On this day in movie history - The Wild Bunch (1969):

The Wild Bunch

directed by Sam Peckinpah,

written by Walon Green and Sam Peckinpah,

based on a story by Walon Green and Roy N. Sickner,

was released in the United States on June 18, 1969.
Music by Jerry Fielding.

Cast:

William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sánchez, Ben Johnson, Emilio Fernández, Strother Martin, L. Q. Jones, Albert Dekker, Bo Hopkins, Jorge Russek, Alfonso Arau, Dub Taylor, Chano Urueta, Elsa Cárdenas, Fernando Wagner, Paul Harper, Bill Hart, Rayford Barnes, Stephen Ferry, Sonia Amelio, Aurora Clavel, Elizabeth Dupeyrón.

On this day in movie history - True Grit (1969 movie & novel):

True Grit

directed by Henry Hathaway,

written by Marguerite Roberts,

based on the novel by Charles Portis,

was released in the United States on June 11, 1969.
Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

John Wayne, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Jeremy Slate, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Alfred Ryder, Strother Martin, Jeff Corey, Ron Soble, John Fiedler, James Westerfield, John Doucette, Donald Woods, Edith Atwater, Carlos Rivas, Isabel Boniface, H.W. Gim, John Pickard, Elizabeth Harrower, Ken Renard, Jay Ripley, Kenneth Becker, Leon Alton, Wilford Brimley, Forest Burns, Albert Cavens, Gene Coogan, Myron Healey, James McEachin, Dennis McMullen, Boyd 'Red' Morgan, Robin Morse, Edna O'Dell, John Pedrini, General Sterling Price (Ginger Cat), Stuart Randall, Clark Ross, Connie Sawyer, Jeffrey Sayre, Jay Silverheels, Dean Smith, Max Wagner.

Recommended reading:

True Grit

By Charles Portis.

Filmed as True Grit (1969), directed by Henry Hathaway.

Published by The Overlook Press.

First published 1968.

ISBN-10: 159020459X

ISBN-13: 9781590204597

Description:

“Quite simply, an American masterpiece.” – Boston Globe.

“Charles Portis had a wonderful talent—original, quirky, exciting.” – Larry McMurtry.

Charles Portis has long been acclaimed as one of America’s most enduring and incomparable literary voices, and his novels have left an indelible mark on the American canon. True Grit, his most famous novel, was first published in 1968, and has garnered critical acclaim as well as enthusiastic praise from countless passionate fans for more than 50 years.

True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just 14 when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Filled with an unwavering urge to avenge her father’s blood, Mattie finds and, after some tenacious finagling, enlists one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available US Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer.

True Grit is essential reading. Not just a classic Western, but an undeniable classic of American literature as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself. For fans of either the John Wayne classic or the Coen brothers’ movie, it’s a chance to relive the story of Mattie and Rooster and experience their story as it was originally told. For fans of taut, funny storytelling, it will be a joy to experience in its original form.

This edition includes an afterword by bestselling author Donna Tartt (The Secret History and The Goldfinch) and a reading group guide.

Born on this day – Strother Martin:

Strother Martin

Actor

March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980

Credits:

77 Sunset Strip (1963); A Man Called Shenandoah (1966); A Star Is Born (1954); AFI Life Achievement Award (1980); All-Star Party for James Stewart (1978); An Eye for an Eye (1966); Androcles and the Lion (1952); Attack (1956); Baretta (1975–1977); Ben Casey (1962–1964); Better Late Than Never (1979); Big Town (1952); Bitter Heritage (1958); Black Patch (1957); Black Saddle (1959); Bonanza (1964–1972); Boots and Saddles (1958); Brainstorm (1965); Broken Arrow (1957–1958); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); Cavalcade of America (1955); Chevron Theatre (1952); Cool Hand Luke (1967); Copper Sky (1957); Cowboy (1958); Crossroads (1955); Crusader (1956); Dangerous Assignment (1952); Daniel Boone (1969); Death Valley Days (1964–1967); Dragnet (1952); Drum Beat (1954); Fireside Theatre (1951–1952); Fools' Parade (1971); Four Star Playhouse (1953); Frontier (1956); Frontier Justice (1958); General Electric Theater (1956–1958); Gentle Ben (1968); Gilligan's Island (1967); Glynis (1963); Gunsmoke (1956–1974); Hannie Caulder (1971); Hard Times / aka Street Fighter (1975); Harper (1966); Have Gun - Will Travel (1957–1962); Hawkins (1973–1974); He & She (1968); Hollywood Opening Night (1952–1953); Hotel de Paree (1959–1960); Hotwire (1980); I Love Lucy (1956); I Married Joan (1954); Invitation Playhouse: Mind Over Murder (1952); Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964); Iron Horse (1966–1967); It Takes a Thief (1968); Jefferson Drum (1958); Johnny Concho (1956); Kentucky Jones (1965); Kiss Me Deadly (1955); Lassie (1956–1957); Lawman (1959); Lost in Space (1966); Love and Bullets (1979); Love, American Style / Segment: Love and the Old Boyfriend (1970); Man Without a Gun (1958); Marcus Welby, M.D. (1970); Matinee Theatre (1956–1958); McLintock! (1963); Mitzi & 100 Guys (1975); Movin' On (1975); Mystery Is My Business (1954); Navy Log (1958); Nevada Smith (1966); Nichols (1972); Nightwing (1979); One of Our Own (1975); Outlaws (1962); Panic! (1958); Paper Moon (1974); Perry Mason (1961–1965); Pete and Gladys (1962); Petrocelli (1975); Playhouse 90 (1958); Pocket Money (1972); Prisoner of War (1954); Profiles in Courage (1965); Rawhide (1959–1965); Red Sky at Morning (1971); Rhubarb (1951); Rooster Cogburn (1975); Run for Your Life (1968); Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004); Sanctuary (1961); Saturday Night Live (1980); Schlitz Playhouse (1953–1956); Shenandoah (1965); Showdown (1963); Slap Shot (1977); South Sea Woman (1953); Sssssss (1973); Stage 7 (1955); Stars Over Hollywood (1951); Steel Cowboy (1978); Steve Martin: A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978); Stoney Burke (1962); Storm Over Tibet (1952); Strategic Air Command (1955); Stubby Pringle's Christmas (1978); Studio 57 (1954); Studio One (1958); Target Zero (1955); Tarzan (1967); Telephone Time (1957); The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1958); The Americans (1961); The Asphalt Jungle (1950); The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970); The Big Knife (1955); The Big Valley (1966–1967); The Black Whip (1956); The Brotherhood of Satan (1971); The Champ (1979); The Dakotas (1963); The Damned Don't Cry (1950); The Danny Thomas Hour (1968); The Deadly Companions (1961); The Dick Powell Theatre (1962); The Dick Van Dyke Show (1965); The Doris Day Show (1969); The End (1978); The Flim-Flam Man (1967); The Fugitive (1964); The Gray Ghost (1957); The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976); The Guns of Will Sonnett (1967–1968); The Horse Soldiers (1959); The Invaders (1967); The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1959); The Law and Mr. Jones (1961); The Legend of Jesse James (1966); The Lieutenant (1964); The Lineup (1956–1958); The Lone Wolf (1954); The Magical World of Disney (1973 / 1978); The Magnetic Monster (1953); The Man Behind the Badge (1955); The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962); The Merv Griffin Show (1973); The Millionaire (1957); The Name of the Game (1969); The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1957); The New Breed (1962); The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (1954); The Rebel (1959); The Red Badge of Courage (1951); The Road West (1967); The Rockford Files (1977); The Rookies (1974); The Rounders (1966); The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla (1980); The Shaggy Dog (1959); The Silver Chalice (1954); The Sons of Katie Elder (1965); The Stu Erwin Show (1953); The Texan (1959); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1973); The Twilight Zone (1961); The Villain / aka Cactus Jack (1979); The Virginian (1965–1970); The Walter Winchell File (1958); The Web (1957); The Wild and the Innocent (1959); The Wild Bunch (1969); The Winds of Whoopie (1983); Trackdown (1958); Treasury Men in Action (1955); True Grit (1969); Up in Smoke (1978); Vega$ (1978); Whirlybirds (1959); World for Ransom (1954); World Without End (1956); Zane Grey Theatre (1957).

On this day in movie history - Slap Shot (1977):

Slap Shot

directed by George Roy Hill,

written by Nancy Dowd,

was released in the United States on February 25, 1977.

Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:

Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse, Jerry Houser, Andrew Duncan, Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson, David Hanson, Yvon Barrette, Allan Nicholls, Brad Sullivan, Stephen Mendillo, Yvan Ponton, Matthew Cowles, Kathryn Walker, Melinda Dillon, M. Emmet Walsh, Swoosie Kurtz, Paul D'Amato, Ronald L. Docken, Guido Tenesi, Jean Rosario Tetreault, Christopher Murney, Blake Ball, Ned Dowd, Nancy N. Dowd, Barbara L. Shorts, Larry Block, Paul Dooley, Dan Belisle, Jr., Rod Bloomfield, Bruce Boudreau, Galen Head, Susan Kendall, Connie Madigan, Mark Bousquet, John Gofton, Rod Masters, Joe Nolan, Dick Roberge, Ray Schultz, Carol Shelton, Ross Smith, Steve Stirling, Cliff Thompson.

On this day in movie history - Pocket Money (1972 movie & novel):

Pocket Money

directed by Stuart Rosenberg,

written by Terrence Malick,

based on the novel Jim Kane by J.P.S. Brown,

was released in the United States on February 1, 1972.
Music by Alex North.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Wayne Rogers, Hector Elizondo, Christine Belford, Kelly Jean Peters, Gregory Sierra, Fred Graham, Matt Clark, Claudio Miranda, Bruce Davis Bayne, Poupée Bocar, Richard Farnsworth, Ken Freehill, Terrence Malick.

Recommended reading:

Jim Kane

By J.P.S. Brown

Filmed as Pocket Money (1972), directed by Stuart Rosenberg.

Hardcover.

Published 1970.

Published by E P Dutton.

ISBN 13: 9780803742291

ISBN 10: 0803742290

ASIN: 0803742290

Description:

Content with making an honest living hauling truckloads of horses from Mexico, Jim Kane – ranch hand, cattle trader, and bronco buster – is forced by a twist of fate to return to his job in Arizona, breaking colts for the rodeo.