On this day in movie history - The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972):

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

directed by John Huston,

written by John Milius,

was released in the United States on December 18, 1972.
Music by Maurice Jarre.

Song: Marmalade, Molasses and Honey by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman, sung by Andy Williams.

Cast:

Paul Newman, Victoria Principal, Anthony Perkins, Ned Beatty, Roddy McDowall, Jacqueline Bisset, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Ava Gardner, Dick Farnsworth, Stacy Keach, Michael Sarrazin, Anthony Zerbe, Mark Headley, Frank Soto, Jim Burk, Matt Clark, Bill McKinney, Steve Kanaly, Francesca Jarvis, Karen Carr, Lee Meza, Dolores Clark, Neil Summers, June Towner, Jack Colvin, Howard Morton, Billy Pearson, Stan Barrett, Dean Casper, Don Starr, Alfred G. Bosnos, John Hudkins, Ken Freehill, Duncan Inches, Rusty Lee, Roy Jenson, Gary Combs, Fred Brookfield, Bennie E. Dobbins, Leroy Johnson, Fred Krone, Terry Leonard, Dean Smith, Margo Epper, Jeannie Epper, Stephanie Epper, Barbara J. Longo, Bruno (as Watch Bear).

On this day in movie history - The Getaway (1972):

The Getaway

directed by Sam Peckinpah,

written by Walter Hill,

based on the novel by Jim Thompson,

was released in the United States on December 13, 1972.
Music by Quincy Jones.

Cast:

Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers, Al Lettieri, Slim Pickens, Richard Bright, Jack Dodson, Dub Taylor, Bo Hopkins, Roy Jenson, John Bryson.

The Telephone Box (1972) - it’s enough to give you phone phobia!

La Cabina / The Telephone Box (1972)

Shortly before New Year, we watched Phone Booth (2002) again, a great thriller starring Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, Katie Holmes, Radha Mitchell, and Kiefer Sutherland.

Farrell plays an unscrupulous New York publicist who answers a ringing phone in a booth he’s standing next to.

The caller warns him he’ll be killed if he attempts to leave the booth … and … the story develops from there.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of Phone Booth reminded me of a 1972 Spanish short movie I saw on TV during the mid-‘80’s called La Cabina (aka The Telephone Box).

A unfortunate guy (José Luis López Vázquez), in a world long before the invention of the cell phone, attempts to make a call in a street booth.

The door closes on him as he discovers the phone doesn’t work.

He tries to leave, but the door is locked tight.

He’s trapped in there a long time as a crowd of onlookers gather … and … the story develops from there.

La Cabina is quirky and dated, but still worth the half-hour to watch, with an original story that delivers a surreal and scary twist.

Although street booths have mostly disappeared, La Cabina is a great reason to own a cell phone … but then you have to consider what happened in Stephen King’s novel: Cell.

Yikes!

I read that folks in Spain, shortly after La Cabina was released on December 13, 1972, took to preventing the door in phone booths from shutting completely by keeping their foot in the gap.

I can’t imagine why.

Born on this day – Lisa Spoonauer:

Lisa Spoonauer

Actress

December 6, 1972 – May 20, 2017

Credits:

Clerks (2001); Bartender (1997); Clerks (1994).

Recommended reading - The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins (1972):

The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins

By John Pearson.

Filmed as Legend (2015), directed and written by Brian Helgeland.

Paperback.

Published by William Collins.

First published 1972.

ISBN 13: 9780008150273

ISBN 10: 0008150273

ASIN: 0008150273

Description:

The classic, bestselling account of the infamous Kray twins, now a major film, starring Tom Hardy.

Reggie and Ronnie Kray ruled London’s gangland during the 60s with a ruthlessness and viciousness that shocks even now. Building an empire of organized crime that has never been matched, the brothers swindled, extorted and terrorized – while enjoying a glittering celebrity status at the heart of the swinging 60s scene, until their downfall and imprisonment for life.

Recommended reading - The Blue Knight (1972):

The Blue Knight

By Joseph Wambaugh.

First published 1972.

Published by Grand Central Publishing.

Mass Market Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0446509191

ISBN-13: 978-0446509190

Description:

Ex-cop turned #1 New York Times bestselling writer Joseph Wambaugh forged a new kind of literature with his great early police procedurals. Gritty, luminous, and ultimately stunning, this novel is Wambaugh at his best – a tale of a street cop on the hardest beat of his life.

The Blue Knight.

Twenty and two. Those are the numbers turning in the mind of William "Bumper" Morgan: twenty years on the job, two days before he "pulls the pin" and walks away from it forever. But on the gritty streets of L.A., people look at Bumper like some kind of knight in armor – they've plied him with come-ons, hot tips, and the hard respect a man can't earn anywhere else. Now, with a new job and a good woman waiting for him, a kinky thief terrorizing L.A.'s choice hotels, and a tragedy looming, Bumper Morgan is about to face the only thing that can scare him: the demons that he's been hiding behind his bright and shiny badge...

“Marvelous … realistic, frightening, touching in its humanity. – Detroit Free Press.

“An extraordinary piece of craftsmanship.” – Los Angeles Times.

Recommended reading - The Sunshine Boys (1972):

The Sunshine Boys

A play by Neil Simon.

First published 1972.

Published by Concord Theatricals.

Illustrated edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0573615969

ISBN-13: 978-0573615962

Description:

Play.

A comedy in two acts.

Full Length, Comedy / 5m, 2f / Scenery: Interior.

Al and Willie as "Lewis and Clark" were top-billed vaudevillians for over forty years. Now they aren't even speaking. When CBS requests them for a "History of Comedy" retrospective, a grudging reunion brings the two back together, along with a flood of memories, miseries and laughs.

"It's ham on wry...Simon's sure footed craftsmanship and his one liners are as exquisitely apt as ever." – New York Post.

"Delicious and oddly affecting." – T.

On this day in movie history - The Valachi Papers (1972):

The Valachi Papers

directed by Terence Young,

written by Stephen Geller, Massimo De Rita and Dino Maiuri,

based on the book by Peter Maas,

was released in the United States on October 27, 1972.
Music by Armando Trovajoli and Riz Ortolani.

Cast:

Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Amedeo Nazzari, Fausto Tozzi, Pupella Maggio, Angelo Infanti, Guido Leontini, María Baxa, Mario Pilar, Franco Borelli, Alessandro Sperli, Natasha Chevelev, Anthony Dawson, Fred Valleca, John Alarimo, Calogero Azzaretto, Joe Don Baker, Steve Belloise, Angelo Boscariol, Nestore Cavaricci, Massimo Ciprari, Giacomo De Michelis, Bruno Di Luia, Gianni Di Segni, Richard Dunne, Arny Freeman, Alfonso Giganti, Ron Gilbert, Frank Gio, Syl Lamont, Imelde Marani, Isabelle Marchall, Jason McCallum, Franco Ressel, Sabine Sun, Robert Trout, Steve Vignari.

On this day in movie history - Un Flic (1972):

Un Flic

English translation: A Cop, aka Dirty Money,

directed and written by Jean-Pierre Melville,

was released in France on October 25, 1972.
Music by Michel Colombier.

Cast:

Alain Delon, Richard Crenna, Catherine Deneuve, Riccardo Cucciolla, Michael Conrad, Paul Crauchet, Simone Valère, André Pousse, Jean Desailly, Valérie Wilson, Henri Marteau, Catherine Rethi, Louis Grandidier, Philippe Gasté, Dominique Zentar, Jako Mica, Jo Tafanelli, Stan Dylik, Georges Florian, Léon Minisini, Roger Fradet, Jacques Galland, Jean-Pierre Posier, Jacques Leroy, Michel Fretault, Gene Moyle, Nicole Témime, Pierre Vaudier.

On this day in television history - M*A*S*H (1972 – 1983):

M*A*S*H

developed by Larry Gelbart,

based on the novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker,

was originally aired in the United States on CBS and ran for eleven seasons,

from September 17, 1972 – February 28, 1983.
Theme music by Johnny Mandel.

Cast:

Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, McLean Stevenson, Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Gary Burghoff, Jamie Farr, William Christopher, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, David Ogden Stiers, G. W. Bailey, Kellye Nakahara, Jeff Maxwell, Johnny Haymer, Allan Arbus, Edward Winter.