On this day in movie history - The Harder They Fall (1956 movie & novel):

The Harder They Fall

directed by Mark Robson,

written by Philip Yordan,

based on the novel by Budd Schulberg,

was released in the United States on March 31, 1956.
Music by Hugo Friedhofer.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling, Mike Lane, Max Baer, Jersey Joe Walcott, Edward Andrews, Harold J. Stone, Carlos Montalbán, Luís Agrandi, Nehemiah Persoff, Felice Orlandi, Herbie Faye, Rusty Lane, Jack Albertson.

Recommended reading:

The Harder They Fall

By Budd Schulberg.

First published 1947.

Published by Ivan R. Dee.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1566631076

ISBN-13: 978-1566631075

Description:

Brilliant, witty, and amusing...the best book on fighting that I have read. – Gene Tunney.

The book will stand not only as the novel about boxing but also as a book that indirectly tells more about civilization than do most books about civilization itself. – Arthur Miller.

The quintessential novel of boxing and corruption. – USA Today.

Budd Schulberg's celebrated novel of the prize ring has lost none of its power since its first publication almost fifty years ago. Crowded with unforgettable characters, it is a relentless expose of the fight racket. A modern Samson in the form of a simple Argentine peasant is ballyhooed by an unscrupulous fight promoter and his press agent - and then betrayed and destroyed by connivers. Mr. Schulberg creates a wonderfully authentic atmosphere for this book that many critics hailed as even better than What Makes Sammy Run? The wrongs of the boxing business that the book illuminates are still with us.

On this day in movie history - Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956 movie & novel):

Somebody Up There Likes Me

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Ernest Lehman,

based on the autobiography by Rocky Graziano with Rowland Barber,

was released in the United States on July 4, 1956.
Music by Bronislau Kaper.

Cast:

Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart, Harold J. Stone, Joseph Buloff, Sal Mineo, Ray Stricklyn, Robert Loggia, Steve McQueen, Angela Cartwright, Jack Orrison, Frank Campanella, Dean Jones.

Recommended reading:

Somebody Up There Likes Me

By Rocky Graziano with Rowland Barber.

Filmed as Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), directed by Robert Wise.

Published by Ecco Press.

Published 1954.

ISBN 13: 9780880013932

ISBN 10: 0880013931

ASIN: 0880013931

Paperback.

Description:

The blood-soaked autobiography of a fist-happy hoodlum…

Rocky’s right hand saw him through three stretches in reform school, four man-size prisons, the middle-weight championship of the world, and a career as a television comedian with Martha Raye.

We get a view of what it’s like to be on the lam from truant officers, probation officers, goons, cops, and creeps too stupid to be anything but legitimate. What it’s like to hit first or get hit! – Saturday Review.