On this day in movie history - The Andromeda Strain (1971 movie & novel):

The Andromeda Strain

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Nelson Gidding and Robert Wise,

based on the novel by Michael Crichton,

was released in the United States on March 12, 1971.
Music by Gil Mellé.

Cast:

Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Mark Jenkins, Peter Helm, Joe Di Reda, Ramon Bieri, Carl Reindel, Frances Reid, Peter Hobbs, Kermit Murdock, Richard O'Brien, Eric Christmas, Ken Swofford, John Carter, Richard Bull, James W. Gavin, Garry Walberg, Emory Parnell, Georgia Schmidt, Victoria Paige Meyerink, Don Messick, Michael Crichton.

Recommended reading:

The Andromeda Strain

By Michael Crichton.

First published 1969.

ISBN-10: 1101974494

ISBN-13: 978-1101974490

Description:

A military space probe, sent to collect extraterrestrial organisms from the upper atmosphere, is knocked out of orbit and falls to Earth. Twelve miles from the crash site, an inexplicable and deadly phenomenon terrorizes the residents of a sleepy desert town in Arizona, leaving only two survivors: an elderly addict and a newborn infant.

The United States government is forced to mobilize Project Wildfire, a top-secret emergency response protocol. Four of the nation’s most elite biophysicists are summoned to a clandestine underground laboratory located five stories beneath the desert and fitted with an automated atomic self-destruction mechanism for cases of irremediable contamination. Under conditions of total news blackout and the utmost urgency, the scientists race to understand and contain the crisis. But the Andromeda Strain proves different from anything they’ve ever seen—and what they don’t know could not only hurt them, but lead to unprecedented worldwide catastrophe.

On this day in movie history - THX 1138 (1971):

THX 1138

directed by George Lucas,

written by George Lucas and Walter Murch,

based the 1967 short film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB by George Lucas,

was released in the United States on March 11, 1971.
Music by Lalo Schifrin.

Painting shown on the Unit Chapel booth screens:
Christ Giving His Blessing, by Hans Memling (1478).

Cast:

Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Maggie McOmie, Don Pedro Colley, Ian Wolfe, Marshall Efron, Sid Haig, John Pearce, James Wheaton, Irene Cagen, Gary Alan Marsh, John Seaton, Eugene I. Stillman, Jack Walsh, Mark Lawhead, Robert Feero, Johnny Weissmuller Jr., Claudette Bessing, Susan Stroh, Henry Jacobs, Bill Love, Doc Scortt, Gary Austin, Scott L. Menges, Toby L. Stearns, Paul K. Haje, Ralph Chesse, Dion M. Chesse, Bruce Chesse, Mello Alexandria, Brandyn Barbara Artis, Morris D. Erby, Willie C. Barnes, Richard Quinnell, Jean M. Durand, Scott Beach, Neva Beach, Terence McGovern, Julie Payne, James Cranna, Ruth Silveira, Bruce Mackey, David Ogden Stiers, Bart Patton, Dennis Falt, Jack Rigg, Matthew Robbins.

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.

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.