Born on this day – Shelley Winters:

Shelley Winters

Actress

August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006

Recommended reading - The Barbarous Coast (1956):

The Barbarous Coast (1956).

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0307279030

ISBN-13: 978-0307279033

Description:

“Ross Macdonald writes like a son of a bitch.” – Anthony Boucher.

“Not since the novels of Nathanael West has the theme of American innocence grinding to a stop at the polluted waters of the Pacific so consistently reverberated through a body of writing.” – Detroit News.

The beautiful, high-diving blonde had Hollywood dreams and stars in her eyes but now she seems to have disappeared without a trace. Hired by her hotheaded husband and her rummy “uncle,” Lew Archer sniffs around Malibu and finds the stink of blackmail, blood-money, and murder on every pricey silk shirt. Beset by dirty cops, a bumptious boxer turned silver screen pretty boy, and a Hollywood mogul with a dark past, Archer discovers the secret of a grisly murder that just won't stay hidden.

Lew Archer navigates through the watery, violent world of wealth and privilege, in this electrifying story of obsession gone mad.

“Macdonald makes a routine story of ocean-side murder among the rich take on a hard-edged, glistening solidity.” – AudioFile.

Wally Lamb, on writing:

I like to be surprised.

The best writing is when it defies me, when it starts going a different way than I had planned.

- Wally Lamb.

On this day in movie history - Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground (1997):

Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground,

aka SUBWAYstories,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1997.
Directed by Bob Balaban, Patricia Benoit, Julie Dash, Jonathan Demme, Ted Demme, Abel Ferrara, Alison Maclean, Craig McKay, Lucas Platt, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld.
Written by Adam Brooks, John Guare, Lynn Grossman, Angela Todd, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Albert Innaurato, Danny Hoch, Julie Dash, Marla Hanson, Joe Viola, Rosie Perez.
Music by Mecca Bodega.

Story segment titles:

Fern's Heart of Darkness
The 5: 24
Honey-Getter
The Listeners
Love on the A Train
Manhattan Miracle
The Red Shoes
Sax Cantor Riff
Subway Car from Hell
Underground

Cast:
Bill Irwin, KRS-One, Tina North, Paul Lazar, Andre B. Blake, Anthony S. Calypso, Robert W. Castle, Marlon Cherry, Carl J. Ferrazza, Daniel Freedman, Marc Mueller, Paul Mueller, Simon Seven, Joe Toutebon, Daniel Wolff, Mari Danzi, Lara McFarlane, Angie Utt, Audrey Meyers, Denis Leary, Christine Lahti, N'Bushe Wright, Kevin Corrigan, Marie Barrientos, O.L. Duke, Ellen Gould, John C. Vennema, Sixto Ramos, Erika Greene, Steve Zahn, Jerry Stiller, Bonnie Hunt, Richard Spore, Mekhi Phifer, José Ramón Rosario, Nancy Ticotin, John Ford Noonan, Lili Taylor, Michael Rapaport, Israel Horovitz, Mercedes Ruehl, Zachary Taylor, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Jordan, Bruce Smolanoff, Rob Clasen, Jay Bailey, Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, Ajay Naidu, Danny Hoch, Steven Randazzo, Gi Shen, Kenny Garrett, Sam Rockwell, Sol Frieder, Tammi Cubilette, Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier, Bruklin Harris, Taral Hicks, Daniel Rous, Will Hare, Rosie Perez, Michael McGlone, Gretchen Mol, Gregory Hines, Anne Heche, George T. Odom, John D. Bair, John Bryant, Christopher Del Gaudio, Mark Robert Gordon, Stacie Johnsen, Adrian Lee, Bonnie Monaghan, Steve Nuke, Frank Turek, Chris White.

On this day in movie history - 12 Angry Men (1997):

12 Angry Men,

directed by William Friedkin,

written by Reginald Rose,

based on the 1954 teleplay Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1997.

Cast:
Courtney B. Vance, Ossie Davis, George C. Scott, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Dorian Harewood, James Gandolfini, Tony Danza, Jack Lemmon, Hume Cronyn, Mykelti Williamson, Edward James Olmos, William Petersen, Mary McDonnell, Tyrees Allen, Douglas Spain.

On this day in movie history - The Exorcist III (1990):

The Exorcist III

directed and written by William Peter Blatty,

based on novel Legion by William Peter Blatty,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1990.
Music by Barry De Vorzon.

Cast:

George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Jason Miller, Scott Wilson, Brad Dourif, Grand L. Bush, Nicol Williamson, Nancy Fish, Tracy Thorne, Barbara Baxley, Harry Carey Jr., George DiCenzo, Tyra Ferrell, Lois Foraker, Don Gordon, Mary Jackson, Zohra Lampert, Ken Lerner, Viveca Lindfors, Lee Richardson, Kevin Corrigan, Demetrios Pappageorge, Jodi Long, Samuel L. Jackson, Amelia Campbell, C. Everett Koop, Larry King, Patrick Ewing, Teresa Wright, Fabio, Colleen Dewhurst, The Lennon Sisters.

On this day in movie history - Tightrope (1984):

Tightrope,

directed and written by Richard Tuggle,

was released in the United States on August 17, 1984.
Music by Lennie Niehaus.

Cast:
Clint Eastwood, Geneviève Bujold, Dan Hedaya, Alison Eastwood, Jenny Beck, Marco St. John, Rebecca Perle, Regina Richardson, Randi Brooks, Jamie Rose, Margaret Howell, Rebecca Clemons, Janet MacLachlan, Graham Paul, Bill Holliday, John Wilmot, Margie O'Dair, Joy N. Houck Jr., Stuart Baker-Bergen, Donald Barber, Robert Harvey, Ron Gural, Layton Martens, Richard Charles Boyle, Becki Davis, Jonathan Sachar, Valerie Thibodeaux, Lionel Ferbos, Eliott Keener, Cary Wilmot Alden, David Valdes, James Borders, Fritz Manes, Jonathan Shaw, Don Lutenbacher, G. Wood, Kimberly Georgoulis, Glenda Byers, John Schluter, Nick Krieger, Lloyd Nelson, David Dahlgren, Rod Masterson, Glenn Wright, Angela Hill, Ted Saari, Tommy Gotti Coleman.