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.

Recommended reading - Nightwebs (1971):

Nightwebs

By Cornell Woolrich.

Short story anthology.

Includes the short story The Corpse Next Door, filmed as Union City (1980), directed by Mark Reichert.

Paperback.

Published Orion Books.

First published 1971.

ISBN 13: 9780752851709

ISBN 10: 0752851705

ASIN: 0752851705

Description:

“Possibly the finest mystery writer of the twentieth century.” – The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection.

Cornell Woolrich was a haunted man who lived a life of reclusive misery, but he was also a uniquely gifted writer who explored the classic noir themes of loneliness, despair and futility. His stories are masterpieces of psychological suspense and mystery, and they have inspired classic movies like Hitchcock's Rear Window and Truffaut's The Bride wore Black. This collection brings together twelve of his finest, most powerful and disturbing tales.

Contents: Graves for the Living; The Red Tide; The Corpse Next Door; You'll Never See Me Again; Dusk to Dawn; Murder at the Automat; Death in the Air; Mamie 'n' Me; The Screaming Laugh; One and a Half Murders; Dead on Her Feet; One Night in Barcelona; The Penny-a-Worder; The Number's Up; Too Nice a Day to Die; Life is Weird Sometimes.

Born on this day – Dolores O'Riordan:

Dolores O'Riordan

Singer

Musician

Songwriter

September 6, 1971 – January 15, 2018

Recommended reading – Post Office (1971):

Post Office

By Charles Bukowski.

Paperback.

Published in 1971.

ISBN-10: 0753518163

ISBN-13: 978-0753518168

Description:

It began as a mistake. By middle age, Henry Chinaski has lost more than twelve years of his life to the U.S. Postal Service. In a world where his three true, bitter pleasures are women, booze, and race-track betting, he somehow drags his hangover out of bed every dawn to lug waterlogged mailbags up mud-soaked mountains, outsmart vicious guard dogs, and pray to survive the day-to-day trials of sadistic bosses and certifiable coworkers. This classic 1971 novel – the one that catapulted its author to national fame – is the perfect introduction to the grimly hysterical world of legendary writer, poet, and Dirty Old Man Charles Bukowski and his fictional alter ego, Chinaski.

“Wordsworth, Whitman, William Carlos Williams, and the Beats in their respective generations moved poetry toward a more natural language. Bukowski moved it a little farther.” – Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Charles Bukowski is one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, where he lived for fifty years. He published his first story in 1944, when he was twenty-four, and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp (1994).

On this day in movie history - Play Misty for Me (1971):

Play Misty for Me

directed by Clint Eastwood,

written by Jo Heims and Dean Riesner,

based on a story by Jo Heims,

was released in the United States on August 4, 1971.
Music by Dee Barton.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, John Larch, Jack Ging, Irene Hervey, James McEachin, Clarice Taylor, Don Siegel, Duke Everts, George Fargo, Mervin W. Frates, Tim Frawley, Otis Kadani, Britt Lind, Paul E. Lippman, Jack Kosslyn, Ginna Patterson, Malcolm Moran, Cannonball Adderley, Boyd Cabeen, Barbara Chrysler, Don Hamilton, William J. Hanzelka, Robert S. Holman, Johnny Otis, James Rodriguez, Walter Scott, Walter Spear, William Tomlinson.

On this day in movie history - The Last Run (1971):

The Last Run

directed by Richard Fleischer,

written by Alan Sharp,

was released in the United States on July 7, 1971.
Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:

George C. Scott, Tony Musante, Trish Van Devere, Colleen Dewhurst, Aldo Sambrell, Antonio Tarruella, Robert Coleby, Pat Zurica, Rocky Taylor, Robert Rietty.

On this day in movie history - Carnal Knowledge (1971):

Carnal Knowledge

directed by Mike Nichols,

written by Jules Feiffer,

was released in the United States on June 30, 1971.

Cast:

Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret, Rita Moreno, Cynthia O'Neal, Carol Kane, Ray Cass.

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

Klute

directed by Alan J. Pakula,

written by Andy and Dave Lewis,

was released in the United States on June 25, 1971.
Music by Michael Small.

Cast:

Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Roy Scheider, Dorothy Tristan, Rita Gam, Nathan George, Vivian Nathan, Morris Strassberg, Barry Snider, Betty Murray, Jane White, Shirley Stoler, Robert Milli, Anthony Holland, Fred Burrell, Richard B. Shull, Mary Louise Wilson, Marc Malvin, Rosalind Cash, Jean Stapleton, Jan Fielding, Antonia Rey, Robert Ronan, Richard Russell Ramos, Garrett Cassell, Jerome Collamore, Candy Darling, Kevin Dobson, Veronica Hamel, Richard Jordan, Margaret Linn, Tony Major, Harry Reems, Joe Silver, Ellen Stretton, Lee Wallace.