On this day in movie history - Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974):

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

directed and written by Michael Cimino,

was released in the United States on May 24, 1974.
Music by Dee Barton.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, Geoffrey Lewis, Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Jack Dodson, Eugene Elman, Burton Gilliam, Roy Jenson, Claudia Lennear, Bill McKinney, Vic Tayback, Dub Taylor, Gregory Walcott, Erica Hagen, Alvin Childress, Virginia Baker, Stuart Nisbet, Irene K. Cooper, Cliff Emmich, June Fairchild, Ted Foulkes, Leslie Oliver, Mark Montgomery, Karen Lamm, Luanne Roberts, Lila Teigh, George Kennedy, David Chow, Beth Howland, Steve Moriarty.

Born on this day – Peter Navy Tuiasosopo:

Peter Navy Tuiasosopo

Actor

May 24, 1963 – February 10, 2025

Credits:

12 Rounds (2009); 2001 MTV Video Music Awards (2001); A Perfect Getaway (2009); Accidentally on Purpose (2009); BASEketball (1998); Batman & Robin (1997); Big Love (2006); Black-ish (2015); Danger Theatre / Segments: Dead Stranger in Paradise / Aloha, Rich Man, Goodbye (1993); Down the Shore (1993); Dragnet (2003); Easy Money (2008–2009); Flucht ins Paradies (1995); Flypaper (1999); Fun Size (2012); Gimme My Money (2025); Goldmember (2002); Hawaii (2004); Ill Gotten Gains (1997); Jenny (1998); Kickin' It (2011); Magnum P.I. (2021); Mayans M.C. (2018); Mob City (2013); Mr. Sunshine (2011); NCIS (2013); Necessary Roughness (1991); New Girl (2012–2016); On Deadly Ground (1994); Ray Donovan (2015); Savage (1996); Silk Stalkings (1998); Speed Racer (2008); Street Fighter (1994); Street Fighter: Deleted Scenes (1998); Street Fighter: The Movie (1995); The Fast and the Furious (2001); The Jamie Foxx Show (1996); The Making of 'Street Fighter' (1994); The Scorpion King (2002); The Slammin' Salmon (2009); The Young and the Restless (2011); Women's Murder Club (2007); Workaholics (2011); Zigs (2001).

Born on this day – Joan Micklin Silver:

Joan Micklin Silver

Director

May 24, 1935 – December 31, 2020

Credits:

50 Years of Action! (1986); A Fish in the Bathtub (1998); A Private Matter (1992); Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976); Between the Lines (1977); Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even (1991); Calling the Shots (1988); Charms for the Easy Life (2002); Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979); Crossing Delancey (1988); Elie Wiesel Goes Home (1996); Faerie Tale Theatre (1983); Finnegan Begin Again (1985); Hester Street (1975); How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days (1984); Hunger Point (2003); In the Presence of Mine Enemies (1997); Invisible Child (1999); Joan Micklin Silver - Begegnung mit der New Yorker Filmregisseurin (1983); Limbo (1972); Loverboy (1989); On the Yard (1978); Prison Stories: Women on the Inside / Parole Board (1991); Sisters (1995); TCM Remembers 2021 (2021); The Case of the Elevator Duck (1974); The Frontier Experience (1975); The Fur Coat Club (1973); The Immigrant Experience: The Long Long Journey (1972); The Oscars (2021); Working in the Theatre (1984).

Born on this day – Michael Lonsdale:

Michael Lonsdale

Actor

Writer

May 24, 1931 – September 21, 2020

Credits:

Book:

Le Dictionnaire de Ma Vie (2016).

Movies and television:

007 Legends (2012); 12h45 (2012); A Bullet in the Gun Barrel (1958); A Dirty Story (1977); A Monkey's Tale (1999); À suivre (1988); Acte manqué (1979); Adieu (2003); Adorable Liar (1962); African Glory (2023); Agora (2009); Alberte (1972); Allons au cinéma (1976); Aloïse (1975); An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose (2022); Appelez-moi Rose (1969); Au siècle de Maupassant: Contes et nouvelles du XIXème siècle (2010); Aurais dû faire gaffe... le choc est terrible (1977); Bartleby (1976); Behold a Pale Horse (1964); Best Ever Bond (2002); Billy Ze Kick (1985); Birth and Death of Prometheus (1974); Bond's Greatest Moments (2013); Brigitte Fossey, à coeur ouvert (2016); Bruit d'amour et de guerre (1997); Bruits en fête et sons de plaisir (1978); Bye Bye Blackbird (2005); C à vous (2011–2014); Campus, le magazine de l'écrit (2003–2006); Canevas la ville (1986); Caravan to Vaccarès (1974); Ce que je vous dois (2006); Cela s'appelle l'amour (1989); Certains Leeb Show (1986); C'est arrivé à Aden... (1956); C'est le ciel qui vous envoie! (2014); Ceux d'en face (2000); Chariots of Fire (1981); Chronopolis (1982); Chut! (1972); Ciels de traîne (2008); Ciné regards / Segment: Le film de la semaine (1978–1979); Cinéma 16 (1981–1987); Clap (1975); Comédie (1966); Compression (2016–2025); Concerto pour un exil (1968); Concessions à perpétuité (1997); Cops Is Cops (1972); Crime Does Not Pay / Segment: L'homme de l'avenue (1962); D'après une histoire vraie (2021); Degas et moi (2019); Delphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète (2000); Der Madonna-Mann (1987); Des mots de minuit (2003–2012); Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon / Video Game (2008); Destroy, She Said (1969); Deux amis, prelude (1992); Die Abtei des Verbrechens: Umberto Ecos 'Der Name der Rose' wird verfilmt (1986); Dix de der (1976); Don Juan (1998); Dream On (1992); Droit d'auteurs (1996); Du côté de chez Fred (1988); Ella, une vraie famille (1980); En votre âme et conscience (1958); Enigma (1982); Erendira (1983); Escale obligatoire (1962); Euphorie II (1979); Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été (1979); Faits divers (2007); Film sur Hans Bellmer (1974); Fioretti pour Marcel Hanoun (2011); Five Times Two (2004); Folle à tuer (1975); Foutraque (!) Jean-Pierre Mocky cinéaste (2024); Free Men (2011); Galileo (1975); Gargouille de charme - Daniel Emilfork, contre les apparences (2010); Gebo and the Shadow (2012); Gentille (2005); Ghjuva est mort (2011); Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure (2007); God Only Knows (1994); Goya's Ghosts (2006); Grand écran (1972); Hail, Mafia (1965); Halman's Walk (2003); Her Venetian Name in Deserted Calcutta (1976); Hibernatus (1969); Histoire contemporaine (1981); Hitler in Hollywood (2010); Hollywood contra Franco (2008); Il sera une fois... (2006); In Search of James Bond with Jonathan Ross (1995); India Song (1975); Inside 'Moonraker' (2000); Is Paris Burning? (1966); J.R.R.Tolkien, des mots, des mondes (2014); Jacques Prévert (1977); Jaloux comme un tigre (1964); James Bond 007 at the Movies (1986); James Bond Stars (2002); James Bond: A BAFTA Tribute (2002); James Bond: Licence to Thrill (1987); Jaune le soleil (1971); Je vais te manquer (2009); Je veux être actrice (2016); Jean-Louis Barrault, un homme de théâtre (1983); Jean-Marie Serreau, découvreur de théâtres (2015); Jeanne à petits pas (2006); Jean-Sans-Terre (1980); Jefferson in Paris (1995); Jeune cinéma (2023); Kaena: The Prophecy (2003); La chevauchée sur le lac de Constance (1974); La choisie (1974); La confession d'un enfant du siècle (1974); La conscience (1987); La couleur des mots (1984); La dame à la licorne (1978); La fenêtre (1970); La fille au violoncelle (1973); La galerie France 5 (2012); La grande lessive (!) (1968); La grande Paulette (1974); La jeune femme en vert (1984); La main chaude (1960); La nuit des Césars (1977–2011); La nuit des Molières (2018); La nuit du beau marin peut-être (1976); La pince à ongles (1969); La place de l'autre (2003); La plante humaine (1996); La poule (1973); La question humaine (2007); La redevance du fantôme (1965); La séparation (2005); La table d'émeraude (1992); La traque (1975); La vérité sur l'imaginaire passion d'un inconnu (1974); La visite (2015); L'adieu nu (1977); L'amour médecin (1964); Langlois monumental (1991); L'art d'aimer (1985); L'authentique procès de Carl-Emmanuel Jung (1967); L'automne (1972); Le bon roi Dagobert (1984); Le bureau des mariages (1962); Le cercle de minuit (1993–1994); Le chant des particules (2011); Le conseiller Crespel (1977); Le diable dans la boîte (1977); Le divan (1989); Le doc Stupéfiant (2019); Le drôle de drame de Marcel Carné (2021); Le fantôme de Laurent Terzieff (2020); Le fer à repasser (1966); Le film de Bazin (2017); Le Fossoyeur de Films (2017); Le Furet (2003); Le génie du faux (1985); Le grand échiquier (1978); Le jeu des preuves (1974); Le Jour du Seigneur (1987); Le judoka, agent secret (1966); Le juge (1984); Le loufiat (1987); Le malade imaginaire (1971); Le monde enchanté d'Isabelle (1973); Le nom de la rose (2004); Le Petit Nicolas (1964); Le petit théâtre d'Antenne 2 (1980–1982); Le renard jaune (2013); Le revolver et la rose (1970); Le risque de vivre (1980); Le roman du samedi (1981); Le rose et le blanc (1982); Le silence de l'épervier (2008); Le tiroir secret (1986); Le tourbillon de Jeanne (2013); Le voisin de Paul (1989); Le voyage à l'étranger (1976); L'Eden Palace (1976); L'empreinte (2004); L'enfant et le president (1987); L'enjeu de l'acteur (1979); L'enlèvement d'Antoine Bigut (1964); L'entretien (1995); Les acteurs (2000); Les amants cinéma (2008); Les années Lumière (1972); Les assassins de l'ordre (1971); Les atours de l'oeil foudre (1982); Les Boulugres (1984); Les cent livres des hommes (1972); Les Chroniques du Mea (2023); Les compagnons de la marguerite (1967); Les copains (1965); Les discours du maître (1976); Les écrans déchirés (1976); Les fables de La Fontaine (1966); Les filles au Moyen Âge (2015); Les frères Karamazov (1969); Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons (1973); Les invisibles (2005); Les invites (1982); Les mains d'Andrea (2006); Les musiciens du culte (1974); Les Mystères de Paris: 'Out 1' de Jacques Rivette revisité (2015); Les Nuits de France Culture (2022–2024); Les oeufs brouillés (1976); Les petites demoiselles (1964); Les portes claquent (1960); Les rendez-vous du dimanche (1978–1979); Les trois soeurs (1960); Let There Be Light (1998); L'étalon (1970); L'etranger: Air is on Fire (2023); L'éveillé du pont de l'Alma (1985); L'hiver (1969); L'homme à la Buick (1968); L'homme de terre (1989); Liberté-liberté (1983); L'imprécateur (1977); L'invité (2014); Lire c'est vivre: Élie Faure, Vélasquez et les Ménines (1984); Lonsdale l'insondable (2007); L'ordre du jour (1993); Ma vie est un enfer (1991); Maestro (2014); Maigret et la grande perche (1991–2001); Malaventure (1974); Marguerite Yourcenar: Alchimie du paysage (2013); Mauvais genre (1997); Méli-mélodrame (1967); Même l'avenir dure longtemps (2010); Mémoires rhénanes: L'aventure des mines (1990); Merci Bernard (1983–1984); Mersonne ne m'aime (1982); Metropolis (2007); Micros et caméras (1969); Mocky circus (2006); Monsieur Cinéma (1979); Moonraker (1979); Mora (1982); Mr. Klein (1976); Munich (2005); unich: The International Cast (2006); Murmur of the Heart (1971); My Name Is Bond... James Bond (1979); N: The Madness of Reason (2014); Ne (1975); Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995); Nom d'une pipe (1961); Non-Lieu (1981); Nox (2015); Of Gods and Men (2010); Out 1 (1971); Out 1: Spectre (1972); Papa, the Lil' Boats (1971); Park Benches (2009); Passemerveille (2009); Passez donc me voir (1979); Passion Terzieff (2018); Pièce unique (1992); Plain-chant (1972–1975); Plaisir du théâtre (1985); Pour le cinéma (1976); Project Orfée (1968); Qui est-ce? (2010); Regarding Buñuel (2000); Rembob'Ina (2020); Rencontre avec Michael Lonsdale (2011); Rendez-vous manqués (1986); Requiem pour un fumeur (1985); Riviera (1987); Romulus le grand (1971); Ronin (1998); Ronin: In the 'Ronin' Cutting Room with Editor Tony Gibbs (2004); Rosenn (2014); Samedi soir (1972); Sculpt (2016); Selon Rachel (2005); Sérieux comme le plaisir (1975); Seuls (1981); Skyfall: Modern Day Bond (2013); Smiley's People (1982); Snobs! (1962); Sotto falso nome (2004); Souvenir (1988); Special Collector's Edition (2011); Special Section (1975); Spring (1971); Stavisky (1974); Stolen Kisses (1968); Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974); Sur les traces de Balint (1977); Sweet Inquest on Violence (1982); TCM Remembers 2020 (2020); Terra incognita (1995); The Bride Wore Black (1968); The Bunker (1981); The Cardboard Village (2011); The Day of the Jackal (1973); The First, the Last (2016); The Games of Countess Dolingen (1981); The Holcroft Covenant (1985); The Immoral Moment (1962); The Last Mistress (2007); The Left-Handed Woman (1977); The Man from London (2007); The Mystery of the Yellow Room (2003); The Name of the Rose (1986); The Name of the Rose: Photo Video Journey with Jean-Jacques Annaud (2003); The Old Maid (1972); The Passage (1979); The Perfume of the Lady in Black (2005); The Phantom of Liberty (1974); The Pink Telephone (1975); The Remains of the Day (1993); The Romantic Englishwoman (1975); The Suspects (1974); The Trial (1962); The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober (1988); Théâtre pour demain: L'armoire (1982); Titeuf, le film (2011); To Be or Not to Be (1998); To Each His Own Cinema / Segment: Le Don (2007); Top Gear (2012); Tous les enfants du monde (1964); Trompe-l'oeil (1982); Un cane sciolto (1990); Un cane sciolto 2 (1991); Un cane sciolto 3 (1992); Un comédien lit un auteur (1979); Un étrange equipage (2010); Un film sur Georges Perec (1990); Un foglio bianco - Appunti su 'Il villaggio di cartone' (2011); Un immense fil d'une heure de temps (2007); Un jour, un destin (2013–2015); Un linceul n'a pas de poches (1974); Un passager clandestin (2016); Un prete tra noi (1997); Un siècle d'écrivains (2000); Une baleine qui avait mal aux dents (1974); Une belle croisière (2008); Une jeunesse (1983); Une saison pour Maurice Pons (2016); Une ville (2009); Vivement dimanche (2008–2013); Vroum-vroum (1995); Wakefield (2009); Woyzeck (1993); Your Money or Your Life (1966); Zoo Story (1968).

Born on this day – Lilli Palmer:

Lilli Palmer

Actress

Writer

May 24, 1914 – January 27, 1986

Credits:

The Other Side of the Wind (2018); Peter the Great (1986); The Holcroft Covenant (1985); The Love Boat (1984); Eine etwas sonderbare Dame (1982); Imaginary Friends (1982); Feine Gesellschaft - beschränkte Haftung (1982); Kinder (1981); Elvira's Movie Macabre (1981); Sarah in America (1981); Weekend (1980); Kaninchen im Hut und andere Geschichten mit Martin Held (1980); Eine Frau bleibt eine Frau (1972–1979); The Boys from Brazil (1978); Lotte in Weimar (1975); Derrick (1974); The Zoo Gang (1974); What the Peeper Saw (1972); Der Kommissar (1971); Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971); Hauser's Memory (1970); Only the Cool (1970); The House That Screamed (1969); De Sade (1969); Hard Contract (1969); The High Commissioner (1968); Oedipus the King (1968); Sebastian (1968); The Diary of Anne Frank (1967); Jack of Diamonds (1967); Paarungen (1967); Le voyage du père (1966); Der Kongreß amüsiert sich (1966); An Affair of States (1966); Le tonnerre de Dieu (1965); The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965); Operation Crossbow (1965); Le grain de sable (1964); Das große Liebesspiel (1963); Torpedo Bay (1963); Miracle of the White Stallions (1963); L'amore difficile (1962); Adorable Julia (1962); Le rendez-vous de minuit (1962); The Counterfeit Traitor (1962); Finden sie, daß Constanze sich richtig verhält? (1962); Dark Journey (1961); Frau Cheneys Ende (1961); The Pleasure of His Company (1961); Conspiracy of Hearts (1960); Frau Warrens Gewerbe (1960); But Not for Me (1959); Life as a Couple (1958); Mädchen in Uniform (1958); Montparnasse 19 (1958); Eine Frau, die weiss, was sie will (1958); The Glass Tower (1957); Tempestuous Love (1957); Between Time and Eternity (1956); Anastasia: The Czar's Last Daughter (1956); The Taming of the Shrew (1956); Teufel in Seide (1956); Fireworks (1954); Four Star Playhouse (1954); Kraft Theatre (1953); Main Street to Broadway (1953); Omnibus (1952); Lux Video Theatre (1952); The Four Poster (1952); The Lilli Palmer Show (1951); The Long Dark Hall (1951); Kraft Theatre (1950); The Ford Theatre Hour (1949); Suspense (1949); Wicked City (1949); No Minor Vices (1948); My Girl Tisa (1948); Body and Soul (1947); Cloak and Dagger (1946); Beware of Pity (1946); Notorious Gentleman (1945); Her Man Gilbey (1944); The Gentle Sex (1943); Thunder Rock (1942); Chamber of Horrors (1940); Blind Folly (1939); One Night, One Day... (1939); Take Two Eggs (1939); A Girl Must Live (1939); Little Ladyship (1939); Suicide Legion (1939); The Man with 100 Faces (1938); Bath H. & C. (1938); S-s-s-h! The Wife! (1938); Starlight (1938); Moving Furniture (1938); Round the Film Studios (1937); Command Performance (1937); Silent Barriers (1937); Good Morning, Boys! (1937); Where There's a Will (1936); Secret Agent (1936); The First Offence (1936); Wolf's Clothing (1936); Crime Unlimited (1935); Rivaux de la piste (1933).

Recommended reading: The Three Roads, by Ross Macdonald (1948):

The Three Roads

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard.

First published 1948.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0307740765

ISBN-13: 978-0307740762

Description:

[The] American private eye, immortalized by Hammett, refined by Chandler, brought to its zentih by Macdonald. – New York Times Book Review.

Macdonald should not be limited in audience to connoisseurs of mystery fiction.  He is one of a handful of writers in the genre whose worth and quality surpass the limitations of the form. – Los Angeles Times.

Most mystery writers merely write about crime. Ross Macdonald writes about sin. – The Atlantic.

Without in the least abating my admiration for Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, I should like to venture the heretical suggestion that Ross Macdonald is a better novelist than either of them. – Anthony Boucher.

[Macdonald] carried form and style about as far as they would go, writing classic family tragedies in the guise of private detective mysteries. – The Guardian (London).

[Ross Macdonald] gives to the detective story that accent of class that the late Raymond Chandler did. – Chicago Tribune.

Silken skin pale against dark hair, red lips provocatively smiling at him – that’s how Lieutenant Bret Taylor remembered Lorraine. He was drunk when he married her, stone cold sober when he found her dead. Out on the sunlit streets of L.A. walked the man – her lover, her killer – who had been with her that fatal night. Taylor intended to find him. And when he did, the gun in his pocket would provide the quickest kind of justice. But first Taylor had to find something else: an elusive memory so powerful it drove him down three terrifying roads toward self-destruction – grief, ecstasty, and death.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, on books:

A room without books is like a body without a soul.

- Marcus Tullius Cicero.