Born on this day – Sam Bottoms:

Sam Bottoms

Actor

Producer

October 17, 1955 – December 16, 2008

On this day in movie history - Apocalypse Now (1979 movie & source novella):

Apocalypse Now

directed by Francis Ford Coppola,

written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola,

based on the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad,

was released in the United States on August 15, 1979.
Music by Carmine Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola.

Narrated by Martin Sheen.

Redux version released in 2001.

Cast:

Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, G. D. Spradlin, Jerry Ziesmer, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn, Colleen Camp, Cynthia Wood, Linda Beatty, Bill Graham, Francis Ford Coppola, Vittorio Storaro, R. Lee Ermey, Christian Marquand, Aurore Clément, Roman Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Michel Pitton, Franck Villard, David Olivier, Chrystel Le Pelletier, Robert Julian, Yvon Le Saux, Henri Sadardiel, Gilbert Renkens.

Recommended reading:

Heart of Darkness

By Joseph Conrad.

Mass Market Paperback

First published 1899.

Published by Penguin Books.

ISBN 13: 9780140431681

ISBN 10: 0140431683

ASIN: B001KTM47C

Author Joseph Conrad based this novella on his own personal experiences, during a voyage up the Congo River in 1890.

This novella was the inspiration for the movie Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Description:

Written in the last year of the nineteenth century, Heart of Darkness can be seen in many ways as the first twentieth-century novel.

Its climate of doubt and vagueness, its loss of moral confidence and its need for belief in the midst of spiritual wilderness, its exploration of the subconscious and its affirmation of individual freedom are all themes that were to have an influence on writers such as Orwell, Godling Céline, Borges and Eliot.

In Heart of Darkness Conrad unfolds the story of Marlow’s search for Mr Kurtz, the company agent whose ‘unlawful soul’ has been ‘beguiled beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations’ in his dealings with the natives of the Belgian Congo. Marlow’s adventure involves him in a crucial reappraisal of his own values. It is Kurtz, however, who attains to a vision of the inexpressible, terrifying reality of the heart in this extraordinary exploration of human savagery and despair.

Book cover image: The Steamer Stanley, by F. Hens.

On this day in movie history - The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976):

The Outlaw Josey Wales

directed by Clint Eastwood,

written by Philip Kaufman and Sonia Chernus,

based on the novel Gone to Texas by Forest Carter,

was released in the United States on June 30, 1976.
Music by Jerry Fielding.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney, John Vernon, Paula Trueman, Sam Bottoms, Geraldine Keams, Woodrow Parfrey, Joyce Jameson, Sheb Wooley, Royal Dano, Matt Clark, John Verros, Will Sampson, William O'Connell, John Quade, Frank Schofield, Buck Kartalian, Len Lesser, Doug McGrath, John Russell, Charles Tyner, Bruce M. Fischer, John Mitchum, John Davis Chandler, Tom Roy Lowe, Clay Tanner, Bob Hoy, Madeleine Taylor Holmes, Erik Holland, Cissy Wellman, Faye Hamblin, Danny Green, Stephen Douglas Butler, Frank Cockrell, Kyle Eastwood, Richard Farnsworth, Joseph Hernandez, John Hudkins, Ron Manning, Walter Scott.

On this day in movie history - Bronco Billy (1980):

Bronco Billy

directed by Clint Eastwood,

written by Dennis Hackin,

was released in the United States on June 11, 1980.
Music by Snuff Garrett.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Scatman Crothers, Bill McKinney, Sam Bottoms, Dan Vadis, Sierra Pecheur, Walter Barnes, Woodrow Parfrey, Beverlee McKinsey, Doug McGrath, Hank Worden, William Prince, Pam Abbas, Eyde Byrde, Douglas Copsey, John Wesley Elliott Jr., Chuck Hicks, Bob Hoy, Jefferson Jewell, Dawneen Lee, Don Mummert, Lloyd Nelson, George Orrison, Michael Reinbold, Tessa Richarde, Cha Cha Sandoval-McMahon, Valerie Shanks, Sharon Sherlock, James Simmerman, Roger Dale Simmons, Jenny Sternling, Chuck Waters, Jerry Wills, Diablo Dean, Scott Atkins, Alison Eastwood, Kyle Eastwood, Scott Glatt III, Merle Haggard, Danny Jensen, R.C. Keene, Juliette Lewis, David Reed, Thomas Iloe Rose, Arlis Tranmer, George Wendt, Gayla Wilson-Corbin.