On this day in movie history - Killer Force (1976):

Killer Force

aka The Diamond Mercenaries,

directed by Val Guest,

written by Val Guest, Gerald Sanford and Michael Winder,

was released in the United States on January 14, 1976.
Music by Georges Garvarentz.

Cast:

Telly Savalas, Peter Fonda, Hugh O'Brian, Christopher Lee, O.J. Simpson, Maud Adams, Ian Yule, Michael Mayer, Victor Melleney, Richard Loring, Stuart Brown, Marina Christelis, Frank Shelley, Peter van Dissel, Cocky Tlhotlhalemaje, Ian Hamilton, Dale Cutts, Don McCorkindale, Marigold Russell, Frank Douglas, Kevin Basel, Stuart Parker, Albert Raphael, Russell Newman, Clive Scott, Robert Davies, David C. Anderson, Anthony Fridjhon, Giles Ridley.

Recommended reading - City of the Dead (1976):

City of the Dead

By Herbert Lieberman.

Hardcover.

First published 1976.

Published by Simon & Schuster.

ISBN 13: 9780671222727

ISBN 10: 0671222724

ASIN: 0671222724

Description:

The grim and fascinating world of the big-city pathologist is the backdrop for this terrifying journey into the depths of the human soul.

In 1970s New York, a forensic pathologist must use his professional skills to save his own daughter in this “harrowing” award-winning crime novel (The New York Times).

In the gritty seventies, Manhattan is a dark, dangerous, and threatening place. One of the bright spots in this decaying metropolis is Paul Konig. As the city’s chief medical examiner, he has developed an impressive reputation for his skills in forensic pathology – skills that will be put to the ultimate test when a dangerous psychopath kidnaps Konig’s daughter.

Awakened by phone calls featuring his daughter’s desperate screams each night, Konig finds his life unraveling, not only personally but professionally. Between the case of a serial killer who leaves a trail of severed body parts in his wake, an investigation into the forensic work on an alleged prison suicide, and a nakedly ambitious deputy medical examiner, he is at the end of his rope, and it will take every ounce of his strength to save his own life – as well as his family’s.

Perfect for fans of Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reichs, City of the Dead is a chilling thriller by the author of Crawlspace and a winner of the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, featuring “a massive amount of authoritative detail” about the life of a coroner (Kirkus Reviews).

Recommended reading - Swag (1976):

Swag

By Elmore Leonard.

aka Ryan's Rules.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1976.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062227866

ISBN-13: 978-0062227867

Description:

The smallest of small-time criminals, Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck's about to change when Detroit used car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan's lot. Frank's got some surefire schemes for getting rich quick – all of them involving guns – and all Stickley has to do is follow "Ryan's Rules" to share the wealth. But sometimes rules need to be bent, maybe even broken, if one is to succeed in the world of crime, especially if the "brains" of the operation knows less than nothing.

On this day in movie history - The Enforcer (1976):

The Enforcer

directed by James Fargo,

written by Stirling Silliphant and Dean Riesner,

based on a story by Gail Morgan Hickman and S.W. Schurr,

was released in the United Kingdom on December 16, 1976.
Music by Jerry Fielding.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, John Mitchum, DeVeren Bookwalter, John Crawford, Samantha Doane, Robert Hoy, Jocelyn Jones, M.G. Kelly, Nick Pellegrino, Albert Popwell, Rudy Ramos, Bill Ackridge, Bill Jelliffe, Joe Bellan, Tim O'Neill, Jan Stratton, Will MacMillan, Jerry Walter, Steve Eoff, Tim Burrus, Michael Cavanaugh, Dick Durock, Ron Manning, Adele Proom, Glenn Leigh Marshall, Robert Behling, Terence McGovern, Stan Ritchie, John Roselius, Brian Fong, Art Rimdzius, Chuck Hicks, Anne Macey, Gloria Prince, Kenneth Boyd, Bernard Glin, Fritz Manes, Barbara Beebe, George Cheung, Michael L. Davis, Roger Ferreira, Jean Glaudé, Donald Li, Arthur Malet, George Reading, Joe Spano.

On this day in music history - Hotel California, by the Eagles (1976):

The album Hotel California,

by the Eagles,

was released on December 8, 1976.

Recommended reading - Big Stick-Up at Brinks (1976):

Big Stick-Up at Brinks

By Noel Behn.

First published 1976.

Published by Putnam.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0399118977

ISBN-13: 978-0399118975

Description:

A riveting and frequently hilarious insider account of one of the twentieth century’s most outrageous capers.

On the evening of January 17, 1950, armed robbers wearing Captain Marvel masks entered the Brink’s Armored Car building in Boston, Massachusetts. They walked out less than an hour later with more than $2.7 million in cash and securities. It was a brazen and expertly executed theft that captured the imaginations of millions of Americans and baffled the FBI and local law enforcement officials.

But what appeared on the surface to be the perfect crime was, in fact, the end result of a mind-boggling series of mistakes, miscalculations, and missteps. The men behind the masks were not expert bank robbers but a motley crew of small-time crooks who bumbled their way into a record-breaking payday and managed to elude the long arm of the law for six years.

New York Times bestselling author Noel Behn tape-recorded nearly one thousand hours of interviews with the surviving robbers, including motormouthed mastermind Tony Pino, a character so colorful he might have been dreamed up by a Hollywood screenwriter, to tell the uncensored story of the heist forever known as “the Great Brink’s Robbery.” Fun and suspenseful from first page to last, Behn’s true-crime classic was the basis for The Brink’s Job (1978), the Academy Award–nominated film directed by William Friedkin and starring Peter Falk and Peter Boyle.

“It had me riveted with suspense, but it also made me laugh until I got hiccups.” – Cosmopolitan.

“A King Kong of crime entertainment . . . that no movie could match . . . The Brink’s job [was] a kind of D-Day event in the annals of crime . . . Glorious.” – Kirkus Reviews.

“One minute you’re laughing your head off. The next minute you chill with fear. Crooks and crime at their best. Pure magic!” – Harold Robbins.

“The best book about criminals ever written, a rich and beautiful depiction of their lives as well as their work, a book that elevates them from moving-picture types to complete, vivid humans. Noel Behn has taken one of the most extraordinary crimes of the century and turned it into a living tapestry. It’s a wonderful book.” – Paddy Chayefsky, Academy Award–winning screenwriter of Network.

“Reads like a Hollywood screenplay, except that it really happened.” – John Barkham Reviews.

On this day in movie history - Network (1976):

Network

directed by Sidney Lumet,

written by Paddy Chayefsky,

was released in the United States on November 27, 1976.
Music by Elliot Lawrence.

Cast:

Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty, Arthur Burghardt, Bill Burrows, John Carpenter, Jordan Charney, Kathy Cronkite, Ed Crowley, Jerome Dempsey, Conchata Ferrell, Gene Gross, Stanley Grover, Cindy Grover, Darryl Hickman, Mitchell Jason, Paul Jenkins, Ken Kercheval, Kenneth Kimmins, Lynn Klugman, Carolyn Krigbaum, Zane Lasky, Michael Lipton, Michael Lombard, Pirie MacDonald, Russ Petranto, Bernard Pollock, Roy Poole, William Prince, Sasha von Scherler, Lane Smith, Ted Sorel, Beatrice Straight, Fred Stuthman, Cameron Thomas, Marlene Warfield, Lydia Wilen, Lee Richardson, Robert P. Cohen, Andrew Duncan, Todd Everett, John Gabriel, Tom Gibney, Lance Henriksen, Raymond Martino, John Pashley, Michael Tucker.

On this day in movie history - Carrie (1976):

Carrie

directed by Brian De Palma,

written by Lawrence D. Cohen,

based on the novel by Stephen King,

was released in the United States on November 3, 1976.
Music by Pino Donaggio.
Song: I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me performed by Katie Irving.

Cast:

Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, P. J. Soles, Priscilla Pointer, Sydney Lassick, Stefan Gierasch, Michael Talbott, Doug Cox, Harry Gold, Noelle North, Cindy Daly, Deirdre Berthrong, Anson Downes, Rory Stevens, Edie McClurg, Cameron De Palma.

On this day in movie history - Assault on Precinct 13 (1976):

Assault on Precinct 13

directed and written by John Carpenter,

was released in the United States on November 3, 1976.
Music by John Carpenter.

Cast:

Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West, Tony Burton, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Loomis, Peter Bruni, John J. Fox, Marc Ross, Alan Koss, Henry Brandon, Kim Richards, Frank Doubleday, Gilbert De La Pena, Peter Frankland, Al Nakauchi, James Johnson, Gilman Rankin.