Recommended reading - Making Movies, by Sidney Lumet (1996):

Making Movies

By Sidney Lumet.

Published by Vintage.

Published 1996.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679756604

ISBN-13: 978-0679756606

Description:

Why does a director choose a particular script? What must they do in order to keep actors fresh and truthful through take after take of a single scene? How do you stage a shootout – involving more than one hundred extras and three colliding taxis – in the heart of New York’s diamond district? What does it take to keep the studio honchos happy? From the first rehearsal to the final screening, Making Movies is a master’s take, delivered with clarity, candor, and a wealth of anecdote.

For in this book, Sidney Lumet, one of our most consistently acclaimed directors, gives us both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day’s Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict – and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino – Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic.

“Film would be a better place if every director were required to share with other romancers of film his process. It is a gift to us all that it is Sidney Lumet, one of American’s greatest filmmakers, who is sharing his point-of-view.” – Stephen Spielberg.

“Invaluable. . . . I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them. This is the book.” – Roger Ebert, The New York Times Book Review.

“Remarkable . . . . as dignified as the movies [Lumet] has made and yet deeply felt and very moving. . . . Anyone who truly loves movies ought to read what he has to say about them. . . . Delightfully engrossing.” – Los Angeles Times.

“The film bible from a master. It tells in meticulous detail the step-by-step process of making a movie. You feel you’re on the set. A must.” – Quincy Jones.

“Full of energy, enthusiasm and wisdom. . . . It’s all engrossing because [Lumet] speaks so fervently and opinionatedly about matters on which he has earned the right to opinions.”  - The New Republic.

On this day in movie history - The Morning After (1986):

The Morning After

directed by Sidney Lumet,

written by James Hicks and David Rayfiel,

was released in the United States on December 25, 1986.
Music by Joel Goodman.

Cast:

Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Raul Julia, Diane Salinger, Richard Foronjy, Geoffrey Scott, James 'Gypsy' Haake, Kathleen Wilhoite, Don Hood, Fran Bennett, Michael Flanagan, Bruce Vilanch, Michael Prince, Frances Bergen, José Angel Santana, Bob Minor, George Fisher, Rick Rossovich, Laurel Lyle, Kathy Bates, Anne Betancourt, Patti Song, Betty Lougaris, Drew Berman, Sam Scarber, Michael Zand, Gladys Portugues, Corinna Everson, Selga Sanders.

On this day in movie history - Serpico (1973):

Serpico

directed by Sidney Lumet,

written by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler,

based on the book by Peter Maas,

was released in the United States on December 5, 1973.
Music by Mikis Theodorakis.

Cast:

Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, Edward Grover, Tony Roberts, Allan Rich, Albert Henderson, Joseph Bova, Woodie King Jr., James Tolkan, Bernard Barrow, Nathan George, M. Emmet Walsh, Ted Beniades, F. Murray Abraham, Judd Hirsch.

On this day in movie history - Network (1976):

Network

directed by Sidney Lumet,

written by Paddy Chayefsky,

was released in the United States on November 27, 1976.
Music by Elliot Lawrence.

Cast:

Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty, Arthur Burghardt, Bill Burrows, John Carpenter, Jordan Charney, Kathy Cronkite, Ed Crowley, Jerome Dempsey, Conchata Ferrell, Gene Gross, Stanley Grover, Cindy Grover, Darryl Hickman, Mitchell Jason, Paul Jenkins, Ken Kercheval, Kenneth Kimmins, Lynn Klugman, Carolyn Krigbaum, Zane Lasky, Michael Lipton, Michael Lombard, Pirie MacDonald, Russ Petranto, Bernard Pollock, Roy Poole, William Prince, Sasha von Scherler, Lane Smith, Ted Sorel, Beatrice Straight, Fred Stuthman, Cameron Thomas, Marlene Warfield, Lydia Wilen, Lee Richardson, Robert P. Cohen, Andrew Duncan, Todd Everett, John Gabriel, Tom Gibney, Lance Henriksen, Raymond Martino, John Pashley, Michael Tucker.

On this day in movie history - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007):

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

directed by Sidney Lumet,

written by Kelly Masterson,

was released in the United States on October 26, 2007.
Music by Carter Burwell.

Cast:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, Sarah Livingston, Brían F. O'Byrne, Rosemary Harris, Blaine Horton, Arija Bareikis, Leonardo Cimino, Lee Wilkof, Damon Gupton, Adrian Martinez, Patrick G. Burns, Jordan Gelber.

On this day in movie history - Dog Day Afternoon (1975):

Dog Day Afternoon

directed by Sidney Lumet,

written by Frank Pierson,

based on the article The Boys in the Bank by P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore,

published in the September 1972 edition of Life magazine,

was released in the United States on September 21, 1975.

Cast:

Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar, Susan Peretz, James Broderick, Lance Henriksen, Carol Kane, Beulah Garrick, Sandra Kazan, Estelle Omens, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Amy Levitt, Gary Springer, John Marriott, Philip Charles MacKenzie, Dick Anthony Williams, Judith Malina, Dominic Chianese, Edwin "Chu Chu" Malave, Lionel Pina.