On this day in movie history - Thunder Road (1958):

Thunder Road

directed by Arthur Ripley,

written by James Atlee Phillips and Walter Wise,

based on a story by Robert Mitchum,

was released in the United States on May 10, 1958.
Music by Jack Marshall.

Cast:

Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Jacques Aubuchon, Keely Smith, Trevor Bardette, Sandra Knight, James Mitchum, Betsy Holt, Francis Koon, Randy Sparks, Mitchell Ryan, Peter Breck, Peter Hornsby, Jerry Hardin, Robert Porterfield, Charles Elledge, Charles Hendrix, Christopher Mitchum, Jack Perry, Dale Van Sickel.

On this day in movie history - The Big Sleep (1978):

The Big Sleep

directed and written by Michael Winner,

based on the novel by Raymond Chandler,

was released in the United States on March 13, 1978.
Narrated by Robert Mitchum.
Music by Jerry Fielding.

Cast:

Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Richard Boone, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, Edward Fox, John Mills, James Stewart, Oliver Reed, Harry Andrews, Colin Blakely, Richard Todd, Diana Quick, James Donald, John Justin, Simon Fisher Turner, Martin Potter.

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.

On this day in movie history - The Racket (1951 movie & books):

The Racket

directed by John Cromwell,

written by William Wister Haines and W.R. Burnett,

based on the play by Bartlett Cormack,

was released in the United States on October 25, 1951.
Music by Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Talman, Ray Collins, Joyce MacKenzie, Robert Hutton, Virginia Huston, William Conrad, Walter Sande, Les Tremayne, Don Porter, Walter Baldwin, Brett King, Richard Karlan, Tito Vuolo, Milburn Stone.

Recommended reading:

The Racket

By Bartlett Cormack.

A play in three acts.
ASIN: B0BPM49P6T
Published by Samuel French.
Published 1928.

Adapted to film in 1928 and 1951.

The play The Racket is also available in the following anthology:

Strictly Dishonorable and Other Lost American Plays

Edited by Richard Nelson.

Paperback.
Published 1993.
Published by Theatre Communications Group.
ISBN 13: 9780930452551
ISBN 10: 0930452550
ASIN: 0930452550

Contents: Strictly Dishonorable by Preston Sturges; The Racket by Bartlett Cormack; The Ghost of Yankee Doodle by Sidney Howard and A Slight Case of Murder by Howard Lindsay and Damon Runyon.

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.