Born on this day – Lillian Adams:

Lillian Adams

Actress

May 13, 1922 – May 25, 2011

Born on this day – Daphne du Maurier:

Daphne du Maurier

Writer

May 13, 1907 – April 19, 1989

Credits:

Books:

Birds of Prey (2010); Castle Dor (1940); Come Wind, Come Weather (1940); Cornish Tales of Terror (1970); Daphne du Maurier's Classics of the Macabre (1987); Don't Look Now (1971); Don't Look Now and Other Stories (1973); Early Stories (1954); Echoes From the Macabre (1971); Enchanted Cornwall (1989); Frenchman's Creek (1941); Gerald (1935); Golden Lads (1975); Happy Christmas (1953); Hungry Hill (1943); I'll Never Be Young Again (1932); Jamaica Inn (1936); Kiss Me Again, Stranger (1953); Letters from Menabilly (1993); Mammoth Book of Short Crime Novels (1986); Mary Anne (1954); My Cousin Rachel (1951); Myself When Young (1977); Rebecca (1938); Rule Britannia (1972); Split Second and Other Stories (1981); Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights (2021); The Apple Tree (1952); The Birds and Other Stories (1952); The Breaking Point / The Blue Lenses and Other Stories (1959); The Doll (2011); The Du Mauriers (1937); The Flight of the Falcon (1965); The Glass-Blowers (1963); The House on the Strand (1969); The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte (1960); The King's General (1946); The Loving Spirit (1931); The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950 (1999); The Parasites (1949); The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women (1995); The Progress of Julius / Julius (1933); The Rebecca Notebook and Other Memories (1981); The Rendezvous and Other Stories (1980); The Scapegoat (1957); The Treasury of Du Maurier Short Stories (1960); The Winding Stair (1977); The Young George Du Maurier (1952); Vanishing Cornwall (1967); Witches' Brew (1984).

Movies and television:

Alta comedia (1973); Anamika: The Untold Story (2008); BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1954); BBC2 Playhouse (1975); Broadway Television Theatre (1952); Danger (1955); Daphne du Maurier (1971); Daphné du Maurier: sur les traces de Rebecca (2017); Don't Look Now (1973); Frenchman's Creek (1944); Frenchman's Creek (1998); Grande Teatro Tupi (1952–1963); Guiding Light (1982); H.M. Tennent Globe Theatre (1956); Hostinec Jamaica (1972); Hungry Hill (1947); Jamaica Inn (1939); Jamaica Inn (1983); Jamaica Inn (2014); Kiskanç kadin (1966); Kraft Theatre (1950–1952); Kraft Theatre / The Philco Television Playhouse (1948); L'auberge de la Jamaïque (1995); Le général du roi (2014); 'Let's Pretend...' - The Make-Believe World of Daphne Du Maurier (1977); Lux Video Theatre (1954); Marea di Settembre (1963); Masterpiece Mystery (1985); Matinee Theatre (1956); Mi amor por ti (1969); Morning Patrol (1987); My Cousin Rachel (1952); My Cousin Rachel (1983); My Cousin Rachel (2017); Ocho estrellas en busca del amor (1964); Playhouse 90 (1958); Pursuit (1958); Rebecca (1940); Rebecca (1947); Rebecca (1969); Rebecca (1979); Rebecca (1997); Rebecca (2020); Rebecca, la prima moglie (2008); Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love / Kiss Me Again Stranger (1974); Rick Stein in du Maurier Country (2007); Robert Montgomery Presents (1950); September Tide (1958); Suspense (1953); Suspicion (1958); The Birds (1963); The Birds II: Land's End (1994); The Bondwoman (1974); The Lifeforce Experiment (1994); The Plymouth Playhouse (1953); The Scapegoat (1959); The Scapegoat (2012); The Unexpected (1952); The Years Between (1946); Theatre '62 (1962); Une seconde d'éternité (1977); Urangatha Sundary (1969); Utharam (1989).

Charlotte Bronte, on writing:

I'm just going to write because I cannot help it.

- Charlotte Bronte.

On this day in movie history - The Jane Mysteries: Inheritance Lost (2023):

The Jane Mysteries: Inheritance Lost

directed by Marco Deufemia,

written by Neale Kimmel,

based on the Jane da Silva series of novels by K. K. Beck,

was released in the United States on May 12, 2023.
Music by Steph Copeland.

Cast:

Jodie Sweetin, Stephen Huszar, Paris Jefferson, Rob Stewart, Martin Roach, Danielle Smith, Rebecca Lamarche, Brian Cook, Jas Dhanda, Tonjha Richardson, Angelo Grey, Bebsabe Duque, Patrick Dussault, Michael Morrone, Kari Wong, Laiko Foroughi.

On this day in movie history - Capone (2020):

Capone

directed and written by Josh Trank,

was released in the United States on May 12, 2020.
Music by El-P.

Cast:

Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, Al Sapienza, Kathrine Narducci, Noel Fisher, Gino Cafarelli, Mason Guccione, Jack Lowden, Kyle MacLachlan, Rose Bianco, Manny Fajardo, Christopher Bianculli, Edgar Arreola, Jhemma Ziegler, CG Lewis, David Wachs, Tilda Del Toro, Wayne Pére, Josh Trank, Neal Brennan, Jason Edwards, Caiden Acurio, Mason Rozas, Emma Kathryn Coleman, Tara Marie Foy, Reed Luckett Wiley, Troy Anderson, Andreanna L Jenson, Tony Beard, Silas Borelly, Patti Brindley, Rebecca Chulew, Samantha Czosnek, Macey DePaula, Julia Holt, Bruce Jesse Mattson, Michael McQuillan, Christopher Morris, Carl Anthony Nespoli, Jack Reeder, Candace Reuter, Ivan Salvatore, Natalie Sibille, Cameron Stout, Sue-Lynn.

On this day in music history - For Birds, Planes & Cello, by Joan Jeanrenaud & Miya Masaoka (2005):

For Birds, Planes & Cello

Album by Joan Jeanrenaud & Miya Masaoka,

was released on May 12, 2005.

On this day in movie history - The Asphalt Jungle (1950 movie & books):

The Asphalt Jungle

directed by John Huston,

written by Ben Maddow and John Huston,

based on the novel by W. R. Burnett,

was released in the United States on May 12, 1950.
Music by Miklós Rózsa.

Cast:

Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Teresa Celli, Marilyn Monroe, William Davis, Dorothy Tree, Brad Dexter, John Maxwell, Mary Anderson, Ray Bennett, David Bond, Chet Brandenburg, Benny Burt, Harry G. Butcher, Frank Cady, Jean Carter, Mack Chandler, David Clarke, John Cliff, Harry Cody, Gene Coogan, Henry Corden, Chuck Courtney, John Crawford, Ralph Dunn, Gene Evans, Pat Flaherty, Alex Gerry, Sol Gorss, Fred Graham, William Haade, Don Haggerty, Eloise Hardt, Thomas Browne Henry, Wesley Hopper, George Lynn, Ethel Lyons, Fred Marlow, Strother Martin, Patricia Miller, Howard M. Mitchell, Ralph Montgomery, Alberto Morin, Kerry O'Day, Raymond Roe, Henry Rowland, Tim Ryan, James Seay, Jack Shea, Charles Sherlock, J. Lewis Smith, J.J. Smith, Joseph Darr Smith, Helene Stanley, Jack Stoney, Ray Teal, Leah Wakefield, Harlan Warde, Jack Warden, William Washington, Constance Weiler, Judith Wood, Victor Wood, Wilson Wood, Jeff York.

Recommended reading:

The Asphalt Jungle

By W. R. Burnett.

Filmed as The Asphalt Jungle (1950), directed by John Huston.

Published by Prion Books Ltd

First published 1949.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1853753467

ISBN-13: 978-1853753466

Description:

So successful in evoking [the city's] aura that the reader breathes the air of menace that emanates from its implacable personality and shivers at the unmistakeable evidence that blind chance plays a considerable part in determining the course of every life within the city's confines. – New York Times.

The Asphalt Jungle is a gripping tale of the planning and execution of a jewellery store heist in a dark and corrupt Midwestern metropolis. Set amid a seedy urban wasteland of crooks, killers and con-artists, the various members of the gang are steadily undone by personal obsessions, double-crossing and cruel fate.

First published in 1949, W.R. Burnett's hardboiled classic was made into the definitive heist movie by John Huston in 1950, starring Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe and Marilyn Monroe. Its screenplay, co-written by Huston was nominated for an Oscar.

A master and pioneer of the gangster genre, W.R. Burnett is the author of over thirty novels - including Little Caesar and High Sierra - and sixty screenplays. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards.

The Asphalt Jungle: A Screenplay

By Ben Maddow & John Huston.

Screenplay Library.

Published by Southern Illinois University Press.

Published 1980.

First Edition.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0809309467

ISBN-13: 978-0809309467

Description:

Dore Schary, then head of production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, bought The Asphalt Jungle while it was still in manu­script in an effort to match the success Warner Brothers had enjoyed with Burnett’s Little Caesar and High Sierra. The choice of Ben Maddow and John Huston as screenwriters assured the artistic success of the screenplay, for few writer/directors could have matched Huston’s ability to develop these characters cinematically.

It was a case of strength building upon strength. Burnett’s fully developed characters were transformed by Maddow and Huston into a screenplay of impressive immediacy. Indeed, the portrayal of the criminals in splendid performances from Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe, Sterling Hayden, James Whitmore, and Jean Hagen, led Bosley Crowther to lament, “If only it all weren’t so corrupt!” But the characters of Burnett, Maddow and Huston, don’t permit us to romanticize about them or their activities. We share their professional pride in a robbery well planned and are silent accomplices to their mutual treachery.