On this day in movie history - Tower of London (1962):

Tower of London

directed by Roger Corman,

written by Leo Gordon, F. Amos Powell and James B. Gordon,

based on a story by Leo Gordon and F. Amos Powell,

was released in the United States on October 24, 1962.
Music by Michael Andersen.

Cast:

Vincent Price, Michael Pate, Joan Freeman, Robert Brown, Bruce Gordon, Joan Camden, Richard Hale, Sandra Knight, Charles Macaulay, Justice Watson, Sarah Selby, Donald Losby, Sara Taft, Eugene Mazzola, Morris Ankrum, Paul Frees, Gene Roth, Jack Tornek.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1958):

M Squad

Season 2. Episode 5.
Episode entitled: The Trap.
Released October 24, 1958.
Directed by Don Medford.
Written by Don Sanford.
Music by John Williams.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Paul Newlan, Betty Lynn, Robert Fuller, Virginia Gregg, Harry Landers, Percy Helton, Edwin Jerome.

On this day in movie history - Detective Story (1951 movie & play):

Detective Story

directed by William Wyler,

written by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan,

based on the play by Sidney Kingsley,

was released in the United States on October 24, 1951.
Music composed by Miklós Rózsa and Victor Young.

Cast:

Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, George Macready, Horace McMahon, Gladys George, Joseph Wiseman, Lee Grant, Gerald Mohr, Frank Faylen, Craig Hill, Michael Strong, Luis Van Rooten, Bert Freed, Warner Anderson, Grandon Rhodes, William 'Bill' Phillips, Russell Evans, Charles Campbell, Edmund Cobb, Ann Codee, Catherine Doucet, Pat Flaherty, Harper Goff, Howard Joslin, Donald Kerr, George Magrill, Mike Mahoney, James Maloney, Lee Miller, Ralph Montgomery, Burt Mustin, Jack Perry, Robert S. Scott, Jack Shea, Kay Wiley.

Recommended reading:

Detective Story

A play in three acts

By Sidney Kingsley.

First published 1949.

Published by Legare Street Press.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1022892851

ISBN-13: 978-1022892859

Description:

Sidney Kingsley's classic play, first performed on Broadway in 1949, is a gripping and intense drama that explores the seedy underbelly of crime and punishment in New York City. The play's intricate plot, complex characters, and dark themes make it a timeless classic of American theater.

The scene is the squad room and office in a New York police station. The playwright presents a fascinatingly realistic picture of routine cases brought into a metropolitan police station in the course of a day. Out of the welter of human misery, vice and stupidity there emerges the tragic and moving case of a decent young fellow who has stolen money from his employer. Though a woman who is in love with him comes to his help and the employer is offered everything that has been taken from him, the case has fallen into the hands of McLeod, a hardworking detective whose experience in police work has developed in him a mania for punishing all law breakers, whom he regards as incorrigibles. Nothing will satisfy him but brutal punishment. He is at work at the same time on a case involving an abortionist whose attorney, failing to move him by other means, forces McLeod's wife to confess to her husband that she had herself some years before made use of the services of the abortionist in question. Since McLeod worships his wife and finds in her the only happiness of his existence, his world collapses about him. The climax comes when McLeod gets involved with another prisoner who attempts to escape from the squad room with the aid of a revolver taken from one of the detectives. McLeod is shot and killed. This climax is a fitting end to McLeod's career. To the last, he had been bent upon doing what he considered his duty in seeing that criminals obeyed the letter of the law at no matter what cost."

Born on this day – Erich Anderson:

Erich Anderson

Actor

Writer

October 24, 1956 – June 1, 2024

Patrick Stewart (left), Erich Anderson (right), in Star Trek: The Next Generation / episode: Conundrum (1992)

Credits:

7th Heaven (1996); A Time to Remember (2003); Baby Talk (1991); Bat*21 (1988); Bay City Blues (1983–1984); Beyond Suspicion (2000); Blood Money (2000); Bones (2007); Boomtown (2002–2003); Bosch (2017–2018); Boston Public (2001); Bum Rap (2009); Chicago Hope (1999); Civil Wars (1993); Class of '96 (1993); Close to Home (2005–2006); Cold Brook (2018); Cold Case (2009); Coroner's Report (2020); Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013); CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000); CSI: Miami (2004); Dallas (1988); Dragnet (2004); Dream West (1986); Due East (2002); ER (1999); Eyes (2007); Family Law (2001); Fearless (2004); Felicity (1998–2002); For Love and Honor (1983); For the People (2002); Franklin & Bash (2012); Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984); Ghost Whisperer (2009); Gramps (1995); Halfway There (2018); Hard Copy (1987); Hi, Dad (2014); His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th (2009); House (2007); I Married Who? (2012); If Looks Could Kill (1996); Infinity (1996); Interrogation (2020); Jack (2004); Jack's Place (1993); JAG (2001); Jason's Unlucky Day: 25 Years After Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter (2009); Journeyman (2007); Knight Rider (2008); L.A. Doctors (1999); Las Vegas (2007); Level 9 (2008); Love Kills (1991); Major Crimes (2012–2016); Matlock (1994); Medical Investigation (2005); Medium (2008); Melrose Place (1994); Missing in Action (1984); Monk (2009); Murder, She Wrote (1986); NCIS (2003); Nightwatch (1997); NYPD Blue (2000); Officer Downe (2016); Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992); Pair of Aces (1990); Parking (1996); Patty Hearst (1988); Police Story: Monster Manor (1988); Quantum Leap (1990); Second Chances (1993); Session Man (1991); Silk Stalkings (1997); Sisters (1995); Slasher Scotty (2020); Special (2006); Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal (1998); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1992); The Antagonists (1991); The Big Easy (1997); The Big Lie (2022); The District (2002); The Division (2002); The Final Cut (1995); The Glass Shield (1994); The Guardian (2003); The Marshal (1995); The Mentalist (2010); The Neighbor (2017); The Outer Limits (1996–2001); The Paper Chase (1985); The Riches (2008); The Witches of Eastwick (1992); The X-Files (2000); Thick as Thieves (1999); Thirtysomething (1990–1991); Those Who Wait (2020); Threadbare (2017); Touched by an Angel (1998); Tour of Duty (1989); Unfaithful (2002); Welcome to 18 (1986); Where's Marlowe? (1998); Without a Trace (2002); Without Limits (1998).

Born on this day – Ted Mann:

Ted Mann

Writer

Producer

October 24, 1952 – September 4, 2025

Credits:

Andromeda (2004); Brooklyn South (1998); Canada After Dark (1978); Civil Wars (1991–1993); Crash (2008–2009); Deadwood (2004–2006); Delta House (1979); Disco Beaver from Outer Space (1979); Drawing Power (1980); Hatfields & McCoys (2012); Homeland (2015–2018); John from Cincinnati (2007); Judging Amy (2000); Magic City (2013); Max Monroe (1990); Miami Vice (1989); Millennium (1996–1997); Millennium After the Millennium (2019); NYPD Blue (1993–1999); O.C. and Stiggs (1985); Skin (2003–2005); Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters (1988); Space Truckers (1996); Space: Above and Beyond (1996); The Making of 'Space Truckers' (1998); Total Recall 2070 (1999); Total Security (1997); Wiseguy (1990).

Born on this day – Bill Hinzman:

Bill Hinzman

Actor

Director

October 24, 1936 – February 5, 2012

Credits:

Devil Ant 3: Son of Devil Ant (2016); Mimesis (2011); River of Darkness (2011); The Spookshow (2009); It Came from Trafalgar (2009); Shadow: Dead Riot (2006); The Drunken Dead Guy (2005); Saloonatics (2002); Children of the Living Dead (2001); Dogs with Jobs (2000); Night of the Living Dead: 30th Anniversary Edition (1999); The Dead Walk: Remaking a Classic (1999); The Devil Ant (1999); Star of Jaipur (1998); Captured Alive (1997); Evil Ambitions (1996); Scream Queens' Naked Christmas (1996); Santa Claws (1996); The Langoliers (1995); Legion of the Night (1995); Backstreet Justice (1994); FleshEater (1988); Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987); Drive-in Madness! (1987); The Majorettes (1986); Midnight (1982); Knightriders (1981); The Amusement Park (1975); The Winners (1973–1974); The Crazies (1973); Season of the Witch (1972); There's Always Vanilla (1971); Night of the Living Dead (1968).

Born on this day – Jennifer Holden:

Jennifer Holden

Actress

October 24, 1936 – May 26, 2022

Credits:

Buchanan Rides Alone (1958); Gang War (1958); Jailhouse Rock (1957).