoff: These Summer Nights, Op. 14, No. 5; Rachmaninoff: Ne poy, krasavitsa, pri mne, Op. 4, No. 4.

On this day in movie history - 2001: a Space Odyssey (1968 movie & books):

2001: A Space Odyssey

directed by Stanley Kubrick,

written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke,

based on the short story The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke,

was released in the United States on April 2, 1968.
Music by Aram Khachaturyan, György Ligeti, Johann Strauss and Richard Strauss.

Cast:

Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret Tyzack, Robert Beatty, Sean Sullivan, Douglas Rain, Frank Miller, Edwina Carroll, Penny Brahms, Heather Downham, Alan Gifford, Ann Gillis, Chela Matthison, Vivian Kubrick, Kenneth Kendall.

Recommended reading:

2001: a Space Odyssey

By Arthur C. Clarke.

Published by Ace.

First published 1968.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0451452739

ISBN-13: 978-0451452733

Description:

The classic science fiction novel that captures and expands on the vision of Stanley Kubrick’s immortal film – and changed the way we look at the stars and ourselves.

From the savannas of Africa at the dawn of mankind to the rings of Saturn as man ventures to the outer rim of our solar system, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a journey unlike any other.

This allegory about humanity’s exploration of the universe – and the universe’s reaction to humanity – is a hallmark achievement in storytelling that follows the crew of the spacecraft Discovery as they embark on a mission to Saturn. Their vessel is controlled by HAL 9000, an artificially intelligent supercomputer capable of the highest level of cognitive functioning that rivals – and perhaps threatens – the human mind.

Grappling with space exploration, the perils of technology, and the limits of human power, 2001: A Space Odyssey continues to be an enduring classic of cinematic scope.

The Sentinel

By Arthur C. Clarke.

Masterworks of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Published by Berkley.

Published 1986.

ISBN-10: 0425093891

ISBN-13: 978-0425093894

Description:

Arthur C. Clarke. The author of more than fifty books: with over 15 million copies in print, Arthur C. Clarke is one of the most distinguished figures in modern science and science fiction. He is the inventor of the concept of the communications satellite, a past Chairman of the Academy of Astronomics. His novel Rendezvous with Rama was the winner of science fiction’s three highest honors: the Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards. Arthur C. Clarke has covered the Apollo missions with Walter Cronkite and has lectured internationally on the peaceful exploration of space.

Here Arthur C. Clarke presents a magnificent collection of his finest work, spanning four decades. Included in this volume, along with revealing new introductions, are:

The Sentinel – The story that inspired 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Guardian Angel – The rarely-glimpsed work that gave birth to Childhood’s End.

The Songs of Distant Earth – A fantastic tale of first contact with an alien world, the basis for Clarke’s latest novel.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek (1968)

Star Trek

Season 2. Episode 26.

Episode entitled: Assignment: Earth.

Released March 29, 1968.

Directed by Marc Daniels.

Written by Art Wallace, Gene Roddenberry.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Alexander Courage.

Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, Robert Lansing, Teri Garr, Don Keefer, Lincoln Demyan, Morgan Jones, Bruce Mars, Ted Gehring, Paul Baxley, Barbara Babcock, Bill Blackburn, Robert D'Arcy, Frank da Vinci, Rudy Doucette, Roger Holloway, Bob Johnson, Ken Kane, Esther Ying Lee, Eddie Paskey, Edwin Rochelle, April Tatro.

Born on this day – Andrew Pyper:

Andrew Pyper

Writer

March 29, 1968 – January 3, 2025

Credits:

Books:

1001 Names and Their Meanings (2012); Breaking and Entering (2012); Call Roxanne (2012); Camp Sacred Heart (2012); Dime Bag Girl (2012); House of Mirrors (2012); If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now (2012); Kiss Me (1996); Lost Girls (1999); Magnificent (2012); Oracle (2021); Sausage Stew (2012); The Author Shows a Little Kindness (2012); The Damned (2015); The Demonologist (2013); The Earliest Memory Exercise (2012); The Guardians (2011); The Homecoming (2019); The Killing Circle (2008); The Only Child (2017); The Residence (2020); The Trade Mission / aka Dark Descent (2002); The Wildfire Season (2005); Toronto Noir / Akashic Noir (2008); Unnerving Magazine: Issue #14 (2020); X-Ray (2012).

Television:

Biology of Story (2016); Oracle (2021); Oracle 2: The Dreamland Murders (2022); Shock Docs (2021).