On this day in movie history - Blue Collar (1978):

Blue Collar

directed by Paul Schrader,

written by Paul Schrader and Leonard Schrader,

based on an article by Sydney A. Glass,

was released in the United States on February 10, 1978.
Music by Jack Nitzsche.

Cast:

Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto, Ed Begley Jr., Harry Bellaver, George Memmoli, Lucy Saroyan, Lane Smith, Cliff De Young, Borah Silver, Chip Fields, Harry Northup, Leonard Gaines, Milton Selzer, Sammy Warren, Jimmy Martinez, Jerry Dahlmann, Denny Arnold, Rock Riddle, Stacey Baldwin, Steve Butts, Stephen P. Dunn, Speedy Brown, Davone Florence, Eddie Singleton, Ava Singleton, Vermettya Royster, Jaime Carreire, Victoria McFarland, Gloria Delaney, Rosa Flores, Crystal McCarey, Debra Fay Walker, Gino Ardito, Sean Fallon Walsh, Jerry Snider, Colby Chester, Donl Morse, William Pelt, Tracey Walter, Almeria Quinn, Lee McDonald, Rodney Lee Walker, Jeannine Oppewall, Jimmy Williams.

Recommending reading - The Switch (1978):

The Switch

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1978.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062206133

ISBN-13: 978-0062206138

Description:

“My favorite Leonard book….He writes the way Hammett and Chandler might write today, if they sharpened their senses of ironic humor and grew better ears for dialogue.” – Dallas Morning News.

“The best writer of crime fiction alive.” – Newsweek.

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – The New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

Dangerously eccentric characters, razor-sharp black humor, brilliant dialog, and suspense all rolled into one tight package – that’s The Switch, Elmore Leonard’s classic tale of a kidnapping gone wrong…or terribly right, depending on how you look at it. The Grand Master whom the New York Times Book Review calls, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever,” has written a wry and twisting tale that any of the other all-time greats – Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, James M. Cain, Robert Parker…every noir author who ever walked a detective, cop, or criminal into a shadowy alley – would be thrilled to call their own. Leonard, the man who has given us U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (currently starring in TV’s Justified) is at his storytelling best, as a spurned wife decides to take a rightful – and profitable – revenge on her deceiving hubby by teaming up with the two thugs he hired to abduct her.

Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara hit it off in prison, where they were both doing time for grand theft auto. Now that they're out, they're joining forces for one big score. The plan is to kidnap the wife of a wealthy Detroit developer and hold her for ransom. Looks good until they learn the lowlife husband doesn't want his wife back. So it's time for Plan B and the opportunity to make a real killing – with the unlikely help of a beautiful, ticked-off housewife who's hungry for a large helping of sweet revenge.

On this day in movie history - The Brink’s Job (1978 movie & book):

The Brink’s Job

directed William Friedkin,

written by Walon Green,

based on the book Big Stick-Up at Brinks by Noel Behn,

was released in the United States on December 8, 1978.
Music by Richard Rodney Bennett.

Cast:

Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Allen Garfield, Warren Oates, Gena Rowlands, Paul Sorvino, Sheldon Leonard, Gerard Murphy, Kevin O'Connor, Claudia Peluso, Patrick Hines, Malachy McCourt, Walter Klavun, Randy Jurgensen, John Brandon, Robert Prosky.

Recommended reading:

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 music history - Dog & Butterfly, by Heart (1978):

Dog & Butterfly

Album by Heart,

released October 7, 1978.

Track list:

Cook With Fire; High Time; Hijinx; Straight On; Dog & Butterfly; Lighter Touch; Nada One; Mistral Wind; Heartless (Live); Feels; A Little Bit.

On this day in movie history - Midnight Express (1978):

Midnight Express

directed by Alan Parker,

written by Oliver Stone,

based on the book by Billy Hayes and William Hoffer,

was released in the United States on October 6, 1978.
Music by Giorgio Moroder.

Cast:

Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, John Hurt, Kevork Malikyan, Yashaw Adem, Mike Kellin, Franco Diogene, Michael Ensign, Gigi Ballista, Peter Jeffrey, Michael Giannatos.

On this day in television history: Taxi (1978 - 1983):

Taxi

written by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis and Ed. Weinberger,

was released on September 12, 1978, and ran for five seasons, until June 15, 1983.
Theme music by Bob James.

Cast:

Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd, J. Alan Thomas, Jeff Conaway, Carol Kane, Randall Carver, T.J. Castronovo, Rhea Perlman, Gene LeBell, Jimmy Lennon Sr., Al Rosen, Louise Lasser, Susan Kellermann, Vincent Schiavelli, Melanie Gaffin, Ed. Weinberger, David Mendenhall, Suzanne Kent, Ellen Regan, Andrea Marcovicci, Julia DeVito, Jack Gilford, Anne De Salvo, Jill Jaress, Marc Anthony Danza, Carmine Caridi, Wendell Wright, Talia Balsam, Michael Mann, Paula Victor, Ted Danson, Rebecca Holden, Bubba Smith, Fran Ryan, Charlayne Woodard, Mandy Patinkin, Arlene Golonka, Gail Edwards, Allan Arbus, Rita Taggart, William Bogert, Dee Wallace, Jeffrey Tambor, Joan Hackett, Ruth Gordon, Scott Brady, Amanda McBroom, Lenny Baker, Constance Forslund, John Dukakis, Nancy Steen, Liz Miller, Susan Sullivan, Priscilla Barnes, Julie Kavner, Beverly Ross, George Wendt, Martha Smith, Barry Nelson, Allen Garfield, Tom Selleck, Joanna Cassidy, Eileen Brennan, Bob Larkin, Tom Hanks, Gayle Hunnicutt, Keenan Wynn, Sherrie Wills, Jean Hayworth, Marcia Wolf, Penny Marshall, Tracey Walter, Scatman Crothers, Cathie Shirriff, Judith-Marie Bergan, Michael Saucedo, Howard Witt, Brad Kesten, Charles Bouvier, Sharon Madden, Elizabeth Hill, Wendy Jewell, Rose Marie Klespitz, Joyce Mandel, Marshall Jay Kaplan, Paul LeClair, Jim Brooks, Debra Satell.

Recommended reading - Play Misty for Me, by Paul J. Gillette (1978):

Play Misty for Me

By Paul J. Gillette.

Novelization of the movie Play Misty for Me (1971), directed by Clint Eastwood,

written by Jo Heims and Dean Riesner, based on a story by Jo Heims.

Published by Star Books.

Published 1978.

ISBN-10: 0352302739

ISBN-13: 9780352302731

Description:

A Hitchcockian psychological thriller. – Evening Standard.

The trap is baited …

A beautiful, lonely, possessive girl; a successful, popular disc-jockey.

The trap is set …

A night of casual lust – no complications, no strings attached.

The trap begins to close …

Jealousy and revenge boil over in a nightmare of terror.

On this day in movie history - The Driver (1978):

The Driver

directed and written by Walter Hill,

was released in the United States on July 28, 1978.
Music by Dominic Frontiere.

Cast:

Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, Ronee Blakley, Matt Clark, Felice Orlandi, Joseph Walsh, Rudy Ramos, Denny Macko, Frank Bruno, Will Walker, Sandy Brown Wyeth, Tara King, Richard Carey, Fidel Corona, Victor Gilmour, Nick Dimitri, Bob Minor, Angelo Lamonea, Patrick Burns, Karen Kleiman, Thomas Myers, Bill McConnell, Peter Jason, William Hasley, Allan Graf, Peter Paul Eastman, Raven Grey Eagle, Bob Harks, Orwin C. Harvey, Steve Moriarty, Nico Stevens, Leland Sun, Anna Young.

On this day in movie history - Hooper (1978):

Hooper

directed by Hal Needham,

written by Thomas Rickman and Bill Kerby,

based on a story by Walt Green, Walter S. Herndon and James Best,

was released in the United States on July 28, 1978.
Music by Bill Justis.

Cast:

Burt Reynolds, Jan-Michael Vincent, Sally Field, Brian Keith, John Marley, Robert Klein, James Best, Adam West, Alfie Wise, Terry Bradshaw, Norman Grabowski, George Furth, Jim Burk, Don 'Red' Barry, Princess O'Mahoney, Robert Tessier, Richard Tyler, Tara Buckman, Hal Floyd, Ray Bickel, Rex Benson, R.G. Allen, Mark Montgomery, Linda McClure, Kent Lane, Christa Linder, Kris Goddard, Robert Hackman, John Marshall, Laura Lizer Sommers, Peter Craig, Soupy Sales, Roxanne Brewer, Alex Brown, William H. Burton Jr., Tom Cloud, Jadie David, David Ellis, Gary Epper, John Escobar, Len Glasgow, Raven Grey Eagle, Stefan Gudju, Freddie Hice, Buddy Joe Hooker, Hugh Hooker, Louise Johnson, Gary McLarty, Mary Moon, Bennie Moore, Dave Mungenast Sr., Sam Neville, Alan Oliney, Bob Orrison, Regis Parton, John Quijada, Ronnie Rondell Jr., Reid Rondell, Tim Rossovich, Fred Scheiwiller, Ron Stein, Charles A. Tamburro, Greg Topper, Jim Whitecloud, Walter Wyatt.