On this day in movie history - Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974):

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

directed and written by Michael Cimino,

was released in the United States on May 24, 1974.
Music by Dee Barton.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, Geoffrey Lewis, Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Jack Dodson, Eugene Elman, Burton Gilliam, Roy Jenson, Claudia Lennear, Bill McKinney, Vic Tayback, Dub Taylor, Gregory Walcott, Erica Hagen, Alvin Childress, Virginia Baker, Stuart Nisbet, Irene K. Cooper, Cliff Emmich, June Fairchild, Ted Foulkes, Leslie Oliver, Mark Montgomery, Karen Lamm, Luanne Roberts, Lila Teigh, George Kennedy, David Chow, Beth Howland, Steve Moriarty.

On this day in movie history - The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974 movie & novel):

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

directed by Ted Kotcheff,

written by Mordecai Richler and Lionel Chetwynd,

based on the novel by Mordecai Richler,

was released in the United States on April 11, 1974.
Music by Stanley Myers and Andrew Powell.

Cast:

Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid, Joseph Wiseman, Denholm Elliott, Henry Ramer, Joe Silver, Zvee Scooler, Robert Goodier, Alan Rosenthal, Barry Baldaro, Allan Kolman, Barry Pascal, Susan Friedman, Jacques Durette, Jonathan Robinson, Edward Resmini, Henry Gamer, Lou Levitt, Sonny Oppenheim, Lionel Schwartz, Mickey Eichen, Robert Desroches, Judith Gault, Norman Taviss.

Recommended reading:

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

By Mordecai Richler.

Filmed as The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), directed by Ted Kotcheff.

Published by Gallery Books.

First published 1959.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0671028472

ISBN-13: 978-0671028473

Description:

It is time to recognize Mr. Richler as one of North America's most powerful novelists. – The Washington Times.

A rasping humor pervades the book....It burgeons with its special talent and a vulgar vitality. – Chicago Tribune.

A fast-moving, entertaining, and bawdy novel. – The Washington Times.

Funny in the biting, subversive manner of Joseph Heller and Philip Roth. – Los Angeles Times.

Duddy Kravitz [is] Richler's most famous creation. – Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Richler has been praised for his clear-eyed vision and his realistic style.... The total effect is as brash and blatant as a sports car rally -- and as suggestive of power. It comes off brilliantly. – Alfred Kazin, The New York Times Book Review.

From Mordecai Richler, one of our greatest satirists, comes one of literature's most delightful characters, Duddy Kravitz -- in a novel that belongs in the pantheon of seminal twentieth century books.

Duddy -- the third generation of a Jewish immigrant family in Montreal -- is combative, amoral, scheming, a liar, and totally hilarious. From his street days tormenting teachers at the Jewish academy to his time hustling four jobs at once in a grand plan to "be somebody," Duddy learns about living -- and the lesson is an outrageous roller-coaster ride through the human comedy. As Richler turns his blistering commentary on love, money, and politics, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz becomes a lesson for us all ... in laughter and in life.

On this day in movie history - Dark Star (1974 movie & novel):

Dark Star

directed by John Carpenter,

written by John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon,

was released in the United States on March 30, 1974.
Music by John Carpenter.
Title song Benson, Arizona performed by John Yager.
Lyrics by Bill Taylor.

Cast:

Brian Narelle, Dan O'Bannon, Cal Kuniholm, Andreijah "Dre" Pahich, John Carpenter, Joe Saunders, Barbara "Cookie" Knapp, Miles Watkins, Nick Castle.

Recommended reading:

Dark Star

By Alan Dean Foster.

Published by Del Rey.

First published 1974.

ISBN-10: 0708880487

ISBN-13: 9780708880487

Description:

Bombed out in space -- with a spaced-out bomb!

ALL SYSTEMS -- SNAFU!

If anything could possibly go wrong aboard the scout ship Dark Star, sooner or later it would. Now, in the twentieth year of their mission -- destroying unstable planets -- the ship and its crew were slowly and steadily falling apart.

After 20 years in space, isolation and loneliness had left their mark. The four surviving crew members were bored beyond relief. Only an occasional bomb run or another of the inevitable malfunctions aboard ship upset the monotony.

Then, one day, Bomb #20 was primed, armed, and set to detonate ... and suddenly life on the Dark Star became frantic ...