On this day in movie history - Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light (2006):

Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light

documentary directed by Gary Leva,

was released in the United States on July 18, 2006.

Cast:

John Alton, Drew Casper, Roger Deakins, John Debney, Edward Dmytryk, James Ellroy, Glenn Erickson, William Goldman, Jane Greer, Haden Guest, Patricia King Hanson, Brian Helgeland, Peter Honess, Rick Jewell, Janusz Kaminski, Eric Lax, Carol Littleton, Michael Madsen, Christopher McQuarrie, Frank Miller, Eddie Muller, Kim Newman, Christopher Nolan, John Ottman, Nicholas Pileggi, Sydney Pollack, André Previn, Graeme Revell, Henry Rollins, Theresa Russell, Paul Schrader, Talia Shire, Newton Thomas Sigel, Alain Silver, Audrey Totter, James Ursini, Gordon Willis, Lili Fini Zanuck.

On this day in movie history - Aliens (1986):

Aliens

directed and written by James Cameron,

based on a story by James Cameron, David Giler and Walter Hill,

was released in the United States on July 18, 1986.
Music by James Horner.

Cast:

Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, William Hope, Jenette Goldstein, Al Matthews, Mark Rolston, Ricco Ross, Colette Hiller, Daniel Kash, Cynthia Dale Scott, Tip Tipping, Trevor Steedman, Paul Maxwell, Valerie Colgan, Alan Polonsky, Alibe Parsons, Blain Fairman, Barbara Coles, Carl Toop, John Lees, William Armstrong, Jay Benedict, Holly De Jong, Jill Goldston, Christopher Henn, Elizabeth Inglis, Mac McDonald, Stuart Milligan, Eddie Powell, Bob Sherman, Chris Webb, Tom Woodruff Jr.

Born on this day – Brigitte Skay:

Brigitte Skay

Actress

July 18, 1940 – November 19, 2012

Credits:

24 Hour Lover (1968); A Bay of Blood (1971); A látogatás (1982); Ach, so eine nette Person (1970); Alsterstrasse (1963); Angels of Terror (1971); Blackmail (1974); Dantons Tod (1963); Das Arrangement (1967); Dem Täter auf der Spur (1970); Der ewige Gatte (1969); Der Vater (1963); Die Protokolle des Herrn M (1979); Don Juan kommt zurück (1963); Ein Tag im Leben von... (1965); Einfach sterben... (1971); Evarella 68 (1968); Excuse Me, Padre, Are You Horny? (1975); Four Times That Night (1971); Hafenpolizei (1963); Isabella, Duchess of the Devils (1969); Jedermannstraße 11 (1965); Kurz vor dem Sprung (1969); Le 10 meraviglie dell'amore (1969); Legende einer Liebe (1964); L'enfant de nuit (1978); L'interrogatorio (1970); Man of the Year (1971); Mit zwei Füßen im Grab (1964); San Babila: 8 P.M. (1976); Sergeant Berry (1974); Sexy Baby (1968); St. Pauli Nachrichten: Thema Nr. 1 (1971); Studio legale per una rapina (1973); Talmas Ende (1965); Tatort (1972); The Amorous Adventures of a Young Postman (1970); The Beast in Heat (1977); The Golden Patsy (1963); The Love Factor (1969); Viaggia, ragazza, viaggia, hai la musica nelle vene (1973); Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010); Wenn die Musik nicht wär (1966–1967); When the Bell Tolls (1970); Where the Bullets Fly (1972); Zu dumm zum... (1971).

Born on this day – Hunter S. Thompson:

Hunter S. Thompson

Writer

July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005

Credits:

Books:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971); Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973); Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone (2009); The Proud Highway (1997); Fear and Loathing in America (2000); The Mutineer (2012); The Great Shark Hunt (1979); Generation of Swine (1988); Songs of the Doomed (1990); Better Than Sex (1994); The Gonzo Papers Anthology (2007); Gonzo: An Oral History (2007); Ancient Gonzo Wisdom (with Anita Thompson) (2009); The Rum Diary (1998); Screwjack (2000); Hell's Angels (1966); The Curse of Lono (1983); Kingdom of Fear (2003); Hey Rube (2004); Happy Birthday, Jack Nicholson (2005); Exquisite Corpse Annual, No. 2, 2010 (2010).

Movies and television:

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (2021); 90 Minutes Live (1977); Adrenochrome (2017); American Masters (2006); Anderson Cooper 360° (2015); Animals, Whores & Dialogue: Breakfast with Hunter Vol. 2 (2010); Anthem (1997); Breakfast with Hunter (2003); Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film (2006); Charlie Rose (1997–2003); Come on Down: Searching for the American Dream (2005); Culture Prophet – Hustler (2009); Dans les yeux de Johnny Depp (2022); Dem Tinseltown Homiez, the Hollywood Guys (2023); ESPN 25: Who's #1? (2005); ESPN SportsCentury (2003); Fear & Loathing Through the Camera Lens (2012); Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998); Final 24 (2006); For No Good Reason (2012); Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb (2020); Free Lisl! (2007); Fuck (2005); Gonzo (2008); High There (2014); History's Mysteries (1998); Hunter Goes to Hollywood (2003); Hunter S. Thompson talks about Hells Angels (1967); In Search of History (1999); In the Blink of an Eye (2005); Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President (2020); Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1997–2009); Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1988); Late Show with David Letterman (1998); Muhammad Ali (2021); Nash Bridges (1996–2001); Nexus Vegas (2013); Omnibus (1978); Origins of High Times Magazine (2024); Outlaw Poet: The Legend of Ron Whitehead (2020); Outside Providence (1999); Road to Hunter (2006); Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021); Some Jerk with a Camera (2011); Stuntmen (2009); The Beat with Ari Melber (2022); The Crazy Never Die (1988); The Curse of Blanchard Hill (2006); The Libertine (2004); The Rum Diary (2011); The South Bank Show (1994); The Theta Girl (2017); The War Room (1993); The Wild Ride of Outlaw Bikers (1999); This Week (1970); To Tell the Truth (1967); Tomorrow Coast to Coast (1973); Tripping (1999); TVTV Meets Rolling Stone (1973); TVTV: Video Revolutionaries (2018); Vanity Fair Confidential (2015); Venus Blue (1998); Where the Buffalo Roam (1980); Woman Found Dead in Elevator (2000).

Born on this day – Syd Mead:

Syd Mead

Artist

Animator

Special effects

July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019

Credits:

14th Annual VES Awards (2016); 2010: The Odyssey Continues (1984); 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984); 2019: A Future Imagined (2008); 47th Annie Awards (2020); Aliens (1986); Beyond the Marquee (2014); Blade Runner (1982); Blade Runner 2049 (2017); Blade Runner: Convention Reel (1982); BMW: Activate the Future (2011); Closer Than We Think (2017); Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007); Designed for Dreaming (2010); Designing the World of Blade Runner 2049 (2018); Elysium (2013); Elysium: Engineering Utopia - Creating a Society in the Sky (2013); Film Genre (2002); Johnny Mnemonic (1995); Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993); L'antre du Mea (2015); Maelstrom (1992); Mission to Mars (2000); Mission: Impossible III (2006); Nonfiction W (2012); On the Edge of 'Blade Runner' (2000); Phenomenon Blade Runner (2021); Playboy Video Magazine, Vol. 11 (1987); Prop Culture (2020); Sentient Machines: Robotic Behavior (2004); Short Circuit (1986); Software (2000); Solar Crisis (1990); Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979); Strange Days (1995); Superior Firepower: The Making of 'Aliens' (2003); The Art of Illusion (1990); The Fire Next Time (1993); The Making of 'Tron' (2002); The Movies That Made Us (2021); The Real History of Science Fiction (2014); The Spirit of '76 (1990); The Timekeeper (1992); The Tron Phenomenon (2011); Timecop (1994); Tomorrowland (2015); Tron (1982); Turn A Gundam (1999–2000); UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988); Visions from the Edge: The Art of Science Fiction (2005); Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead (2006); Wing Commander: Prophecy (1997); Yamato 2520 (1994–1996).

Born on this day – Robert Ellis Miller:

Robert Ellis Miller

Director

July 18, 1927 – January 27, 2017

Born on this day – Margaret Laurence:

Margaret Laurence

Writer

July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987

Credits:

A Bird in the House (1974); A Jest of God (1966); A Tree for Poverty (1954); A Very Large Soul (1995); An International Christmas: Seasonal Stories and Poems from Canada and Around the World (2004); Christmas Birthday Story (1980); Dance on the Earth (1989); Embryo Words (1997); Happy Families (1958); Heart of a Stranger (1976); Intimate Strangers: The Letters of Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy (2004); Jason's Quest (1970); Long Drums and Cannons (1968); New Wind in a Dry Land (1963); Now I Lay Me Down (1968); Recognition and Revelation (2020); Selected Letters of Margaret Laurence and Adele Wiseman (1997); The Diviners (1974); The Fire-Dwellers (1969); The Olden Days Coat (1979); The Prophet's Camel Bell (1963); The Stone Angel (1964); The Tomorrow-Tamer (1963); This Side Jordan (1960); Winter's Tales 15 (1969).

Movies and television:

A Bird in the House (1973); A Writer in the Nuclear Age: A Conversation with Margaret Laurence (1985); Canada Vignettes: The Novelist (1978); Margaret Laurence, First Lady of Manawaka (1978); Mask of the Bear (1988); Our Kinda Talk: An Introduction to Margaret Laurence (1978); Rachel, Rachel (1968); Speaking Our Peace (1985); Stacey (1978); Telescope (1966); The Diviners (1993); The Olden Days Coat (1981); The Stone Angel (2007); To See Ourselves (1972); To Set Our House in Order (1985); View from the Typewriter (1993).