On this day in movie history - The Terminal Man (movie & novel):

The Terminal Man

directed and written by Mike Hodges,

based on the novel by Michael Crichton,

was released in the United States on June 19, 1974.
Music by Dan Wallin.

Cast:

George Segal, Joan Hackett, Richard A. Dysart, Jill Clayburgh, Donald Moffat, Michael C. Gwynne, William Hansen, Norman Burton, James Sikking, Matt Clark, Jim Antonio, Gene Borkan, Burke Byrnes, Jordan Rhodes, Dee Carroll, Jason Wingreen, Steve Kanaly, Al Checco, Fred Sadoff, Jack Colvin, Ian Wolfe, Lee de Broux, Robert Ito, Victor Argo, Rutanya Alda, Ed Avery, Dorothy Hack, Bob Harks, George Holmes, Michael Jeffers, Dale Johnson, Diane Jones, Clyde McLeod, Joe Pine, Nilsa Ray, Clark Ross, Michael Santiago, James Sweet, Nicholas Worth.

Recommended reading:

The Terminal Man

By Michael Crichton.

First Published 1972.

ISBN-10: 0394447689

ISBN-13: 978-0394447681

Description:

In his first novel since The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton once again combines documentary verisimilitude with hair-raising suspense to open up for the reader a new area of modern science: surgical-electronic mind control.

The man ‘in the hands of science” – the Terminal Man – is Harry Benson. He is a violent paranoid who has already twice attempted to kill. Against the profound opposition of his psychiatrist, a team of surgeons proposes to connect his brain to a computer that will regulate his behavior. From the conflict among the doctors, to the actual operation itself – during which forty wires are attached to forty points in Benson’s brain – to the functioning of the computers, to the terrifying results when Benson escapes from the hospital, the tension rises as the reader becomes a close-up witness to an experiment just short of the ultimate computer control of a human being.

Psychosurgery of the kind Crichton describes is already taking place under established medical auspices – a new form of behavior control that has become a key scientific and moral issue in our time. Crichton takes it out of the realm of the abstract, and makes immediate its workings, its dangers, and its implications, in a novel that provides urgent information and, at the same time, superb entertainment.

On this day in movie history - The Last of Sheila (1973):

The Last of Sheila

directed by Herbert Ross,

written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim,

was released in the United States on June 14, 1973.
Music by Billy Goldenberg.

Cast:

Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Joan Hackett, James Mason, Ian McShane, Raquel Welch, Yvonne Romain.

Born on this day – Joan Hackett:

Joan Hackett

Actress

March 1, 1934 – October 8, 1983

Credits:

Tales of the Unexpected (1985); Flicks / New Adventures of the Great Galaxy (1983); A Girl's Life (1983); Paper Dolls (1982); The Escape Artist (1982); The Long Summer of George Adams (1982); Only When I Laugh (1981); Mourning Becomes Electra (1981); One-Trick Pony (1980); The Long Days of Summer (1980); Trapper John, M.D. (1979); The Love Boat (1979); Taxi (1979); Sweepstakes (1979); The North Avenue Irregulars (1979); Pleasure Cove (1979); Another Day (1978); The Possessed (1977); Dead of Night (1977); Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? (1977); Treasure of Matecumbe (1976); The American Woman: Portraits of Courage (1976); Mackintosh and T.J. (1975); Reflections of Murder (1974); The Terminal Man (1974); The Last of Sheila (1973); Class of '63 (1973); Rivals (1972); Lights Out (1972); Bonanza (1965–1972); Five Desperate Women (1971); U.S.A. (1971); Alias Smith and Jones (1971); Dan August (1971); Love, American Style / Love and the Jury / Love and the Proposal (1970–1971); The Other Man (1970); How Awful About Allan (1970); The Young Country (1970); Daniel Boone (1969); Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969); The Name of the Game (1968); Assignment to Kill (1968); Judd for the Defense (1967); Will Penny (1967); Run for Your Life (1966); Court Martial (1966); The Group (1966); Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1964–1965); Ben Casey (1961–1964); The Wednesday Play (1964); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964); Channing (1964); The Great Adventure (1963); Empire (1963); The Doctors and the Nurses (1963); Combat! (1963); The Defenders (1961–1963); Alcoa Premiere (1962); Theatre '62 (1962); Gunsmoke (1962); Dr. Kildare (1962); The Twilight Zone (1962); The New Breed (1962); Westinghouse Presents: Come Again to Carthage (1961); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1960); Diagnosis: Unknown (1960); The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1959); Young Dr. Malone (1958).

December in movie history - Assignment to Kill (1968):

Assignment to Kill

directed and written by Sheldon Reynolds,

was released in the United States in December, 1968.
Exact release date unknown.
Music by William Lava.

Cast:

Patrick O'Neal, Joan Hackett, John Gielgud, Herbert Lom, Eric Portman, Peter van Eyck, Oskar Homolka, Leon Greene, Kent Smith, Philip Ober, Fifi D'Orsay, Éva Szörényi, Cynthia O'Neal, Betty Bresler, Karl Bruck, Albert D'Arno, Walter Friedel, Walter Janovitz, Joanne Ludden, Martin Miller, Ann Prentiss, Charles H. Radilak, Erik Sorenson.