On this day in movie history - 12 Angry Men (1957 movie & play):

12 Angry Men

directed by Sidney Lumet,

written by Reginald Rose,

based on the 1954 teleplay Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose,

was released in the United States on April 10, 1957.
Music by Kenyon Hopkins.

Cast:

Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, Robert Webber, Rudy Bond, Tom Gorman, James Kelly, Billy Nelson, John Savoca, Walter Stocker.

Recommended reading:

Twelve Angry Men

Teleplay by Reginald Rose.

Introduction by David Mamet.

Filmed as:

12 Angry Men (1957), directed by Sidney Lumet.

12 Angry Men (1997), directed by William Friedkin.

Paperback.

Published by Penguin Classics.

First published 1954.

ISBN 13: 9780143104407

ISBN 10: 0143104403

ASIN: 0143104403

Description:

A blistering character study and an examination of the American melting pot and the judicial system that keeps it in check, Twelve Angry Men holds at its core a deeply patriotic faith in the U.S. legal system. The play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1 guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear-eyed way not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose deliberately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the men and allows a fuller picture to form of them—and of America, at its best and worst.

After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this landmark American drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957 starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on Broadway.

On this day in movie history - Cape Fear (movie & novel):

Cape Fear

directed by Martin Scorsese,

written by Wesley Strick,

based on the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald,

was released in the United States on November 15, 1991.
Music by Bernard Herrmann and Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Martin Balsam, Illeana Douglas, Fred Thompson, Zully Montero, Craig Henne, Forest Burton, Edgar Allan Poe IV, Rod Ball, W. Paul Bodie, Joel Kolker, Antoni Corone, Tamara Jones, Roger Pretto, Parris Buckner, Margot Moreland, Will Knickerbocker, Robert L. Gerlach, Bruce E. Holdstein, Richard Wasserman, Paul Nagle Jr., Paul Froehler, Mary Ellen O'Brien, Jody Wilson, C.C. Costigan, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, Gar Stephen, Billy D. Lucas, Ken Collins, Linda Perri, Libby Moyer, Catherine Scorsese, Charles Scorsese, Jackie Davis, George Grafas, Esther Rolle, Ken Waters.

Recommended reading:

The Executioners

By John D. MacDonald.

Filmed as:

Cape Fear (1962), directed by J. Lee Thompson,

Cape Fear (1991), directed by Martin Scorsese.

Mass Market Paperback.

First published 1957.

Published by Magnum Books.

ISBN 13: 9780417043708

ISBN 10: 0417043708

ASIN: 0417043708

Description:

For 14 years Max Cady had sworn vengeance against the man who convicted him, becoming fired by an insane obsession for revenge. Released from his years of hard Labour he made his plans for Sam Bowden's slow death.

Born on this day – Martin Balsam:

Martin Balsam

Actor

November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996

On this day in movie history - The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974 movie & novel):

The Taking of Pelham 123

directed by Joseph Sargent,

written by Peter Stone,

based on the novel by John Godey,

was released in the United States on October 2, 1974.
Music by David Shire.

Cast:

Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, Earl Hindman, James Broderick, Dick O'Neill, Lee Wallace, Tom Pedi, Beatrice Winde, Jerry Stiller, Nathan George, Rudy Bond, Kenneth McMillan, Doris Roberts, Julius Harris, Cynthia Belgrave, Anna Berger, Gary Bolling, Carol Cole, Alex Colon, Joe Fields, Mari Gorman, Michael Gorrin, Thomas La Fleur, María Landa, Louise Larabee, George Lee Miles, Carolyn Nelson, Eric O'Hanian, Lucy Saroyan, William Snickowski, Barry Snyder, Walter Jones, Jerry Holland, Robert Weil, Penny Krompier, Christopher Murney, Timothy Meyers, Ruth Attaway, Thomas Barbour, Marvin Silbersher, Neil Brooks Cunningham, Sal Viscuso, Tony Fasce, Burtt Harris, Gene Gross, Walter Lott, Conrad Yama, Sho Onodera, Toru Nagai, Tura Nakamura, Rowena Rollins, Joseph Attles, Willis Pinkett, Michelle Matthow, Isabella Hoopes, Bill Cobbs, Jim Pelham, Joe Seneca, Gino Gennaro, Carmine Foresta, Tony Roberts, Hy Anzell, Ines Hellendall, Jean-Paul Hellendall, Ben Lautman, Carey Loftin, James Mapes, Paul Nuckles, Jay Rasumny, Charles Silvern, Dominique St. Pierre, Dolph Sweet, Frank Ventgen.

Recommended reading:

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

By John Godey.

First published 1973.

Published by Penguin Publishing Group.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0425253309

ISBN-13: 978-0425253304

Description:

"Chillingly real." – Houston Chronicle.

"A cliff-hanger." – The New Yorker.

"Harrowing, terrifying, and so, so good." – Business Week.

THIS AFTERNOON IN NEW YORK CITY, AFTER A SUBWAY TRAIN LEFT THE PELHAM STATION AT 1:23 P.M., THE EVENTS OF THE DAY TOOK A TERRIFYING DETOUR…

“You will all remain seated. Anyone who tries to get up, or even moves, will be shot. There will be no further warning. If you move you will be killed…”

Four men, armed with submachine guns, have seized a New York City subway train, holding all seventeen passengers – and the entire city – hostage.

The identities of the hijackers are unknown.

Their demands seem impossible.

Their threats are real.

Their escape seems inconceivable.

Only one thing is certain: they aren’t stopping for anything.