On this day in movie history - Cop Land (1997):

Cop Land

directed and written by James Mangold,

was released in the United States on August 15, 1997.
Music by Howard Shore.

Cast:

Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, Annabella Sciorra, Noah Emmerich, Cathy Moriarty, John Spencer, Frank Vincent, Malik Yoba, Arthur Nascarella, Victor Williams, Edie Falco, Mel Gorham, Paul Herman, Paul Calderón, Vincent Laresca, Method Man, Deborah Harry, Tony Sirico.

On this day in movie history - Event Horizon (1997):

Event Horizon

directed by Paul W. S. Anderson,

written by Philip Eisner,

was released in the United States on August 15, 1997.
Music by Michael Kamen and Orbital.

Cast:

Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Richard T. Jones, Jack Noseworthy, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee, Peter Marinker, Holley Chant, Barclay Wright, Noah Huntley, Robert Jezek, Emily Booth, Bharat Nalluri, Gary Sinyor.

On this day in television history - Fallen Angels (1993):

Fallen Angels

Season 1. Episode 2.
Episode entitled: I’ll Be Waiting.
Released August 15, 1993.
Directed by Tom Hanks.
Written by C. Gaby Mitchell.
Created by William Horberg.
Based on the short story by Raymond Chandler.
Theme music by Peter Bernstein.

Cast:

Bruno Kirby, Marg Helgenberger, Jon Polito, Dan Hedaya, Dick Miller, Peter Scolari, Tom Hanks, Manny Perry, Lynette Walden.

On this day in movie history - Proof (1991):

Proof

directed and written by Jocelyn Moorhouse,

was released in Australia on August 15, 1991.
Music by Not Drowning Waving.

Cast:

Hugo Weaving, Geneviève Picot, Russell Crowe, Heather Mitchell, Jeffrey Walker, Daniel Pollock, Frankie J. Holden, Frank Gallacher, Saskia Post, Belinda Davey, Cliff Ellen, Tania Uren, Robert James O'Neill, Anthony Rawling, Darko Tuscan, Adele Daniele, Roy Edmunds, Lisa Chambers, Suzanne Chapman, Angela Campbell, Osvaldo Maione, Carole Patullo, Corey (Bill, the dog), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Braithwaite.

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

Manhunter

directed and written by Michael Mann,

based on the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris,

was released in the United States on August 15, 1986.
Music by Michel Rubini and The Reds.

Cast:

William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Stephen Lang, Tom Noonan, David Seaman, Benjamin Hendrickson, Michael Talbott, Dan Butler, Michele Shay, Robin Moseley, Paul Perri, Patricia Charbonneau, Bill Cwikowski, Alexandra Neil, Norman Snow, Jim Zubiena, Frankie Faison, Garcelle Beauvais, Joanne Camp, David Allen Brooks, Elisabeth Ryall, Chris Elliott, Gary Chavaras, Chris Cianciolo, Ken Colquitt, Ron Fitzgerald, Dennis Quick, David Meeks, Sherman Michaels, Robin Trapp, L.A. Winters, Daniel T. Snow, Cynthia Chvatal, King White, Mickey Lloyd, Dawn Carmen, David Fitzsimmons, Robert A. Burton, Steve Hogan, Mickey Pugh, Kin Shriner, John Posey, Kristin Holby, Greg Kelly, Brian Kelly, Ryan Langhorne, Hannah Caggiano, Lindsey Fonora, Jason Frair, Bryant Arrants, Christopher Arrants, Melvin Clark, Renee Ayala, Dana Dewey, Stephen Hawkins, Leonard Johnson, Keith Pyles, Michael Russell, Michael Vitug, Pat Williams, Charles Yarbaugh, Bill Smitrovich, Peter Maloney, Michael D. Roberts, Marshall Bell, Gusmano Cesaretti, Melody Gold, Annie McEnroe.

On this day in movie history - Apocalypse Now (1979 movie & source novella):

Apocalypse Now

directed by Francis Ford Coppola,

written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola,

based on the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad,

was released in the United States on August 15, 1979.
Music by Carmine Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola.

Narrated by Martin Sheen.

Redux version released in 2001.

Cast:

Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, G. D. Spradlin, Jerry Ziesmer, Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn, Colleen Camp, Cynthia Wood, Linda Beatty, Bill Graham, Francis Ford Coppola, Vittorio Storaro, R. Lee Ermey, Christian Marquand, Aurore Clément, Roman Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Michel Pitton, Franck Villard, David Olivier, Chrystel Le Pelletier, Robert Julian, Yvon Le Saux, Henri Sadardiel, Gilbert Renkens.

Recommended reading:

Heart of Darkness

By Joseph Conrad.

Mass Market Paperback

First published 1899.

Published by Penguin Books.

ISBN 13: 9780140431681

ISBN 10: 0140431683

ASIN: B001KTM47C

Author Joseph Conrad based this novella on his own personal experiences, during a voyage up the Congo River in 1890.

This novella was the inspiration for the movie Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Description:

Written in the last year of the nineteenth century, Heart of Darkness can be seen in many ways as the first twentieth-century novel.

Its climate of doubt and vagueness, its loss of moral confidence and its need for belief in the midst of spiritual wilderness, its exploration of the subconscious and its affirmation of individual freedom are all themes that were to have an influence on writers such as Orwell, Godling, Céline, Borges and Eliot.

In Heart of Darkness Conrad unfolds the story of Marlow’s search for Mr Kurtz, the company agent whose ‘unlawful soul’ has been ‘beguiled beyond the bounds of permitted aspirations’ in his dealings with the natives of the Belgian Congo. Marlow’s adventure involves him in a crucial reappraisal of his own values. It is Kurtz, however, who attains to a vision of the inexpressible, terrifying reality of the heart in this extraordinary exploration of human savagery and despair.

Book cover image: The Steamer Stanley, by F. Hens.

On this day in movie history - The Lawbreakers (1961):

The Lawbreakers

directed by Joseph M. Newman,

written by Paul Monash and W.R. Burnett,

was released in the United States on August 15, 1961.

Music by Johnny Mandel.

A remake of the pilot episode of the 1961 The Asphalt Jungle TV series.

Inspired by the movie The Asphalt Jungle (1950), directed by John Huston, based on the novel by W. R. Burnett.

Cast:

Jack Warden, Vera Miles, Robert Douglas, Arch Johnson, Douglas Odney, Robert H. Harris, Ken Lynch, Robert Bailey, Mary Lawrence, James Seay, Marianne Stewart, Jay Adler, John Zaremba, David White, Noreen Corcoran, Don C. Harvey, Kenner G. Kemp, Eddie Marr, William Smith, Bert Stevens.