Peter Lorre was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before moving to Germany where he worked first on the stage, then in film in Berlin in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Lorre caused an international sensation in the Weimar Republic–era film M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang, in which he portrayed a serial killer who preys on little girls. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and his accented voice, Lorre was frequently caricaturized during and after his lifetime and the cultural legacy of his persona remains in media today.
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes "monkey" trial, and the Ossian Sweet defense. He was a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a prominent advocate for Georgist economic reform. Darrow was also well known as a public speaker, debater, and writer.
Andrew Vabre Devine was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature films. He also appeared alongside John Wayne in films such as Stagecoach (1939), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and How the West Was Won. He is also remembered as Jingles on the TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok from 1951 to 1958, as Danny McGuire in A Star Is Born (1937), and as the voice of Friar Tuck in the Disney Animation Studio film Robin Hood (1973).
Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. was an American attorney and politician who served as the 54th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 1974 to 1982, and again as the city's 56th mayor from 1990 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first Black mayor of Atlanta and of any major city in the South; his three terms made him the second longest-serving mayor in the city's history, after six-term mayor William B. Hartsfield.
The Hitcher is a 1986 American horror thriller directed by Robert Harmon and written by Eric Red. It stars Rutger Hauer as the title character, a murderous hitchhiker who stalks a young motorist across the highways of West Texas. Jeffrey DeMunn and Jennifer Jason Leigh appear in supporting roles.
Sin City is a 2005 American neo-noir crime anthology film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller based on Miller's comic book series of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Elijah Wood, and featuring Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Devon Aoki, Carla Gugino, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl, and Makenzie Vega among others.
Rush is a 1991 American crime drama film directed by Lili Fini Zanuck and based on a novel written by Kim Wozencraft. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric as two cops in the 1970s who go undercover on a case. They become drug addicts themselves and, under pressure from the chief of police, falsified evidence in some cases. The book and film are both based on a 1978-79 drug scandal involving the Tyler, Texas police department and Smith County, Texas Sheriff's Office. An FBI investigation led to the book's author and her partner pleading guilty to perjury, serving time in federal prison, and testifying in a federal civil rights case against Tyler, Texas police chief Willie Hardy, who was found not guilty by a jury of his peers in Smith County, Texas.
Quicksand is a 1950 American film noir that stars Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre and portrays a garage mechanic's descent into crime. It was directed by Irving Pichel shortly before he was included in the Hollywood blacklist. The film provided Rooney with an opportunity to play against type, performing in a role starkly different from his earlier role as the innocent "nice guy" in MGM's popular Andy Hardy film series.
The Gingerdead Man is a 2005 American comedy slasher film directed by Charles Band. Gary Busey stars as the titular Gingerdead Man, created from a mix of gingerbread spice mix and the ashes of deceased serial killer Millard Findlemeyer, who terrorizes a small-town bakery. The film also stars Robin Sydney, Jonathan Chase, Alexia Aleman, Margaret Blye, James Snyder, and Larry Cedar.
On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and shot ten girls, killing five, before committing suicide in the schoolhouse. The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the Amish community's response was widely discussed by the national media. The West Nickel Mines School was later demolished, and a new one-room schoolhouse, the New Hope School, was built at another location.
The Texas Highway Patrol is a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety and is the largest state-level law enforcement agency in the U.S. state of Texas. The patrol's primary duties are enforcement of state traffic laws and commercial vehicle regulation, but it is a fully empowered police agency with authority to enforce criminal law anywhere in the state. Also, they respond to emergencies on Texas’s highways. Highway patrol troopers are also responsible for patrolling the state Capitol Complex in Austin and providing security to the governor. The current Chief is Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Mathis.
John Crawford was an American actor. He appeared in a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone, called "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim", and in several Gunsmoke episodes. He had a key role in the 1975 film Night Moves, a crime thriller starring Gene Hackman. He also played the mayor of San Francisco in 1976's The Enforcer, the third Dirty Harry film featuring Clint Eastwood, as well as the Chief Engineer in Irwin Allen's classic 1972 box-office smash and disaster-film epic The Poseidon Adventure.
Vendetta dal futuro is an Italian science fiction film directed by Sergio Martino. The film stars Daniel Greene, George Eastman and John Saxon.
Think Fast, Mr. Moto is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Norman Foster and featuring a mysterious Japanese detective named Mr. Moto. It is the first of eight films in the Mr. Moto series, all based on the character Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand. The film stars Peter Lorre as the title character, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck and Sig Ruman. Mr. Moto works to stop a secret smuggling operation.
The Chaser (Korean: 추격자) is a 2008 South Korean action thriller film starring Kim Yoon-seok and Ha Jung-woo. It was directed by Na Hong-jin in his directorial debut. Inspired by real-life Korean serial killer Yoo Young-chul, certain scenes were shot on location around Mangwon-dong in the Mapo District, Seoul.
Killer Elite is a 2011 action thriller film starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro. The film is based on the 1991 novel The Feather Men by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and is directed by Gary McKendry.
On January 23, 1991, in Garrison, Texas, police officer Constable Darrell Lunsford pulled over a suspicious vehicle. Inside the vehicle were three men transporting marijuana from Texas to Illinois. After Lunsford requested to search the trunk of the vehicle, the men exited the car, tackled Lunsford, beat, stabbed, and shot him after a struggle. They then drove off after killing him. Lunsford's dashboard camera in his police cruiser recorded the murder. Footage of the murder is used in law enforcement training. The date of the murder has been described as one of the most infamous dates in the history of Texas law enforcement.
Michael Alan Silka was an American spree killer who is believed to have murdered nine people in Alaska during May 1984, primarily in the small village of Manley Hot Springs. The spree culminated in a shootout with Alaska State Troopers in the Alaskan wilderness in which Silka was shot and killed. The motives for Silka's actions remain unclear.
Umberto Raho was an Italian stage, film and television actor.
The Amazing Mr. Williams is a 1939 American screwball comedy film produced by Everett Riskin for Columbia Pictures and directed by Alexander Hall. The film stars Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell and Clarence Kolb. It was written by Dwight Taylor, Sy Bartlett and Richard Maibaum. The film is about a police lieutenant who is too busy solving crimes to marry his longtime fiancée, who decides to take action and get him to marry her and settle down. The film was released on November 22, 1939.
