On this day in movie history - Misery (1990):

Misery

directed by Rob Reiner,

written by William Goldman,

based on the novel by Stephen King,

was released in the United States on November 30, 1990.
Music by Marc Shaiman.

Cast:

James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall, Graham Jarvis, Jerry Potter, J. T. Walsh, Rob Reiner.

Born on this day – Richard Farnsworth:

Richard Farnsworth

Actor

Stuntman

September 1, 1920 – October 6, 2000

On this day in movie history - The Grey Fox (1982):

The Grey Fox

directed by Phillip Borsos,

written by John Hunter,

was released at the Taormina Film Festival, in Italy, on July 24, 1982.
Based on the true story of Bill Miner (1847–1913).
Music by Michael Conway Baker.

Cast:

Richard Farnsworth, Jackie Burroughs, Ken Pogue, Wayne Robson, Timothy Webber, Gary Reineke, David Petersen, Don MacKay, Samantha Langevin, Tom Heaton, Jim McLarty, George Dawson, Ray Michal, Stephen E. Miller, David L. Crowley, David McCulley, Garry Chalk, Jack Leaf, Isaac Hislop, Sean Sullivan, Bill Murdoch, Jack Ackroyd, Nicholas Rice, Frank C. Turner, Bill Meilen, David Raines, Paul Coeur, Mel Tuck, Peter John, Paul Whitney, David Ackridge, Murray Ord, Tom Glass, Antony Holland, Jon York, John Owen, Lisa Westman, Robert Milicevic.

On this day in movie history - Travis McGee (1983 movie & novel):

Travis McGee

directed by Andrew V. McLaglen,

written by Stirling Silliphant,

based on the novel The Empty Copper Sea by John D. MacDonald,

was released in the United States on May 18, 1983.
Music by Jerrold Immel.

Cast:

Sam Elliott, Gene Evans, Barry Corbin, Richard Farnsworth, Geoffrey Lewis, Amy Madigan, Vera Miles, Katharine Ross, Marshall R. Teague, Walter Olkewicz, Jack Murdock, Greta Blackburn, Owen Orr, Pilar Del Rey.

Recommended reading:

The Empty Copper Sea

By John D. MacDonald.

Introduction by Lee Child.

Filmed as Travis McGee (1983), directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.

# 17 in the Travis McGee series.

Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks.

First published 1978.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0812984080

ISBN-13: 978-0812984088

Description:

“John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all us in the field. Talk about the best.” – Mary Higgins Clark.

From a beloved master of crime fiction, The Empty Copper Sea is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hard-boiled detective who lives on a houseboat.

Asking for help is something a proud man like Van Harder would never do. So when he shows up at the Busted Flush, Travis McGee knows that he must be the man’s last resort. What Harder wants salvaged is his reputation. After a long career as a seaman, he was piloting a boat the night his employer fell overboard. Harder is certain he’s been set up, but to help him, McGee must prove that a dead man is actually alive.

The fateful ride started with Harder at the helm of Hubbard Lawless’s luxury cruiser. It ends with him coming to, fuzzy and disoriented, and Hub lost to the water. Now everyone is saying that Harder got drunk, passed out, and is negligent in his boss’s death. The thing is, Van’s not a drinker . . . at least, not anymore.

Who would want to frame the good captain, and to what end? Dead or alive, Lawless is worth a lot of money. People are always eager to get a piece of that action – including some, as McGee soon finds, who are willing to take a piece out of anyone who gets in their way.

Features a new Introduction by Lee Child.

On this day in movie history - The Natural (1984 movie & novel):

The Natural

directed by Barry Levinson,

written by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry,

based on the novel by Bernard Malamud,

was released in the United States on May 11, 1984.
Music by Randy Newman.

Cast:

Robert Redford, Paul Sullivan Jr., Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Rachel Hall, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky, Richard Farnsworth, Joe Don Baker, Darren McGavin, Michael Madsen, John Finnegan, Alan Fudge, Ken Grassano, Mike Starr, Mickey Treanor, Jon Van Ness, Anthony J. Ferrara, George Wilkosz, Robert Rich III, Sibby Sisti.

Recommended reading:

The Natural

By Bernard Malamud.

Filmed as The Natural (1984), directed by Barry Levinson.

Paperback.

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

First published 1952.

ISBN: 9780374502003

ISBN 10: 0374502005

ASIN: 0374502005

Description:

The Natural, Bernard Malamud's first novel, published in 1952, is also the first – and some would say still the best – novel ever written about baseball. In it, Malamud, usually appreciated for his unerring portrayals of postwar Jewish life, took on very different material – the story of a superbly gifted "natural" at play in the fields of the old daylight baseball era – and invested it with the hardscrabble poetry, at once grand and altogether believable, that runs through all his best work. Four decades later, Alfred Kazin's comment still holds true: "Malamud has done something which – now that he has done it! – looks as if we have been waiting for it all our lives. He has really raised the whole passion and craziness and fanaticism of baseball as a popular spectacle to its ordained place in mythology."