On this day in movie history - Bullitt (movie & novel):

Bullitt

directed by Peter Yates,

written by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner,

based on the novel Mute Witness, by Robert L. Pike,

was released in the United States on October 17, 1968.
Music by Lalo Schifrin.

Cast:

Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon, Robert Duvall, Simon Oakland, Norman Fell, Georg Stanford Brown, Justin Tarr, Carl Reindel, Felice Orlandi, Vic Tayback, Robert Lipton, Ed Peck, Pat Renella, Paul Genge, John Aprea, Al Checco, Bill Hickman, Mal Alberts, Scott Beach, Mary Benoit, Barbara Bosson, Roger Bowen, Joy Carlin, Brandy Carroll, Joanna Cassidy, Julie Christy, Robert Cleaves, Tony Dario, Michael L. Davis, Jim Demarest, Chuck Dorsett, Thomas Duncan, Marjorie Eaton, Walker Edmiston, Sam Edwards, Mimi Fariña, Shirley Fitzgerald, Dick Geary, Frank Gerstle, Dennis Gribbon, Bob Harks, Stacy Harris, Bill Jones, Stu Klitsner, Jean Le Bouvier, Margo Lungreen, Larry D. Mann, Claire Merrill, Kathleen Morrissey, Ned Moss, Vic Perrin, Charlene Polite, Angel Sanchez Jr., Suzanne Somers, Eron Tabor, Liz Treadwell, John Vick, Erick Vinther, Regina Waldon.

Recommended reading:

Mute Witness

By Robert L. Pike.

Filmed as Bullitt (1968), directed by Peter Yates.

Paperback.

First published 1963.

Published by Bloomsbury Paperbacks

ISBN 13: 9780747578628

ISBN 10: 0747578621

ASIN: 0747578621

Description:

'Rossi isn't dead yet. And from what I hear, the Rossi brothers are pretty tough monkeys.' Clancy's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. 'Yeah,' he said. 'They're all tough monkeys. Until they lose those precious ten pints...' Lieutenant Clancy, a tough cop from New York's 52nd Precinct, has been handpicked for an assignment. Assistant District Attorney Chalmers needs him to protect a witness whose testimony is vital. That man is Johnny Rossi, an infamous gangster involved in every West Coast racket from prostitution to gambling, who has turned into a whistle-blower. Shacked up in a fleabag hotel, Rossi should be safe. But when a hood with a shotgun breaks past the police guard and blasts Rossi into a critical condition, Clancy has just seventy-two hours to find out why Chalmers can't keep his mouth shut about his so-called secret case, why Rossi came to New York in the first place, who else knows where he is and when they are coming to finish the job off.

On this day in movie history - Coogan’s Bluff (1968):

Coogan’s Bluff

directed by Don Siegel,

written by Herman Miller, Dean Riesner and Howard Rodman,

based on the novel by Herman Miller,

was released in the United States on October 2, 1968.
Music by Lalo Schifrin.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Susan Clark, Tisha Sterling, Don Stroud, Betty Field, Tom Tully, Melodie Johnson, James Edwards, Rudy Diaz, David Doyle, Louis Zorich, Meg Myles, Marjorie Bennett, Seymour Cassel, John Coe, Skip Battyn, Albert Popwell, Conrad Bain, James Gavin, Albert Henderson, James McCallion, Syl Lamont, Jess Osuna, Jerry Summers, Antonia Rey, Marya Henriques.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek (1968)

Star Trek

Season 3. Episode 2.

Episode entitled: The Enterprise Incident.

Released September 27, 1968.

Directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

Written by D.C. Fontana, Arthur H. Singer.

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, Marj Dusay, Joanne Linville, Jack Donner, Richard Compton, Robert Gentile, Mike Howden, Gordon Coffey, Roger Holloway, Eddie Paskey, Robert Strong.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek (1968)

Star Trek
Season 3. Episode 1.
Episode entitled: Spock’s Brain.
Released September 20, 1968.
Directed by Marc Daniels.
Written by Gene L. Coon / Lee Cronin, Arthur H. Singer.
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, Marj Dusay, James Daris, Sheila Leighton, Bill Blackburn, Frank da Vinci, Roger Holloway, Pete Kellett, Jeannie Malone, Eddie Paskey, Frieda Rentie.

Born on this day – Iris Junik:

Iris Junik

Actress

August 26, 1968 – March 29, 2009

Born on this day – Julian McMahon:

Julian McMahon

Actor

July 27, 1968 – July 2, 2025

Credits:

2005 MTV Movie Awards (2005); ABC News Breakfast (2025); Another Day (2001); Another World (1993–1994); Australian Classics: Volume 2 / Segment: This Is It! (2003); Bait (2012); Bizarre Foods America (2012); Casting Session (2005); Celebrity Page (2021); Charmed (2000–2006); Charmed: Behind the Magic (2003); Chasing Sleep (2000); Chelsea Lately (2010); Childhood's End (2015); Comedy Central Roasts (2009); Conan (2016); Dannii Minogue: This Is It (1993); Dannii Minogue: This Is the Way (1993); Deep Inside (2007); Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016); Endless Summer: 30 Years of Home and Away (2018); Entertainment Tonight (2006–2020); Faces in the Crowd (2011); Family Bonds: The Making of Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007); Fantastic Four (2005); Fantastic Four Video Diary Tour (2005); Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007); Fast Forward (1989); FBI (2019–2021); FBI: International (2021); FBI: Most Wanted (2020–2022); Fire with Fire (2012); For the Love of Fandoms 2: Cérémonie d'ouverture (2023); Full Circle (2013); G.P. (1992); Giving Drama a Facelift (2004); Glimpses of the Future: Making 'Premonition' (2007); Heroes Are Born: Making 'the Fantastic Four' (2005); Hollywood Insider (2020); Home and Away (1990–1991); Home and Away: The Official Summer Bay Special (1996); Home and Away: Weddings (2005); Hunters (2016); I Love New York (2007); In Quiet Night (1998); Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2007); Just Jack & Will with Sean Hayes and Eric McCormack (2023); Late Show with David Letterman (2005); Live with Kelly and Mark (2005–2020); Long Shot: The Kevin Laue Story (2012); Lorraine (2018); Magenta (1997); Making of Fantastic Four: The Video Game (2005); Meet Market (2004); Monster Party (2018); Mornings (2016); Nip/Tuck (2003–2010); Nip/Tuck: Flashing Lights (2008); Paranoia (2013); Planet Voice (2007); Premonition (2007); Prisoner (2007); Profiler (1996–2000); Rafferty's Rules (1989); Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson (2020–2022); Red (2010); Revealed with Jules Asner (2002); Richard & Judy (2003–2007); Robot Chicken (2008); Rogue (2012); Runaways (2017–2018); Sexo en serie (2008); Space Top 10 Countdown (2007); Sunday Brunch (2018); Swinging Safari (2018); Swinging Safari: Behind the Scenes (2018); The 16th Annual Soap Opera Awards (2000); The 2007 World Music Awards (2007); The 49th Annual TV Week Logie Awards (2007); The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards 2005 (2005); The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards 2006 (2006); The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2004–2007); The Graham Norton Show (2007); The Last Laugh (2019); The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005); The Making of Exchange Lifeguards (1993); The Power, the Passion (1989); The Residence (2025); The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat (2024); The Surfer (2024); The Talk (2016–2021); The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2005–2007); The View (2006); This Is Your Life (2022); Today (2005–2018); Unite for Japan (2011); Wet and Wild Summer! (1993); Wild On... (1997–2009); Will & Grace (1998); You're Not You (2014).

Recommended reading - The Wages of Fear (1950):

The Wages of Fear

Original title: Le Salaire de la peur.

By Georges Arnaud.

Originally published in 1950.

This English language translation edition was published in 1968.

Paperback.

Avon edition.

ASIN: B000VDT4KS

Description:

Las Piedras, beaching port. There are hundreds of them, coming from who knows where, to forget the impasse of their existence in the tropics. For a handful of dollars, these low-rankers are ready to do anything. Ready to face kilometers of impassable track, behind the wheel of a dilapidated truck, to transport nitroglycerin. At the slightest deviation, at the slightest shock, it is death. An epic of pure anguish...

Recommended reading - The Third Figure, by Collin Wilcox (1968):

The Third Figure

By Collin Wilcox.

Published by Dodd, Mead.

First published 1968.

ASIN: B0006BUJVS

Description:

A mob boss is dead, and his widow wants Drake to help him rest in peace. Dominic Vennezio is found on the floor of his beachside love nest, murdered on a Sunday night. It looks like an ordinary mob hit, part of a routine power struggle with the East Coast Outfit, but Vennezio's widow has other suspicions. Her marriage to the kingpin had been strained ever since he began taking his secretary for weekends at the beach house, but even now, she feels a devotion to him. She wants justice for her husband – not just legal, but cosmic – and for cosmic justice, San Francisco can offer no better sleuth than Stephen Drake. A crime reporter with a clairvoyant streak, Drake's apprehensions about working for the mob are overcome by his sympathy for the noble widow. He starts his investigation in Los Angeles, talking to Vennezio's replacement, and sees immediately that it doesn't take a psychic to figure out that this job could be deadly.

On this day in movie history - The Thomas Crown Affair (1968):

The Thomas Crown Affair

directed by Norman Jewison,

written by Alan R. Trustman,

was released in the United States on June 19, 1968.

Music by Michel Legrand.

Cast:

Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, Jack Weston, Biff McGuire, Addison Powell, Astrid Heeren, Gordon Pinsent, Yaphet Kotto, Sidney Armus, Richard Bull, Peg Shirley, Patrick Horgan, Carol Corbett, Tom Rosqui, Michael Shillo, Nora Marlowe, Sam Melville, Ted Gehring, Paul Verdier, Judy Pace, Leonard Caron, Harry Cooper, Victor Creatore, Allen Emerson, Bruce Glover, Ralph Grosh, Nikita Knatz, Charles Lampkin, Todd Martin, Ed T. McDonnell, John Orchard, James Rawley, Patty Regan, Paul Rhone, Jon Shank, Johnny Silver.

Born on this day – Taylor Wily:

Taylor Wily

Actor

Sumo wrestler

Mixed martial artist

June 14, 1968 – June 20, 2024

Credits:

Magnum P.I. (2018–2020); Hawaii Five-0 (2010–2020); Be Water (2020); UFC 1: Origins (2020); 30 for 30 (2019); Radical (2017); MacGyver (2017); Where I Come From (2014); The Amazing Race (2012); Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008); North Shore (2004); One West Waikiki (1996); Marker (1995); Magnum, P.I. (1982); Gut Instinct (date?); UFC 1: The Beginning (1993).

Recommended reading - True Grit, by Charles Portis (1968):

True Grit

By Charles Portis.

Filmed as True Grit (1969), directed by Henry Hathaway.

Published by The Overlook Press.

First published 1968.

ISBN-10: 159020459X

ISBN-13: 9781590204597

Description:

“Quite simply, an American masterpiece.” – Boston Globe.

“Charles Portis had a wonderful talent—original, quirky, exciting.” – Larry McMurtry.

Charles Portis has long been acclaimed as one of America’s most enduring and incomparable literary voices, and his novels have left an indelible mark on the American canon. True Grit, his most famous novel, was first published in 1968, and has garnered critical acclaim as well as enthusiastic praise from countless passionate fans for more than 50 years.

True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just 14 when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Filled with an unwavering urge to avenge her father’s blood, Mattie finds and, after some tenacious finagling, enlists one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available US Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer.

True Grit is essential reading. Not just a classic Western, but an undeniable classic of American literature as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself. For fans of either the John Wayne classic or the Coen brothers’ movie, it’s a chance to relive the story of Mattie and Rooster and experience their story as it was originally told. For fans of taut, funny storytelling, it will be a joy to experience in its original form.

This edition includes an afterword by bestselling author Donna Tartt (The Secret History and The Goldfinch) and a reading group guide.

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.