On this day in movie history - The Train Robbers (1973):

The Train Robbers

directed and written by Burt Kennedy,

was released in the United States on February 7, 1973.
Music by Dominic Frontiere.

Cast:

John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, Christopher George, Bobby Vinton, Jerry Gatlin, Ricardo Montalban, Dennis Falt, Ralph Volkie.

On this day in movie history – Stagecoach (1939 movie & novel):

Stagecoach

directed by John Ford,

written by Dudley Nichols and Ben Hecht,

based on the short story Stage to Lordsburg by Ernest Haycox,

was released in the United States on February 2, 1939.
Music by Gerard Carbonara.

Cast:

Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, Louise Platt, George Bancroft, Donald Meek, Berton Churchill, Tim Holt, Tom Tyler, Dorothy Appleby, Frank Baker, Chief John Big Tree, Ted Billings, Wiggie Blowne, Danny Borzage, Ed Brady, Fritzi Brunette, Yakima Canutt, Nora Cecil, Steve Clemente, Bill Cody, Jack Curtis, Marga Ann Deighton, Patricia Doyle, Tex Driscoll, Johnny Eckert, Franklyn Farnum, Francis Ford, Brenda Fowler, Olin Francis, Helen Gibson, Don Hawks, Robert Homans, William Hopper, George Huggins, Si Jenks, Cornelius Keefe, Florence Lake, Al Lee, Duke R. Lee, Theodore Lorch, Chris-Pin Martin, Jim Mason, Louis Mason, Merrill McCormick, J.P. McGowan, Walter McGrail, Paul McVey, Jack Mohr, Kent Odell, Artie Ortego, Vester Pegg, Jack Pennick, Chris Phillips, Joe Rickson, Buddy Roosevelt, Elvira Ríos, Mickey Simpson, Margaret Smith, Chuck Stubbs, Harry Tenbrook, Leonard Trainor, Dorothy Vernon, Mary Kathleen Walker, Blackjack Ward, Bryant Washburn, Whitehorse, Hank Worden.

Recommended reading:

Stage to Lordsburg

By Ernest Haycox.

Filmed as Stagecoach (1939), directed by John Ford.

Short story.

First published 1937.

Published by Fantasy and Horror Classics.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1447404130

ISBN-13: 978-1447404132

Description:

Ernest Haycox's 1937 short story, Stage to Lordsburg, was a bestseller and a classic of the Western genre. Popularized by the 1939 film adaptation Stagecoach, this Wild West tale vividly portrays Haycox's setting and characters.

Stage to Lordsburg follows a collection of characters as they journey from Tonto, Arizona Territory, to Lordsburg, New Mexico. A series of dangers and perils face the colorful group as they embark on the uncomfortable trip. Ernest Haycox presents a number of cliché Western characters and the point of view shifts between them as the short story progresses. This masterful tale by Ernest Haycox, a prolific writer of Western fiction, is not to be missed by fans of old cowboy narratives.

On this day in movie history - Pittsburgh (1942):

Pittsburgh

directed by Lewis Seiler,

written by Kenneth Gamet, Tom Reed, John Twist, Robert Fellows and Winston Miller,

based on a story by George Owen and Tom Reed,

was released in the United States on December 11, 1942.
Music by Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner.

Cast:

Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Frank Craven, Louise Allbritton, Shemp Howard, Thomas Gomez, Ludwig Stössel, Samuel S. Hinds, Paul Fix, William Haade, Charles Coleman, Nestor Paiva, John Alban, Charles Arnt, Lois Austin, Don Barclay, Robert Barron, Brandon Beach, Brooks Benedict, Edward Biby, Ted Billings, Wade Boteler, Chet Brandenburg, Tex Brodus, James Carlisle, Hobart Cavanaugh, Jack Chefe, James Conaty, Harry Cording, Victor Cox, Hal Craig, Oliver Cross, Grace Cunard, Sayre Dearing, Jack Deery, William Desmond, Helen Dickson, John Dilson, Jimmy Dime, Ed Emerson, Bess Flowers, Douglas Fowley, Joe Garcio, Jack Gardner, Jack Gargan, Kenneth Gibson, Gus Glassmire, George Golden, Dick Gordon, William Gould, Bobbie Hale, Eddie Hall, Chuck Hamilton, Sam Harris, Winifred Harris, Carol Henry, Edward Keane, Joe Kirk, Ethan Laidlaw, Nolan Leary, Kay Linaker, Frank Marlowe, Alphonse Martell, Johnny Marvin, Larry McGrath, Mira McKinney, Paul McVey, Robert Milasch, Irving Mitchell, Sandra Morgan, Frances Morris, Edmund Mortimer, Charles Morton, Broderick O'Farrell, Monty O'Grady, Bob Perry, Lorin Raker, Bob Reeves, Cyril Ring, Robert Robinson, William Ruhl, Virginia Sale, Paul Scott, Harry Seymour, John Sheehan, Charles Sherlock, Jack C. Smith, Tom Steele, Sammy Stein, Brick Sullivan, Charles Sullivan, Ben Taggart, Dale Van Sickel, Frankie Van, Ray Walker, Glen Walters, Anthony Warde, Phil Warren.

On this day in movie history - The Comancheros (1961):

The Comancheros

directed by Michael Curtiz and John Wayne,

written by James Edward Grant and Clair Huffaker,

based on the novel by Paul I. Wellman,

was released in the United States on November 1, 1961.
Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Ina Balin, Nehemiah Persoff, Lee Marvin, Michael Ansara, Patrick Wayne, Bruce Cabot, Joan O'Brien, Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, Henry Daniell, Richard Devon, Phil Arnold, Anne Barton, Steve Baylor, Danny Borzage, Don Brodie, Alan Carney, James J. Casino, Iphigenie Castiglioni, Jack Clinton, Dennis Cole, Booth Colman, Jackie Cubat, Gabriel Curtiz, John Dierkes, Ilana Dowding, William Fawcett, Eric Feldary, Joe Gray, Lenmana Guerin, Claude Hall, Tom Hennesy, Tom Hernández, George Holmes, Michael Jeffers, Joseph La Cava, George J. Lewis, Jon Lormer, Cliff Lyons, Casey MacGregor, John Marlin, Roger Mobley, Ralph Neff, Gregg Palmer, Thayer Roberts, Frank J. Scannell, Phil Schumacher, Bernard Sell, Leigh Snowden, Bob Steele, Lusita Triana, Ralph Volkie, Aissa Wayne, Guinn Williams, Henry Wills, Sam Wolfe, Kelly Yost.

On this day in movie history - The Longest Day (1962):

The Longest Day

directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton and Bernhard Wicki,

written by Cornelius Ryan, Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall and Jack Seddon,

based on the book by Cornelius Ryan,

was released in the United States on October 4, 1962.
Music by Maurice Jarre.

Cast:

Eddie Albert, Paul Anka, Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Beymer, Hans Christian Blech, Bourvil, Richard Burton, Wolfgang Büttner, Red Buttons, Pauline Carton, Sean Connery, Ray Danton, Irina Demick, Fred Dur, Fabian, Mel Ferrer, Henry Fonda, Steve Forrest, Gert Fröbe, Leo Genn, John Gregson, Paul Hartmann, Peter Helm, Werner Hinz, Donald Houston, Jeffrey Hunter, Karl John, Curd Jürgens, Alexander Knox, Peter Lawford, Fernand Ledoux, Christian Marquand, Dewey Martin, Roddy McDowall, Michael Medwin, Sal Mineo, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Richard Münch, Edmond O'Brien, Leslie Phillips, Wolfgang Preiss, Ron Randell, Madeleine Renaud, Georges Rivière, Norman Rossington, Robert Ryan, Tommy Sands, George Segal, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger, Richard Todd, Tom Tryon, Peter van Eyck, Robert Wagner, Richard Wattis, Stuart Whitman, Georges Wilson, John Wayne.

On this day in movie history - The Quiet Man (1952):

The Quiet Man

directed by John Ford,

written by Frank S. Nugent,

was released in the United States on September 14, 1952.
Based on the short story by Maurice Walsh, originally published in the Saturday Evening Post (1933).
Narrated by Ward Bond.
Music by Victor Young.

Cast:

John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, Ward Bond, Mildred Natwick, Francis Ford, Arthur Shields, Eileen Crowe, Charles FitzSimons, James Fitzsimons, Sean McClory, Emily Eby, Jack MacGowran, Philip Stainton, May Craig, Paddy O'Donnell, Eric Gorman, Kevin Lawless, Joseph O'Dea, Tony Canzoneri, Frank Baker, Ruth Clifford, Maureen Coyne, Mimi Doyle, Ken Curtis, Douglas Evans, Charles Ferguson, Robert Foy, Sam Harris, D.R.O. Hatswell, John Horan, David Hughes, Billy Jones, Tiny Jones, Colin Kenny, Patrick Wayne, Michael Wayne, Toni Wayne, Melinda Wayne, Mae Marsh, Jim Morrin, Jim McVeigh, Harry Tenbrook, Harry Tyler, Al Murphy, Hank Worden, Michael O'Brian, Pat O'Malley, Frank O'Connor, Web Overlander, Bob Perry, Darla Ridgeway, Freddy Ridgeway, Philip Stainton, Jack Roper, Brick Sullivan.

On this day in movie history - The Shootist (1976 movie & novel):

The Shootist

directed by Don Siegel,

written by Miles Hood Swarthout and Scott Hale,

based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout,

was released in the United States on July 21, 1976.
Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart, Richard Boone, Hugh O'Brian, Bill McKinney, Harry Morgan, John Carradine, Sheree North, Rick Lenz, Scatman Crothers, Gregg Palmer, Alfred Dennis, Dick Winslow, Melody Thomas Scott, Kathleen O'Malley, Jack Berle, Johnny Crawford, Chuck Dawson, George Dunn, Duke Fishman, Christopher George, Jonathan Goldsmith, Leo Gordon, Charles G. Martin, Jim Michael, Ernesto Molinari, Ricky Nelson, James Nolan, Nick Raymond, Henry Slate, Bob Steele, Ralph Volkie, John Zimeas.

Recommended reading:

The Shootist

By Glendon Swarthout.

Introduction by Miles Swarthout.

Filmed as The Shootist (1976), directed by Don Siegel.

Published by Bison Books.

First published 1975.

ISBN-10: 0803238231

ISBN-13: 9780803238237

Description:

"Such style...such a strong central idea...the showdown is an unremitting as the build-up." – Sunday Times of London.

"This is an extremely well-written Western and gives the reader vivid insight into the workings of the mind of a wanderer and gunman." – Baton Rouge, Louisiana Sunday Advocate.

"The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout is the taleof the Old West's version of the modern 'hit man'. It is a splendid story, well-told and with a really satisfying ending." – Charleston, South Carolina Evening Post.

The Shootist is John Bernard Books, a man of principle and the only surviving gunfighter in a vanishing American West. He rides into El Paso in the year 1901, on the day Queen Victoria died, there to be told by a doctor that he must soon confront the greatest shootist of all: Death. In such a showdown, against such an antagonist, he cannot win. Most men may end their days in bed or take their own lives, but a man-killer has a 3rd option, one which Books decides to exercise. He may choose his own executioner.

As word spreads that the famous assassin has reached the end of his rope, an assortment of vultures gathers to feast upon his corpse--among them a gambler, a rustler, an undertaker, an old love, a reporter, even a boy. Books outwits them, however, by selecting the where, when, who, and why of his death, and writing in fire from a pair of Remingtons the last courageous act of his own legend. The climatic gunfight itself is an incredible performance by an incredible man, and by his creator, Glendon Swarthout.

The Shootist will rank with such classics as Shane and The Ox-Bow Incident, but it is much more than a Western. When, in the final afternoon of his life, J. B. Books crosses a street and enters a saloon to make something of his death, we cross, we enter, with him. He is us.

From a corner of the south window Gillom Rogers spied on the new lodger. The man unpacked his valise and put things in a drawer of the chiffonier, then hung his Price Albert coat in the closet. When he turned from the closet he was in shirt and vest. The boy's eyes rounded. Sewn to each side of the vest was a holster, reversed, and in each holster was a pistol, butt forward. As he watched, sucking in his breath, the man took the weapons out, revolved the cylinders, filled a chamber in one he had evidently fired, and replaced them before hanging the vest, too, in the closet. The pistols were a pair of nickel-plated, short-barreled, unsighted, single-action .44 Remingtons, obviously manufactured to order. The handle of one was black gutta-percha, the other pearl.

Gillom slipped away to take the horse to the livery, letting the breath of revelation out of his lungs. He was seventeen, and spent much of his time in saloons. He was not yet served, but he enjoyed himself and picked up a great deal of miscellaneous information, some of it true, some of it of doubtful authenticity. But the man in corner room was no stranger to him now. He had heard enough scalp-itch, blood-freeze tales to know that only one man carried a similar pair of guns in a similar manner...