On this day in movie history - W. C. Fields and Me (1976):

W. C. Fields and Me

directed by Arthur Hiller,

written by Bob Merrill,

based on the book by Carlotta Monti and Cy Rice,

was released in the United States on March 31, 1976.
Music by Henry Mancini.

Cast:

Rod Steiger, Valerie Perrine, John Marley, Jack Cassidy, Bernadette Peters, Dana Elcar, Paul Stewart, Billy Barty, Allan Arbus, Milt Kamen, Louis Zorich, Andrew Parks, Linda Purl, Selma Archerd, Paul Barselou, John Bleifer, Buff Brady, Donald Briggs, Mathilda Calnan, Frank De Vol, Eddie Firestone, Jacques Foti, John Furlong, Jack Griffin, Bob Harks, Crane Jackson, Jimmy Joyce, George Loros, Patch Mackenzie, Paul Mantee, Mary McLain, Victor Millan, Carlotta Monti, Judith Novgrod, Gerald Peters, Leoda Richards, Hank Rolike, Clay Tanner, Elizabeth Thompson, Kenneth Tobey, William Wintersole, Steffen Zacharias, Bill Zuckert.

On this day in movie history - The Harder They Fall (1956 movie & novel):

The Harder They Fall

directed by Mark Robson,

written by Philip Yordan,

based on the novel by Budd Schulberg,

was released in the United States on March 31, 1956.
Music by Hugo Friedhofer.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling, Mike Lane, Max Baer, Jersey Joe Walcott, Edward Andrews, Harold J. Stone, Carlos Montalbán, Luís Agrandi, Nehemiah Persoff, Felice Orlandi, Herbie Faye, Rusty Lane, Jack Albertson.

Recommended reading:

The Harder They Fall

By Budd Schulberg.

First published 1947.

Published by Ivan R. Dee.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1566631076

ISBN-13: 978-1566631075

Description:

Brilliant, witty, and amusing...the best book on fighting that I have read. – Gene Tunney.

The book will stand not only as the novel about boxing but also as a book that indirectly tells more about civilization than do most books about civilization itself. – Arthur Miller.

The quintessential novel of boxing and corruption. – USA Today.

Budd Schulberg's celebrated novel of the prize ring has lost none of its power since its first publication almost fifty years ago. Crowded with unforgettable characters, it is a relentless expose of the fight racket. A modern Samson in the form of a simple Argentine peasant is ballyhooed by an unscrupulous fight promoter and his press agent - and then betrayed and destroyed by connivers. Mr. Schulberg creates a wonderfully authentic atmosphere for this book that many critics hailed as even better than What Makes Sammy Run? The wrongs of the boxing business that the book illuminates are still with us.

On this day in movie history - The Illustrated Man (1969 movie & book):

The Illustrated Man

directed by Jack Smight,

written by Howard B. Kreitsek,

based on the book by Ray Bradbury,

was released in the United States on March 26, 1969.
Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:

Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robert Drivas, Don Dubbins, Jason Evers, Tim Weldon, Christine Matchett, Pogo (the dog).

Recommended reading:

The Illustrated Man

By Ray Bradbury.

Published by Panther.

First published 1951.

1977 edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0586043594

ISBN-13: 978-0586043592

Description:

Anthology of 18 science fiction short stories.

Contents:

Prologue: The Illustrated Man; The Veldt; Kaleidoscope; The Other Foot; The Highway; The Man; The Long Rain; The Rocket Man; The Fire Balloons; The Last Night of the World; The Exiles; No Particular Night or Morning; The Fox and the Forest; The Visitor; The Concrete Mixer; Main article: Marionettes, Inc.; The City; Zero Hour; The Rocket; Epilogue.

Sample:

It was a warm afternoon in early September when I first met the Illustrated Man. I didn’t know he was Illustrated then. …

He took his shirt off. He was covered with Illustrations from the blue tattooed ring about his neck to his belt line. He was a riot of rockets and fountains and people. There were yellow meadows and blue rivers and mountains and stars and suns and planets spread in a Milky Way across his chest.

“You see,” said the Illustrated Man, “the Illustrations predict the future. It’s all right in sunlight. But at night the pictures move. The pictures change. Don’t you look at them, I warn you. Turn the other way when you sleep.”

The night was serene. I lay back a few feet from him. He didn’t seem violent, and the pictures were beautiful. I let my eyes fill up on them.

Sixteen illustrations, sixteen tales. I counted them one by one.

Primarily my eyes focused upon a scene, a large house with two people in it. I saw a flight of vultures on a blazing flesh sky, I saw yellow lions, and I heard voices.

The first Illustrations quivered and came to life. …