On this day in movie history - Christine (1983):

Christine

directed by John Carpenter,

written by Bill Phillips,

based on the novel by Stephen King,

was released in the United States on December 9, 1983.
Music by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth.

Cast:

Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton, Christine Belford, Robert Darnell, Roberts Blossom, Kelly Preston, William Ostrander, Steven Tash, Stuart Charno, Malcolm Danare, David Spielberg.

Recommended reading - Christine (1983):

Christine

By Stephen King.

Published by Viking Press.

First published 1983.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0670220264

ISBN-13: 978-0670220267

Description:

It was love at first sight. From the moment seventeen-year-old Arnie Cunningham saw Christine, he knew he would do anything to possess her.

Arnie’s best friend, Dennis, distrusts her – immediately.

Arnie’s teen-queen girlfriend, Leigh, fears her the moment she senses her power.

Arnie’s parents, teachers, and enemies soon learn what happens when you cross her.

Because Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King’s ultimate, blackly evil vehicle of terror…

Christine, blood-red, fat and finned, was twenty. Her promise lay all in her past. Greedy and big, she was Arnie’s obsession, a ’58 Plymouth Fury. Broken down but not finished. There was still power in her – a frightening power that leaked like sump oil, staining and corrupting. A malign power that corroded the mind and turned ownership into Possession.

On this day in movie history - Sudden Impact (1983):

Sudden Impact

directed Clint Eastwood,

written by Joseph Stinson,

based on a story by Earl E. Smith, Charles B. Pierce, Chuck Pfarrer and Dean Riesner,

was released in the United States on December 8, 1983.
Music by Lalo Schifrin.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, Bradford Dillman, Paul Drake, Audrie Neenan, Jack Thibeau, Michael Currie, Albert Popwell, Mark Keyloun, Kevyn Major Howard, Bette Ford, Nancy Parsons, Joe Bellan, Wendell Wellman, Mara Corday, Russ McCubbin, Robert Sutton, Nancy Fish, Carmen Argenziano, Lisa Britt, Bill Reddick, Lois De Banzie, Matthew Child, Mike Johnson, Nick Dimitri, Michael Maurer, Pat DuVal, Christian Phillips, Steven Kravitz, Dennis Royston, Melvin Thompson, Jophery C. Brown, William Upton, Lloyd Nelson, Christopher Pray, James McEachin, Maria Lynch, Ken Lee, Morgan Upton, John X. Heart, David Gonzales, Albert Martinez, David Rivers, Robert Rivers, Harry Demopoulos, Lisa London, Tom Spratley, Eileen Wiggins, John Nowak, John Bleifer, Cynthia Brian, Christine Card, Michael V. Gazzo, Conrad Hurtt, Camryn Manheim, Dihlon McManne, Meathead (the dog).

On this day in movie history - Scarface (1983):

Scarface

directed by Brian De Palma,

written by Oliver Stone,

based on the novel by Armitage Trail,

was released in the United States on December 1, 1983.
Music by Giorgio Moroder.

Cast:

Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Míriam Colón, F. Murray Abraham, Paul Shenar, Harris Yulin, Ángel Salazar, Arnaldo Santana, Pepe Serna, Michael P. Moran, Al Israel, Dennis Holahan, Mark Margolis, Michael Alldredge, Ted Beniades, Albert Carrier, Caesar Cordova, Geno Silva, Richard Belzer, Lana Clarkson, Charles Durning, Dennis Franz, Garnett Smith, Tony Perez, John Brandon.

On this day in movie history - A Christmas Story (1983):

A Christmas Story

directed by Bob Clark,

written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark,

based on the book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, by Jean Shepherd,

was released in the United States on November 18, 1983.
Narrated by Jean Shepherd.
Music by Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer.

Cast:

Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Scott Schwartz, Jean Shepherd, Ian Petrella, Tedde Moore, R.D. Robb, Zack Ward, Yano Anaya, Jeff Gillen, Peter Billingsley, Colin Fox, Paul Hubbard, Leslie Carlson, Jim Hunter, Patty Johnson, Drew Hocevar, David Svoboda, Dwayne McLean, Helen E. Kaider, John Wong, Johan Sebastian Wong, Fred Lee, Dan Ma, Rocco Bellusci, Tommy Wallace, Court Benson, Leigh Brown, Bob Clark, Giada Dobrzenska, Dave Duff, Don Geyer, Kathryn Hayzer, Gary Jones, John Kennedy, Bill Kravitz, Jordan-Patrick Marcantonio, Julie Matthews, Christine Powrie, Quinn Smith, Kristephan Warren-Stevens.

Never Cry Wolf (1983) - a REAL walk on the wild side:

Never Cry Wolf

This Disney production, directed by Carroll Ballard, released in the United States on October 7, 1983, is a somber and beautiful nature movie, set in the snow-bound Canadian wilderness.

Charles Martin Smith plays Tyler, a Government biologist, sent to the harsh and unforgiving region to ascertain whether wolves are responsible for the alarming decline of the Caribou herds.

On the outset of his mission, Tyler encounters Rosie (Brian Dennehy), who initially seems friendly – even though borderline psychotic, but later emerges as an astute fortune hunter.

Symbolizing the worst of mankind, Rosie is there only to destroy the habitat in a money-making enterprise.

Early in the story, Tyler is rescued and befriended by Ootek (Zachary Ittimangnaq), and learns about the lifestyle of the indigenous Inuit people.

Never Cry Wolf is a visual feast; the landscape scenery is breathtaking, and Mark Isham’s music score is haunting.

It’s based on the autobiographical book by Farley Mowat, presented here as the character, Tyler.

The slow and thoughtful pace of the movie is lightened with the comic scenes of Tyler drinking tea by the gallon, and urinating around his base camp, scent-marking it as the wolf establishes his territory.

It turns into a battle of the wills and bladders between man and wolf, until the wolf finally accepts the boundary of Tyler's territory.

Later, Tyler learns the wolf is not the culprit and vital to the balance of nature: culling only the injured and slowest Caribou – effectively keeping the herd strong.

The wolves’ main food is the multitudes of field mice – of which Tyler also chows on as an experiment, after the mice swarm his tent and his own food reserves are depleting.

I believe in conservation and I love the wolf in particular.

Never Cry Wolf is delicately compelling and melancholic.

I empathized with Tyler, and appreciate the necessity to conserve and protect this beautiful planet: our home.

One of my favorite scenes is near the end: Tyler, with the heavy snow and the brutal winter set in around him, sits at the edge of a lake and blows hard on a bassoon.

The sound is heard by a distant wolf pack, and they howl back, acknowledging the distance between them, a declaration that neither Tyler, nor the rest of mankind, belong there.

Never Cry Wolf moved me with two reflective and potent realities of the region: sadness and silence.

Everything there seems to be on an inexorable path towards extinction: the caribou, wolves, Inuit people, and even the habitat itself.

The illusion of a place where the only things to cut through the silence are the howl of a wolf, or the wind, is that time appears to stand still.

Charles Martin Smith and Brian Dennehy played great roles.

However, like the wilderness, this movie belongs to the wolves.

One particular line resonates with me, and I hope it never becomes prophetic of the wolves and the plight of the natural world:

I believe the wolves went off to a wild and distant place somewhere, although I don’t really know, because I turned away and didn’t watch them go.

– Charles Martin Smith, as Tyler.

On this day in movie history - Eureka (1983):

Eureka

directed by Nicolas Roeg,

written by Paul Mayersberg,

based on the book Who Killed Sir Harry Oakes? by Marshall Houts,

was released in the United States on October 5, 1984.
Inspired by the true 1943 Sir Harry Oakes murder case.
Music by Stanley Myers.

Poem quoted in final scene is a verse from Spell of the Yukon by Robert W. Service:

There’s gold, and it’s haunting and haunting;
It’s luring me on as of old;
Yet it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting
So much as just finding the gold.
It’s the great, big, broad land ’way up yonder,
It’s the forests where silence has lease;
It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.

Cast:

Gene Hackman, Theresa Russell, Rutger Hauer, Jane Lapotaire, Ed Lauter, Joe Pesci, Helena Kallianiotes, Cavan Kendall, Corin Redgrave, Joe Spinell, Frank Pesce, Michael Scott Addis, Norman Beaton, Emrys James, James Faulkner, Ann Thornton, Emma Relph, Mickey Rourke, John Vine, Tim Van Rellim, Ellis Dale, Mico Blanco Group, Aklowa Master Drummers, Lloyd Berry, Tom Heaton, Timothy Scott, Geri Dewson, Annie Kidder, Ian Tracey, Brad Sakiyama, Sandra Friesen, Raimund Stamm, Suzette Collins, Tommy Lane.

Recommended reading - Glengarry Glen Ross: A Play (1983):

Glengarry Glen Ross: A Play

By David Mamet.

Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1984.

Published by Grove Press.

First published 1983.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0802130917

ISBN-13: 978-0802130914

Description:

Comic Drama Characters: 7 males.

2 interior sets.

“Who needs caffeine when you’ve got Glengarry Glen Ross? … David Mamet’s play about a dog-eat-dog real estate office in Chicago feels like having espresso pumped directly into your bloodstream…. Mr. Mamet hears American scheming with an exactitude and delight still surpassed by any other dramatist.” – New York Times.

Winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award for Best American Play and the Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best American Play and the Drama Desk and Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play, Glengarry Glen Ross is one of the most celebrated and widely performed plays of recent years. It is a scalding comedy is about small-time, cutthroat real esate salesmen trying to grind out a living by pushing plots of land onto reluctant buyers in a never-ending scramble for their fair share of the American dream. Here, Mamet is at his very best, writing with brutal power about the tough life of tough people who cajole, connive, wheel and deal for a piece of the action an existence where closing a sale can mean a brand-new Cadillac, but losing one can mean losing it everything.

“Wonderfully funny … a play to see, remember and cherish.” – New York Post.

On this day in movie history - Brainstorm (1983):

Brainstorm

directed by Douglas Trumbull,

written by Philip Frank Messina and Robert Stitzel,

based on a story by Bruce Joel Rubin,

was released in the United States on September 30, 1983.
Music by James Horner.

Cast:

Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Louise Fletcher, Cliff Robertson, Jordan Christopher, Donald Hotton, Alan Fudge, Joe Dorsey, Bill Morey, Jason Lively, Darrell Larson, Lou Walker, Stacey Kuhne-Adams, John Hugh, Ira David Wood III, Keith Colbert, Jerry Bennett, Mary Fran Lyman, Jack Harmon, Nina Axelrod, Kelly W. Brown, Desiree Ayres, Debby Porter, Alan G. Butler, Robert Bloodworth, Georgianne Walken, Jimmy Boyd, Charlie Briggs, Ann Lincoln, Robert Terry Young, Bill Willens, Jim Burk, James J. Casino, Robert Hippard, John Gladstein, Herbert Hirschman, John Vidor, Bill Couch, Robert Gooden, Wallace Merck, Glen Lee, Ernest Robinson, Roger Black, Tommy J. Huff, May Boss, Clay Boss, Peter Harrell, Susan Kampe, Gary Bohn, Lana Clarkson, John Philip Dayton, Eric Lively, George Sasaki, Don Stafford.

On this day in music history - Passionworks, by Heart (1983):

The album Passionworks,

by Heart,

was released on August 20, 1983.

On this day in music history - Bela Lugosi's Dead, by Bauhaus (1979):

The song Bela Lugosi's Dead,

by Bauhaus,

was released on August 6, 1979.

Bauhaus performed this song in the opening titles scene of The Hunger,
a stylish vampire-themed horror movie, directed by Tony Scott and released in 1983.

On this day in movie history - The Star Chamber (1983):

The Star Chamber,

directed by Peter Hyams,

written by Roderick Taylor and Peter Hyams,

based on a story by Roderick Taylor,

was released in the United States on August 5, 1983.
Music by Michael Small.

Cast:
Michael Douglas, Hal Holbrook, Yaphet Kotto, Sharon Gless, James Sikking, Joe Regalbuto, Don Calfa, John DiSanti, Otis Day, Jack Kehoe, Larry Hankin, Dick Anthony Williams, Margie Impert, Dana Gladstone, David Proval, Robin Gammell, Matthew Faison, Fred McCarren, Michael Ensign, Jason Bernard, Jerry Taft, Michael Austin, Sheldon Feldner, James Margolin, Hexin E. McPhee, Diana Douglas, Keith Buckley, Domingo Ambriz, Frances Bergen, Charlie Stavola, Robert Costanzo, Paul Brennan, Kate Zentall, George Cooper, Gary Rebstock, David Faustino, Jason Tomarken, George Dickerson, Eddy C. Dyer, John C. Garrett, Danna Hyams, Alan Oliney, Don Pulford, Ron Cummins, Jack Slate, David Armstrong, Robert Board, Robert Buckingham, Fritzi Burr, Robert Cole, George Lane Cooper, Paul DeCeglie, Ken DuMain, Brent Dunsford, Len Felber, George Golden, Raven Grey Eagle, Charles Hallahan, Bob Harks, Robert Hitchcock, George Holmes, Ethelreda Leopold, Phil Niekro, Betty Oakland, Norman Palmer, Leoda Richards, Arnold Roberts, Hank Robinson, Roberto Rodriguez, Bernard Sell, Robert Strong, Paul Van, Richard Wakasa, Tom Willett.