On this day in movie history - Cold Turkey (1971):

Cold Turkey

directed by Norman Lear,

written by Norman Lear and William Price Fox,

based on the novel I'm Giving Them Up for Good by Margaret and Neil Rau,

was released in the United States on February 19, 1971.
Music by Randy Newman.

Cast:

Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Pippa Scott, Tom Poston, Edward Everett Horton, Bob Elliott, Ray Goulding, Vincent Gardenia, Barnard Hughes, Graham Jarvis, Jean Stapleton, Barbara Cason, Judith Lowry, Sudie Bond, Helen Page Camp, Paul Benedict, Simon Scott, Raymond Kark, Peggy Rea, Woodrow Parfrey, George Mann, Charles Pinney, M. Emmet Walsh, Gloria LeRoy, Eric Boles, Jack Grimes, Walter Sande, Harvey Jason.

Recommended reading - Crawlspace, by Herbert Lieberman (1971):

Crawlspace

By Herbert Lieberman.

Published by Pocket.

First published 1971.

First Edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0671775324

ISBN-13: 978-0671775322

Description:

In this novel of mounting suspense from award-winning author Herbert Lieberman, a terrifying surprise waits beneath a couple’s New England home. Albert and Alice Graves live a normal, if monotonous, domestic life. They never had children; they spend their days tending to their home and enjoying their time together.

One day, when the oil man, Richard, is refilling their furnace, Alice invites him to dinner, never suspecting that a casual act of charity will lead to a horrifying, morbid discovery in the crawlspace underneath their beloved house.

The Graves take Richard into their lives, becoming attached to his presence as though to the son they never had. Their town, though, is not nearly so welcoming. When the locals lash out against the Graves and their strange houseguest, the contented household is irrevocably drawn into a darkness they could not have imagined.

Recommended reading - The Witnesses (1971):

The Witnesses

By Anne Holden.

Filmed as The Bedroom Window (1987), directed by Curtis Hanson.

Hardcover.
Published 1971.
Published by Macmillan.
ISBN 13: 9780333126486
ISBN 10: 0333126483
ASIN: 0333126483

Description:

A Joan Kahn-Harper novel of suspense.
A married woman visiting her lover witnesses a crime outside the window.
She couldn't possibly go to the police, could she?
But then ...
This is a tense, highly suspenseful, compelling tale.
Don't start to read it if you have an appointment you have to keep before you finish.

Recommended reading – The Cowboys (1971):

The Cowboys

By William Dale Jennings.

Published by Bantam.

First published 1971.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0552089796

ISBN-13: 978-0552089791

Description:

The time is 1877, the place the wild Wyoming-Montana territory. Will Anderson, a flinty old rancher, has a huge herd of cattle ripe for market when his regular hands, inflamed by gold fever, desert him. In desperation, he hires the only "men" available for the perilous 400 mile drive – a pack of scraggly schoolboys. Through skill and harsh discipline, Wil Anderson whips them from greenhorns into seasoned cowhands. But before the long drive is over, the boys discover that the price they must pay for manhood is a terrible one- murder and revenge! the stunning, heartbreaking climax of this extraordinary story will surprise you - and perhaps even sock you.

Recommended reading - The Exorcist (1971) and Legion (1983):

The Exorcist

By William Peter Blatty.

Published by Harper Paperbacks.

First published in 1971.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006209436X

ISBN-13: 978-0062094360

Description:

Four decades after it first shook the nation, then the world, William Peter Blatty’s thrilling masterwork of faith and demonic possession returns in an even more powerful form. Raw and profane, shocking and blood-chilling, it remains a modern parable of good and evil and perhaps the most terrifying novel ever written.

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Legion

By William Peter Blatty.

Published by Tor Books.

First published in 1983.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0765327139

ISBN-13: 978-0765327130

Description:

“Jesus asked the man his name, and he answered, ‘Legion, for we are many.’” – Mark 5:9.

A young boy is found horribly murdered in a mock crucifixion. Is the murderer the elderly woman who witnessed the crime? A neurologist who can no longer bear the pain life inflicts on its victims? A psychiatrist with a macabre sense of humor and a guilty secret? A mysterious mental patient, locked in silent isolation?

Lieutenant Kinderman follows a bewildering trail that links all these people, confronting new enigmas at every turn, even as more murders occur. Why does each victim suffer the same dreadful mutilations? Why are two priests among the dead? Is there a connection between these crimes and another series of murders that took place twelve years ago – one that supposedly ended with the death of the killer?

Legion is a novel of breathtaking energy and suspense. But more than this, it is an extraordinary journey into the uncharted depths of the human mind and the most agonizing questions of the human condition.

The answers are revealed in a climax so stunning that it could only have been written by the author of The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty.

On this day in movie history - Dirty Harry (1971):

Dirty Harry

directed by Don Siegel,

written by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink and Dean Riesner,

based on a story by Harry Julian Fink, R.M. Fink and Jo Heims,

was released in the United States on December 23, 1971.
Music by Lalo Schifrin.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, John Larch, John Mitchum, Woodrow Parfrey, Josef Sommer, Mae Mercer, Albert Popwell, Lyn Edgington, Ruth Kobart, Lois Foraker, William Paterson, Debralee Scott.

On this day in movie history - A Clockwork Orange (1971):

A Clockwork Orange

directed by Stanley Kubrick,
based on the 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess,

premiered in Canada on December 19, 1971.

Music by Wendy Carlos.

Cast:

Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive, Adrienne Corri, Carl Duering, Paul Farrell, Clive Francis, Michael Gover, Miriam Karlin, James Marcus, Aubrey Morris, Godfrey Quigley, Sheila Raynor, Madge Ryan, Anthony Sharp, Philip Stone, Michael Tarn, David Prowse, Carol Drinkwater, Steven Berkoff, Margaret Tyzack, Pauline Taylor.

On this day in movie history - Chandler (1971):

Chandler

directed by Paul Magwood,

written by John Sacret Young,

based on a story by Paul Magwood,

was released in the United States on December 1, 1971.
Music by George Romanis.

Cast:

Warren Oates, Leslie Caron, Alex Dreier, Mitchell Ryan, Gordon Pinsent, Charles McGraw, Richard Loo, Gloria Grahame, Royal Dano, Walter Burke, Marianne McAndrew, Scatman Crothers, Lal Baum, Charles Shull, John Mitchum, James Sikking, Vickery Turner, Ray Kellogg, Ernest Lawrence, Eugene Jackson, Eddie Marks, Frederick Stanley II.

On this day in movie history - Duel (1971):

Duel

directed by Steven Spielberg,

written by Richard Matheson,

based on the short story by Richard Matheson,

was released in the United States on November 13, 1971.
Music by Billy Goldenberg.

Cast:

Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzell, Gene Dynarski, Lucille Benson, Tim Herbert, Charles Seel, Shirley O'Hara, Alexander Lockwood, Amy Douglass, Dick Whittington, Carey Loftin, Dale Van Sickel, Shawn Steinman.

Recommended reading - Duel (1971):

Duel

By Richard Matheson.

Introduction by Ray Bradbury.

Publisher by Tor Books.

Published 1971.

Paperback.

ISBN 13: 9780312878269

ISBN 10: 0312878265

ASIN: B00A2M37ZG

Description:

“Richard Matheson is worth our time, attention, and great affection.” – from the Appreciation by Ray Bradbury.

The late Richard Matheson's classic tale of highway terror.

He was heading west, en route to San Francisco. It was Thursday and unseasonably hot for April. He had his suitcoat off, his tie removed and shirt collar opened, his sleeve cuffs folded back. There was sunlight on his left arm and on part of his lap. He could feel the heat of it through his dark trousers as he drove along the two-lane highway. For the past twenty minutes, he had not seen another vehicle going in either direction.

Then he saw the truck ...

Remember that murderous semi chasing Dennis Weaver down a lonely stretch of desert highway?

Duel, Steven Spielberg's acclaimed first film, was adapted by Richard Matheson from his unforgettable story of the same name.

However, "Duel" is only one of the classic suspense tales in this outstanding collection of stories by the Grand Master of Horror. It also contains Matheson's legendary first story, "Born of Man and Woman," as well as several stunning shockers that inspired memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone, including "Little Girl Lost," "Steel," and "Third from the Sun."

Like Matheson's previous collection, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Duel is an indispensable treasure trove of terror from the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come.

Recommended reading - Lenny: A Play, Based on the Life and Words of Lenny Bruce (1971):

Lenny: A Play, Based on the Life and Words of Lenny Bruce

By Julian Barry.

Published 1971.
Mass Market Paperback.
Published by Grove Press.
ISBN 13: 9780394177625
ISBN 10: 0394177622
ASIN: 0394177622

On this day in music history - Stairway to Heaven, by Led Zeppelin (1971):

The song Stairway to Heaven,

by Led Zeppelin,

was released on November 8, 1971.

On this day in movie history - The French Connection (1971):

The French Connection

directed by William Friedkin,

written by Ernest Tidyman,

based on the book by Robin Moore,

was released in the United States on October 9, 1971.
Music by Don Ellis.

Cast:

Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi, Frédéric de Pasquale, Bill Hickman, Ann Rebbot, Harold Gary, Arlene Farber, Eddie Egan, André Ernotte, Sonny Grosso, Benny Marino, Patrick McDermott, Alan Weeks, Al Fann, Irving Abrahams, Randy Jurgensen, William Coke, The Three Degrees, Frank Adonis, Gilda Albertoni, Robert Dahdah, Frank Durk, Rhina Ferrari, Sarina C. Grant, Joe Lo Grippo, Melonie Haller, Eric Jones, Gladys Lane, Jean Luisi, Doris McCarthy, Charles McGregor, Lora Mitchell, Maureen Mooney, Santos Morales, Silvano Nolemi, Burt Richards, Willy Switkes, Fat Thomas, Robert Weil.

Recommended reading - One Across, Two Down (1971):

One Across, Two Down

By Ruth Rendell.

Filmed as Diary of the Dead (1976), directed by Arvin Brown.

Published by Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

First published 1971.

ASIN: 0375704949

ISBN-10: 9780375704949

ISBN-13: 978-0375704949

Description:

Two things interest Stanley Manning: crossword puzzles, and the substantial sum his wife Vera stands to inherit when his mother-in-law dies. Otherwise, life at 61 Lanchester Road is a living hell. For Mrs. Kinaway lives with them now – and she will stop at nothing to tear their marriage apart. One afternoon, Stanley sets aside his crossword puzzles and changes all their lives forever...

In One Across, Two Down, master crime writer Ruth Rendell describes a man whose strained sanity and stained reputation transform him from a witless loser into a killer afraid of his own shadow.  Mischievously plotted, smart, maddeningly entertaining, One Across, Two Down is a dark delight – classic Rendell.

"The best mystery writer in the English-speaking world." – Time.