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).

Born on this day – Jean Craighead George:

Jean Craighead George

Writer

July 2, 1919 – May 15, 2012

Credits:

Books:

A Special Gift for Grammy (2013); Acorn Pancakes, Dandelion Salad and Other Wild Dishes (1995); All Upon a Sidewalk (1974); All Upon a Stone (1971); Animals Who Have Won Our Hearts (1994); Arctic Son (1997); Autumn Moon (2001); Beastly Inventions (1970); Books You Can Sink Your Teeth Into (1997); Brave Quail (1985); Bubo, the Great Horned Owl (1954); Call from the Swamp (2008); Charlie's Raven (2004); Cliff Hanger (2002); Coyote in Manhattan (1968); Crowbar (2015); Dear Katie, the Volcano Is a Girl (1998); Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here (1993); Dipper of Copper Creek (1956); Elephant Walk (1998); Everglades (1995); Everglades Wildguide (1972); Exploring the Out-Of-Doors (1983); Fire Storm (2003); Frightful's Daughter (2002); Frightful's Daughter Meets the Baron Weasel (2007); Frightful's Mountain (1999); Galapagos George (2009); Giraffe Trouble (1998); Going to the Sun (1976); Goose and Duck (2008); Gorilla Gang (1999); Gull Number 737 (1964); Hold Zero (1966); Hole in the Tree (1957); Hook a Fish, Catch a Mountain (1975); How To Talk to Your Animals (1985); How to Talk to Your Cat (1986); How to Talk to Your Dog (2000); Ice Whale (2014); Incredible Animal Adventures (1994); Journey Inward (1982); Julie (1994); Julie of the Wolves (1972); Julie's Wolf Pack (1997); Look to the North (1997); Luck (2006); Masked Prowler (1950); Meph, the Pet Skunk (1952); Morning, Noon, and Night (1999); Mountain Climbing Picture Book (2005); My Side of the Mountain (1959); Nutik & Amaroq Play Ball (2001); Nutik, the Wolf Pup (2000); On the Far Side of the Mountain (1990); One Day in the Alpine Tundra (1996); One Day in the Desert (1983); One Day in the Prairie (1986); One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest (1995); One Day in the Woods (1988); Pocket Guide to the Outdoors (2009); Red Robin, Fly Up! (1963); Rhino Romp (1998); River Rats, Incorporated (1979); Shark Beneath the Reef (1989); Snow Bear (1999); Snow Tracks (1959); Snowboard Twist (2004); Spring Comes to the Ocean (1965); Spring Moon (2002); Summer Moon (2002); The American Walk Book (1979); The Buffalo Are Back (2010); The Case of the Missing Cutthroats (1996); The Cats of Roxville Station (2009); The Cry of the Crow (1980); The Eagles are Back (2013); The Fire Bug Connection (1993); The First Thanksgiving (1993); The Grizzly Bear with the Golden Ears (1982); The Last Polar Bear (2009); The Missing 'gator of Gumbo Limbo (1992); The Moon of the Alligators (1991); The Moon of the Bears (1970); The Moon of the Chickarees (1992); The Moon of the Deer (1970); The Moon of the Fox Pups (1992); The Moon of the Gray Wolves (1991); The Moon of the Moles (1992); The Moon of the Monarch Butterflies (1993); The Moon Of The Mountain Lions (1968); The Moon of the Owls (1993); The Moon of the Salamanders (1967); The Moon of the Wild Pigs (1992); The Moon Of The Winter Bird (1969); The Summer of the Falcon (1962); The Talking Earth (1983); The Tarantula in My Purse (1996); The Wentletrap Trap (1977); The Wild Wild Cookbook (1982); The Wolves Are Back (2008); The Wounded Wolf (1978); There's an Owl in the Shower (1995); To Climb a Waterfall (1995); Tree Castle Island (2002); Vison the Mink (1949); Vulpes the Red Fox (1948); Water Sky (1987); Who Really Killed Cock Robin? (1971); Winter Moon (2001).

Recommended reading: The Great Escape, by Paul Brickhill (1950):

The Great Escape

By Paul Brickhill.

Filmed as The Great Escape (1963), directed by John Sturges.

Published by W. W. Norton & Company.

Published 1950.

ISBN-10: 0393325792

ISBN-13: 9780393325799

Description:

"One of the great true stories of the war, and one of the greatest escape narratives of all time." – San Francisco Chronicle.

"Absorbing... spine-tingling... puts the average war book so far in the shadow it's not even funny." – Dallas Times Herald.

"For sheer suspense, puts the fictioneers to shame." – Boston Globe.

"A tense, thrilling, fabulous tale." – Philadelphia Inquirer.

They were American and British air force officers in a German prison camp. With only their bare hands and the crudest of homemade tools, they sank shafts, forged passports, faked weapons, and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes. They developed a fantastic security system to protect themselves from German surveillance.

It was a split-second operation as delicate and as deadly as a time bomb. It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than six hundred men – every one of them, every minute, every hour, every day and night for more than a year.

Made into the classic 1963 war film of the same name starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough.

16 pages of photographs.

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.