On this day in movie history - The Great Escape (1963):

The Great Escape,

directed by John Sturges,

written by James Clavell and W. R. Burnett,

based on the book by Paul Brickhill,

was released in the United States on July 2, 1963.
Music by Elmer Bernstein.

Cast:
Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton, Angus Lennie, Nigel Stock, Robert Graf, Jud Taylor, Hans Reiser, Harry Riebauer, William Russell, Robert Freitag, Ulrich Beiger, George Mikell, Lawrence Montaigne, Robert Desmond, Til Kiwe, Heinz Weiss, Tom Adams, Karl-Otto Alberty, Arthur Atkinson.

Born on this day – Ron Silver:

Ron Silver

Actor

Director

Producer

July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009

Credits:

16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2010); A Father's Revenge (1988); A Secret Promise (2011); A Woman of Independent Means (1995); Ali (2001); Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story (1995); American Experience (1999); American Playhouse (1984); American Tragedy (2000); Baker's Dozen (1982); Best Friends (1982); Betrayal (1978); Big Eddie (1975); Billionaire Boys Club (1987); Black and White (1999); Blind Side (1993); Blue Steel (1990); Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60 (2005); Call It Fiction (2006); CBS Mornings (1990); Chain Reaction (1980); Charlie Rose (2000); Chicago Hope (1996–1997); Cineficción Radio (2021); Crossing Jordan (2007); Cutaway (2000); Danger Zone (1996); Deadly Outbreak (1995); Dear Detective (1979); Eat and Run (1986); Enemies, A Love Story (1989); Entertainment Tonight (1991); Exposure (2001); Fahrenhype 9/11 (2004); Festival in Cannes (2001); Find Me Guilty (2006); For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots (2010); Forgotten Prisoners: The Amnesty Files (1990); Garbo Talks (1984); Girl 6 (1996); Hardball with Chris Matthews (2005); Having Babies (1978); HBO First Look (2001); Heat Vision and Jack (1999); Here's Boomer (1980); Hill Street Blues (1983); In the Company of Spies (1999); Jack (2004); Kane & Abel (1985); Kissinger and Nixon (1995); Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1995–1996); Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1988); Law & Order (2004–2007); Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2006); Lifepod (1993); Live Wire (1992); Live with Kelly and Mark (1990); Love Is Strange (1999); Lovesick (1983); Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob (1994); Married to It (1991); Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story (2002); McMillan & Wife (1975); Moving Image Salutes Steven Spielberg (1994); Mr. Saturday Night (1992); Murder at the Mardi Gras (1978); New York: A Documentary Film (1999); Night of 100 Stars III (1990); Oh, God! You Devil (1984); On the Record w/ Brit Hume (2004); PoliWood (2009); Pop Culture Beast's Halloween Horror Picks (2015); Ratz (2000); Real Time with Bill Maher (2004); Red Mercury (2005); Reversal of Fortune (1990); Rhapsody in Bloom (1998); Rhoda (1975–1978); Romancing the Stone (1984); Screen Two (1990); Semi-Tough (1977); Shadow Zone: The Undead Express (1996); Silent Rage (1982); Silkwood (1983); Skeletons (1997); Skin (2003–2005); Strictly Courtroom (2008); The 17th Annual CableACE Awards (1995); The 40th Annual Tony Awards (1986); The 42nd Annual Tony Awards (1988); The 44th Annual Tony Awards (1990); The 46th Annual Tony Awards (1992); The 47th Annual Tony Awards (1993); The 48th Annual Golden Globe Awards 1991 (1991); The 50th Annual Tony Awards (1996); The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009); The 63rd Annual Academy Awards (1991); The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010); The Arrival (1996); The Arsenio Hall Show (1989); The Beneficiary (1997); The Dennis Miller Show (1992); The Entity (1982); The Good Policeman (1993); The Goodbye People (1984); The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1994 / 2003); The Mac Davis Show (1976); The Making of 'Ali' (2001); The Practice (2001); The Return of the World's Greatest Detective (1976); The Rockford Files (1976); The Stockard Channing Show (1980); The Ten (2007); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1990–1991); The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992); The West Wing (2001–2006); The White Raven (1998); The Wisher (2002); Timecop (1994); Trapped in Silence (1986); Trying Times (1987); Tunnel Vision (1976); Veronica's Closet (1998–1999); Welcome to L.A. (1976); When Billie Beat Bobby (2001); Who Is Henry Jaglom? (1995); Wiseguy (1988–1989); Word of Honor (1981); Xenophobia (2008).

Born on this day – Alfred Sole:

Alfred Sole

Director

Writer

Producer

Production designer

July 2, 1943 – February 14, 2022

Credits:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1989); Alice, Sweet Alice / aka Holy Terror and Communion (1976); Bodily Harm (1995); Castle (2009–2016); Castle: Your Home Is Your Castle (2013); Cheeseball Presents (1984); Clubland (1999); Darkness Before Dawn (1993); Deep Sleep (1972); Divided by Hate (1997); Every Woman's Dream (1996); Face of Evil (1996); First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice (2019); Friday the 13th: The Series (1988); Glory Daze (1995); Gotta Kick It Up! (2002); Halloweentown (1998); Halloweentown High (2004); Hatching Pete (2009); Horse Sense (1999); Hotel (1988); Hounded (2001); In the Blink of an Eye (1996); Johnny Tsunami (1999); L.A. Johns (1997); Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story (1995); Lone (2011); MacGyver (2017–2019); Melrose Place (2009); Miracle in Lane 2 (2000); Moonlight (2007–2008); Natural Selection (1994); Night of the Running Man (1995); One Minute Soap Opera (2003); Pandemonium (1982); Replacing Dad (1999); Right on Track (2003); S. Darko (2009); Satan's Playground (2006); Secret Witness (1988); Semper Fi (2001); Shattered Image (1994); Slammed (2004); Somebody's Daughter (1992); Tanya's Island (1980); The Ballad of Deep Sleep (2022); The Con (1998); The Poof Point (2001); The Rialto Report (2015); These Old Broads (2001); Treacherous Crossing (1992); Trial by Media (2000); Under Siege (1986); Unforgivable (1996); Veronica Mars (2004–2007); When the Cradle Falls (1997); When You Believe: Music from 'the Prince of Egypt' (1998); Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey: When You Believe (Alternate Version) (1998); Widow's Kiss (1996); Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999).

Ursula K. Le Guin, on books and reading:

As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence, of the music.

And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.

– Ursula K. Le Guin.

July in movie history - Cage of Evil (1960):

Cage of Evil

directed by Edward L. Cahn,

written by Orville H. Hampton,

based on a story by Orville H. Hampton and Alexander Richards,

was released in the United States in July, 1960.
Exact release date unknown.
Music by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter.

Cast:

Ronald Foster, Patricia Blair, Harp McGuire, John Maxwell, Preston Hanson, Doug Henderson, Hugh Sanders, Helen Kleeb, Robert Shayne, Owen Bush, Ted Knight, Howard McLeod, Eve Brent, Henry Darrow, Abel Franco, Joseph Hamilton, Jack Kenney, Gregg Martell, Patrick Miller, Ralph Neff, Ralph Sanford, Jack Tesler.

On this day in movie history - The Mask of Dimitrios (1944):

The Mask of Dimitrios

directed by Jean Negulesco,

written by Frank Gruber,

based on the novel A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler,

was released in the United States on July 1, 1944.

Music by Adolph Deutsch.

Cast:

Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, Steven Geray, Florence Bates, Eduardo Ciannelli, Kurt Katch, Marjorie Hoshelle, Georges Metaxa, John Abbott, Monte Blue, David Hoffman.

July in movie history - Chicago Syndicate (1955):

Chicago Syndicate

directed by Fred F. Sears,

written by Joseph Hoffman,

based on a story by William Sackheim,

was released in the United States in July 1955.

Exact release date unknown.

Cast:

Dennis O’Keefe, Abbe Lane, Paul Stewart, Xavier Cugat, Allison Hayes, Richard H. Cutting, Chris Alcaide, William Challee, John Zaremba, George Brand, Hugh Sanders, Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, Nina Borget, John Breen, Al Cantor.