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 ...

On this day in movie history - The Super Cops (1974 movie & book):

The Super Cops

directed by Bob Rafelson,

written by Lorenzo Semple Jr.,

based on the book by L. H. Whittemore,

was released in the United States on March 20, 1974.
Music by Jerry Fielding.

Cast:

Ron Leibman, David Greenberg, David Selby, Robert Hantz, Sheila Frazier, Pat Hingle, Dan Frazer, Joseph Sirola, Arny Freeman, Bernard Kates, Alex Colon, Charles Turner, Ralph Wilcox, Al Fann, Albert Henderson.

Recommended reading:

The Super Cops:

The True Story of the Cops Called Batman and Robin

By L.H. Whittemore.

ASIN: B000GSLVF4

Published by Bantam Books.

Published 1973.

Description:

The year's smash bestseller about two kids from Brooklyn who teamed up to become the most outrageous most-wanted swashbucklers in the Wild East! They made a record number of arrests and got over 90% convictions, defying the hopelessly screwed-up bureaucracyall the way. If the police system drowned the best cops in the most paperwork, this cop combination learned how to swim against the tide. If the mob tried to hassle them, they hassled back with a vengence. A whole neighborhood turned out to watch them arrest a drug dealer who had sworn to kill them. Posing as addicts, they got caught inside a dealer's apartment and – with guns leveled at them – were ordered to mainline heroin on the spot. Stuck? You've got to be kidding! Much decorated, Greenberg and Hantz have been shot at not only by hoods but be the system which thinks they're too good to be true. Promoted to detective in their mid-twenties, they've survived more than thirty investigations by superiors, civil liberties groups, the FBI and the Knapp Commission on Police Corruption. They're no the New Centurions. They're not the Blue Knights. They are Greenberg and Hantz – two tough kids from Coney Island who have become a living legend. The Super Cops: The True Story of the Cops Called Batman and Robin.