Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Born on this day – Jason Robards:


Jason Robards


Actor

December 31, 1892 – April 4, 1963

Credits:

A Bird in the Hand (1929); A Game of Death (1945); A Likely Story (1947); A Night of Adventure (1944); A Strange Adventure (1932); Abraham Lincoln (1930); Acapulco (1961); Alaska Patrol (1949); All of Me (1934); Badman's Territory (1946); Banjo (1947); Bedlam (1946); Bermuda Mystery (1944); Betrayal from the East (1945); Born to Kill (1947); Break of Hearts (1935); Broadway Bill (1934); Broken Arrow (1958); Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1934); Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1934); Carnival Lady (1933); Casey Jones (1927); Caught Plastered (1931); Charlie Chan Carries On (1931); Cimarron City (1958); Cipher Bureau (1938); Clipped Wings (1937); Cockeyed Cavaliers (1934); Code of the West (1947); Colt .45 (1958); Corruption (1933); Crazy That Way (1930); Criminal Court (1946); Crimson Romance (1934); Damaged Lives (1933); Dance Hall Hostess (1933); Danger Flight (1939); Deadline at Dawn (1946); Desperate (1947); Dick Tracy (1945); Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947); Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946); Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947); Ding Dong Williams (1946); Discarded Lovers (1932); Do or Diet (1947); Docks of San Francisco (1932); Double Decoy (1931); Dynamite (1949); Employees' Entrance (1933); Ex-Bad Boy (1931); Feudin' Rhythm (1949); Fighting Father Dunne (1948); Flight to Fame (1938); Footloose Widows (1926); Gangs of Chicago (1940); General Electric Theater (1958–1961); George White's Scandals (1945); Give Out, Sisters (1942); Guns of Hate (1948); Hills of Kentucky (1927); His Exciting Night (1938); Horsemen of the Sierras (1949); Hurry, Charlie, Hurry (1941); I Live My Life (1935); I Love You Again (1940); I Stole a Million (1939); If You Knew Susie (1948); I'll Build It Myself (1946); I'll Take Milk (1946); Impact (1949); Irish Hearts (1927); Isle of the Dead (1945); It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1945); Jaws of Steel (1927); Joan of Ozark (1942); Johnny Angel (1945); Juarez (1939); Klondike (1932); Ladies Courageous (1944); Ladies Crave Excitement (1935); Laramie (1960); Laughing at Trouble (1936); Leave It to Beaver (1961); Let 'em Have It (1935); Let's Go Stepping (1945); Lightnin' (1930); Little Tough Guy (1938); Long Shot (1939); Looking for Trouble (1934); Mademoiselle Fifi (1944); Mama Loves Papa (1945); Man Alive (1945); Man of Conquest (1939); Manhunt (1960); Masked Raiders (1949); Massacre River (1949); Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948); Music in Manhattan (1944); Mystery Plane (1939); Nurse from Brooklyn (1938); On Trial (1928); One Exciting Adventure (1934); Only Yesterday (1933); Paris (1929); Peacock Alley (1930); Polly of the Movies (1927); Post Office Investigator (1949); Prison Break (1938); Public Stenographer (1934); Race Street (1948); Radio Hams (1939); Radio Stars on Parade (1945); Range War (1939); Return of the Bad Men (1948); Riders of the Whistling Pines (1949); Riffraff (1947); Rimfire (1949); Risky Business (1939); Riverboat Rhythm (1946); Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936); Salvation Nell (1931); San Antonio Rose (1941); San Francisco (1936); Scouts to the Rescue (1939); Servant of the People: The Story of the Constitution of the United States (1937); Seven Keys to Baldpate (1947); Shed No Tears (1948); Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943); Ship of Wanted Men (1933); Silver Queen (1942); Sing a Jingle (1944); Sinners in Paradise (1938); Sisters (1930); Sky Patrol (1939); Slightly Married (1932); Smoky Mountain Melody (1948); Some Mother's Boy (1929); Son of God's Country (1948); South of Death Valley (1949); Stella Maris (1925); Step by Step (1946); Streets of Shanghai (1927); Studio One (1958); Stunt Pilot (1939); Subway Express (1931); Sugarfoot (1958–1960); Sweetheart of the Navy (1937); Swingtime Johnny (1943); Take the Stand (1934); Tales of Wells Fargo (19632); The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938); The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1963); The Bamboo Blonde (1946); The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1961); The Cohens and Kellys (1926); The Conquerors (1932); The Crusades (1935); The Death Ship (1928); The Deputy (1961); The Devil's Mate (1933); The Ed Sullivan Show (1959); The Falcon in San Francisco (1945); The Falcon's Adventure (1946); The Falcon's Alibi (1946); The Farmer's Daughter (1947); The Fatal Hour (1940); The Fighting Marines (1935); The Firefly (1937); The Flying Marine (1929); The Gamblers (1929); The Gilded Lily (1921); The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940); The Heart of Maryland (1927); The Howards of Virginia (1940); The Isle of Lost Ships (1929); The Jazz Cinderella (1930); The Judge Steps Out (1948); The Kansan (1943); The Land of Hope (1921); The Last Dance (1930); The Last Days of Pompeii (1935); The Law of the Tong (1931); The Luckiest Girl in the World (1936); The Mad Empress (1939); The Man Who Cried Wolf (1937); The Master Race (1944); The Merry Widow (1934); The Miracle Rider (1935); The Notorious Mr. Monks (1958); The President Vanishes (1934); The Pride of the Legion (1932); The Purple Vigilantes (1938); The Rage of Paris (1938); The Second Woman (1950); The Storm (1938); The Super Snooper (1934); The Third Degree (1926); The Threat (1949); The Way to Love (1933); The Woman Condemned (1934); Thunder Mountain (1947); Torture Money (1937); Tracked by the Police (1927); Traffic with the Devil (1946); Trail Street (1947); Trapped (1931); Trial Marriage (1929); Trifles (1930); Twin Husbands (1946); Under the Tonto Rim (1947); Unholy Love (1932); Union Depot (1932); Vacation in Reno (1946); Vagabond Lady (1935); Variety Time (1948); Vogues of 1938 (1937); Wagon Train (1961); Wagons Westward (1940); Wanderer of the Wasteland (1945); West of the Pecos (1945); Western Heritage (1948); Western Pacific Agent (1950); What a Blonde (1945); What, No Cigarettes? (1945); White Eagle (1932); White Flannels (1927); White Legion (1936); Wild Geese (1927); Wild Horse Mesa (1947); Wild in the Country (1961); Woman Against Woman (1938); Woman Unafraid (1934); Zombies on Broadway (1945); Zorro Rides Again (1937); Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939).

Born on this day – Henri Matisse:


Henri Matisse

Artist

December 31, 1869 – November 3, 1954

Recommended reading - The Bishop Murder Case (1929):


The Bishop Murder Case

By S.S. Van Dine.

# 4 in the Philo Vance mystery series.

Published by Scribners.
First published 1929.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0684179776
ISBN-13: 978-0684179773

Description:

Master sleuth Philo Vance is baffled by a series of grisly murders committed by the sinister “Bishop,” who uses Mother Goose rhymes for inspiration. The killings are the handiwork of genius gone awry, and the suspects are all distinguished intellectuals of the highest order: a physicist, a mathematician, an astronomer, a chess master. Set against the rich tapestry of New York City in the gilded 1920s, this is a brilliant mystery featuring the debonaire, aristocratic sleuth who was America’s first classic detective.

“So Philo Vance will be darting around again. Good!” – Rex Stout.

“A nightmarish shocker, a dazzling deductive work… Vance’s greatest triumph.” – Chris Steinbrunner.

Roberto Bolano, on reading:


Reading is like thinking,
like praying,
like talking to a friend,
like expressing your ideas,
like listening to other people's ideas,
like listening to music,
like looking at the view,
like taking a walk on the beach.

- Roberto Bolano.

Monday, December 30, 2024

Born on this day – Andrew Shapter:


Andrew Shapter

Director

Writer

Cinematographer

December 30, 1966 – February 23, 2019

Born on this day – Fred Ward:


Fred Ward


Actor

Producer

December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022

Credits:

A Night with Alexandra Powers - We Are in No Hurry ... (2020); Abandon (2002); Altman on His Own Terms (2000); American Playhouse (1985–1991); Armored (2009); Belle Starr (1980); Best Men (1997); Big Business (1988); Biography (1999); Birdseye (2002); Bob Roberts (1992); Bogart (1990); Cardiac Arrest (1979); Carny (1980); Cartesius (1974); Cast a Deadly Spell (1991); Catchfire (1990); Chain Reaction (1996); Circus (2000); Coast to Coast (2003); Corky Romano (2001); Dangerous Beauty (1998); De pelĂ­cula (1986); Dice (2001); Enough (2002); Entertainment Tonight (2022); Equinox (1992); ER (2006–2007); Escape from Alcatraz (1979); Exit Speed (2008); Farewell (2009); Feast of Love (2007); Filter: The Best Things (2000); ...First Do No Harm (1997); Florida Straits (1986); Four Eyes and Six-Guns (1992); FRO Thizzle Reviews (2023); Full Disclosure (2001); Funky Monkey (2004); Georgetown (2002); Ginger in the Morning (1974); Great Books: The Right Stuff (2000); Grey's Anatomy (2006); Gun (1997); Hearts of the West (1975); Henry & June (1990); In Plain Sight (2010); Invasion Earth (1998); Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000); Joe Dirt (2001); Leverage (2012); Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country (1993); Management (2008); 'Masked & Anonymous' Exposed (2003); Masked and Anonymous (2003); Miami Blues (1990); Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994); Off Limits (1988); Quincy, M.E. (1978); Realizing 'the Right Stuff' (2003); Red Team (1999); Reflections on Short Cuts (2004); Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985); Road Trip (2000); Ropewalk (2000); Secret Admirer (1985); Short Cuts (1993); Silkwood (1983); Southern Comfort (1981); Summer Catch (2001); Super Bloopers and Practical Jokes (1985); Sweet Home Alabama (2002); Swing Shift (1984); T-20 Years and Counting (2003); TCM Remembers 2022 (2022); The 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2023); The 65th Annual Academy Awards (1993); The Age of the Medici (1973); The Chaos Factor (2000); The Crow: Salvation (2000); The Dark Wind (1991); The Hitchhiker (1987); The Incredible Hulk (1979); The Last Ride (2004); The Making of 'Tremors' (1990); The Player (1992); The Price of Life (1987); The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988); The Right Stuff (1983); The Vivero Letter (1999); The West (1996); The Wild Stallion (2009); 10.5 (2004); 2 Guns (2013); 30 Minutes or Less (2011); Thunderheart (1992); Tilt (1979); Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982); Tremors (1990 / 2018); Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996); True Detective (2015); Two Small Bodies (1993); Two Small Bodies (1993); UFOria (1984); Un bruit qui rend fou (1995); Uncommon Valor (1983); United States of Tara (2009–2010); Wild Iris (2001).

Born on this day – John McPherson:


John McPherson (center, seated behind camera)

Cinematographer

Director

Writer

December 30, 1941 - December 21, 2007