Born on this day – Joseph L. Mankiewicz:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Director

Writer

Producer

Actor

February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993

Credits:

5 Fingers (1952); A Christmas Carol (1938); A Letter to Three Wives (1949); A Letter to Three Wives (1985); After Office Hours (1935); Alice in Wonderland (1933); All About Eve (1950); Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935); Cairo (1942); Carol for Another Christmas (1964); Cleopatra (1963); Close Harmony (1929); Diplomaniacs (1933); Double Wedding (1937); Dragonwyck (1946); Dude Ranch (1931); Emergency Call (1933); Escape (1948); Fast Company (1929); Finn and Hattie (1931); Forsaking All Others (1934); Fury (1936); Guys and Dolls (1955); House of Strangers (1949); I Live My Life (1935); If I Had a Million (1932); I'll Never Forget You (1951); Julius Caesar (1953); June Moon (1931); King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1969); Love on the Run (1936); Manhattan Melodrama (1934); Mannequin (1937); Meet the Baron (1933); Million Dollar Legs (1932); Newly Rich (1931); Night After Night (1932); No Way Out (1950); Only Saps Work (1930); Our Daily Bread (1934); Paramount on Parade (1930); People Will Talk (1951); Pleins feux (All About Eve) (1993); Pleins feux (All About Eve) (2017); Reckless (1935); Redheads on Parade (1935); Reunion in France (1942); Skippy (1931); Sky Bride (1932); Sleuth (1972); Slightly Scarlet (1930); Somewhere in the Night (1946); Sooky (1931); Strange Cargo (1940); Suddenly, Last Summer (1959); The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939); The Barefoot Contessa (1954); The Bride Wore Red (1937); The Dummy (1929); The Feminine Touch (1941); The Gang Buster (1931); The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947); The Gorgeous Hussy (1936); The Great Waltz (1938); The Honey Pot (1967); The Keys of the Kingdom (1944); The Late George Apley (1947); The Light of Western Stars (1930); The Man I Love (1929); The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929); The Philadelphia Story (1940); The Pirate (1948); The Quiet American (1958); The River of Romance (1929); The Saturday Night Kid (1929); The Shining Hour (1938); The Shopworn Angel (1938); The Social Lion (1930); The Studio Murder Mystery (1929); The Virginian (1929); The Wild Man of Borneo (1941); There Was a Crooked Man... (1970); This Reckless Age (1932); Three Comrades (1938); Three Godfathers (1936); Thunderbolt (1929); Too Much Harmony (1933); Two Fisted (1935); Woman of the Year (1942); Woman Trap (1929).

Recommended reading – The Doomsday Conspiracy, by Sidney Sheldon (1991):

This is my favorite of all Sidney Sheldon’s books. Very different from his other glossy, more mainstream stories, this one surprised me; an entertaining and suspenseful science-fiction thriller. Fans of the movies Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Fugitive (1993), and the TV show The X-Files will see similar plot elements in The Doomsday Conspiracy.

– Jack Kost.

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The Doomsday Conspiracy

By Sidney Sheldon.

Paperback.

Published 1991.

Published by Warner Books.

ISBN 13: 9780006472087

ISBN 10: 0006472087

ASIN: 0006472087

Sample:

Prologue:

Uetendorf, Switzerland

Sunday, October 14, 1500 Hours

The witnesses standing at the edge of the field were staring in horrified silence, too stunned to speak. The scene that lay before them was grotesque, a primeval nightmare dredged up from some deep, dark depths of primitive man’s collective consciousness. Each witness had a different reaction. One fainted. A second one vomited. A woman was shaking uncontrollably. Another one thought: I’m going to have a heart attack! The elderly priest clutched his beads and crossed himself. Help me, Father. Help us all. Protect us against this evil incarnate. We have finally seen the face of Satan. It is the end of the world. Judgment Day has come.

Armageddon is here. … Armageddon … Armageddon …

Description from cover jacket:

‘The witnesses standing at the edge of the field were staring in horrified silence, too stunned to speak. The scene that lay before them was grotesque, a primeval nightmare…’

So begins The Doomsday Conspiracy, Sidney Sheldon’s eleventh novel and one that has been called his most ingenious and surprising. Navy Commander Robert Bellamy is assigned to investigate the crash of a weather balloon in the Swiss Alps. All witnesses to the accident must be found and questioned. However, for Bellamy it is the beginning of a journey of terror into the incomprehensible.

From Washington to London, Zurich, Rome, and Paris the story unfolds to reveal Bellamy’s past — why the woman he loves most cannot return his love, why his friends become his deadly enemies, and why the world must never learn an incredible secret shielded by an unknown lethal force.

Master of the unexpected. Master of the game. Best-selling author Sidney Sheldon has created The Doomsday Conspiracy, a tightly plotted, breathlessly paced thriller — and compelling love story — that confirms his best-selling status.

Chris Grabenstein, on reading:

Open a book and open your mind.

– Chris Grabenstein.

Simon Van Booy, on books and reading:

I read books because I love them,

not because I think I should read them.

- Simon Van Booy.

On this day in music history - Life, by Michele McLaughlin (2017):

Life

Album by Michele McLaughlin,

released February 10, 2017.

Track list:

The Gift; The Storm; At Home; Life; Belonging; A Deeper Understanding; Drifting Through a Dream; Heartbroken; Stronger; Precious Memories; Crossroads; Guilty Pleasures; Give It Time.

On this day in television history - Justified (2015):

Justified

Season 6. Episode 4.

Episode entitled: The Trash and the Snake.

Released February 10, 2015.

Directed by Adam Arkin.

Written by Graham Yost, Chris Provenzano, Ingrid Escajeda, Keith Schreier.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.

Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Jere Burns, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Walton Goggins, Mary Steenburgen, Jeremy Davies, Garret Dillahunt, David Brisbin, Jake Busey, Kaitlyn Dever, Brad Leland, Sam Elliott, Rebekah Brandes, Russell Bertolino.

On this day in movie history - Before Sunset (2004):

Before Sunset

directed by Richard Linklater,

written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke,

based on a story by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan,

was released at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany on February 10, 2004.

Cast:

Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff, Louise Lemoine Torrès, Rodolphe Pauly, Mariane Plasteig, Diabolo, Denis Evrard, Albert Delpy, Marie Pillet.